Pretoria's Union Buildings stand on Meintjieskop, a ridge above the city, and the view from the terraces carries all the way down to Church Square and out to the hills beyond. Sir Herbert Baker designed the complex, which was finished in 1913 as the seat of government of the newly formed Union of South Africa. Two wings join in a sweeping colonnaded curve, built in pale sandstone, and the formal gardens climb the slope in terraces.
The building has done double duty as a symbol. It was the centre of white minority rule, then, in May 1994, the place where Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as president, with crowds on the lawns and military aircraft overhead. A large bronze statue of Mandela now stands in the gardens with arms outstretched, and the buildings figure in the UNESCO listing of places connected to his legacy. The contrast between the two stories is part of why it is worth seeing.
In October, Pretoria turns purple, because jacaranda trees line the streets by the thousand and bloom together. That is the best moment to ride here, because the avenues of Brooklyn, Arcadia and Hatfield are dusted with fallen flowers. The city is a good motorcycle town in daylight, with wide roads, mild winters and reliable weather, though traffic can be heavy and drivers fast. Summer afternoons bring thunderstorms that arrive with little warning and can flood underpasses.
Pretoria is large, with about one and a half million people in the city proper, and fuel, food, repairs and hotels are plentiful, with Centurion to the south as another big hub. Parking near the Union Buildings is possible, but security guards may direct you. Take your time, walk up the gardens and look at the Voortrekker Monument on its hill across the valley, which tells a very different story about the same city. Pretoria rewards slow looking at both.