Traditional Romanian shoes - opinci (detail)

The so-called "opinci" are the traditional Romanian shoes. People used to wear them all over Romania before they started to be substituted with modern shoes. They are made of leather and they are also very confortable (believe me I tryed them on!).



The traditional Romanian shoes presented in this photo belonged to a woman. Although, apparently all the "opinci" look the same this detailed close up proves that each pair is unique. The beauty of each "opinca" depended on the talent and creativity of the person who made it. The "opinci" for women were more feminin (see the tiny little flowers on the traditional shoes in the photo) as compared to those for men, which were usually simple.

Doina de Jale - Gheorghe Zamfir
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Traditional Romanian food - sarmale

Mmmmmm....sarmale! Tasty!

This month I had more time to spend with my blog. We start to develop a kind of friendship... My best friend? My blog :)

So, since my blog became my best friend I decided not to ignore my blog readers as well. I know my blog is growing every day: more and more photos, more and more songs to listen to and text to read. That's why I thought that my blog readers got hungry while surfing my blog posts and TAAAARAAAMMMM!!!!! Here you are! Some sarmale for you! Too bad you can't feel the smell. But if you do want to feel it, here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cups long grain rice, rinsed

2 pounds pork loin roast, finely diced

1 pound carrots, chopped

1 pound onions, chopped

1 pinch salt to taste

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed

1/4 cup sunflower seed oil

6 ounces parsley roots, chopped

1 medium head cabbage

DIRECTIONS

Place rice in a medium bowl, and pour boiling water over it. Let soak for 15 minutes, then drain. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, parsley roots, onions and tomato paste. Cook and stir until the vegetables are tender. Transfer the vegetables to the bowl with the rice. Heat 2 more tablespoons of oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork, and cook for about 2 minutes, just until browned on the outside. Transfer to the bowl with the rice and vegetables; season with dill and black pepper. Stir until everything is well blended. Set the mixture aside to cool.

Carefully remove the leaves from the head of cabbage, and place them in a large pot with about 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil, and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until tender and flexible. Remove the cabbage leaves from the pot, but leave enough in the bottom to cover. On each of the remaining leaves, place about 2 tablespoons of the pork and rice mixture in the center, and wrap the leaf around to cover.

Place the stuffed cabbage leaves into the pot. When the pot is full, place a few boiled cabbage leaves over the top. Pour boiling water into the pot to cover the cabbage rolls, and place over medium-low heat. Cover, and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the rice is tender.

Good apetite!

Gheorghe Zamfir - Invirtita
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Barsana Monastery, Maramures, Romania

Maramures is famous for its wooden churches(Unesco heritage sites). They are Orthodox churches. The wooden churches are a distinct feature of Maramures. Here the natives' woodcarving talent shows up in a display of beauty and creativity.They are high timber constructions with characteristic tall, slim bell towers at the western end of the building.

Every time I visit Barsana Monastery I am speechless. It's like entering another world, a world which is closer to God, it's like entering a corner of Eden. Barsana Monastery is a holly and peaceful place that is worth visiting!

Folclor Autentic - colaj Grigore Lese
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Flowers for my blog readers

This is a surprise for you, my blog readers: one of my favorite flower photos. I took this photo this spring. You can see the dead leaves, the fragile grass and those tiny delicate wild flowers. Simply adorable! That's the reason why I like to take photos: each photo reminds me of a special moment or of a special day. Flowers are beautiful today and gone tomorrow. I don't know why I like flowers so much all of a sudden. There was a time when I just left them unnoticed while passing by or stepping on them. It's strange how my camera determined me to discover or rediscover their beauty. There was a time when I loved them more than I do now, and that was the time when I was a child.

Stefan Hrusca - Nunta de flori
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Sacel pottery / Ceramica Sacel

George Enescu - Rapsodia Romana nr.1
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Sacel is a village from Maramures, Romania. This village is famous for its so-called "Dacian ceramics", one of the oldest types of ceramics preserved in Romania. This craft was preserved in Sacel for over 2000 years and was transmitted from generation to generation.

The potter Tanase Burnar, the son of famous Tanase Cocian, is familiarised with the potter’s wheel since he was 10, when he started to make the first objects. Now he makes with great skill pots (see photo) for sarmale (traditional Romanian food made of meat, rice and cabbage), ceramic plates, cups and jugs burned once in the oven. The oven was built by the craftsman and uses the wood fire so the color of the clay is preserved. The clay used is kaolin, a fine and dense clay taken from deep springs from Drobodeava Hill, Sacel.

The Sacel pots are manufactured in the same style as the Dacian style. They are manufactured and ornamented using mineral elements. The ornaments are simple and resemble natural elements ( the flow of water, the sun, the line of life, drawings of men, folkloric motifs ), motifs also used in the Dacian ceramics. The continuity of this craft will be transmitted to the next generations.

May I come in?

It's so much fun taking photos sometimes! But I have to admit it's not easy to take pet photos. They never stand still.

With this photo I was lucky. There she was...eager to get in the house. She wanted to get inside my house and inside my blog! So, WELCOME her!




Cranberries - Animal instinct
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The Black Cell (the punishment Cell)

Memorialul victimelor comunismului si al rezistentei - Sighet, Maramures, Romania
THE MEMORIAL OF THE VICTIMS OF COMMUNISM AND OF THE RESISTANCE - Sighet prison, once a communist prison, today a museum.

The victim was locked in alone in complete darkness for hours, days and nights with no food. The floor was full of water so the victim had to stay half in the water with his hands tied to the ground. The hunger, the cold, the uncomfortable position of the victim was nothing compared to the complete darkness of the cell. The victims didn't know if it was night or day outside, didn't know what time it was, didn't know how long they've been locked in there.

If you ever visit this museum and get to this cell, enter it and close the door for one second to "see" its darkness and to realize that one second in this cell is no longer one second.



For me it is the second time I visit this museum. The first time I visited it we had a guide. I will never forget when the guide closed the door of the Black cell behind us, I got so scared. It was like a cold shower and I wasn't alone in there and I knew it was a museum and everything was over. I knew things have changed except for one thing: the blackness of this place.

Two days ago I visited the museum again. This time I was alone and it was Thursday morning. I found an empty museum, or an almost empty museum and of course it was quite scary at a certain point but I got over it. No matter how sad and shocking this museum is I would like to visit it again. I know there are a lot of people who wouldn't like to see it because they find it too shocking or too sad but I can't agree. I think we should go there and read the names written on the walls and look at their faces in the photos, I think we should remember or find out rather than forget or ignore.THEY deserve more.




VALERIU STELIAN ,,DOAMNE VINO DOAMNE"
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Iezer Lake

I finally climbed for the first time Pietrosul Peak, Rodnei Mountains, Romania, on 13th June 2008. I captured this photo as soon as I approached the Iezer Lake! There is something special and strange about this lake, the fact that it has the shape of the Romanian map. If you climb further on the Pietrosu Peak when you turn around and look at the lake from above, you can see it: the romanian map.

It feels great to step on June snow and drink the cold, fresh water of our mountains!




Ducu Bertzi - Floare de colt
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Negru

This is a photo of my black cat. She was so scared when I took this photo of her and of course so little, just a kitten. Just look at her eyes! It's obvious she has never seen a camera before...



Pasarea Colibri- Pisica Neagra
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