One of the reasons we were in Brazil was to celebrate our good friend Christiane’s 60th Birthday. She is originally from Brazil, but now she and her husband, Jim, live only 10 minutes from us in Columbia, MO. Her sister Paola has this wonderful Estate in the mountain town of Teresopolis (or Tere for short), about 100 km from Rio de Janeiro. Her friend Cecelia came from Manchester, England, for this special occasion. We were lucky to have arrived at Rio airport just a short time after her and were able to hitch a ride with her to Tere. Teresopolis has much cooler weather than Rio and is a popular summer resort with a picturesque setting amid mountain peaks. Paola’s home has four bedrooms in the main building plus 3 more rooms in the guest house. There is a large balcony going all the way around the main house, which has the best view of the mountains and was the favorite place for all of us to hang out.
Maryam, Christiane’s “Russian Doll,” was an exchange student at Mizzou hosted by Christiane’s family and spent a year at Columbia. She works in Luxemburg and came to be with Christiane on her big day. We found Ms. Irene, a Russian restaurant in Tere, and enjoyed an 18-course banquet that would please even the Russian royal family. We took a nice walk in Sede Petropolis Park—an easy walk with a nice waterfall. We even had time to visit a neighborhood nursery. It has some beautiful and unique flowers.
Many of Christiane’s relatives, cousins, and friends were at her big party. The food was prepared on-site and exquisitely presented. Christiane invited four people with October’s birthdays (including me) to join her at the cake-cutting. Then, the DJ played the music, and we danced the night away. What a lovely celebration that was. We had a wonderful time and a big thanks to Paolo for hosting all of us at her home.
