Cape Town and The Mount Nelson...

Back to Port Elizabeth we go for a short flight to Cape Town, one of my favorite places to visit.  It reminds me of Santa Barbara, but with a MUCH better coastline.  Always fun traveling with these two guys.

We arrived in Cape Town to beautiful weather...blue sky, slight breeze and warm sun.
Just perfect.
We had the opportunity to stay at the Mount Nelson (fondly called, The Nellie).  Mount Nelson, named after Admiral Lord Nelson, was built in 1899 and has become an icon of the city due to impeccable taste and luxury.  First painted pink to celebrate the end of WWI, it's color has earned it the nickname "the pink lady".

 

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 Kinda looks like a Hollywood set...

 

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It's a very, very nice hotel with amazing grounds.  Lets just say our bathroom reminded me of what it might be like to have stayed at Hearst Castle in it's heyday.  And yes, the marble floors were heated.  sigh...

The view from our bathroom window.

Downstairs, the bathroom were no less beautiful.  I especially liked this one, right off the main sitting area since it seemed to be painted the most beautiful shade of Iced Spruce.

 Of course there were elevators (very small wooden elevators), but the stairs were beautiful.

 These vases filled with hand blown glass balls were right by the Master class teaching room.

Inside the room -

I thought I would take you on the trek to breakfast so you could see, just what I saw, each morning.  Take the elevator down to the main floor...walk through the main tea room (high tea around here is a BIG deal...apparently people come from all over to experience it).

 If you turn to the left you can peer into one a bar.  What I loved about the room was the bar stools with an image of Lord Nelson on the back (a detail not lost on me).  The perfect mix of old meets modern.

And were off again.  Through another set of doors to cut through the semi-enclosed tea room.

Out the hotel, down the steps...

 Past a big bird sitting on top of the fountain...

Follow the path...

Past the restaurant (with the wood windows) where we had dinner.

take in some sculpture along the way.  Hummm...not sure about this one??

then past the huge pool...

Finally we are here...pretty much anything you can imagine or want.

 

 Tim's favorite station...just the candy, no crepe of course.

Now on to the teaching...

Master Class

This was a class given for a small group of women.  Glenda had everything prepared, right down to the last piece of ribbon - what a special experience for all who came.  We felt like we got to know everyone so well and had a great time creating together.

Here is one of the final necklaces that was inspired by Connie Fong's necklace she made for CHA in 2013.

 

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 The next day we taught two classes in the upstairs ballroom.

Nothing like teaching in a room full of chandeliers!

I think we all had a good time and got a little messy (which is a good sign in my world).

Love the mixing of the Distress paint colors here.

Someone was VERY organized (and you know who you are...)

Just some of the really nice ladies that were sitting up front (Carolyn, Isabel and Tanya).

Girls from the Master Class

One of the nice things about teaching over the years is seeing some of the same people each time you visit.  One of the people I have stayed in contact with over the years is Jennifer R.  Such a kind person with a funny sense of humor (always important in my book).  This time she brought along her husband Peter for the short getaway to Cape Town.  Jay and I had the pleasure of sitting next to Peter at dinner after the Master Class and we both found him engaging.  I will admit, at first I thought Peter looked like a cast member of Downton Abby, but once you talk to him, you find that he's more like a comedic version of Hemingway (if Hemingway had a comedic side).   Now add in Lynn, Carolyn and Sheldon and we had some lively dinner conversation down at our end of the table.  

Jennifer invited Jay to join herself, Peter and Glenda's very sassy mom ("granny") on a sightseeing adventure while I was in class the next day...again, that kindness comes through.  Thank you to all for making us welcome.

One last day of photos left...the Cape Town coastline...so beautiful it needed it's own private post. 

carry on,

paula