Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Sing for your coffee

This life-size plaster figure on the balcony of the Pan African Market caught my eye. He is confidently, but silently singing to the pedestrians below, and another wooden colonial-style figure is bringing him some coffee on a tray.
The building once housed the YWCA - the Young Women's Christian Association. Designed by architect John Parker, it was built in 1903 and contains a plaster commemorative panel that reads "In memory of Minnie & Maria Bam, founded 1886, rebuilt 1903." The teenage Bam sisters died in 1886, shortly after arriving in Cape Town from Germany, and their father established the original building as a YWCA in their memory. (His original house was demolished and this one built in 1903).
The Pan African Market is well worth a visit, and the having coffee on the balcony is an experience I am looking forward to trying. I hope you don't have to bargain for it, because that is not in my genes!

1 comment:

  1. I'm back from the Drakensberg after our holiday and is trying to catch up on everybody's worlds. Its always nice to stop by and see how CT is doing.

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