Ognyan
May 29, 2014
Ah, stereotypes! Those handy mental shortcuts which assist us in our daily lives occasionally lead us astray, too. As a neighbor, I’m heading to Romania with a bunch of preformed ideas and convictions. Here are some of the most salient ones and how they measure up to the facts. Corn is everywhere Mamaliga: The amazing maize goodness I most associate […]
May 11, 2014
After an eventful run through Transylvania, it is time I head southeast and towards the big whopper of my journey. I am talking, of course, about Bucharest, the “Paris of the East”. City of joy The Triumphal Arc on Kiseleff Road. In its modern form, it beautifies Bucharest since the 1930s. (Source) The origin of the name “Bucharest” (“București” in […]
April 29, 2014
My journey through Transylvania has been vampire-free so far, but it’s high time to fill this major gap. My third destination happens to be the birth place of Vlad the Impaler. It’s hard to believe the fair city of Sighisoara was once the home of the ruler whose ruthlessness inspired Bram Stoker to create the archetypal Nosferatu: Count Dracula. The […]
April 15, 2014
My Romanian holiday fantasy continues eastward and takes me to Brasov (Braṣov in Romanian), one of Transylvania’s finest cities. It was originally an old Saxon settlement, the birth place of the Romanian national anthem, and home to the Golden Stag Festival which features world-class musical entertainment year after year. I can’t wait to explore! Crowned for greatness In the Middle […]
March 28, 2014
Since honesty is always the best policy, I must start with a confession: I have not visited Romania yet. I flew over it a couple of times, but it was cloudy, so it’s safe to say I have never touched or even spotted Romanian soil. Not for much longer, though! This summer, I am finally visiting my neighbor to the […]
