Pretoria... close enough to Joburg

The other day, I went on a day trip to Pretoria. We caught the Gautrain to Pretoria CBD and then took a walk to various historical buildings and museums.
 
We started with Melrose House, built in 1886 and where the Treaty of Vereeniging was signed to end the Second Anglo Boer War. They have a lot of the original furnishings and the furniture and decor that was damaged in a bomb blast in the 1990's have been restored to replicate the originals. It's a gorgeous old house, just my style!
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
From there we went across to Burgers Park. It's beautiful and green, with winding pathways, a playground, bandstand, fish pond and florarium. There is a tropical garden and desert garden in the florarium.

A couple blocks away is the National Museum of Natural History. As with most of the South African museums, this can't compete with the international museums. It is in desperate need of a refurbishment and update (some of the exhibits still refer to the Transvaal!). Their bird exhibit is impressive, with a huge selection of birds. Some of the exhibits are a bit strange like a leopard eating a Taung man and a Taung child staring at an imaginary eagle.
 
The building itself is beautiful and the staff are very friendly. It's worth the visit but try not to compare it to other international museums.
 
From there we took a walk through the very busy CBD to Church Square. It was a bit weird for me to see so many people in Army camo just walking around - we don't get that in Joburg! There were also a lot of Jehovah's Witnesses handing out The Watchtower and with stands set up to sell their religion.
 

Church Square is surrounded by beautiful historical buildings. There is the Old Netherlands Bank (now Nedbank), Palace of Justice (the High Court), the Old Reserve Bank and Old Mutual Building to name a few. We had lunch at Café Riche, built in 1902 and a National Monument. At the moment, Paul Kruger street has been dug up so it's a bit of a mess.  
We went into the Palace of Justice though there weren't any cases being heard. This is where the Rivonia Treason Trial was heard and where the Oscar trial is happening now.Security told us no pictures, so of course I had to take some! The architecture is amazing, with pressed dome ceilings, stained glass windows and marble everywhere. 
 
If you go around to the front of the Court, you'll recognise it from the Oscar trial.
 

 

 

And that was the trip... we caught the bus back to the station and came back home. It was an awesome day out and we got to play tourist for a day, half an hour from home!