Sandstone Steam And Cosmos Festival
Barbara Durlacher is entranced by the marvelous old workhorses of the age of steam at a festival in South Africa.
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Barbara Durlacher is entranced by the marvelous old workhorses of the age of steam at a festival in South Africa.
Barbara Durlacher tells a highly-entertaining tale about a 21st Century dragon.
Settle down for a right royal read.
Not every creature enjoys going out to conquer the wide world, as Barbara Durlacher’s story reveals.
…I listened with tears in my eyes as I heard all the vitality and endurance of Africa in the music, along with the beauty of what can be achieved when its people are doing what they enjoy most, dancing and making music together…
Barbara Durlacher is deeply moved by a performance in Johannesburg of composer David Fanshawe’s African Sanctus.
Barbara Durlacher tells of the “Blue Angel’’ who came to the aid of a stricken Polish seaman.
Barbara Durlacher tells how a trip to town resulted in a young lad putting his life in danger.
Barbara Durlacher tells the story of two men who ran along the Great Wall of China - all 4,500 miles of it!
Barbara Durlacher plays tricks with time.
To read more of Barbara’s words please clock on Jo’Burg Days in the menu on this page.
Barbara Durlacher tells the exhilarating story of Stella, who, when her ambition to be a ballet dancer was frustrated, became a shining star on an altogether different stage.
For more of Barbara’s stories and articles please click on Jo’Burg Days in the menu on this stage.
Barbara Durlacher visits the part of Johannesburg where she once lived, and is profoundly shocked by what she finds there.
When you venture into Antarctic seas you need more than Google to help you on your way, as Barbara Durlacher’s short story reveals.
Barbara Durlacher’s story tells of a particular South African scam.
Barbara Durlacher turns her attention to two books which shine the spotlight on South Africa’s uncertain political future.
Be extra careful who you target when you seek revenge at a masked ball. Barbara Durlacher tells a disturbing tale.
Barbara Durlacher tells a tale of devious double- and triple-dealing.
...The mail train to Cape Town pulls up at a drab station and glimpsed from a comfortable compartment the bored travellers stare at the colourful crowd. From the guard’s van two wicker baskets of carrier pigeons, six cardboard boxes of day-old chicks, three bicycles and four mail sacks are offloaded; milk-churns clatter. Porters shouting “Mind yer baaacks!” push trolleys heavily loaded with suitcases pasted with hotel and steamer labels. Food and drink sellers move up and down offering koeksusters, lollies, peanuts, fruit and cold drinks. Passengers climb warily to the platform to stretch their legs. One returns triumphantly waving a “Diamond Fields Advertiser”. Now the ‘lounge-lizards’ can catch up with the morning’s news from Kimberley and the Orange Free State...
Barbara Durlacher conjures up vivid memories as she mourns the passing of South Africa's passenger trains.
Continue reading "The Passing Of South Africa's Pasenger Trains" »
Barbara Durlacher tells of Mariba, a lady whose eyesight is failing as she struggles in South Africa to earn money to feed her family in stricken Zimbabwe.
Barbara Durlacher is impressed by Jonathan Raban’s novel Waxwings, which, though set in one city, attempts to encapsulate life in the USA today.
...I listened with tears in my eyes as I heard all the vitality and endurance of Africa in the music, along with the beauty of what can be achieved when its people are doing what they enjoy most, dancing and making music together...
Barbara Durlacher enjoys a performance of David Fanshawe's African Sanctus.
…One by one, gracious and elegant old homes with spacious gardens and beautiful mature trees were sold, and in quiet gardens where golden Labradors and bulldogs once snoozed in the sun, fountains played and Madam’s silk skirts swept the well-tended gravel, the excavators dug deep into the unyielding red soil and dynamite completed what the mechanical shovels failed to achieve…
But now a Heritage Trust is fighting to preserve Johannesburg’s grand old buildings, as Barbara Durlacher reports.
Barbara Durlacher reviews the novel The Memeory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards.
In Barbara Durlacher's intriguing tale an internet love affair turns out not to be what it had seemed.
Barbara Durlacher was dreading her European train journey but it proved to be "a marvellous experience, something I'd longed to do for years, ever since I’d seen a picture in a travel brochure of an elegant couple raising their glasses to one another while sitting in a glass-domed observation car, enjoying a fine meal and glass of champagne...''
Barbara Durlacher enjoys a novel which emphasises the importance of a close-knot family.
Yes, life can be good, but an accident and a family of hungry mice can darken the outlook, as Barbara Durlacher’s surprising tale reveals.
Barbara Durlacher tells of the courage of a widow who is determined, despite all disappointments, to keep her family together.
…“Did you visit the Fitzmaurice’s home on Monday this week?” his bullying voice continued, not giving her time to catch her breath.
“Yes, you obviously know I did. I called in for a few minutes to return a book I’d borrowed. I didn’t see either of them, just spoke to the maid who said they were in bed.”…
Barbara Durlacher tells a tale with a shocking conclusion.
Barbara Durlacher pays tribute to two of her beloved friends who died recently – two women who showed a gritty determination to survive during the terrible days of World War Two.
Barbara Durlacher tells an astonishing story based on real lives – a story which contains as many twists and turns as a full-length novel.
…The Highveld scenery is wide and spacious; with golden grasslands and scattered outcrops of suikerbossie [Transvaal Protea], small wattle and gum plantations and then the blue expanse of Loch Vaal with its attractive sail boats…
Barbara Durlacher journeys to see the Katse dam, one of the biggest civil engineering projects in the Southern Hemisphere.
Barbara Durlacher tells us of Karen Blixen, author of the famous book Out Of Africa.
Barbara Durlacher pays tribute to two outstanding South Africans.
For more of Barbara’s words please click on Jo’burg Days in the menu on this page.
Barbara Durlacher tells of a rescue on a hot afternoon.
A visit next door to see the new-born baby is an initiation into womanhood for a 12-year-old girl in this story by Barbara Durlacher.
Taking a bubble bath is not invariably a happy experience, as Barbara Durlacher’s story reveals.
Barbara Durlacher tells the tale of a lady driven to taking extreme measures.
For more of Barbara’s words please click on Jo’Burg Days in the menu on this page.
Barbara Durlacher chose Henry Moore’s picure ‘Underground’ as the inspiration for this sombre story.
For more of Barbara’s stories and articles please click on Jo’Burg Days in the menu on this page.
Barbara Durlacher tells a tale of a young man on a desperate journey to find his father, who has gone to California. But what are his chances of doing so?
For more of Barbara’s entertaining words please click on Jo’Burg Days in the menu on this page.
Barbara Durlacher tells a spicy tale about the cleverest card-sharp in the business.
Barbara Durlacher tells a delightful tale of childish enterprise gone wrong.
What sort of bargain can you buy at an auction for just one rand! Read Barbara Durlacher’s well-told tale – and chuckle!
To read more of Barbara’s stories and articles click on Jo’Burg Days in the menu on this page.
Barbara Durlacher tells an inspirational story of what a man with a dream can achieve. The story is based on the experience of one of Barbara’s friends who was on a tour of the Zulu battlefields in Natal. Barbara, who felt compelled to tell this story, has not used the head's real name.
Barbara Durlacher tells a tale of diappointment, and plans for an interminably long holiday.
Barbara Durlacher tells a story of enforced guilt.
Barbara Durlacher tells a colourful tale about a woman who thinks too much of herself.
Barbara Durlacher tells us of a Japanese-speaking South African tour guide called Angie – and the part she played in rescuing a round-the-world yachtsman.
In this brief tale Barbara Durlacher encapsulates the ghastly mundanity of warfare.
Barbara Durlacher tells of the life of Beatrix Potter whose stories, featuring such characters as Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-Duck and Mrs Tiggywinkle, brought delight to millions of children – a delight which for many has lasted throughout their lives.
The businessman is in a hurry, but what is he hurrying towards?
Barbara Durlacher tells a story, based on a real event, of an incident at a service station.
What price should be paid to ensure that a Grand Prix motor race is free from blowing dust? Barbara Durlacher tells a story of love and death.
Around 15,000 people die each year in road accidents in South Africa. Unroadworthy ‘combi’ buses and taxis, driven by unlicensed black drivers, cause many of these deaths. Combis, built to carry the driver and eight passengers, habitually carry from twelve to sixteen. When stopped at roadblocks, police find vehicles without brakes, headlights, wipers, and – occasionally, a steering wheel. A large shifting spanner is used instead.
Barbara Durlacher paints a frightening word-picture of traffic chaos.
Do read more of Barbara's varied and ever-interesting articles by clicking on Jo'burg Days in the menu on this page.
Swallows hurl themselves before the onrushing wind as a storm advances towards Johannesburg. Like distant drums, the thunder marches from the south, and householders unplug computers, fax machines and printers in case of a lightning strike…
Barbara Durlacher describes turbulent storm which presaged the arrival of South Africa’s summer.
For more of Barbara’s vivid words please visit Jo’Burg Days in the menu on this page.
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Barbara Durlacher tells a tale about the dire effects of an African tribe's male initiation ceremony – a tale which regrettably is based in fact.
Barbara Durlacher, inspired by a mural depicting the arrival of the first white men in Africa, painted by one of her friends on a wall of the Cullin Museum at the University of Witwatersrand, is moved to express her admiration of the brave mariners who discovered the sea route to India.
To read more of Barbara’s fascinating articles and stories please click on Jo’burg Days in the menu on this page.
Continue reading "The Discovery Of The Sea Route To India" »
Barbara Durlacher’s South African story confirms that sometimes a tragic accident can have a happy ending.
To read more of Barbara's stories and features please click on Jo'burg Days in the menu on this page.
Barbara Durlacher muses on the man who might have made a difference to New Year celebrations in a French bistrot.
Barbara Durlacher presents a fascinating portrait of Ludwig II of Bavaria – known to many as the Mad King. Ludwig's story is as melodramatic as the powerful operas of Richard Wagner, the composer that he sponsored.
"Ludwig’s legacy lives on, in some of the most extravagant and beautiful palaces ever created,'' says Barbara, "and from which today the State of Bavaria collects huge sums of money in tourist income, far in excess of anything this visionary king ever spent on building these extraordinary creations.''
Poor Mary has to travel many miles from her home to a distant city in another country, there, hopefully, to sell hand-made goods...
Read Barbara Durlacher's article about the plight of the poor in Zimbabwe, and experience pity and anger in equal and generous measure.
...This is the season for hearty, stick-to-the-ribs foods, and traditionally the time when game is on the menu. Today’s speciality is daube de sanglier [wild boar] proceeded by a brandade of salt cod [delicately seasoned finely pounded creamed salt cod served on a slice of crisply toasted baguette...
Barbara Durlacher introduces us to the food of Provence – and if you don't feel hungry after reading this then your appetite has gone on holiday.
Sipho was so good at his job as a vet's assistant that Baas Kenny begins to wonder how he ever managed without him. But things do not go well for poor Sipho…
Barbara Durlacher tells a sobering and sad story set in today's South Africa.
Barbara Durlacher tells of an unnecessary car chase that was not the least bit funny.
Question: ‘Who is the worst person you have ever sat next to on a plane?’
Answer: Perhaps intriguing would be a better comment. A beautiful woman on the way to Dallas. We had a lovely chat and she went to the bathroom next to me when we got to the airport. She came out as a man!
After reading this in a magazine Barbara Durlacher was inspired to write the following tale.
…I scuttle between tv and kitchen, keeping an eye on steaming pots, boiling kettles or roasting pans. It takes skilful juggling to keep everything on the go without burning the bottom out of good stainless steel saucepans…
Barbara Durlacher’s early evenings involve split-second timing as she tunes in to must-see TV programmes and cooks a meal.
Barbara Durlacher considers the demands on the skills of TV and film actors.
In this colourful and wonderfully nostalgic column Barbara Durlacher recalls the Lavender Ladies, the lavender-hulled vessels of the Union-Castle Steamship Company which plied between Cape Town and Southampton.
… He could buy a watch, and a torch, a radio and a pair of shiny leather shoes. He would get Ntombintini a sewing machine, and a handbag, a new thick warm blanket, and a shiny pink dress for their wedding …
But to get these things Precious has to leave his village and go off to the big city to find work.
Barbara Durlacher tells a heart-breaking African story.
There’s news happening just around the corner and you don’t know it, as Barbara Durlacher reveals.
Continue reading "On Listening To The Evening News With Attention Momentarily Distracted" »
Barbara Durlacher writes alluringly of of the Fire Islands - a chain of seven islands resembling a heap of scattered coals, ninety miles off the North African coast.
Civil insurrection? What civil insurrection? Life goes on as normal for most folk while news is being made, as Barbara Durlacher reveals, looking back to events 30 years ago.
Barbara Durlacher captures the excitement felt by a young woman on her first sea voyage to another country.
Barbara Durlacher tells an intriguing tale of murder, illicit love and a 40-carat diamond.
Barbara Durlacher writes about the growth of long distance running, highlighting the South African Comrades, one of the longest and toughest foot races in the world.
Continue reading "The Crowded Roads Of A Long-Distance Runner" »
...The very lack of education and schooling has made me read books, hundreds and thousands of books, and nowhere can one find a better source of information. I feel that I’ve reached a point where, in my general knowledge at least, I am as good as the next man – better perhaps, in some fields...
Barbara Durlacher tells of an event that moulded her life.
“Will ya look at thaaat,” admiringly exclaimed the Irish nurse. “He’s ready to take on the world like a mini prize-fighter.” But the new mother is not pleased by what she sees, as Barbara Durlacher reveals in this vivid account of childbirth.
In this magical piece of writing Barbara Durlacher involves us in the centuries-old traditions of the Japanese tea house, and the studied, formal world of the geishas who devote themselves to entertaining and pleasing rich and powerful men.
You can usually find a place to park the car, but where do you park and 80-year-old granny who forgets to cook for herself? Barbara Durlacher tells of a happy solution to a major problem.
Barbara Durlacher enjoys herself while visiting some of London’s newer landmark attractions.
For a flavourful taste of life in South Africa read Barbara’s weekly columns. Click on Jo’Burg Days in the menu on this page.
So many books in the world - yet in South Africa there are children with no books to read. Barbara Durlacher is baffled by a conundrum.
This story was written when a caption to a photograph in ‘Aquarelle’, the house magazine of the Watercolour Society of South Africa caught Barbara Durlacher’s eye. This identified a lady with the name of “Rugani”, and triggered a childhood memory. The story is based on a family of that name who lived and worked extremely hard, running a market garden down the road from where the author lived in Bramley, Johannesburg in the 1930’s and ‘40’s. Sent by her mother to buy a basketful of vegetables Barbara still recollects the quiet suburban peace of that pretty suburb. Today it is a cacophony of hooters, roaring delivery vans, black ‘combi’ taxis and used-car dealerships.
The Rugani family sold up long ago, and moved to the northern edge of rapidly expanding Johannesburg, where they continue to grow and sell vegetables. But this time, it is a huge undertaking employing hundreds of workers and a large acreage of ground, and produces thousands of tons of food each year.
Barbara Durlacher continues the astonishing story of Stephanie Kobierzycka, who, after hearing that she was on a Russian hit-list, had to flee from Poland in a metal container packed with bottles of vodka.
Stephanie's article appeared in Open Writing last Thursday. To read it type her name in the search box on this page.
Stephanie Kobierzski tells of a chance meeting, and her extraordinary marriage. Stephanie was born and spent her youth in Warsaw, Poland. Towards the end of the war she met a man she had not seen for six years, and married him on the same day.
Open Writing columnist Barbara Durlacher is one of Stephanie’s good friends. Next week Barbara will continue the astonishing story of the bride who wore a blanket.
Barbara Durlacher tells us of Tulipmania, a mad demand for rare plants which “infected’’ the wealthy citizens of Holland in the 17th Century. A flourishing brewery in France was exchanged for a single tulip bulb.
Barbara Durlacher tells a tale of a disasterous diving trip.