home sweet home

Bulgaria - once upon a time ...

ioana — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:03:00 GMT

… there was a Bulgarian Empire, spread all over the Balkans and more. It sounds surreal today, but in Veliko Tarnovo, the old capital, there is an impressive fortress (Tsarevets) which still stands to prove the glorious past. It’s a ruin, of course and the rest of the town looks like falling apart. Sic transit gloria mundi… 1 hour is enough for a visit and a photo session. The panoramic view over the town and Yantra river is beautiful, at sunset especially.

If you see ugly things, strange color combinations, if you feel visually aggressed, close your eyes and listen: Bulgaria has fantastic rhythm. They know music.

Found tasty food in a tavern for architects: tatar kiftea = meatball filled with chopped mushrooms, cheese and pickled cucumbers. The bitter taste of disappointment came along with the coffee, which I hoped to be real, traditional – and proved to be just a banal espresso from a capsule. Why?

I really wish countries like Bulgaria would value their traditions more and take pride in respecting them. It took me so long to find Bulgarian made cosmetics, based on rose essence produced locally. Way too long, considering they produce 85% of the rose oil in the world. And no, thanks, I don’t want Bvlgari perfume based on Bulgarian roses – I want Bulgarian products.

Next time I will visit Bulgaria, I want to see the Valley of Roses and I hope to see people smiling.

Gallery: Veliko Tarnovo

ioana — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:49:00 GMT

Tsarevets

Budapest and its gypsies

ioana — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:47:00 GMT

For me, that week, Budapest looked frozen and dormant. The city sights are beautiful and grand and the spa-s and thermo baths are really impressive.

If I’ve got enough courage to walk in the cold along Danube is because I knew there was a sauna waiting back at the hotel.

The unforgettable experience was my visit to the National Art Museum, in Buda Castle.

I don’t exactly regret the time I spent for the ground floor and first floor, at least it wasn’t freezing. But I would have never thought that such objects would ever pass as “art” and be displayed in a museum. First I was trying to find some excuses or some strange circumstances. In the end I blamed myself for not being enough open to other expressions of arts. Close to abandon and return in the street when saw a poster sending to the upper floor, to visit a gypsy art gallery. Intriguing, nice, different, daring combinations of bright colors that somehow reminded me of the streets of India and color combinations used for saree-s. I was also surprised to read the statistic, I didn’t know there are really so many gypsies living in Hungary.

Later on at the hotel, the musicians performing in the lounge are gypsies too. For me, Hungarian gypsies brought a splash of sound and color over a monochrome city.

I kept searching for something authentic and I found something I liked, close to a skating park. It was a monument dedicated to all their kings and rulers, for almost 900 years, from their arrival in Europe until recent times. I liked the sculptures a lot because they were so expressive and so green.

Their first rulers were rough Mongol guys all riding horses and could notice that: with the passing of time, kings were becoming more and more fat and ugly, giving up on their horses first, then giving up to holding weapons as well. It was interesting to meet all of them chronologically.

I am glad I’ve been to Budapest, although I don’t feel any urge to go there again – reason being that I don’t think it’s more to discover. It’s a charming Central European city, of course, and I liked it more than Prague, but it’s somehow neutral.

I left wondering what is in fact the true Hungarian spirit and their true style?

Gallery: Tanger

ioana — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 10:15:00 GMT

Gallery: Luzern

ioana — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 09:51:00 GMT

Gallery: Amsterdam

ioana — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 08:46:00 GMT

Red Light District

Gallery: Tel Aviv

ioana — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 08:29:00 GMT

Gallery: Sankt Petersburg

ioana — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 08:05:00 GMT

Gallery: Gibraltar

ioana — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 07:45:00 GMT

Gallery: Hadrian's Wall

ioana — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 07:32:00 GMT

Newcastle upon Tyne

Gallery: Scotland

ioana — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 07:01:00 GMT

perfect summer

ioana — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 06:27:00 GMT

Visiting my brother in Limassol (he had to work there for a couple of years) was what I’d call “a perfect summer”.

His apartment was 10 meters away from the beach. For a month I had a personal and daily battle against the sand invading the balcony and the rest of the house. After a month I gave up because, in fact, I love sand. I just had to learn to accept it everywhere.

The sea is incredible salty and calm, with absolutely no waves and the sand is more like a cement dust or something.

If you visit Cyprus during the summer, June-July-August, as I did, I suggest you find something to keep you busy between 10 am till 5 pm, because it’s way too hot to stay on the beach. For instance I slept, because I was out all night. There is a strange discomfort that I felt in some evenings, because it was too hot and too humid outside – so I was unable to sweat.

I don’t think food was very impressive, but you can’t be so hungry when it’s so hot – salads keep you alive and ice-creams keep you happy.

I liked Nicosia very much, we walked on so many small and empty streets, with many houses left in ruin but with nice proportions and decorations. I did not cross into the Turkish side of Cyprus, and I couldn’t see much over the dividing wall.

There are impressive ancient mosaics in Paphos.

And of course I wanted to see the place where the legend says Aphrodite was born, from the foam of the sea waves. Before being there, I was wondering what’s so extraordinary about foam of sea waves; but only after I saw that calm and dull sea, the legend made sense. On this beach there is a stone in the water and it’s the only source of waves and foam – and what’s rare is precious and beautiful. The few bushes on that beach were all covered with ribbons – from people who come to pray for love matters.

Cats enjoy a great respect in Cyprus, something like cows in India, let’s say. And they are so naughty that they dare to jump on your table and steal your meal if you don’t pay attention.

Lack of water can be an issue: in difficult times you can’t wash your car because this is considered to be a waste. The building had a water tank with water collected during the rainy season.

I liked to see bushes of oleander everywhere and I took some and planted back home – it’s interesting to see how they hibernate during winter and then they grow up so fast.

All my clothes lost their initial color due to sun exposure …

Gallery: Budapest

ioana — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 05:02:00 GMT

Gallery: Limassol - Nicosia

ioana — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:11:00 GMT

perfect summer

Gallery: Basel

ioana — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 04:04:00 GMT

I miss Moldova

ioana — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 03:25:00 GMT

I’ve been to Chisinau, capital of Moldova – for 9 times and if I will go again, as I intend to, is for the people, who always spoiled me with the best food and wine I ever tasted, and because I like their genuine and passionate way.

Each time I stayed at the same hotel, Leo Grand, in the city center. They have somebody playing harp during breakfast and piano in the evening. Location is good.

The best time to visit Moldova might be October, it all looks golden. Outside the city, you see only soft hills covered by vineyards, with walnut trees by the road and even the sunlight is golden and it’s undisturbed silence and silence is golden too. And I found so many mushrooms in the forests :)

In the city: Stefan cel Mare is the main boulevard, there you’ll see many gold shops and exchange houses. The rate for exchange might seriously change from one day to another and you must carry some cash with you.

Wine: is the national pride and for good reasons, both quality and quantity. A visit to the “Milestii Mici” cellars is a must, is very close to Chisinau, and it’s the biggest cellar in the world, with 200 km of galleries of 50-80 meters underground and it impressed me more than the visit to the Epernay – Champagne. You travel by bus, in a underground wine city, where there are streets and boulevards with storage walls both sides. Thousands of bottles from 30 years ago sleep there, neglected, waiting to be tasted and labeled and sent on the market, because indeed there is so much wine there. Putin celebrated there his 50^th anniversary. After the visit you are invited for wine tasting in the sound of traditional music played by “lautari”. Give them a 20 lei note and ask them to play “Zaraza”.

You can buy wine from special shops along Stefan cel Mare boulevard, but also from any supermarket, like “No1” across the street from Leo Grand hotel. Special for ladies: get a bottle of CAHOR, Purcari vineyards.

Other goodies / gift ideas: you can find a wide selection of teas, not only from China, India and Japan, but also from Russia and other ex-soviet republics, which are interesting. You can also get green-walnut confiture, or orange caviar from Kamceatka.

Food: all Romanian dishes taste so much better in Moldova, I like very much the restaurant “La Taifas”, in Chisinau, on Bucuresti street. All rustic style, but this is what they do best in Chisinau. They should never try to be modern or trendy. This makes them unique. Eating out is very affordable, so there is an abundance of other restaurants. And what is interesting is that they have exotic presences: Tatar, Gagauz, or Uzbek restaurants – like Caravan, also close to Leo Grand hotel. Placinta, very good pastry is available almost everywhere, even by catering.

People show almost overwhelming hospitability. Yet – don’t expect them to display smiles or excel in small talk. But they will really look after you to be sure you have all possible comfort and they insist you eat until you feel you’ll explode. If you want to refuse something you have to do it at lest twice, because it’s considered polite from your side to refuse once and polite from their side to insist more.

A nice gesture is to bring a small gift, something symbolic and representative from your country. I learned to do so because I always left Chisinau with few bags of gifts they insisted to offer me.

Gallery: Rucar Bran Brasov

ioana — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 02:04:00 GMT

Gallery: Solothurn

ioana — Sun, 8 Nov 2009 01:44:00 GMT

with my dear friend Nicole

Gallery: Zurich

ioana — Sun, 8 Nov 2009 01:39:00 GMT

Gallery: Black Sea

ioana — Sun, 8 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Constanta