Today’s delight!

Honest and candid photos of rural Romania!

I have the feeling that this way of life, still unchanged for hundreds of years, will be completely gone in 30/40 years….therefore, I was very pleased to discover Adrian Petrisor’s* photography who captures so beautifully the details of our landscape, the beauty and serenity of our mountains, the closeness with the rhythms of nature, the simple, Earth-bound life of the peasants.

Romania…oh, so much to tell about it and where to begin? A country full of contrasts, hope, despair, beauty and sadness….still growing, still adjusting to capitalism and the rapid growth of post-communist industrialization, still trying to find its identity. I am so happy I was born here! After traveling extensively and now, on the verge of settling in a different country, I come to realize all the wonderful things it taught me, how much it shaped my values, my lifestyle and how happy I am to have had the opportunity to learn, through my parents’ and grandparents’ tales, so much about our past (communism)  and through mine and my friends’ endeavors, to shape its present.

If you are curious and want to learn a bit more about my country, feel free to ask anything! :) if you want to check some stuff about it, these resources are pretty good to give you a glimpse into its tourism, politics, nature, how to, etc.

About Romania – basic stuff

Welcome to Romania – blog in Romanian and English with great photos and travel tips! (one of my faves at the mo)

Romania Revealed – another pretty good blog

BBC – Country’s profile

Romania in your pocket

Travel to Romania – how to

Dacians, the ancestors of Romanians, in the Roman Culture around the world

And now, some adventure trips!

Barefoot tours

Active, adventure and wild life tours in Romania

Roving Romania

Hiking Romania

Hunting, fishing, bird watching…

Carpathian trek

Trek and climb

All kinds of other stuff..

Aaannnndd….my personal favorite at the moment! haven’t tried it yet, but definitely want to (is on my bucket list! :) )

Mocanita – real forestry railway, in one of the most beautiful regions of our country: Maramures! Some more about it here!

*Adrian Petrisor is a Cluj-Napoca based photographer who also conducts amazing photo workshops in the mountains and other rural landscapes.

From St Michael’s Church

View over Cluj-Napoca (Iuliu Maniu /”The Mirror Street “- all the buildings have the same shape and size on both sides of the street) from inside St. Michael’s Church. Cluj-Napoca, Romania. August, 2011

Incotro? Where to?

Romania depicted as you’re less likely to see it. Bold, courageous, raw and real. Represented by young, daring and extremely creative Romanian visual artists. They play with graphic design, photography, digital animation, illustration, painting and other forms of expression.

Check out this great project and its outcomes here.

Street art, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. 2010.

Smile! It’s the weekend…

…and Winter almost is, officially, on its way to rest.

Vampire-ish smile in Central Park, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. January, 2010.

The Couple

At Puck Theatre, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. February 2010

Pigeons, Light and People

Central Park, Cluj Napoca, Romania. February, 2010

Options

Tandarica Foundation, Cluj Napoca, Romania. December, 2009

Cluj at its best

Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Museum’s Square. December 1st, 08

…sunny, warm and open.

Cut grass – Phillip Larkin

Cut grass lies frail
Brief is the breath
Many stalks exhale.

Long, long the death
It dies in the white hours
of young-leafed June
with chestnut frames,
with hedges snowlike strewn
white lilac bowed.

Lost laves of Queen Anne’s lace,
And that high-builded cloud
Moving at summer’s pace.

Phillip Larkin “Cut grass” from the “Poems on the Underground” series, presented at the British Council Centre in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Leaves of grass

Leaves of grass bending in the sun and wind. Cluj Napoca, Romania. June 13th 2009.

I believe a leaf of grass is no more than the journey-work of the stars.

Walt Whitman