Gleneagles Road, Greenside

The first area I lived in, when I moved out of my parents home, was Greenside. Just down the road from the beautiful sun kissed Emmarentia Dam. Granted, it didn't always have a reputation for being safe (or beautiful for that matter), but there was something special about it for me. Not the least of it's attractions was the sparkling water view at night. From a parked car on the roadside. Something I did often when I needed a moment alone. It had that kind of Dawson's Creek sentimentality to it.

Just up the road, the now famous Gleneagles road used to be quaint and lonely back then. Just a small, closed supermarket, a few stores and a pizza place that amazed me by continuing to exist for so long, despite being constantly empty.

I used to secretly meet a friend on that street. On weekend nights. We had a relationship that wasn't quite defined as yet. I'd get all dressed up and park the car in a specific spot and wait. Excitedly. And wonder about the lives of the people that lived around there. The owners of the antique shop, the people that lived in the apartments above the shops. There was something a touch romantic about that street too. I can't quite tell whether it had something to do with the smell of the canopied trees that lined the road or the silence that made it feel residential.

At one stage, a small, cute coffee shop opened up and remained open for a few months. I had breakfasts there on Saturday mornings. Fresh coffee and hangover headaches.

A few years later a friend of a friend opened up a somewhat upmarket restaurant there and ever since, the street commercialised. Restaurants opened up all over until it felt like Melville or Parkhurst, with traffic facilitators trying to point out a parking space when you drove past.

One of the restaurants was called The Inferno. The food was very good and the two male waiters who were studying music and training to be opera singers, would give a rendition of something familiar when the owner felt like honoring a table or creating some atmosphere.

I went there twice. The second time was with the friend I used to secretly meet there. Years later. It was pure nostalgia.

The waiter tried telling us something nice about the street at one point and didn't notice the smiles on our faces.

We felt like ghosts of the past, wondering how this quiet, romantic street could have been transformed into something so different, so vibrant.

I believe it's still going strong today.