Countdown to South Africa

 

South Africa will be home to millions of football fans this June with the upcoming World Cup. When we visited last year in December the stadium was being prepared and there was a buzz and an accelerating excitement. For those that will be visiting summer here is a quick itinerary for Cape Town and the coast.

 

It is a well delayed article... But here goes:

 

 

 

1st day: Cape Town

 

• Hotel recommendation for those who just want to chill out: Cape Standard
• Sightseeing: Camps Bay and waterfront for an evening cocktail. Long Street- Khyan Yana restaurant, 267 Long street, for Game meat

2nd day: Around Cape Town

 

• Sightseeing:

Hout Bay, Simons Town, great fishing villages. Very serene.

Cape of Good Hope Nature reserve - seafood @Two Oceans Restaurant, lots of baboons!
Table Mountain cableway and trekking at Signal Hill. On the day we were there the cableway wasn’t working due to fog, nature had its way.

 

3rd day: Cape Wineyards and Franschoek

 

• Sightseeing: Wineyards along the way; 1. Neethlingshof 2.Blauwklippen 3. Stellenbosch

Franschoek has mini street that is great for a walk out, but all the more the whole town is covered by hills and trekking routes.

• Hotel : Le Petite Ferme (strongly recommended)
• Dinner: Reubens (strongly recommended)

 

4th day: Cape Wineyards and Knysdna

 

Breakfast at Le Petite Ferme is a wonderful way to start the day.

 

After breakfast we went for hiking and walks around the hills.Cabrier wineyard was very close to our hotel...

 

Wineyard: Cabriere (specializes in sparkling wine)

 

Then on the route to Knysdna ...

 

Knysdna is a small village by the sea, usually preferred for summer vacations by the locals.

 

• Hotel: Cunninghams Island Guest House at Knysdna, Leisure Island. This is family run hotel. Very safe and quiet.
• Dinner: Cornuti, Knydna at the enterance of harbour (Tuna Nicoise Salad recommended). I cannot forget this restaurant. Very honest very blue+white.

5th day: Knydsna/ Plettenberg Bay/Addo

 

Its a tradition to start the day by jogging at Knysna. If you don’t you’re missing out on the local way of life. Everybody is out there ages 0-80.

 

Depart to Plettenberg Bay

Lunch at Cornuti's @Plettenberg. This nice restaurant has another branch in Plettenberg Bay. This is the original one. This one is located in a hill overlooking the bay, where as the one in Knydsna is located in the entry of a canal.

Leaving Plettenberg Bay we went to Addo. In Addo, you begin to smell the earth and dwell into nature. Addo Elephant Park is the main attraction there, its the small village is very close to Port Elizabeth which is a rusty and semi-developed port city. The number of local villagers effected by HIV and AIDS- the stories that you hear will bring you back to harsh realities of real life. 

• Sightseeing: Addo Elephant Park tour - animals: meerkat, elephant , buffalo
• Dinner at Lenmore's at Addo.This is the only restaurant there.
• Hotel: Valleyview Hotel

6th day: Addo/Port Elizabeth

 

The reason why I am writing the list of main animals sighted for these parks is that there is a whole idea of if one has seen the Big 5 in the wild discussion. The Big 5 is the rhino, lion, tiger, buffalo and elephant. Apparently its important to sight them all.

• Daniel Cheetah Breeding Farm- animals: Lion cubs, cheetah. This place was great as you can cuddle up to lion cubs...
• Addo Croc and Lion Ranch- animals: crocs, bengal tiger
• Lunch at Lenmore's. As before, this is the only restaurant available.
• Private Game reserve-animals: zebra,eland,giraffe,rhino,lions,kudu . There are many private games. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the name of our one ...

7th day: Route back to Plettenberg Bay

• Tsitsikamma National Park for walking+swim +lunch. This national park is recognized for its trekking routes, beaches, botanics, whale and dolphin watching areas and of course the fish&chips!
•  Bungee Jumping 217 m -worlds largest along the way. This is another stop on the way, we didn’t jump but watched alot of people instead.
•  Hotel: Halycon Guest House,Plettenberg Bay. Family run hotel.
•  Dinner: The Plettenberg Hotel (reservation required, strongly recommended)
•  Plettenberg bay is ideal for...bodysurfing,paddling at the lagoon.

 

 

 

 

 

Cape Town- Tabletop Mountain

Cape Town/Tabletop Mountain II

Camps Bay

Camps Bay II

Camps Bay III

Cape Wineyards

A Tribute: George O'Keefe and Fahr el Nissa Zeid

For my next painting my thoughts are along the lines of Fahr el Nissa Zeid meets George O'Keefe.

I'm still working on how that will be possible... and will be happy to post the results.
In the meantime, here is tribute to the inspirations.




The pictures are taken from various websites.

Project: Wedding

Last year around these dates, I spent alot of time looking over websites, blogs, magazines for  wedding ideas.

With the wedding season on the go for 2010, here are some pics that inspired me:

Also, the perfect shoe is crucial for that perfect day. For that Manolo's are timeless classics. Here is my favourite in different colour specs:

Bubbly Bodrum

It's amazing when one can forget everything with just 2 days in Bodrum. Whether it be the fresh air or the first splash in the cool waters of the Mediterranean Bodrum has an eternal effect on the body & soul.

This refreshment brought with it some inspiration for decoration. Bodrum is usually renowned for its blue waters, white lego-like blocks of buildings and pink begonvilles.

Travelling in May, the streets were empty. The only passengers on the streets were the stray dogs walking in groups. The smell of pine trees and the lemon trees made itself all the more evident. Hence, the inclusion of the greens and yellows on our traditional blue+white colour palette.

Grace Kelly Style

What does a volcano eruption and an eternal epitomy of style have in common ? The answer: me.
Last week of April I was stuck in London for about 7 days. Initially the trip was for 20 hrs in total.
One has to make the most of what they've got and frankly there are worse places to be stuck at.

Making the most of this time I found myself at the Victoria and Albert Museum ticket que, trying to get into the Grace Kelly: Style Icon exhibition.

Elegance.
These days we get caught up in the whirlwind of modern day life and forget to dress properly. Grace Kelly's outlook on life, posture, dramatic flow of pastel chiffons and her life time accessories such as eye glasses and the Kelly bag makes you stop ... and think for a while.

The garments were sewn to perfection through every detail. They were designed to meet the needs of the family and monarchy life  she was leading. She did go though a change after the life in Hollywood changed and she resumed her monarchial and motherhood responsibilities.

She has left a fair impression. And eventually I found myself in bookstore looking for a biography.
Vanity fair also had an article on her life and style which can be found at: http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/features/2010/05/grace-kelly-201005?currentPage=1

Here are some examples:

She remains an icon of style and will be a source of inspiration for many artists, designers and women around the world.