juin 2008

Dear Everyone, For those of you who love tradition, this was really the day to discover that Roumania is not about bare-footed gypsies and Dracula. With the Orthodox festival of St. Peter and St. Paul celebrated in every church across the country, the Muzeul Satului (Village Museum) was transformed into a buzz of colour, music and ambiance today. St. Peter, so-called founder of the church in Rome and crucified 'upside-down' by Emperor Nero for having burned Rome to the ground (when in fact it was the fruitcake Nero who lit the match... [Lire la suite]

I've realised with a certain amount of shame that I have never written a post about the Sighet Memorial Penitentiary in Sighetu Marmatiei, N. Maramures. Having visited it no less than three times and having been profoundly moved by what I saw, my only reasoning for this apparent 'lapsus' is fear of failing. Failing to do justice to the memories of the victims of such unspeakable suffrance and cruelty in the hands of such unspeakable brutes, by my paltry words. Words are so superficial, insignificant. The lives of those lost were not.... [Lire la suite]

Dear Everyone, What a wonderful day! Despite the 34°, Lucia and I were under the shadey trees at Bellu cemetry for the whole afternoon. Five hours of pure bliss, wandering between the memorials, mausoleums, crypts and tombs of the great names of Roumanian history: Cantacuzino, Rosetti, Florescu, Ghica, Filitti and Slatineanu, not to mention writers, doctors, chemists, actors, musicians, composers, diplomats and literary critics of great reknown along with a new generation of VIP's. Bellu cemetry exists, mostly thanks to Baron... [Lire la suite]

Dear Everybody This is just to let you know that part by miracle, part by Gaby's degree in Public Relations and Communications Science, and part by good old Roumanian customer service that albeit didn't exist at Altex ... I have airconditioning both delivered and installed only 48h after purchase. Howzat?! I got home from work yesterday and everything was done. Gaby and Aless waited in, made sure the installers didn't knock down any walls (though I have a few extra-curricular holes to plaster), photocopied the invoice for me, and... [Lire la suite]

Dear Everyone, Rosie and I are off to Brasov for the weekend. Very impatient to see Lidia and Marian - it's been seven weeks since we were last together so there's a lot of catching up to do. The coolness of the mountains isn't far away. Here in Bucharest, it's 29° (so they say but it feels hotter)... And for a change, we're going first class. The difference was 20 ron so thought it was about time we travelled in style. Never taken first class before except the night train to and from Sighet. Rosie has packed her case, the taxi... [Lire la suite]

Whilst in Dalles yesterday, which professes a wonderful second-hand bookshop, I stumbled upon a book of his poetry deliciously translated by various translators. Suffice to say that it's in Romanian, English and Italian, and I'm so thrilled to have found it. What a 'trouvaille'! There I was surrounded by piles of old books, the smell of musty pages in my nose. So what can I tell you about Marin Sorescu? Well, he was born in Bulzesti in 1936, and although invited to places such as Mexico to read and take part in poetry festivals, here... [Lire la suite]

Mihai Eminescu (January 15, 1850 – June 15, 1889), born Mihail Eminovici, was a late romantic Romanian poet, unanimously celebrated as the greatest and most representative of his country. Nicolae Iorga, the Romanian historian, considered Eminescu the godfather of the modern Romanian language.  Eminescu achieved a comprehensive, penetrating and visionary synthesis of the old Thracians, Dacian custom and Latin traditions that have merged over the past two millenia into an original Romanian cultural pattern, extended over the... [Lire la suite]

From Nine O'Clock: Tiav Gallery to open a new exhibition room published in issue 4198, p. 12, 09/06/08 The Foundation SOCIETA Club UNESCO will open a new exhibition room at the Tiav Gallery in the old part of Bucharest (end of str. Cauzasilor, sector 3, just north of Bd. Unirii, off Mihai Voda) on Wednesday 11th June. A group of artists both from Romania and abroad will have permanent exhibitions here. Among them are Letitia Oprisan, Mircia Dumitrescu, Lorin Lucan, Aurel Pastrascu, Radu Dumitru, Rares Pantea, Andrei... [Lire la suite]

Dear Everybody, Happy Sunday! I've just come back from a lovely walk around the Kiselef area with Eugenia. Nicole sent me an album with some gorgeous houses, some of which were in this neighbourhood, and I was keen to go and see them. Eugenia was just as keen, and we'd already had a lengthy discussion regarding the Toma Stelian House. So, this morning we hit the road. Wending our way down str. Bruxelles and str. Washington, we found ourselves on Piata Quito. Flori and I had spent a lot of time here trying to fathom a strange... [Lire la suite]

From the Herald Tribune BUCHAREST, Romania: The Romanian government said Thursday it would return a castle and other confiscated property to former King Michael. Peles castle was built in the mountain resort of Sinaia in the late 19th century by Romania's first German-born king, Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. It was confiscated by the former Communist regime after Michael abdicated in 1947. The nearby Pelisor and Foisor palaces also will be returned. Michael, 85, hailed the return of his castle, a... [Lire la suite]