Romania

First blog roundup of the year

This is what some of our contributors have been up to in their personal blogs. Drop by and say hi!

Marcel, our contributor from Ireland and Berlin, describes how his move back to Berlin across Europe went.

“Crisscrossed Europe in a small and overloaded Japanese car, with the constant fear of getting crushed by my complete household whenever I brake too hard. Thankfully there was no snow and all ferries were running on schedule.”

Anu, our contributor from India, posted an interesting photo essay about images of the sky snapped from different means of transport.

“I am back at last from my trip – the last one of 2011 and also the first one of 2012. I was accompanied throughout by some wonderful weather, the cyclone Thane throwing no hurdles in my path, just a lot of clouds and some rain to enliven our travel! “

Carmen, our contributor from Romania, shows a display of Christmas lights in the city of Bucharest.

DeeBee, our contributor from France, shows a pretty collection of modern shop signs inspired by medieval ones.

Read more
From our contributors: week of December 20
From our contributors: week of December 4
From our contributors: week of November 21

Sweet-Sour Topoloveni Plum Jam

Recently I participated in an open day at Topoloveni Plum Jam Factory, in an anniversary moment: the company celebrated 10 years from takeover by purchasing the production units from Mrs Bibiana Stanciulov, a very energetic and determined woman,  which offered it the chance to continue Romanian jam manufacturing tradition after an old recipe from 1914.

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Express yourself through dance!

The idea of this post was brought to me by one of  Liz’ (one of the Pocket Cultures Founders) posts,  Can dancing unite the world? and the story of Dancing Matt, who travels worldwide persuading people in different countries to join him in a silly dance in the streets.

I don‘t know if the answer is yes or no, but dance certainly brings a lot of people together, creates a bond between them, radiates positive energy and joy and makes them forget their worries, no matter their nationality, age, religion, or social status.

Can you notice this in the pictures below (taken at different cultural events in Bucharest) and feel the energy ? (more…)

From our contributors: 2 August

Here’s the weekly roundup of articles posted by our contributors on their personal blogs:

Carmen, our contributor from Romania, brings us a Bucharest artisan

Mike, our contributor from Japan, attended the Shinugu Matsuri (Festival) in Okinawa:

This weekend an event that happens only once every two years takes place in Ada, a coastal village in the northeast area of Okinawa, Japan.  It’s called the Shinugu Matsuri (Festival) but, there won’t be any of the trappings you’d see at most festivals.

Anu, our contributor from India, writes about a curious monument she came across in Gulab Bhag:

Following a butterfly, we moved away from the well trodden path, and suddenly, right in front of us was a marble edifice. Curious, we moved closer, and both of us were stunned!

Jenna, our contributor from Poland, takes us on a visit to a glass studio in southern Poland and muses about art:

The youngest son’s wife was able to speak about the various sources of her husband’s inspiration: traveling, diving, books, animals, National Geographic specials. But when I asked her about the philosophy behind the art, she was quiet.

 

An Effervescent Summer in Bucharest

No time to be bored in Bucharest this summer! The only problem is to have enough time (and sometimes money!) for all the interesting things that happen in our capital city.

For tourists looking to have fun in Bucharest, Bucharest inhabitants with no holiday money or highly monopolizing jobs, pensioners, children in the summer holiday, grandparents with grandchildren or any other interested person, Bucharest has something to offer. Festivals, concerts, sport events, workshops for children, good vibes and spirits, we had them all.

From the many events, I‘ve chosen for you a few representative examples:

So, there was Street Delivery, campaigning for a city where pedestrians are given the same importance as other road users and trying to determine the cultural authorities to create a pedestrian route in Arthur Verona Street area (City Center).

Therefore, for three days a year, Arthur Verona street close to cars and opens for people.

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From our contributors: 26 July

Here’s another list of posts written by our contributors this week. Good reading!

Carmen, our contributor from Romania, brigs us a snapshot of Bucharest in summer.

“Every weekend of July & August, at Via Sport, Kiseleff Blv. in Bucharest is closed for cars and opened for people who like play sports: tennis, basketball, cycling, etc.”

From the archives of Jason‘s blog (our contributor from USA – West Coast): Quilting Bee in the Andes. [Bolivia]

“I later learned that the contest wasn’t about speed; it was about quality and village involvement. Each of the villages we support had a few months to weave a manta (Andean blanket)…”

Jenna, our contributor from Poland, writes about a chapel built in a salt mine in The Art of Salt.

This chapel is also over 100 meters underground, accessible via 54 flights of wooden planks stacked as steps that zigzag vertically down a narrow shaft, straight into the Earth’s throat. The room is also almost carved entirely, inside out, from a giant block of salt.