Bucharest / Bucureşti

Bucureşti... is the Romanian capital city.

I had loads of prejudice when I was told to go there for evaluating the final exam papers. I had some bad memories about Bucharest, as I was there only once, in the darkest period of the communist era and all my fresh information I got from the news and TV. Therefore I was anxious to see how it is in reality.

The Royal Palace

I have to tell you, after getting down from the train at the Gara de Nord, my first reaction was... wow... Am I Gara de Nord, in Bucharest, in Romania? Or I am dreaming? Is this that notorious train station? It was... but it was beautiful, welcoming, neat and clean... As every main train station should be anywhere in the world!

Gara de Nord

Leaving the building the next shock was not as pleasant, as it was extremely hot outside... as usually in Bucharest during the summer. I had to pour the water what was left in the bottle on my neck and head to survive while we were going to the car. It was around 42 C (108 F), but there were hotter days this summer.

The traffic is always busy, with traffic jams during the day, making a nightmare to travel by car or by up-ground public transport in the hot summer days, the underground is cooler, but also busy.

In a traffic jam

Later in the evening all is going back to normal and it is a pleasure to drive on the wide boulevards around the city. Bucharest is amazing by night, all the streets and the most important buildings have beautiful lighting.

The Atheneu

I had the chance to see during my short visit lot of interesting and beautiful places in Bucharest as our host took us for a walk every day. Yes, for a WALK, as we walked nearly all the way, more than 15 km a day! We walked all around the center, and thus I had the occasion to see a lot, not only the main boulevards with rows of block of flats, but also some pretty little streets with beautiful old houses that succeed to survive the destruction of the old Bucharest during Ceauşescu's rule.

The University Square

Lipscani, the old commercial district

Covered street

Caru cu bere

Cismigiu Park

Cismigiu Park

I visited the Palace of Parliament, former House of the People, one of Ceauşescu's megalomaniac ideas. The building and the surrounding buildings are situated on an immense area, where 30000 houses were demolished (old and new as well) to make place for this "house". It is the biggest building in Europe and the third in the world. It is massive and scaring... as you approach it is as mountain, it grows and grows and when you are near it, you can't see the top, having 86 m up-ground.

See this link for details. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_the_Parliament

The House of Parliament

Colorful fountains

It worth to see and appreciate the quantity of work and materials used to build it, and if you see through the pompous decoration and immense dimensions of the halls and rooms, you will see all the suffering, struggle, sweat and sacrifice that the Romanian people endured for decades to complete such a monster.

Candles

Considering all, I was pleasantly surprised and delighted about Bucharest, as in the past 17 years a lot of work and money were invested in to transform in a European capital city. Usually the news presents the rear side of Bucharest, with bumpy roads and poor outskirt neighbourhoods, but all the city is in a process of changing in better, and you can see the results of this: newly paved boulevards, old monument buildings under restoration, new office buildings, new public transport vehicles, new commercial areas... Of course all need money and loads of suspicion are around corrupt businesses and blackmail, but... the city is developing, changing in better, better for the country and for its inhabitants, as well as for its image, and this is important.

New bank building

Calea Mosilor

Bucureşti... is a European capital city!

Timisoara - Temesvár

Timişoara is one of the largest cities in the Banat region, in Romania, an important economical, cultural and university center of the western Romania. It is also called "Little Vienna", because the city belonged to the Habsburg Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and its architecture is dominated by majestic buildings built in this period, which reminds us of the old Vienna.
Timişoara is the first city in Europe to have electric public lighting on the 12th of November 1884.
Timişoara is the place where the Romanian Revolution of 1989 begun, after a small group of people gathered on 16th December 1989, in front of the Church to support the Hungarian reverend Tőkés László against his deportation by the Securitate (Secret Police). The next day, on 17th December 1989, a massive popular revolt began in Timişoara against the Communist regime and its leader, Ceauşescu. The meetings spread rapidly in the city and in the country and Ceauşescu's rule came to its end a week later.

Timişoara is also the place where I was student at the Univeristatea de Vest, Faculty of Physics. I lived there for 5 years and I have beautiful memories of those times. :-)


View of the Dom Square


My favourite place in Timişoara is the Dom Square - Dóm Tér - Piata Unirii, with beautiful old buildings and pretty cafes all around the square. There is a rule, that only white umbrellas are allowed for the open-air cafe terraces, not to destroy the atmosphere of the square.


Dom Square by night









Dom Square with the fountain










Dom Square with pigeons









Dom Square









White umbrellas and the Baroque Palace in the Dom Square








Dom Square with the surronding buildings

Brighton

Brighton is in the south coast of England, being one of the most famous seaside resorts of the U. K.

In Brighton it is always windy and the sea is cold but it is a pleasure to breath in the fresh sea-air on your walk along the pebble-beach.

Actually the sea was VERY cold... But I wanted above all to salute my good, old friend. And the sea, as well, wanted to give me a hug... So I succeed to get wet instantly...


The Brighton Pier is the famous landmark of Brighton, with roller coasters, restaurants and a fantastic view on the sea. The seagulls glide in the air using every little breeze and fill the air with their sad song.


Here you can see the most beautiful green colour in the world, as the sea has an amazing green colour when it is sunny! The Brighton green.


The Royal Pavilion is an other attraction in Brighton, built at the beginning of the 19th century by King George IV, in an exotic, oriental style. There is a large park around the Pavilion, where people can relax in the grass.


The Laine is a shopping area in Brighton, with narrow streets, hundreds of boutiques, tiny shops, pubs, bars and small restaurants.

I wish I were there now...

Békási szoros - Cheile Bicazului

As I promised in my previous blog, the next place I am going to take you is the Bicaz Gorge (Békási szoros in Hungarian or Cheile Bicazului in Romanian).

This is one of the most stunning places in Romania, situated in Harghita and Neamt counties in the Hăşmaşu Mountains (Nagyhagymás) in the Eastern Carpathians.


As the small Bicaz (Békás) stream fights its way through the calcareous rock an amazing landscape has formed with steep cliff and narrow canyons.


Békás stream




The road is twisting and turning between the rocks with huge altitude differences and incredible hairpin bends.

Serpents




You need horsepower here!








The entrance of the gorge is marked by a new tunnel, that is wider and higher than the old one, allowing heavy traffic to go through, as this road is the main passage that links the two Romanian provinces: Transylvania and Moldova.


Oltárkő / Altar-rock and the gorge


The Altar-rock has 1154 m and guards the region with a huge cross on its peak.


Oltárkő / Altar-rock






As you walk through the gorge, you are fascinated by the giant vertical cliffs that trying to reach the sky make you feel so tiny, insignificant and mortal.


In the gorge





In the gorge











If you have the chance to visit the place several times, you have time to notice amazing details and undiscovered aspects. Here, in the Bicaz Gorge, if you are attentive and lucky, the landscape offers you strange surprises. Looking upwards, suddenly, near the edges of a rocky wall, a familiar figure appears, well known from the renaissance sculpture: Madonna with the Child.

What is up there?

Nature, with the power of the wind and the purity of the rain and man, with the imagination of his mind, create a masterpiece: Madonna of Bicaz Gorge.

Madonna of Bicaz Gorge

The last part of this blog is a translation of my text that is in the on-line newspaper Cotidianul, where my photos and text were posted

Lacul Roşu - Gyilkos tó

The Gyilkos tó (=Killer Lake in Hungarian) or Lacul Roşu (=Red Lake in Romanian) is situated in Romania, in the Easter Carpathians, in the Nagyhagymás / Haşmaş Mountains. It is situated at 983 m elevation, it has about 12 hectares total surface area, an average depth of 5,5 m and maximum depth of 10,5 m.

View of the lake

The lake is a natural dam-lake, which formed in 1837, due to a massive landslide, when limestone rocks and clay from the nearby Gyilkoskő (Killer stone) Peak rolled down in the valley and blocked the watercourse of a small stream, forming later a lake. Nowadays you can see the remains of the old fir trees, hundreds of tree trunks stand out all around from the water, as the calcareous and iron oxide rich water preserved the wood.

Fir tree trunks in the water

Several small streams and drift waters flow into the lake, carrying a reddish alluvium that has been deposited on the lake bed during the years and slowly bank up the lake. People try to save the lake by building dams on the small streams to filter out the alluvium.


The lake is frozen in the winter and it is covered by a massive ice-layer. During the summer its temperature can reach 22 C. In the lake there live several species of fish, like trouts and crabs.

Boating on the lake

Tourists have opportunities for boating and fishing in the lake, walk around the lake, mountaineering, as there are several tourist routes to the Cohárd / Suhard Peaks, Gyilkoskő (=Killer-stone) Peak, or even rock climbing in the nearby mountains.

Kis-Cohárd / Suhardu Mic Peak - 1352 m

The water of the lake flows into the Békás stream that leads us to one of the most spectacular places in Romania, the Békási szoros / Cheile Bicazului / Bicaz Gorges, where I will take you in my next blog.

Brighton green

The most beautiful green color I have seen is the color of the see at Brighton, from the Pier.

The Lion King - musical

The Lion King - The award-winning musical at the Lyceum Theatre, London

You may have seen the Disney's cartoon, The Lion King, so you know the story... You may think that it is impossible to adapt for the stage... But it was possible and the cartoon is nothing in comparison with this live performance!
There are no words could describe properly the atmosphere created during the show, but colours, sounds, movements, rhythm, feelings and emotions...
The actors' and dancers' costumes are inspired by African patterns and colours, the masks and puppets they carry create an amazing effect. The human figure continues and melts into the puppets or the masks, working and moving together. The actors' makeup is sometimes decorative, sometimes figures out the personality of the characters.
The choreography includes African dance elements, with fantastic rhythm and energy, that move through the bodies of the dancers, but also imitates the movements of the wild animals.
The music, composed by Elton John, has again African influence and adds a theatrical touch to the show.
The scenic design is absolutely amazing, you feel as you are in the middle of the African Savannah. Imagine the African sunset, with silhouettes of gazelles jumping across the landscape or the huge giraffes walking along in the horizon, imagine the African sunrise with thousands of birds singing and flying in the air, imagine the Jungle with mysterious shadows and luxurious vegetation... And all this on the stage...
Oh, and not to forget the child-actors, they do an exceptional work, singing, dancing, moving puppets... fantastic for their young age!
I wish everybody could see this musical, as it is absolutely amazing!

Here you have some images from the Internet, to have an idea, as no photography is allowed during the show.
http://www2.disney.co.uk/MusicalTheatre/TheLionKing/abouttheshow/productionphotos.jsp

Az oroszlánkirály - a londoni Lyceum Theatre díjnyertes előadása

Valószínű láttátok a Disney rajzfilmet, tehát már a történet ismerős... És azt gondolnátok, hogy ezt lehetetlenség színpadra átvinni... De lehetséges volt és a rajzfilm eltörpül a színpadi előadás mellett.
Szavakkal képtelenség leírni az előadás hangulatát, inkább színekkel, hangokkal, mozgással, ritmussal, érzésekkel és érzelmekkel...
A színészek és táncosok ruháit afrikai motívumok és színek díszitik, a viselt maszkok és bábok együtt nagyszerű hatást keltenek. Az emberi alakok folytatódnak és egybeolvadnak a maszkokkal vagy bábukkal, együtt mozogván velük. A színészek maszkja néha díszítő jellegű, néha meg a szereplő személyiségét formázza.
A koreográfia afrikai tánc elemekre épül, a táncosok testén átáramló hihetetlen ritmussal és energiával, ami a vadállatok mozgását is utánozza.
A zenét Elton John szerezte, szintén afrikai hatású és az előadás hangulatát az egekig emeli.
A diszletek és a szinpad megtervezése lenyűgöző, úgy érzed, mintha az afrikai Szavanna közepén lennél. Képzeld el az afrikai naplementét, amint gazellák suhannak át a tájon vagy hatalmas zsiráfok sétálnak el a horizont előtt, képzeld el az afrikai napfelkeltét, amint ezer meg ezer madár énekel és repked az égen, képzeld el a dzsungelt, titokzatos árnyakkal és buja növényzettel... és mindezt színpadon!
És ne feledjük a gyerekszereplőket, akik elképesztő munkát végeztek: énekelnek, táncolnak, bábokat mozgatnak... fantasztikus az ő korukhoz képest!
Kívánom, hogy mindenki megnézhesse ezt az előadást, mert lenyűgöző!

On the homepage of the show, where you can have a sneak preview:
Egy kis betekintő az előadásba, a műsor honlapjáról:
http://www2.disney.co.uk/MusicalTheatre/TheLionKing/downloads/videoclips.jsp

Leeds Castle

Leeds Castle is situated in Maidstone, Kent, South East England.

The first castle was built in the XIIth century by a descendant of William the Conqueror, later it passed in royal hands, being held by medieval widowed queens. Queen Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII lived here and Elisabeth I was imprisoned in the castle before her coronation. Later the castle passed in private ownership, the last owner of the castle was Lady Baille, who established the Leeds Castle Foundation. It was opened for the public in 1976.

View of the Castle from the hot-air balloon... yes, I was flying up there... :-)

The Castle is a gem: it is beautiful, elegant and friendly with amazing rooms, beautiful decorations, interesting paintings and lovely flower bouquets in the windows. You can see different epoques as you go around, starting from the Norman wine cellar and going through the old castle and than passing to the new castle, ending with the last owners drawing rooms.

The moat

Inside the castle

There is a beautiful park surrounding the castle, with interesting plants, trees and flowers.

In the garden

As Lady Baille loved the birds, she asked garden designers to create a duckery where now hundreds of wild birds live, as white swans, Canadian geese, ducks and black swans, the symbol of the castle, imported from Australia by Lady Baille.

Swans

The Aviary house different species of exotic birds, as parrots, toucans, ibises, cranes...

Parrots in love...

You can also see a falconry display, with majestic predator birds, like vultures, falcons, owls, eagles and hawks. The demonstrations give a fantastic insight into these wild birds life and behavior.

I got it!

Beautiful eyes...

You can also try to get lost in the maze and the grotto or to see the dog collar museum or the vineyard or just walk along the pathway and enjoy the sight of the small stream and the giant rhubarbs...

Giant rhubarb

or to admire the smell of the the giant magnolia...

Giant magnolia

or to follow a duck family swimming and to see the reflections of the sky in the lake ...

Reflections in the lake