Our dear Cris – Puppy from Chria – if you don’t know her, she’s the responsible for the English blog sweetblogchria.com; and she’s also my husband’s daughter.

Well, Cristina is specialist when we talk about pizzas. Guys, it was something! I’ve never eaten so much pizza! And delicious pizzas…

Cris! You were wonderful!!!!! I can’t wait to have pizza again…

So, here goes a little bit for you…

Chris

Last weekend we went (the whole family) to LindnerHof hotel, in Rio dos Cedros – SC – Brazil, to celebrate my hubby’s birthday. My brother-in-law – Horst (who owns the hotel) invited us all. Horst, thank you sooo much!

Let me tell you a little about the hotel. It’s a charming hotel built where originally was the Lindner Sawmill – my father-in-law’s sawmill.

Everything was preserved during the remodeling; the machines are there as accessories and furniture (like the front desk counter). Its architecture was also preserved; they kept the history in there, to be remembered…

I enjoy watching my hubby’s family keeping its traditions and history, it’s really great!

And this weekend we had it all: feijoada (a traditional Brazilian dish made with black beans), horse rides, Jeep rides, everybody together around the fireplace, pizzas (delicious pizzas) made by Cristina (Puppy from Chria) and a lot of wine!!!!! Wow!

I needed a place like that to relax. It’s amazing how we are swallowed by routine, our daily life, work…we realize that even weekends are gone…well, I took a deep breath, meditated at the waterfall, talked a lot, played with my kids…got my energy back!

It was a fantastic weekend! I recommend, do it!!!

If you want to know more about LindnerHof…click here!

Have a great week!

Chris

Bonsoir!

Let’s continue our trip to South Africa; and I invite you to go to Table Mountain (its official name was Sea Mountain; then Antonio de Saldanha named it Table Mountain in 1503).

Well, there are several ways to climb it: we chose the cable car, but there are exciting trails available (in this case, don’t count on me! LOL)…

Table Mountain is part of the Table Mountain National Park, an important touristic spot and World Heritage Site. Its main characteristic is the plateau with about 3km, rounded by cliffs, 1086m above the ocean.

The view is incredible…you can see all Cape Town, the beaches, the gorgeous Green Point (I’ll show you it soon) and the Atlantic Ocean with its fantastic blue sea…

But you can’t climb it when it suits you. The mountain is frequently surrounded by clouds …

It’s a wonderful tour – being there makes you think…sit on the rocks, have a picnic, take some pictures, visit the museum, watch all details without being in a hurry, look at the horizon and see how small our problems are…and thank God for our lives.

Well, I hope you enjoy it!

Chris

Hello guys!

From now on starts a trip to South Africa – with safari and many other adventures.

I’ll share my sketchbook with you –I’ll tell you how the trip was, and other fascinating things…photos, drawings, sensations, food, people, fool things, an elephant attacks…many things I went through and I learnt over there; and I’ll be very happy to share them here with you. It’s going to be fun…LOL

The trip started just perfect; because we (my hubby and I) were part of a group made of architects awarded by Giroflex…it was really amazing. Actually, my hubby was presented, but I couldn’t resist and I bought my ticket and went with them…

After hours traveling, I couldn’t resist to the sumptuous bedroom from the Table Bay Hotel (Cape Town), with a gorgeous view to Waterfront harbor, and I fell on bed…fantastic!

Well, until that moment, South Africa was different from everything I’ve imagined. We were in Cape Town, a business city, administrative power headquarters, gorgeous beach houses, sumptuous stores, a very rich town, different from what I’ll show you from Johannesburg (their capital).

In Cape Town you almost don’t see public transportation, just a train for the population. But they have many fancy cars.

I have to go now, hubby calls (kind of complaining…”you’re always on the internet! You don’t have time for me”…LOL)…he knows I love it here!

But now, I gotta go…see ya!

Chris

Good night friends!

I share with you a little bit of what I experienced in Cape Town (South Africa).

Let’s visit the Two Oceans Aquarium, which is located in Cape Town – Waterfront, a huge area with a marina, sumptuous hotels, stores, malls, clubs… – everything related with entertainment. So gorgeous!!!! If you go to South Africa to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, you can’t miss this place!!!

Well, this aquarium is huge; it shows the diversity of marine life found in two oceans: Indic and Atlantic. After all, this continent is the place where these two oceans get together.

The aquarium is one of the most important touristic spots in Cape Town; and it has over 3,000 animals including sharks, fishes, turtles and penguins. They can all be seen in this spectacular underwater natural reserve.

Tanks with several species are all over the place, where it’s possible to touch and feel their textures and to experiment new feelings…please, don’t try it with the sharks!

I hope you like it!

Have all a great week!!

Chris

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi!

Today I’ll show you a little bit of Kapama and the animals I saw during an exciting safari at Kapama Game reserve – around Kruger National Park.

Kapama River Lodge is a hotel / spa with 64 rooms and an amazing structure, inside the reserve I told before…you go to safaris with specialized rangers, capable to identify different animals, including the Big Five.

The hotel architecture is unique, all integrated with nature – without frames (the weather allows it) and with big openings to the outside. A local straw mixed with daub covers the walls, creating a unique texture and color – awesome! The natural finishing keeps the comfort and sophistication…A wood persian blind keeps the sun away from the inside – so nostalgic and welcoming…

I’ll show you here how these 3 days were…

xxxx

Now, some pictures from the suite – it has Kapama’s River view – it’s possible to see zebras and impalas really near our balcony – the landscape is wonderful…I loved the decoration, simple and original – the graphism in the handmade blanket…several details make all difference.

 

Now girls – imagine me in a spa, massages and crèmes and special oils…wow! I couldn’t believe when my hubbie gave me this spectacular afternoon… as a gift! It was very funny…I didn’t know all that ritual of changing clothes here, got here, lay down here…bathing gown, sleepers…so many things! But I just thought: “I must relax and enjoy, right?” And everything was just great, fantastic! I didn’t want to leave…a Bach song, awesome! And guess what? The attendant was a Brazilian girl, from Bahia!

…We used to get up at 5 in the morning, just have a fast breakfast and at 6am we needed to be ready to go to the first safari – and there were 3 every day!

Folks, it was so cold! The ranger used to go everywhere inside the savanna, all places looking for the animals. The next safari was at 3 in the afternoon and the last one was just before dinner, at 7pm. We used to stop in the middle of each safari to forgather with a Champaign toast.

We saw a lot of animals, even the Big Five – awesome! We have even been chased by an elephant!

Well, after all this, a thematic dinner was offered by the hotel, with local dance groups presentations. African food – wonderful – I just don’t know how to explain all this…I loved all! Awesome!

We had 3 unforgettable days, I recommend it to everybody who wants to go to Africa and enjoy a safari. And Kapama’s trip in a DC4, you can see here: http://www.sweetblogchria.com.br/?cat=143.

I hope you enjoyed! Big kiss!

Chris

Hello!!

I’m now sharing with you a special album – order made by a Chria’s client, who went to India and wants to show her photos in a special way… I loved doing it – dedication and research days, so it could become a unique object…Now, looking at it done, I felt that I really wanted to be there – in India – it’s a place I didn’t visit yet, but I’m sure it’s amazing…

Yesterday, fairy Amanda said: “- Chris, imagine this album full of photos and annotations!”… I felt a chill, and I could stay for hours looking at it hihihihihi… – photo album is always something special, right?

Albums should be faced like decoration objects – so your friends may also enjoy it … – besides, it makes the house have your stile, in the end it becomes a personalized and unique concept – so: take your albums out of the drawer, decorate its cover and put them above tables and sideboards… – it’s beautiful and lovely!

Big kiss…