Erin Go Bragh

My holiday plans are taking shape beautifully :)
Got the last cheap ticket to Munich, literally - I'm flying with Lufthansa, cause all the lowcost were too expensive - I can almost taste the Radler that's waiting for me at the Biergarten and today I got a really great offer from Ryanair to fly to Dublin (20 euros going in and 60 euros coming back - I know, it's not worth coming back with these prices...)
Now all I need is the money for lodging, if I can't find any I will probably sleep at the railway station (I've heard it's a pretty one ;)
I have no worries, because I know something will come my way... eventually!
I already started surfing the net to see what's worth seeing on my first EVER trip to the Green Isle. Although I pretty much know what I want to see, I'm still looking for interesting places...

Supa de brânză Emmental

Pe vremea asta urâtă și rece o supă caldă cu crutoane se potrivește la fix :)

30 gr unt sau margarină, 30 gr făină, 1/4 l lapte, 1/2 supă de legume, 200 gr cașcaval Emmental ras, sare, piper, nucșoară, 1 cutie smântână, 2 gălbenușuri, 1 lingură mărar tocat, crutoane

Se topește untul sau margarina într-o oală, se adaugă făina și se prăjește până prinde puțină culoare.
Se stinge cu laptele rece, se amestecă bine să nu facă cocoloașe, se adaugă supa și condimentele și se fierbe 10 minute până se îngroașă puțin.
Se adaugă mărarul tocat și cașcavalul ras. Se amestecă smântâna cu gălbenușurile de ou și se adaugă la supă.
Se mai dă un clocot și... gata!!! Se servește cu crutoane.

The Orange Girl - Jostein Gaarder

I just finished reading another beautiful book by Jostein Gaarder.
My first book was his classic Sophie's World, the tale of a young girl, Sophie, who becomes embroiled in a discussion of philosophy with a faceless correspondent. It wasn't an easy read, but I got hooked on his writing.
And this week thanks to Cotidianul, I read The Orange Girl.
It is the sweet/bitter story of Georg, a fifteen years old boy, who comes upon a letter written to him by his dying father, to be read when he comes of age.
Their two voices make a fascinating dialogue as Georg comes to know the father he can barely remember, then is challenged by him to answer some profound questions.
The central mystery of The Orange Girl is the story of an elusive young woman for whom Georg’s father searches in Oslo and Seville and it has a beautiful twist for Georg to discover.
It is a touching story and I liked it so much, I read it in 2 hours flat, I couldn't put it down!

Manic Street Preachers - Jackie Collins Existential Question Time

Finally the new album from Manic Street Preachers is here :)
Brilliant as ever, "Journal for Plague Lovers" features lyrics by Richey Edwards, the band member who vanished on 1 February 1995.
It's an amazing album, here is a sneak peak:

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

I can't believe that a sequel can be better than the original movie, but this is the case - Night at the Museum 2 is bigger, better and funnier :) http://us.imdb.com/title/tt1078912/
Apart from the characters from the first movie, some of the new arrivals must be mentioned - Napoleon (Alain Chabat in his first Hollywood movie), Al Capone (a marvel in black and white) and of course, the lisping Pharaoh with an affinity for couscous (Hank Azaria in triple role - he also played Rodin's Thinker and the Statue of Abraham Lincoln).
And I shouldn't forget to mention the most important baddies of the movie. They had smaller parts than the rest, but they were meaner - of course I'm talking about Darth Vader and Oscar the Grouch from The Sesame Street!!!
It's a funny movie, with scenes that made me cry with laughter, especially the Octavius scenes when he attacks the White House and meets with the squirrel.
It's a feel good movie and I liked it!
Go see it, I highly recommend it!!!

P.S. A special mention deserve the 3 Cherubs played by Jonas Brothers singing the Titanic song :)

Top 10

Surfing the web I discovered a site with various Top 10's.
It's quite interesting and if you have the time take a look :)
I chose 10 Most Fascinating Castles and Palaces:
http://www.oddee.com/item_96663.aspx

Reamonn - Moments like this

Hurray, the new Reamonn video is here :)
It was filmed in Munich, in the same studio where they filmed their first video - Supergirl!
Maybe they will tour Romania this summer...
Til then, enjoy the video!!!

King of the castle

Should I comment?

Naaaah...

ER

No, it's not the George Clooney show, it's the Romanian version.
I went with my mum to visit our newest member of the family at the hospital and there my adventures began.
My niece and niece-niece were perfectly fine, I couldn't belive that Anjelina was sound asleep when, in the bed next to her, was a boy who was screaming his head out!
It was so hot and humid there you couldn't breathe properly and I think a woman threw me the "evil eye" so I started to feel dizzy and I nearly fainted :(
On the way down, the elevator lady told me she knows the perfect disenchantment. So she stopped the elevator between floors and she started the "exorcism" :P
And actually it worked, I was feeling better in an instant.
But of course my mother wasn't convinced that I was better and she took me to the ER... in a wheelchair!
Unfortunatelly the Romanian ER is nothing like its US counterpart and I think George had the day off.
Of course until you're nice to someone, nobody will notice you, so after an exchange was made I became the most important person in the room, with my own personal doctor and two other running around. They decided I had a calcium failure and the best thing to do was to have a perfusion - my first perfusion... ever!
If I only knew it takes almost 2 hours to empty one... I would have decided against it!
To make a long story short, I am fine but I have to take calcium and magnesium pills daily for 3 months :(
So these are my adventures for a hot Saturday night.
Hopefully I won't have to see a needle in a long time, because they are not a pretty sight!

Orasele Lumii

I discovered a new show on TVR2!
It's called "Cities of the World" and everyday from Monday to Friday at 18.30 you will be travelling around the world to discover interesting cities and places. The documentaries are beautifully filmed and the audio commentary is interesting.
If you didn't win the lottery and you have no money for the summer holiday, tune in and enjoy the show - it's free :)

Welcome Beatrice Maria... Claudia

My niece niece was born today :)Yes, right - my niece niece, because her mother is my niece, the daughter must be niece niece.
And that makes me a great aunt!
I always thought that great aunts are old, wear furs and pearls and drink cocktails all the time.
Unfortunatelly I have no furs or pearls, I drink beer most of the time and I do not comment about my age :)
My niece niece was born on St Constantin and Elena but her name will be Maria, although Anjelina is a better name for her, I'll let you guess why!
She is cute as a button and I wish her all the hapiness in the world!

Angels & Demons

The latest movie after a novel written by Dan Brown now in cinemas!!!
The first kkk+1 movie shown at Cinemapro!!! (no, it's not a ku-klux-klan movie, but it's something to do with the movie's resolution)
What can I say, I didn't like The DaVinci Code movie, but also I didn't like the book...
I heard that the book for this movie is actually better than the movie itself http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0808151/ so I might read it to understand more, because the movie doesn't explain a lot.
I liked three things about this movie:
First: the cinematography - it was really beautiful, especially all the scenes filmed in the fake St Peter's Church, Salvatore Totino did an amazing job, and I discovered that he was also the cinematographer for U2's video Staring at the sun :)
Second: the music - Hans Zimmer made a score that complements the movie beautifully
and Third: product placement: the new Lancia Delta. They only have to use some scenes from the movie and the commercial is ready!
What I didn't like:
- the accents - they were terrible, when everybody was speaking italian they sounded chinese, you couldn't understand a word, Ewan McGregor's irish accent sounded very scottish...
- the story was quite complicated and it wasn't explained very well
- and unfortunatelly Tom Hanks who should't take roles like these, but probably Ron Howard made him do it, considering this is their 4th collaboration :P
So this movie gets only one thumb up :(

P.S. But the day ended really well when Shakhtar Donetsk trained by Mircea Lucescu won the UEFA Cup against Werder Bremen with 2:1!!!
Although I'm not a football fan, I am really happy for Lucescu, I always admired him and his son.

Ciocolata de casa

Nu credeam că e așa ușor să faci ciocolată de casă. Se pot adăuga nuci, alune sau stafide dar este foarte bună și varianta clasică. E gata în 5 minute și se mănâncă în 3 de bună ce e :)

250 gr lapte praf, 50 gr cacao, 1 pachet de unt, 350 gr zahăr, 100 ml apă

Se amestecă bine laptele praf cu cacaua, se adaugă untul moale tăiat cubulețe și se omogenizează bine. Zahărul se fierbe cu apa până se obține un sirop gros și se adaugă la crema de lapte praf. Se amestecă bine până se omogenizează totul și se toarnă într-o tavă tapetată cu folie de aluminiu. Se dă tava la rece pentru 4 ore și POFTA BUNA!

Animal Planet saves the day

Watch and learn :)

Polyhymno - Knowing about atoms

1. Click on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random and you will get your band's name.

2. Click on http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3 and the last 3, 4 or 5 words from the last quotation will give you the name of your album
3. Go to flickr at http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days and the third photo will be the cover of your album.
4. Mix it in photoshop...
5. Congrats, your a superstar with your own personal album. Enjoy listening to it :P

White Night of the Museums

I started this lovely night with a visit to the Village Museum where I had to take a crowd bath as some political analysts would say - maybe I should run for elections this autumn ;)

I never saw so many people at this museum... ever!But it was interesting to see all this people running around like crazy, trying to see all there is to see in 30 minutes so they can go to the next museum on the list.
Next I went to the Peasant Museum - I know, a lot of country style today - to see a documentary about the african music in Mali: Dambe, the Mali Project http://us.imdb.com/title/tt1206539/.
The documentary was shown during the European Film Festival in Bucharest and tells the story of 2 famous Irish musicians - Paddy Keenan and Liam O'Maonlai (from Hothouse Flowers) - who decided to play with their african counterparts at the world's most remote music festival "Festival au Desert" in Essakane, near Timbuktu (the annual gathering of the Tuaregs from West Africa).
It was a really interesting documentary and afterwards Dearbhla Glynn (the director) and the producer answered the questions asked by the audience.
We found out that the movie was made in 4 years, that Mali musicians are really talented and that music has no language barrier.



I discovered the Kora http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kora_(instrument) which is an amazing instrument, it looks like a lute and sounds like an orchestra. The Kora in the movie is 700 years old, and the man playing it - Toumani Diabate - comes from a long family tradition of kora players. His family's oral tradition tells of 71 generations of musicians preceding him in patrilineal line! That sounds like a lot, but unfortunatelly the life expectancy of Malian people is of 50 years.
After so much culture I took a stroll down... not memory lane but Calea Victoriei where I clashed with other people who planned the same thing.
I arrived at the MNAR Museum to watch the crowd waiting patiently to enter the museum, and after a few photos I decided to call it a day and go home!It was a great Saturday evening and the only reason I am happy that Depeche Mode concert was cancelled is the Irish documentary :)

Nostalgia...

For over 30's only...
Hopefully a nice surprise :)

Depeche Mode - World in my eyes

It's official: Depeche Mode are not coming anymore...
Maybe in the near future, or maybe not.
I am soo sad, I was really looking forward of seeing them in Bucharest :(
But 2 good things came out of this:
- I get cheaper tickets to B'estfest
- I will enjoy the White Night of the Museums this Satuday

And hopefully the concert will be rescheduled for this autumn.
Till then:

Duplicity

This week we went in a smaller formula to the movies (2 boys vs 2 girls, unfortunatelly the boys do not understand popcorn fights...), because someone decided the trailer was not enticing enough and stayed home...
Should I let her comment after deserting us like this?
If she skips the next movie too she won't see any more brownies from me :P
Now let's talk Duplicity http://us.imdb.com/title/tt1135487/ Julia Roberts and Clive Owen...
Do you need more explanations?
They make a very credible couple of backstabbing former CIA/MI6 agents in a movie that could have a million possible endings but it has the ending nobody expected!
Their lines are beautifully written, no wonder considering that Tony Gilroy, the director/writer of this movie also scripted all Bourne films, Michael Clayton, Proof of life and State of play.
What can I tell you - the thong scene will totally kill you...
The story is quite complicated with enough back and forth scenes, but you will understand everything in the last 5 minutes of the movie :)
It's a good movie to watch for a rainy wednesday afternoon.
It gets my 2 thumbs up!

French onion soup

1 litru de apă, 1 cub supă de vită, 3 cepe, 1 lingură făină, 150 gr smântână, 100 g cașcaval ras, sare și piper

Apa se pune la fiert împreună cu cubul de supă.
Se adaugă ceapa tăiată felii, apoi sare și piper după gust și se lasă să fiarbă la foc mic timp de 30 de minute.
Se adaugă în ploaie făina, amestecându-se continuu.
Se mai lasă pe foc 15 minute, apoi se încorporează smântâna și cașcavalul ras, iar după 5 minute se ia de pe foc și se servește fierbinte, de preferat în coaja unei pâini integrale, golită de miez.

The Gulag Archipelago - Alexander Solzhenitsyn

I finally finished reading The Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn after almost a month and a half...
It is a difficult book to read, but it is also a very interesting book to read.
I think it should be compulsory to read the book, especially in Eastern Europe, so then nobody will regret the Soviet/Communist Era!
The book is a three-volume work on the Soviet prison camp system. It it based upon Solzhenitsyn's own experience as well as the testimony of 227 former prisoners and Solzhenitsyn's own research into the history of the penal system. It discusses the system's origins from the founding of the Communist regime, with Lenin himself having responsibility, detailing interrogation procedures, prisoner transports, prison camp culture, prisoner uprisings and revolts, and the practice of internal exile.
The appearance of the book in the West put the word GULAG into the Western political vocabulary.
A very interesting fact is that in the year it was published (1974 in France and USA), unbound and hand written copies of The Gulag Archipelago began being surreptitiously passed between Soviet citizens. These initial readers were normally given 24 hours to finish the work before passing it on to the next person, requiring the reader to spend an uninterrupted day and night to get through the work. Years later, this initial generation of Soviet readers could still recall who had given them their copy, to whom they had passed it on, and who they had trusted enough to discuss their thoughts about the book.

10 May

10 May 1866 - Carol I Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen arrives in Bucharest and is sworn in as king in front of the Parliament.

10 May 1877 - Carol I declares Romania's Independence.

10 May 1881 - Carol I was crowned as King of Romania, and Romania becomes kingdom.

P.S. You don't think I would miss the opportunity to post a photo with my castle ;)

Europe Day

What is actually Europe Day?
On 9 May 1950 the first move was made towards the creation of what is now known as the European Union.
In Paris that day, against the background of the threat of a Third World War engulfing the whole of Europe, the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman read to the international press a declaration calling France, Germany and other European countries to pool together their coal and steel production as "the first concrete foundation of a European federation".
What he proposed was the creation of a supranational European Institution, charged with the management of the coal and steel industry, the very sector which was, at that time, the basis of all military power. The countries which he called upon had almost destroyed each other in a dreadful conflict which had left after it a sense of material and moral desolation. Everything, therefore, began that day.
That is why during the Milan Summit of EU leaders in 1985 it was decided to celebrate 9 May as "Europe Day".

(Courtesy of www.europe.eu)

Curry cu pui si banane

Eu sunt moartă după banane gătite, îmi plac mai mult decât proaspete așa că am făcut un curry rapid și delicios... cu banane :)

4 căni de apă, 2 lingurițe concentrat de supă, 2 căni orez cu bobul lung, 500 g piept de pui, un praf de curry, 2 linguri ulei, 1/4 l apă, 1 plic Sos de curry de la Maggi, 3 linguri smântână dulce, 2 banane, 1 linguriță suc de lămâie, 4 linguri nucă de cocos rasă, 20g unt

Se fierbe apa cu concentratul de supă, se adaugă orezul și se fierbe cca 20 minute acoperit.
Pieptul de pui se spală, se șterge și se taie cubulețe. Se condimentează cu sare și curry. Se încinge uleiul și se prăjește carnea, se adaugă apa și plicul Maggi. Se dă un clocot, apoi se adaugă smântâna și se mai fierbe 5 minute.
Bananele se curăță și se taie felii, se stropesc cu suc de lămâie și se prăjesc 2 minute în untul topit. Se presară cu nuca de cocos rasă și se mai lasă 1 minute pe foc.
Se amestecă bananele cu sosul de curry și se servesc cu garnitura de orez.

U2 - Magnificent

The best song from the No Line on the Horizon!
The video was shot in Fez, Morocco...

Wolverine

Oh, Glory Days... ARE BACK!!!
Hallelujah!!!
Popcorn fights reloaded - popcorn versus pretzels, loads of people queueing in front of the cinema, funny trailers - this could mean only one thing: Orange is back with a vengeance :D
We went to see the prequel to X-Men: Valvolin ;) http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0458525/ and it was a real treat!
Apart from the ever gorgeous Hugh Jackman in a leather jacket, we have Taylor Kitsch as Gambit and Ryan Reynolds as Wade/Deadpool.
The script is well written, there are plenty funny lines, the special effects are really... special, the fight scenes are beautifully choreographed, no wonder the movie is no. 1 at the US, UK and other box offices!
A special mention deserves the canadian scenery - unbelievable landscape, it really takes your breath away.
It is a great movie if you are a comics fan, and if you're not maybe you should become one!
It gets all my thumbs up ;)

P.S. The Ryan Brothers (Alex and Nick) from McLeod's Daughters have small cameo roles - if you blink you miss them...

P.P.S. Now I have to watch the other X-Men movies again so I'll understand them better - or maybe it's an excuse to see Hugh again?

Bucharest = Amsterdam

You wonder how did I arrived to this conclusion?
You think Amsterdam is on Amstel river, Bucharest on Dambovita.
They have the old city we have the old city center, they have bikes we have atv's.
But the answer is really easy: have you noticed the sea of tulips that has appeared in Bucharest these past two weeks?

I really think the Dutch have no more tulips, they are all here... and they are soooo beautiful!
You don't believe me?
You should ;P

Shopping

I've done a wee bit of shopping today...
What I bought?
A way to relax and have fun on the 16th of May!I missed them the last time they were here and considering that I'm not going to Brugges anymore, there is only one thing left - go to a Depeche Mode Concert instead :D

LOTR overdose

I was really bored this weekend, being stuck inside due to heavy rains so I decided to watch some movies - which ones?
Well of course The Lord of the Rings trilogy!!!
I remember watching them in the cinema, I still can't believe I was able to stay in my chair for 3 hours without moving, fascinated by the whole story: the hobbits, the elves, the landscape - New Zealand beautiful as ever, and of course - the men - Sean Bean, Karl Urban, Viggo Mortensen...
Who wouldn't want to watch Aragon on a rainy day?
Even after a few years, the movies are perfect - story, actors, dialogue, special effects - but it's still impossible to watch them all in one day...
Why?
Because the extended versions are around 240 - 270 minutes each, plus extras and interviews, so unless you can prolongue the 24 hour day, you will surely OD!
But you will OD in style :D and you won't repeat the experience for another few years...

Salata de oua cu ciuperci si struguri

4 ouă, 5 ciuperci, 150 gr boabe de struguri negri, 200 gr kaiser, 2 fire ceapă verde, 100 ml maioneză, 3 linguri smîntînă, 1 linguriță muștar dulce, sare, piper

Se fierb ouăle și se curăță de coajă. Se păstrează un gălbenuș, iar restul de ouă se taie cubulețe mici. Ciupercile se curăță și se taie felii. Strugurii se spală, se taie pe jumătate și se scot sâmburii. Kaiserul se taie cubulețe și se călește 2 minute împreună cu ciupercile. Ceapa se taie rondele și se amestecă cu strugurii, ouăle, ciupercile și kaiserul. Maioneza se amestecă cu gălbenușul fiert, smântâna și muștarul și se toarnă peste ingrediente. Se amestecă bine și se condimentează după gust.

Wet, wet, wet...

Went to the park,

rain started,
umbrella got broken,
arrived totally wet home...
Happy 1st of May!