GUEST OF THE MONTH (JULY)

In July C38 was full of really nice guests.
It was a tuff decision.
But in the end the chosen one was Sunita Rappai.


She has been traveling for 10 months since she quit her job as a journalist in London and left behind the cold and rain in this great adventure around the world.
After Argentina and lots of steaks she flew to Rio where she supposed to stay for 3 days with her friend Daniel Tickner.
Here she fell in love for the Caipirinha and the city and ended up staying a week more.
She was trying to enjoy the most because Rio was the last stop before she goes back home.


But she wont stop, she is planing to move to Cairo to study again.
C38 team wishes you all the luck in your endless journey.

GUEST OF THE MONTH ( June )

For the very first time a Brazilian guest take the nomination for the month of JUNE.
Renato Mesquita from Porto Alegre has been nominated after his second visit in our premises.
He came first in May together with his partner Tania as he had some business meetings in Rio and did not want to stay in the usual hotels in Copacabana like he did in the past.
Renato couldn t believe that a big city like Rio had a very special and quite neighbor like Santa Teresa, with its little castel where he could find home away from home.


Renato, apart his business, is one of the founder of the Porto Alegre Cia de Danca, who had just presented its first show "Olhos fechados no Sol" with Tania Baumann as the first dancer in the company and Mark Sciezkarek as coreographer, especially invited from Europe. To know more about the Dance Company visit their blog:http://portoalegreciadedanca.blogspot.com/

Congratulation Renato for you title, hopefully you ll be back soon and the Porto Alegre Cia de Danca will be soon presenting in Rio.

France-Brazil year at C38

France-Brazil year starts a bitt early at C38
Once more C38 supported an artistic and cultural project hosting 13 people from a french theater company.
The Parnas theater group come to Brasil to present the spectacle "Le retour au desert" or "The return to desert" written by Bernard-Marie Koltès

That is part of Catherine Marnas' project who creates french theater with brazilian actors.
She has been trough Spain, Mexico and China directing spectacles like, Dom João e Eva Perón
The group was practicing in Rio de Janeiro but the first presentation will be in July at São Jose do Rio Preto Festival.

After that they are going to practice at Théâtre La Passerelle, in Gap and Théâtre des Salins, in Martigues.
In November the real play ll be presented in the famous Théâtre de la Ville in Paris.
2009, during the year "France in Brasil" there are plans for a brazilian tour.

According to Catherine Rio for sure will be one of the stops.
We are looking forward!!!

GUEST OF THE MONTH (MAY)

During the Cannes Film Festival 2008, Benoit et Delphine, won the award here at C38, of the Guest of the Month -May 08. It s not a movie title, but yes one of the nicest couple that we had the chance to meet in our premises.



Benoit Leger had already booked another hotel, but thanks to the suggestion of our common friend Pascal – to whom we ll be dedicating a separated Post soon –he and his wife Delphine had choosen Máster Suíte Bamboo for their stay in Rio.
First timers in Brasil, since the beginning they felt at home and guided by Pascal soon discovered the secret and most authenitc part of the city and the cariocas.



Enthousiastic about the great view from Corcovado 7th wonder of the world and the original centro town with its sucos bars, they have been introduced to the famous TORCIDA Tricolor of Fluminense FC, one of the best football team in Brazil.
They suffered and cheered with the hot crowd at the typical boutequim, MOFO, where the locals always gather when the team plays away. This time the match was in Buenos Aires, against the defending champions of Libertadores Cup, Boca Junior.
Final risult: 2 x 2 and many chopse ( draft beers)s to calm down the anxiety.



Benoit and Delphine, left behind their executives life in Paris and their Vespa, went now to spend some days in Paraty and Ilha Grande – following the suggestions o four previous post about these hidden gems.
They will be back in Rio again next week, with the title of Guest of the Month and two tickets for Maracanã stadium to watch the return match of FLUMINENSE- BOCA JUNIOR, our price for VIP guests!

GUEST OF THE MONTH (APRIL)

Ryan E. Armstrong become our guest of the month in April.

An easygoing guy always joking and chatting with everybody.

After quit his job in Calgary,(leaving behind a boring life) he decided to enjoy the best the world can offer by traveling around the globe by himself for one whole year (lucky bastard :))

Stopping first in Buenos Aires, he then traveled through almost all of South America ending in Brasil, more specifically, Rio .

He has arrived in C38 on the 20th of April and since then, has been trying to understand our country better and improve his tan . (quick tip: drop the SPF 50, or U' ll never get there!)

To nobody's surprise, he fell in love with this marvelous city, the girls and beaches and he will probably do it again during this amazing journey!!

He still has a long way to go; Madrid, Berlin, Egypt, Asia and on from there till' 2009!


Have fun!!!


Best wishes from C38 team

GUESTS OF THE MONTH (March)

Katia and Marco are working together for Tucano ( www.tucano.it ) a famous Design company that produce computers bags and accessories, and they travel the world constantly for business. But for their holiday they have chosen Castelinho38!!
They are coming from Milan ( Italy ) and arrived in Rio with a last minute flight instead of going to their winter holiday in Val Badia (Italian Alps )!!



Katia and Marco were our guests in December 2006, and unfortunately by that time weather conditions were not the best, and Katia did not see the city on its normal sunny days. Marco, a great basketball player, is very familiar with Brasil as he has been working for TIM-Brasil (Mobile telecommunication) during a couple of years in the past and was on his third time at Castelinho38, being one of our first guest during July 2006. During their stay this time they acted like perfect "cariocas" and spent a lot of time on the beaches, hired a car and discovered the sand of Barra, Priainha and Grumari, visited a favela and almost played basketball on the local playground.



We are missing them already and looking forward to have them again in our premises, they were the perfect guests, and left a lot of friends here. Don t go skiing and come back soon!!

Young Guests

Castelinho38 would like to dedicate today s post to the youngest generation,as we can't never forget that what we r building today will remain for them tomorrow.


Giulia Di Pasquale

During our last visit in Europe,which touched Venice, Trieste, Paris and London, we had the pleasure to spend time with our friends sons and daughters, some of them recently born and others between 1 and 3 years old.
Conversation with them was not easy sometimes but we managed to understand each other well.


Tea Fortunato with Cecilia Altin

Winter time in Europe can be tough, low temperatures, cold wind and rain are sometimes difficult to face with a baby. But all the parents and sons we met were doing incredibly well so far, even better than ourselves struggling against the cold...


Nina Porto Drioli

Of course the possibility of coming to visit us at Castelinho38 has been an injection of warm and sunny vibes for most of them, even the youngest ones seemed to enjoy Castelinho38 pictures and views.


Alice Cresti

We therefore will concentrate our next marketing campaign to attract more and more young guests together with their parents here at our premises, where we've already equipped rooms with extra small beds and little chairs.


Olivia Morosina Altan

In the past we had the chance to host severals young guests here at C38, and they all seemed to enjoy very much together with their parents.


Kalu White Thompson

Guest of the month (February)

Músico, produtor musical, DJ e batuqueiro. Um apaixonado por música. Assim é Hej Jomes, nosso hóspede do mês.

Durante os meses que antecederam o carnaval, Hej dividiu seu tempo entre os ensaios do Monobloco – famoso grupo de músicos, que tem o samba como base – e a realização de um sonho, que era tocar na bateria de uma escola de samba. O desejo foi realizado este ano: tocou na São Clemente, uma das primeiras escolas do grupo especial que desfilaram no Sambódromo.

Depois de seis anos morando em terras brasileiras, o músico volta para a Inglaterra, onde dará aulas de percussão em escolas, e leva na bagagem alguns projetos. Um deles é uma nova turnê com o Monobloco, com quem toca há três anos.
Ano passado Hej e companhia fizeram apresentações e oficinas de percussão pela Europa. O sucesso foi tanto que repetirão a dose este ano. Em agosto o grupo participa de um festival de world music, o WOMAD, organizado por Peter Gabriel.
Como o carnaval, uma cultura genuinamente brasileira, contagia a todos, os ingleses importaram a nossa folia. E foi em um bloco de carnaval na Inglaterra que Hej tomou gosto por percussão (começou tocando surdo em um bloco de um amigo, o Norwich Samba) e conheceu Dawn, sua mulher, que tocava no mesmo bloco. Dessa união nasceu o pequeno Oliver, agora com dois anos, que já ganhou um ‘drum’ dos pais. É a música passando de pai pra filho.

Hej, boa sorte com seus projetos e muita música!

GUEST OF THE MONTH (JANUARY)

Born in London (UK) to a Barbadian father and British-Jamaican mother, Soweto Kinch is one of the most exiting and versatile young musicians to hit the British jazz scene in recent years.

Kinch began playing saxophone at the age of nine after learning clarinet at primary school. After meeting Wynton Marsalis four years later he discovered and became passionate about jazz, first concentrating on piano and later, in his teens, focusing on alto saxophone.

He is a talented saxophonist who has won numerous accolades including the Rising Star Award at the 2002 BBC Jazz Awards and the prestigious White Saxophone prize at the Montreux Jazz Festival. In 2003 and 2007 he won the MOBO prize for Best Jazz Act. In the same year his debut album Conversations With The Unseen was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, but Kinch lost to grime MC Dizzee Rascal. 2004 saw Kinch win two BBC Radio Jazz Awards; Best Instrumentalist and Best Band along with the Peter Whittingham Award for Jazz Innovation.

If you don't know Soweto's works yet, here are tow tips: ‘A Life in the Day of B19: Tales of the Towerblock’ e
‘Conversations With The Unseen’. Check it out!!!



Jam session at Castelinho38 (Soweto, Casey, Hej)

Castelinho38 no Cantinho da Fofoca

A chuva que tem caído no Rio resolveu dar uma trégua e ontem, dia 24, staff e hóspedes do Castelinho38 resolveram sair para comemorar o aniversário da Eryka, a mais recente membro da nossa equipe.
Fomos até o Cantinho da Fofoca, um bar íntimo e aconchegante que fica na Glòria, outro tradicional bairro da cidade. O bar oferece uma programação cultural variada que prima pelo bom gosto. Somado a isso, a casa ainda oferece cachaças artesanais mineiras, cerveja gelada e petiscos deliciosos. Antigos aparelhos de televisão, telefones e bicicletas compõem a decoração peculiar do local.
Às quintas-feiras um grupo de músicos sempre se reúnem para uma jam session de jazz e nesta quinta contou com a participação do saxsofonista inglês Soweto Kinch, que roubou a cena e arrancou muitos aplausos do público.


Soweto Kinch

E foi nesse ambiente de alegria e descontração que começamos a esquentar os tamborins... No fim de semana nossos amigos Soweto, Casey, Toyn, Christian e Martin terão a oportunidade de conhecer um pouco do nosso carnaval de rua. È que no sábado dois blocos desfilam pelas ruas de Santa Teresa: o Céu na Terra e o Rio Maracatu.
Com certeza serão outros momentos inesquecíveis!

HANG GLIDING IN RIO

Castelinho38 is famous for its spectacular view of the city. But nothing beats the feeling of the wind in your hair, your feet dangling in the clouds and the morning sun breaking over Rio.


(Oliver, Hique, Simone)

Meet Oliver and Simone from Germany. Castelinho38 was lucky enough to have these two adventurers twice during their stay in Rio de Janeiro.

Guest of the month (December)

Castelinho38 is honored to present the guest of the month, Mike Marshall, one of the best mandolin, guitar and violin performers in the world.

Mike left behind the cold weather for the tropics on his tour of Brazil, where he performed in Sao Paulo, Curitiba and Rio de Janeiro.

In Rio de Janeiro, Mike shared the stage with another great mandolinist, brazilian musician Hamilton de Holanda. Together they left the crowd speechless at the Centro Cultural Carioca with the rhythmic beats and lilting chords of the choro (a traditional brazilian musical form originating in Rio de Janeiro). The Centro Cultural Carioca, www.centroculturalcarioca.com.br which has been hugely supportive of brazilian music such as Samba, MPB and Jazz, is now the newest partner of Castelinho38.

We were ecstatic to have Mike stay in Castelinho38 for his 5 day stint in Rio, filling our breezy rooms with his humor, charisma and music.

We wish you the best Mike, and you’re definitely in our hit parade.

Guest of the month 11/07

Invited in Rio by the FESTIVAL PANORAMA ( International Contemporary Dance Festival) in order to develop his next project, JUAN ANTONIO DOMINGUEZ spent 20 days in our premises and has been elected our guest of NOVEMBER.
He is an unconventional character, a Spaniard living in Berlin, whose art is a mix between dance and an ability to recycle everyday life’s activities. An interpreter, performancer, choreographer and the managing artistic of In-Presentable Festival, but among all a great character and always joking style of person. He spent most of his days working hard, meeting people and developping his next project " de la...a la..." together with his friend Xavier Le Roy ( already a guest of us during the last year Panorama Festival), but he has definetly conquered Castelinho38s staff for his humor, kindness and tortillas.
We are going to miss you querido JUAN, keep in touch!!
Check the lin www.panoramafestival.com for more info about the festival.

Mr & Mrs Smit

We had the pleasure to host a wonderfull couple, even better than Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Our Smits, Niki and Xander, are coming from Holland and are now travelling north of Brazil. The very first coincidence is that they are not yet married but still have the same family surname. Second, Xander has the same name of Niki s father and was born the same day/month....
The surprises are not over yet...we have found out that Niki is a very well known writer back home, she writes for the youngest ones, and this is her web page: http://www.nikismit.web-log.nl/
Wishing you all the best, 100% Castelinho38!

Guest of the month 10/07

MARTINA OTTO has been unanimously elected our Guest of the Month (october 07)
For her kindness, smiles, great attitudes and positive vibes the staff of Castelinho38 felt a strong connection with her since the very beginning. Martina is travelling a lot for business reason and felt at home with our unformal and easy way to host people. Martina was born in Germany and since 1999 works for the United Nations, more exactly for its Enviromental Programme (UNEP). Recently she moved back to Paris, where she already lived for several years in the past, after a mission in Nairobi (Kenya). Thanks to the Nairobi connections she has been reccomended to stay at Castelinho38 during her stay in RIO.



Martina is enjoying the neighbourhod and has taken samba classes, having the best of Rio night life partecipating to live brazilian music show and hanging around street bands. She loved the master suite BOUGAINVILLE at the second floor of the castel, now with a new identification signal. A special thanks to MARTINA in the name of Castelinho38 staff for the great time we have together and congratulation for being elected our GUEST of the MONTH.

SELECAO DO CASTELINHO38

NOSSO HOSPEDE PABLO DE MADRID NOS ENVIOU ESSA FOTO, PARA AGRADECER A TODA EQUIPE PELO FANTASTICA ESTADIA.
O CASTELINHO38 TAMBEM GOSTARIA DE AGRADECER AOS SEUS HOSPEDES POIS AQUI SO TIVEMOS PESSOAS ESPECIAIS, COM ALTO ASTRAL E HISTORIAS INCRIVEIS.
VOLTEM SEMPRE, JA ESTAMOS COM SAUDADES.

LOVE

Hóspedes

Há um ano que o Castelinho38 está aberto, já tendo passado muitos hóspedes, de diversos países, que aproveitaram o belo e tranqüilo ambiente, proporcionado por encontros, amizades, festas e muitas saudades... Obrigado pelas boas lembranças!!