A Britishwoman on a Romanian Tank

BBC had an entertaining episode of the "World's Toughest Driving Tests" programme that was filmed in Romania. A female presenter and an actor spent one week training with the Romanian army and learnt how to drive a tank. Enjoy:

The full episode here:
http://www.peteava.ro/id-488713/bbc-se-intoarce-in-romania-cu-tancurile-la-pitesti

No Reservations

Highly controversial upon its release in our media, maybe you can find something useful in this episode of "No Reservations" about Romania:

Churches of Transylvania

The most consistent part of our Saxon heritage are the fortified churches that you can find overall in Sibiu, Mureş and Braşov county. Some of them I've visited myself and these are:

Biertan - the most famous one, we already have a post about it here:

Moşna - unfortunately this one was closed so I had to admire it only from outside:

Stejăriş - small but neat, it currently undergoes a massive restoration process:

Richiş - not fortified, but full of history, you can learn here about the misterious Green Man:

There is an excellent website dedicated to these monuments:

http://fortified-churches.com/

Brunch at Stejărişu

I've lived all my life in Sibiu county but there are so many remote little villages forgotten by time and townsmen in a 100 km radius that once in a while is nice to leave the city life behind and take the opportunity to enjoy a day on the country side. The last Transilvania Brunch of the year and the first one I've attended was held Saturday in Stejărişu, a village located near Agnita, around 80 km from Sibiu, also know by its German name of Probstdorf. 

Each warm month of the year, a group of people involved in tourism around Transylvania organize a brunch in a village situated in the region between Sibiu, Mediaş, Sighişoara and Braşov. The event is targeted mostly at the Romanian townsmen but tourists are welcomed and the reason behind this gathering of joy, good food and local music is to present a chance of discovering less known communities, landmarks and traditions. 

The villagers cook their traditional meals and drinks, everything is fresh and made from the fruits of the land. All the money collected from the entry tax (around 10 euro per person) go the countrymen and a normal event has between 100 and 350 participants.

Besides eating all the delicious food, the brunch at Stejărişu was accompanied by the music of the local brass band, a visit to the old fortified church and the herbs garden, a musical moment held by the village kids and a tasting of local liqueurs.Blessed with an excellent weather the whole day was very enjoyable and I intend to repeat the experience next year, when they resume the programme. 

The food stands

The brass band

Children in traditional clothes

Everybody's enjoying the meals and music

The liqueur stand

Essential links:

http://www.gal-mh.eu/index.php

http://discovertarnavamare.org/index.asp

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stejărișu

An Eye for a Tulip

If you live in Romania you've probably heard all over the news the fact that Holland and Finland vetoed our entry into the Schengen space. If you're a flower export company from Holland that works with Romania you may have heard too and it probably still hurts. In an Old Testament sort of fashion, Romanian Customs halted all trucks bringing Dutch flowers into our country. The official reason is an unnamed virus that affects humans. It seems that this virus affects mainly Dutch exporters and Romanian politicians, not common people. It might affect some Nokia trucks soon - seriously Finland? What have we ever done to you? - and if the standoff  continues some new laws will be enforced:

- permanent ban on Rudolph the Finnish reindeer;

- no wood export to Holland - and let's see you do your traditional wooden clogs with cardboard!

- whoever wears orange will be whipped in public - I have my doubts about that and not only because of Orange, though the French deserve it as they opposed our Schengen space entry in the beginning too;

- all the Dutch people caught will be sent to concentration camps where they will have to learn the song "aşa-i românul (când se veseleşte)";

- we'll bring all our women from the Red Light District back home - except the fat ones;

- Heineken will be prohibited and its factories sold to SAB/Ursus, Finlandia will be allowed to sell tea only;

- Golden Tulip hotels will be de-rated to -1 stars.

I think the most hated word for the soon-to-be Romanian brides is "Schengen". Instead of their desired flower arrangements they will have to make-do with local roses and carnations. Long live the EU brotherhood!

Essential Romanian Phrases

Searching the web i've stumbled on this page that teaches you some basic Romanian words and phrases.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/other/quickfix/romanian.shtml

I recommend to learn the following sayings too, they might come handy:

• rupe-i făşul - tear his foil -- when you assist to a sports event, as an encouragement for your favorite player;
• dă-i carbid - give it carbide -- step on it!
• trăi-ţi-ar franţuzoaica - may your French woman live long -- when you want to complement a buddy for the quality of his woman;
• plimbă ursul că rugineşte lanţul - walk the bear 'cos the chain is rusting -- it's a nice and polite way to say to the police officer that you don't posses any illegal goods.

to be continued

Cisnădioara

In my opinion the most idilic village around Sibiu, Cisnădioara, is still a good kept secret and a oasis of calm and detachment from the noisy city life - only 10 km away. With its sunny hills covered with apple trees and the 12th century church that watches the whole region from above, there is no wonder why the rich people prefer to have holiday villas or permanent residences here. The nearby valley with its rivulet is one of the places where the locals go during summer weekends to grill parties, camping, biking or climbing on the "frog's stone" - a 65 million years old limestone. 

The church

View from the church, including the defense wall

Guest house in the center of the village

The church, view from affar

Apple trees hill