Hello guys! I have an account on flick.com which I plan to update with new pictures. For the moment you can find at my address: www.flickr.com/photos/ancu_bm the latest pictures taken during the trip ti The Bears' Cave and The Rusty Pit.
Soon more pictures are coming up! Stay tunned!
marți, 25 septembrie 2007
vineri, 21 septembrie 2007
On the road to...
...Stana de Vale a small nice resort on the Apuseni Mts. where you can find the Wonder Spring (Izvorul Minunilor). It really is a natural spring but a great or better a huge business. The Romanian readers know what I mean, for the others it's a prosperous business which started with producing juice (once competing in Romania with Coca-Cola brand) and bottling natural water from the so-called Wonder Spring and continued afterwards with chips, sweets, etc. Now their factories because now are many are real empires across the national roads. If you want to visit one you need a guide and a car! The funny part is that Tehnofrig my ex-employer made all the tanks and bottling lines for these guys.
Anyway I, Peter, Mishu and gf Alexandra (The Mishis from now on:) planned a trip to Stana de Vale (never been there) and then maybe to reach The Bears' Cave (very famous in Romania) and then home. All in one day.
From left to right (Alexandra the little one, Mishu the big shadow, me of course and Peter).
On our way there we passed through Lesu Lake (very cold this time of the year)
Spectacular waterfalls (there are plenty on this area. We found out that the highest waterfall in Romania aprox. 96 m is in the neighbourhood. We missed that as it was a 5 hours trip on foot and we were quite late at that time and didn't have a map:)
The road to Stana de Vale is through the woods, rocky and spectacular and in a glade you suddenly see some hotels, some chalets and few locals selling their fruits and vegetables. There is a big mark in the middle of the street: "Wonder Spring 300 m" and here you go:
Of course it is arranged for tourists' visits but we concluded it's nothing much, as you can see. You can take natural water home for free but we skipped that since Mishu saw some frog herbs (this is translated from Romanian couldn't find the equivalent in English;) up the stream.
Actually this spring is the only attraction of the area it you don't go deep into the woods searching for the highest cliffs or the biggest waterfalls. So we moved on and made a stop nowhere on the road to take a closer look at these:
We ate like crazy this kind of berry (don't know their exact name):
And convinced this little fellow to stay for the picture ;)
Our next stop was the Bears' Cave. It is the most famous visitable cave in Romania. Its name says it all: it is supposed to have been the bears' habitat and winter refuge over the centuries. But at some point while they were inside the entrance of the cave collapsed and they could not get out anymore. Some died of hunger some because the others ate them, a tragic end for a famous natural museum. At the entrance (very modern or better very urban, by the way):
Enjoy these stollen pictures (that's why they are blurred):
The so-called Rocket:
Done with the Beras' Cave; too bad only a small part of it is visitable, the other part is a natural reservation.
We headed the for the Rusty Pit (Groapa Ruginoasa) a wonder of nature. The earth is practically going down the valley more and more swallowing the margins together with the vegetation around. Big trees are going down like puppets. Luckily none of that happened while we were visiting. Otherwise the scenery is like a dream:
And on out way back home...blocks of concrete here we come :(
We were not afraid to stay on the edge...here is the proof for the non-believers. Phew! What some 10 seconds that were!
Aren't we a coloured happy team?
From left to right (Alexandra the little one, Mishu the big shadow, me of course and Peter).On our way there we passed through Lesu Lake (very cold this time of the year)
Spectacular waterfalls (there are plenty on this area. We found out that the highest waterfall in Romania aprox. 96 m is in the neighbourhood. We missed that as it was a 5 hours trip on foot and we were quite late at that time and didn't have a map:)
And hundreds of horses going down to the valley for the winter
The road to Stana de Vale is through the woods, rocky and spectacular and in a glade you suddenly see some hotels, some chalets and few locals selling their fruits and vegetables. There is a big mark in the middle of the street: "Wonder Spring 300 m" and here you go:
Of course it is arranged for tourists' visits but we concluded it's nothing much, as you can see. You can take natural water home for free but we skipped that since Mishu saw some frog herbs (this is translated from Romanian couldn't find the equivalent in English;) up the stream.
Actually this spring is the only attraction of the area it you don't go deep into the woods searching for the highest cliffs or the biggest waterfalls. So we moved on and made a stop nowhere on the road to take a closer look at these:
We ate like crazy this kind of berry (don't know their exact name):
And convinced this little fellow to stay for the picture ;)
Our next stop was the Bears' Cave. It is the most famous visitable cave in Romania. Its name says it all: it is supposed to have been the bears' habitat and winter refuge over the centuries. But at some point while they were inside the entrance of the cave collapsed and they could not get out anymore. Some died of hunger some because the others ate them, a tragic end for a famous natural museum. At the entrance (very modern or better very urban, by the way):
Enjoy these stollen pictures (that's why they are blurred):
The so-called Rocket:
Done with the Beras' Cave; too bad only a small part of it is visitable, the other part is a natural reservation.We headed the for the Rusty Pit (Groapa Ruginoasa) a wonder of nature. The earth is practically going down the valley more and more swallowing the margins together with the vegetation around. Big trees are going down like puppets. Luckily none of that happened while we were visiting. Otherwise the scenery is like a dream:
The Rusty Pit
And on out way back home...blocks of concrete here we come :(
We were not afraid to stay on the edge...here is the proof for the non-believers. Phew! What some 10 seconds that were!
Aren't we a coloured happy team?Hubie..the CAT
Reading on a friend's blog I remembered the story of Hubie the CAT. You cannot know about it because it's not a movie nor a cartoon...it'a a real cat. When we were in Bruxelles we stayed for two nights at a very strange house and don't know if I have already told you the owner had many, many cats. They appeared from everywhere, there was a cat behind every door, under every bed from that house and in the garden instead of being full of coloured scented flowers it was full of cats. Hairy, angry, grey or black they were everywhere...except our bedroom..I hope!
Anyway when talking to the owner and because Peter loves cats we found out more about them...they were all sort of relatives and it was this particular grey, enormous, angry-faced cat called: HUBIE!
We got to know her very well in those two days as from 5 to 5 minutes the owner used to call her: "Hubieeeeeeeeeee! Where are you crazy cat?" And this over and over again. And the guy (short and bold) was always talking rapidly and was always searching in that 1000-stores flat the same cat.
It was the laitmotif of our trip. Ah! If I could only describe the intonation of the bold owner (long and sharp to stay in your ears for a lifetime): "Hubieeeeeeeeeeee! Oh! She's a crazy cat anyway!"
Have a nice weekend! And go out as much as possible!
Anyway when talking to the owner and because Peter loves cats we found out more about them...they were all sort of relatives and it was this particular grey, enormous, angry-faced cat called: HUBIE!
We got to know her very well in those two days as from 5 to 5 minutes the owner used to call her: "Hubieeeeeeeeeee! Where are you crazy cat?" And this over and over again. And the guy (short and bold) was always talking rapidly and was always searching in that 1000-stores flat the same cat.
It was the laitmotif of our trip. Ah! If I could only describe the intonation of the bold owner (long and sharp to stay in your ears for a lifetime): "Hubieeeeeeeeeeee! Oh! She's a crazy cat anyway!"
Have a nice weekend! And go out as much as possible!
marți, 18 septembrie 2007
First day at WORK
Yesterday was my first day at the new job at E Van Wijk Holding Romania (www.evanwijk.ro). It's a big company selling DAF trucks through Romania, service activities, douane activities, transport, etc. I can't tell you too much about it. I met thousands of people, learned about thousands of names and can't remember only maximmum three. They are many!!!
Anyway for the time being it's like a vacation nobody asks me for nothing, I'm practically inexistent...
This lack of activity hopefully won't be the quiet time before the storm! I'll keep you up-to-date with what happens next.
Maybe one day I'll have the time to post some new photos about our newest trips. But it's dentist time for me this period. I hate it! By the way does anybody love going to the dentist? Have an easy week...I hope I will.
miercuri, 12 septembrie 2007
Flying experience and the last day at this office
The connection between the two is that Chris remided me about our first flyght experience this summer and the fact that I really have the time to write about it as today is my last day at work here at this office, I've packed all my stuff and Gosh! for two years they are many! So I'll explain to you the unique, wonderful and freak moments on the airplane.
We took the 2 hours flight from Budapest to Brussels with Wizzair the cheapest way to travel to Europe. And because Budapest is closer than Bucharest we took the minibus from Cluj to Budapest, aprox. 6-7 hours. It was quite well considering that outside were 35 to 40 degrees and inside the bus you could breathe.
We checked-in quite quickly and then waited to the lady at the airport's desk to call on our flight. Meanwhile some old fellow sat beside us and provoked Peter to play some chess! Interesting! Luckilly Peter speaks Hungarian...:)
Then our moments of truth came. We were supposed to take the bus from the airport to the plane and at this point we practically mixed with the London-Luton travelers (we know some guys who are going to the same direction:). They were quite impatient and so were we...thak God we didn't fight for a seat on the plane...heheheh. We would have won for sure, we were damn! curious.
Ok first close view of the plane (as it was getting dark) was something pink, lots of small-annoying lights and a noise to kill your ears. It was an Airbus (that's all I know) a big plane and a full plane. And me two days befora thinking: "who the hell will travel from Budapest to Brussels this time of the year?"
Anyway it seemed to me that everybody was familiar with travelling by plane onlt us were somehow apart from the rest: Peter at the window like a curious 5-year boy stearing outside the whole two ours...In all this time I didn't exist! You shoul have seen its face...hahahaha. Me, looking straight ahead, nowhere, tense (you could not stick a needle anywhere in my body) thinking that this is a cabin flying at thousands of meters into the sky and remembering bro watching on National Geographic Channel "Air Disasters" or smth. Quite optimistic!
Luckily a Romanian fellow travelling from Cluj as well sat next to me and he so relaxed and keep chatting; and for a moment I forgot where I was...until....
The plane speeded up and then ... mt stomach remained on the Hungarian ground and the rest of my body flew for the first time. The angle in which the plane raised to about 10.000 m where the temperature was -50 (a little friendly detail from the captain) were the most scary 10 min. of my life so far. I was watching everybody calm only me in panic...I kept thinking Oh my God we're gonna crash! and we're in our honeymoon! Then I remembered what the Americans say: "Be careful what you're thinking and wishing for!"
And I did so the plane landed safely...but what a landing! I thought at some point that we're going down vertically. Phew! and finally...LAND!
Now I wonder if I'm ever going to see America...8-9 hours at least on the plane, over the Atlantic...hm! I have to be pshyhically prepared for that...I think I need about 2 years for that or many-many flights.
Anyway I salute YOU courageous people who fly so often and be so relaxed doing that!
Maybe one day I'll be a member of your CLUB:)
PS: I've started this post at 7:00 am and now is 3:00 pm. Last day at work is quite busy. Kisses!
marți, 11 septembrie 2007
Honey...week III
As one of my faithful reader observed I wanted to entitle my posts correctly like I did it now...but I'm in loved or smth, and it came out like...week...moon. I wonder how Ioana (thanks by the way!) was the only one to say: Hey you! Are you nuts? What's that week...moon??? I should award you all for all the mistakes you find in this blog...but then again I'll go bankrupt...so nah!
As I was saying yesterday the fourth day we headed for The Netherlands. We didn't know much about the country so the plan was to discover it step-by-step. We stopped for Rotterdam as it was the first big city after the "imaginary" border with Belgium. Unfortunately it was raining cats and dogs but the city impressed us with its strange, new and futuristic architecture. No wonder it was designated The Architectural City of 2007. Take a look and enjoy:
The famous swan bridge (is the symbol of the city and of course is the favourite theme for all the souvenirs).
Then is this New York Hotel (situated on a sort of Peninsula) the oldest in the country (I guess). Very posh and expensive. We were forced to visit it for free due to physiological emergencies :) but was not impressive at all...on the contrary! So my advice don't spend all your savings for a night there...better go to a hostel. Otherwise the building itself on the outside is quite well preserved. On the back you can see a new building of some TV local broadcast. In the front of the hotel is the Rotterdam port.
Other crazy buildings:
We ended our photo shooting adventure in Rotterdam here as our camera's memory card was full. Until we found a city-mall in the town of Den Haag we felt frustrated...but afterward we took pictures of everything...
This is a figurines park in Den Haag which is a sea resort at the North Sea. Here on the beach the wind's speed is something like that of a hurricane. We thought our ears and heads will fall apart into the sand at some point:
Only these guys felt like party. It is something like a windsurf but not quite. Anyway at those winds they were practically flying.
We enjoyed the sunset...
And left the shore for a desirable meal...hopefully not soupe de poisson.
The famous swan bridge (is the symbol of the city and of course is the favourite theme for all the souvenirs).
Then is this New York Hotel (situated on a sort of Peninsula) the oldest in the country (I guess). Very posh and expensive. We were forced to visit it for free due to physiological emergencies :) but was not impressive at all...on the contrary! So my advice don't spend all your savings for a night there...better go to a hostel. Otherwise the building itself on the outside is quite well preserved. On the back you can see a new building of some TV local broadcast. In the front of the hotel is the Rotterdam port.
Other crazy buildings:
We ended our photo shooting adventure in Rotterdam here as our camera's memory card was full. Until we found a city-mall in the town of Den Haag we felt frustrated...but afterward we took pictures of everything...
This is a figurines park in Den Haag which is a sea resort at the North Sea. Here on the beach the wind's speed is something like that of a hurricane. We thought our ears and heads will fall apart into the sand at some point:
Only these guys felt like party. It is something like a windsurf but not quite. Anyway at those winds they were practically flying.
We enjoyed the sunset...
And left the shore for a desirable meal...hopefully not soupe de poisson.
A M S T E R D A M
Wandering and looking for a city map, right in the centre of the town we saw this building...that we could not miss :)
It's a crap! Don't spend your 12 Euros/person on a visit. You'll be disappointed and end up like us...
DRUNK
Or God knows what else!
If you're art lovers here is the National Art Museum. The Rembrandt Museum. All the city smells like Rembrandt. Rembrandt Park
Rembrandt Caffe. Rembrandt Memorial House - the one with the green door (no pictures allowed inside)
And while walking the city to find these hot-spots you are surprised by all the curiosities and inventiveness of the locals:
Public men toilettes. Boys watch your back (read ass pls!:)
And you cannot leave Amsterdam without shopping for some souvenirs. The offer is diverse but if you cross the Netherlands' border with some of these for your garden it can be extremely dangerous or just extreme?!...I wouldn't know that as the "souvenirs' shop was already closed when we passed by.
We visited Antwerpen on our way back to Charleroi airport in Belgium. It's a nice medium-size Belgian city. We bought our resource of chocolate we visited the Military museum, the Cathedral and the Grand Place
Proud to see our National Flag along the others (somewhere on the third row)
Well at least some were seeing something!
Until next time, have a safe flight, boat, car or foot trip and don't forget to share it with the rest of us!
Is the city of contrasts. Elegance, romance, sex, drugs and tones of bicycles!!! That is why if you're driving in Amsterdam you feel like a minority and as well if you're a pedestrian. The cyclists use their klaxon a lot on those parts. We even witnessed a cyclists accident...quite funny and not with casualties :)
Wandering and looking for a city map, right in the centre of the town we saw this building...that we could not miss :)
It's a crap! Don't spend your 12 Euros/person on a visit. You'll be disappointed and end up like us...
IRASCIBLE
DRUNK
Or God knows what else!If you're art lovers here is the National Art Museum. The Rembrandt Museum. All the city smells like Rembrandt. Rembrandt Park
Rembrandt Caffe. Rembrandt Memorial House - the one with the green door (no pictures allowed inside)
And while walking the city to find these hot-spots you are surprised by all the curiosities and inventiveness of the locals:
Public men toilettes. Boys watch your back (read ass pls!:)
And you cannot leave Amsterdam without shopping for some souvenirs. The offer is diverse but if you cross the Netherlands' border with some of these for your garden it can be extremely dangerous or just extreme?!...I wouldn't know that as the "souvenirs' shop was already closed when we passed by.
We visited Antwerpen on our way back to Charleroi airport in Belgium. It's a nice medium-size Belgian city. We bought our resource of chocolate we visited the Military museum, the Cathedral and the Grand Place
Proud to see our National Flag along the others (somewhere on the third row)
Well at least some were seeing something!
Until next time, have a safe flight, boat, car or foot trip and don't forget to share it with the rest of us!
luni, 10 septembrie 2007
Part II
Our second day in Belgium we decided to rent a car...the cheapest and in order to do so we spent half day in Gare du Midi and about 30 E on phones to Bank Transilvania from Romania because they made a mistake with my identification card no. Lovely! While the rental-papers were done we took a tram and a tricky walk to Atomium...too late to catch the last tourist visit. We weren't too upset, anyway after the car experience, life seemed suddenly very-very beautiful even when a Museum door was being shut in our nose! And Bro told me that it's not worth to pay the money to go up!
After making a functionaire's (from The Romanian Bank) life miserable on the phone...I can give you a helping hand on that one anytime :) we got the keys to this little nervous, four-wheels creature (and looked for it in the company's four stores garage for half an our...imagine that we finally realized which was our car only when we used the remote from the car-keys...just like in the movies) :
Citroens can be very confortable for two and quite competitive on the highway... Peter's personal record 180 km/h...imagine my face at this speed!
The third day we left for Bruges.
We've heard is one of the most beautiful and romantic city in Belgium and so it is.
Calm, with small sinuous streets, old buildings, many churches, happy people, civilized tourists and quiet places. I liked the small diverse shops...like family business
WE took a boat trip through the city's old canals with a four-language guide speaker very interested in real estate business in Romania (I got his references to become partners, sic! :)
Then we wandered through the small narrow streets (convinced that we could not get lost in the medieval town..and we didn't). We visited the Cathedral and surprisingly found this masterpiece of Michelangelo:
I am convinced that there are not too many Romanian tourists in Bruges...how did I conclude that? There are plenty of swans along the canals and they are all healthy and happy not to become anyone's dinner:
And when by mistake one particular Romanian MARRIED man reaches Bruges look what he's doing:
Bruges is one-to-see Belgian town highly recommended.
On the third day in the evening we stopped for Ostende, one super North Sea Belgian port:
We bathe our feet into the sea...brrr! very cold. I wonder when do people really bathe in the North Sea during the whole year? I think never-ever. It is full of yachts some very luxurious and tempting.. we only looked didn't touch!
At last we bought some souvenirs and were convinced to eat something specific...even if it moved on our plates! :) Rather buying something like this
and break out teeth...we preferred a soup and some jellyfish or smth :). The only soup we could find at the restaurants was the fish soup. We were hungry so we ate it all together with the oysters, ink fish and sepia which is here on somebody's spoon:
I really like it! Peter says it was a great investment that soup because three days after he could still feel it on his stomach ;)
And this is how it ended our day-3 trip. Netherlands here we comeeeeee!
After making a functionaire's (from The Romanian Bank) life miserable on the phone...I can give you a helping hand on that one anytime :) we got the keys to this little nervous, four-wheels creature (and looked for it in the company's four stores garage for half an our...imagine that we finally realized which was our car only when we used the remote from the car-keys...just like in the movies) :
Citroens can be very confortable for two and quite competitive on the highway... Peter's personal record 180 km/h...imagine my face at this speed!The third day we left for Bruges.
We've heard is one of the most beautiful and romantic city in Belgium and so it is.
Calm, with small sinuous streets, old buildings, many churches, happy people, civilized tourists and quiet places. I liked the small diverse shops...like family business
WE took a boat trip through the city's old canals with a four-language guide speaker very interested in real estate business in Romania (I got his references to become partners, sic! :)
Then we wandered through the small narrow streets (convinced that we could not get lost in the medieval town..and we didn't). We visited the Cathedral and surprisingly found this masterpiece of Michelangelo:
I am convinced that there are not too many Romanian tourists in Bruges...how did I conclude that? There are plenty of swans along the canals and they are all healthy and happy not to become anyone's dinner:
And when by mistake one particular Romanian MARRIED man reaches Bruges look what he's doing:
Bruges is one-to-see Belgian town highly recommended.
On the third day in the evening we stopped for Ostende, one super North Sea Belgian port:
We bathe our feet into the sea...brrr! very cold. I wonder when do people really bathe in the North Sea during the whole year? I think never-ever. It is full of yachts some very luxurious and tempting.. we only looked didn't touch!
At last we bought some souvenirs and were convinced to eat something specific...even if it moved on our plates! :) Rather buying something like this
and break out teeth...we preferred a soup and some jellyfish or smth :). The only soup we could find at the restaurants was the fish soup. We were hungry so we ate it all together with the oysters, ink fish and sepia which is here on somebody's spoon:
I really like it! Peter says it was a great investment that soup because three days after he could still feel it on his stomach ;)And this is how it ended our day-3 trip. Netherlands here we comeeeeee!
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