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Iezer Papusa

Last weekend I had the opportunity to join my friends from the Bucharest Muntenia tourism club in an escapade in the Iezer Papusa massif. We left on Friday evening and came back on Sunday afternoon. We went by bus and we stayed at the Voina cabin – which is more like a hotel than a cabin.

On Saturday, at 5 a.m., everyone who wanted to hike on the trail we had decided on (Vacarea summit – Vacarea sheepfold – Atheneum Cross monument – Rosu peak – Iezer peak) woke up, to leave in about an hour on the trail marked with a red line, hiking on Vacarea summit in a drizzle which later turned to snow. The trail starts on a hill and crosses a gravel road several times. Not long after we began climbing, at about 1100 m altitude, it started snowing with large flakes and the snow settled on the trees and the recently-rained on dried leaves. Read the rest of this entry »

Romania

Just like my mum cooks better than your mum, I can’t be objective concerning my country.

While standing in line in the Vienna airport I was deep in thought while looking at a young Buddhist monk wearing a traditional garment, accompanied by a very beautiful woman. The dream state was broken by the charming approach of a group of noisy women. They were restless, flurried and pleasant, and when they started to ask questions in broken English I burst into laughter.

I like colorful people and, since I met most of them in Romania, I like it here.

I like cultures that overrate themselves and, since Romania is the most familiar to me, I like it here. Read the rest of this entry »

We have the following piece of news in Evenimentul Zilei [The Event of the Day]: Chain accidents and dozens of crashed cars on the highways (here, in Romanian). Obviously, the geographical placement of Romania, a plot from the weather, the bad state of the highway etc. are at fault. I want to see somwhere, written down black on white, that the fault belongs to the Romanian race drivers. I want them put against a wall and see their heads banged against the asphalt until they learn that winter really isn’t like summer and that summer is not like a Formula 1 circuit and that size of the brain is in inverse proportion to the weight of the foot. Read the rest of this entry »

I first met Sibiu a few years ago, when Klaus Johannis wasn’t yet mayor of this beautiful corner of Romania. It was like many other cities in Romania, a bit dusty and a bit sad. Of course, the road that goes along the bank of the Cibin isn’t much better now either. But, after the city was European Cultural Capital last year alongside Luxemburg, something clearly changed.

And, looking from the outside, as a simple tourist, I think that if this German ran for mayor again, I would vote for him hands down. I can’t forget that last summer we stopped in a medieval restaurant, somewhere near the Bridge of the Liars, and we ate very well for normal prices. Read the rest of this entry »