travels to South Africa
Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 8:27 am
Well gals, I made it to South Africa and I will give you a short synopsis of the trip so far.
I decided to wear a blue plaid skirt that I have because it matched my new boots the best. These boots don't match my purse, so I'm in violation of that fashion rule, but I don't have a blue leather purse so it's too bad. With the skirt I wore a casual blouse and cami set that has a light blue and reddish pattern that didn't go particularily well with the skirt, but it's comfortable and pretty. When I get back to the states I will get the opinion of a GG friend to find out how disasterous was that combination. I changed planes in Paris, at CDG, and the French didn't arrest me so I think I must not have committed too many crimes against good taste.
Then I had the 10-1/2 hour plane ride to Johannesburg. Now my boots are very nice, but they are nearly impossible to take off and put back on while seated on a plane. And if any of you have taken a 10-1/2 hour plane ride you know what it's like to have your feet in shoes on a plane that long. It was bad enough going through security with them, but that was only a matter of taking some extra time. But, I survived.
The plane was the new Airbus A380, seems like a nice enough plane but not so different (from the passengers point of view) than other modern planes. Except they have a camera which must be mounted in the vertical stabilizer so you can watch where you're going, which is kind of cool when you're on the ground. But the really cool thing is that one of their movie selections is an Asterix and Obelix adventure. I didn't know they had Asterix and Obelix movies now, but it was almost as good and the comic books.
Arriving at Johannesburg, everything went smoothly and I found the driver who was to take me to the Guest House, the bed and breakfast where I am staying. It is a very nice place, the whole name is Pheasant Hill Guest House and here is the link to their site: http://www.pheasanthill.co.za/ It's about 20 minutes from the airport, maybe halfway between Jo'burg and Pretoria. It's in a semi-rural area, but pretty close to shops and a mall, and also horse back riding, game tours, fishing, etc. It seems to be an old estate, or plantation, or farm, the buildings are probably ~200 years old, very richly furnished and decorated, beautiful gardens, patios, swan pond, and the rooms are in smaller guest houses dispersed around the main house. So this should be a really pleasant place to stay.
When I arrived, nobody commented on, or seemed to be the slightest surprised that I was wearing a skirt and blouse. But as we were waiting for the lady who does everything, I noticed a rather odd and very large painting in the sitting room. It was of a man laying down, seemingly outside but the surroundings are rather indistinct, and wearing black panties with a very diaphanous white gown, like a chiffon robe, being blown around by the wind. There is a good deal of other artwork around as well, and I was puzzling about whether these were pieces dating from decades ago and just came with the house or whether they were specifically chosen by the owners. And why would the owners have such a large painting of a crossdresser in such a prominant location?
Some time later, while I was having coffee, the owner stopped in on his way to go out riding. We were talking about the place, and the routine, when breakfast starts etc. And he mentioned that Pieter does all the cooking, bookkeeping, etc, and that Pieter is his lover. So now I understand about the painting, and in fact there are quite a few other paintings of a provacative nature here as well.
I think that one could put this at the top of the list for LGBT friendly places. And now I'm really glad that I packed my teal dress and new heels, since I'll be wearing that to dinner in a few hours.
I decided to wear a blue plaid skirt that I have because it matched my new boots the best. These boots don't match my purse, so I'm in violation of that fashion rule, but I don't have a blue leather purse so it's too bad. With the skirt I wore a casual blouse and cami set that has a light blue and reddish pattern that didn't go particularily well with the skirt, but it's comfortable and pretty. When I get back to the states I will get the opinion of a GG friend to find out how disasterous was that combination. I changed planes in Paris, at CDG, and the French didn't arrest me so I think I must not have committed too many crimes against good taste.
Then I had the 10-1/2 hour plane ride to Johannesburg. Now my boots are very nice, but they are nearly impossible to take off and put back on while seated on a plane. And if any of you have taken a 10-1/2 hour plane ride you know what it's like to have your feet in shoes on a plane that long. It was bad enough going through security with them, but that was only a matter of taking some extra time. But, I survived.
The plane was the new Airbus A380, seems like a nice enough plane but not so different (from the passengers point of view) than other modern planes. Except they have a camera which must be mounted in the vertical stabilizer so you can watch where you're going, which is kind of cool when you're on the ground. But the really cool thing is that one of their movie selections is an Asterix and Obelix adventure. I didn't know they had Asterix and Obelix movies now, but it was almost as good and the comic books.
Arriving at Johannesburg, everything went smoothly and I found the driver who was to take me to the Guest House, the bed and breakfast where I am staying. It is a very nice place, the whole name is Pheasant Hill Guest House and here is the link to their site: http://www.pheasanthill.co.za/ It's about 20 minutes from the airport, maybe halfway between Jo'burg and Pretoria. It's in a semi-rural area, but pretty close to shops and a mall, and also horse back riding, game tours, fishing, etc. It seems to be an old estate, or plantation, or farm, the buildings are probably ~200 years old, very richly furnished and decorated, beautiful gardens, patios, swan pond, and the rooms are in smaller guest houses dispersed around the main house. So this should be a really pleasant place to stay.
When I arrived, nobody commented on, or seemed to be the slightest surprised that I was wearing a skirt and blouse. But as we were waiting for the lady who does everything, I noticed a rather odd and very large painting in the sitting room. It was of a man laying down, seemingly outside but the surroundings are rather indistinct, and wearing black panties with a very diaphanous white gown, like a chiffon robe, being blown around by the wind. There is a good deal of other artwork around as well, and I was puzzling about whether these were pieces dating from decades ago and just came with the house or whether they were specifically chosen by the owners. And why would the owners have such a large painting of a crossdresser in such a prominant location?
Some time later, while I was having coffee, the owner stopped in on his way to go out riding. We were talking about the place, and the routine, when breakfast starts etc. And he mentioned that Pieter does all the cooking, bookkeeping, etc, and that Pieter is his lover. So now I understand about the painting, and in fact there are quite a few other paintings of a provacative nature here as well.
I think that one could put this at the top of the list for LGBT friendly places. And now I'm really glad that I packed my teal dress and new heels, since I'll be wearing that to dinner in a few hours.