posted on 26th April 2010 under Nature, Spring
Blogging about Norway, our significant four seasons, culture and traditions now calls for a post about spring. After a relatively cold and snowy winter, nature is slowly waking up from hibernation and both nature and people get livelier. Of course the return of the sun helps as well: From 6 hour’s daylight in mid December to 15 hours now in Oslo helps to bring out the spring feeling and we get light more day by day: 18 hour’s in mid June.
We’ve had the loveliest sunny weather this weekend and to give you the proof of the pudding, my wife and I had a photo hunt in our garden and on our favourite spring beach. Let’s start with our garden and some examples of spring flowers in the south east part of Norway:
Let’s take a closer look at some typical from our area in southern Norway (click to bigify and enjoy):
Left: daffodils – Right: Crocus
Left: Scillia in front – Right: Primrose
Other typical garden flowers in Norway are tulips, daffodils, hyacinth, snow drops, and Lily of the valley.
Wild flowers at the Spring Beach:
Like I said we were on a photo hunt and went to our favourite beach where we know we’ll meet real spring and nature just out of hibernation:
I hope you are able to spot the ground almost totally covered by Anemone hepatica (common names: Kidneywort, liverwort, pennywort, Common Hepatica – in Norwegian: Blåveis). Let’s take a closer look:
Some weeks later, this is the white flower bed that will meet us when we again visit this lovely beach just 25 minutes by public transportation out of Oslo city:
Anemone nemorosa also in the family Ranunculaceae. Common names: wood anemone, windflower, thimbleweed and smell fox or in Norway: Hvitveis. (Photo shot with my Nokia two years ago).
There are others who are happy for the spring flowers too – guess you’re familiar with the story about the birds and the bees? 
This little guy was so fat the flower almost couldn’t hold him:
Not only the birds and the bees are happy for spring, warmer and sunny weather (around 15C – 60F). In this delightful, crisp, fresh air, people start thinking of beach life and tanning too of course (click to bigify and enjoy):
A bit early for bikinis yet, but if you dress right, still enjoyable.
So by this I declare spring seasons have started in Oslo, the south east of Norway. I hope you got some spring spirit from this too. To get even more of the spirit, you might like to check my wife DianeCA’s post too. It would be interesting to read if some of these spring flowers are to be found in you’re part of the world too!
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posted on 24th April 2010 under Culture, History, Travel Abroad
Traiana Columna or Column built in Trajan’s Forum in Rome, inaugurated on 12th of May 113, is one o f the best preserved monuments of antiquity – erected “for eternity”. It is to be admired at the National History Museum as a copy, brought into being by archaeologist Emil Panaitescu’s – the director of the Romanian School in Rome at that time.
When I was in Bucharest at the museum last weekend, I become aware of that it tells a lot about this country’s history and why it’s called Romania. With some of my photos and a bit of research, I gladly share it with you. Let’s start with the base of this monument:
Romanian History:
Romania is situated in Central Europe and its territory is marked by the Carpathian Mountains, the Danube and the Black Sea. With its temperate climate and varied natural environment, which is favourable to farming, the Romanian territory has been inhabited since time immemorial.
The territory of today’s Romania was inhabited as early as 513 BC by the Getae or Dacians, a Thracian tribe. Under the leadership of Burebista (70-44 BC) the Dacians became a powerful state which threatened even the regional interests of the Romans. Julius Caesar intended to start a campaign against the Dacians, but was assassinated in 44 BC. The Dacian state sustained a series of conflicts with the expanding Roman Empire, and was finally conquered in 106 AD by the Roman emperor Trajan, who defeated Decebalus. Faced by successive invasions of the Goths and Carpi, the Roman administration withdrew in 271.
All of this and a lot more are told as history engravings from around the monument. They are reconstructed at the museum, so let me give you some examples:
A group of low rank Dacian warriors beg for mercy to the merciless Emperor Trajan
Dacians returning to their homes
Different people from other kingdoms (or empires) lived with the Romanians, such as the Gothic Empire (Oium) from 271 until 378, the Hunnish Empire until 435, the Avar Empire and slaves during the 6th century. Much of Romania fell under the First Bulgarian Empire during the 9th through 11th centuries. Subsequently Magyars, Pechenegs, Cumans and Tatars also raided and settled in the lands to various extents. Let me give you some other photos from the museum to exemplify (click to bigify and enjoy):
Left: Chimney crowing from the Walphard – Right: Funerary Lion at Micia, Hunedoara County.
Modern Romania since 1989:
The Ceauşescu couple, fleeing Bucharest by helicopter, ended up in the custody of the army; after being tried and convicted by a kangaroo court for genocide and other crimes, they were executed on December 25, 1989. The events of this revolution remain to this day a matter of debate, with many conflicting theories as to the motivations and even actions of some of the main players. It still shows at the Revolution Square where I took some photos too:
Ceauşescu lifted from the top left of this building.
In December 1991, a new constitution was drafted and subsequently adopted, after a popular referendum, which, however, attracted criticism from international observers who accused the government of manipulating the population and even of outright fraud. A new constitution which took effect October 29, 2003, follows the structure of the Constitution of 1991. However it made significant revisions, among which the most significant are extension of the presidential mandate from four years to five, and the guaranteed protection of private property. Presidential and parliamentary elections took place again on November 28, 2004. In 2004 Romania joined NATO and then the European Union (EU), alongside Bulgaria, on January 1, 2007.
The photo to the left is kind of a monument symbolising the past and the present: The pyramid of victory as a part of the Revival’s Memorial – Eternal glory to the Romanian revolution and it’s heroes from December 1989.
So this is my last post from my wife DianeCA and mine’s trip to Bucharest last weekend. I hope you’ve enjoyed us taking you along and you may read the other three here:
About our culinary adventure – Bucharest in Romania a city of architectural contrasts – and Bucharest People or Parliament Palace in Romania.
I also recommend that you read DianeCA’s post from our trip too – in quite a different but interesting prospective: Bucharest, Romania in Spring!
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posted on 21st April 2010 under Travel Abroad
Romanian Parliament Palace, formerly the People’s Palace, built by Communist Party leader Nicolae Ceausescu, in Bucharest is colossal. After the Pentagon, its the second largest administrative building in the world; surface area of 330,000 square metres – volume of 2,550,000 cubic metres. It took 20,000 Bucharest – Parliament Palace workers and 700 architects to build the palace, which was overthrown in 1989. The palace boasts 12 stories, 1,100 rooms, a 328-ft-long lobby and four underground levels, including an enormous nuclear bunker:
A close up from the backside of the Palace.
Inside at the main entrance.
While in Bucharest last week, my wife and I had an hour long guided tour which took us through a small section of dazzling rooms, huge halls and quarters used by the Senate. The interior is a luxurious display of crystal chandeliers, mosaics, oak panelling, marble, gold leaf, stained-glass windows and floors covered in rich carpets. As always, I gladly take you with and share some of my pics (click to bigfy and enjoy!):
Some of the chandeliers have as many as 7,000 light bulbs
Our guides where very knowledgeable and made sure the tour kept a good pace but still made sure there was enough time for photograph taking:
The commentary is neutral in content; there is little reference to the reasons the Palace was built or to the engineering of this bizarre building. Instead it was a comprehensive list of the materials used, the skills of the craftspeople and the statistics that make this building quite unique:
The highlight for me was walking out onto the enormous balcony that overlooks Ceausescu’s attempt at recreating the Champs Elysee or “the Boulevard of the Victory of Socialism” as it was planned to be called. It is 3.2 kilometres long – that’s 6 metres longer than the Champs Elysees! Its right from this balcony the story says that when Michael Jackson stood here and addressed the thousands of fans below he proclaimed “Hello Budapest, I’m so glad to be here” (oops!).
Our visit to Bucharest was fascinating and we learned a lot about the culture, politics, and history of Romania. We met lots of nice Romanian people as well, that was possibly what impressed us most of all. This is the third post about our trip in Romania – here is the other two:
About our culinary adventure and Bucharest in Romania a city of architectural contrast.
So stay tuned to learn about the history, and the answer to why the country is called Romania!
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posted on 17th April 2010 under Spring, Travel Abroad
Architecture in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, is the miraculous result of ecclesiastic architecture – a city of paradoxes and contrasts. Most of down-town Bucharest follows no single rule in terms of urban design. There is no obvious delimitation between styles or periods, as there is no delimitation between people. The people here live in so different conditions that the poles are two worlds apart.
When I was there at the CEPIS Council meeting last weekend I combined business and pleasure while taking my wife along for some more urban adventures. We had Sunday off, and used it to explore the city and we gladly take you along. Let me start with a pic to demonstrate the contrast:
Bucharest Financial District:
The first bank in Romania, now a very inefficient and overstaffed state bank; the Old National Bank, New Palaces and Romanian Commercial Bank plus the former Stock Exchange are all lined up beside each other. The glass dome used to be a trademark of the early century Bucharest skyline, alongside the Museum of History’s twin domes:
Walking around getting close to the Revolution Square, there was another building designed by the same architect. Built between 1896 and 1900, this classical French Eclectic building the Roman Atheneum, and has been used in the motion picture Amen by Costas Gavras as a replacement for the Vatican:
The Military House:
A gigantic flag is placed in the middle of a square called the Square of the Flag. The building right in front of you is the Army Club, a very impressive ornate building dating from 1912 and having as creators the architects Dimitrie Maimarolu, Victor Stefanescu and Ernest Doneaud.
In the streets of Bucharest:
Since pictures say more than a thousand words, and keeping these architectural paradoxes and contrasts in mind – let me show you some random pics from the streets of Bucharest:
Not “In the streets of London….” – But: In the streets of Bucharest.
The Cişmigiu Gardens or Park:
Bucharest is rich in public parks, leafy avenues, and scattered lakes. The first public park, Cişmigiu, was laid out by the German landscape gardener Carl F. W. Meyer , who was called to Bucharest to create a People’s Park in the 1830s. He drained marshland, created lakes with islands, meadows with clumps of trees, and laid out drives and paths. Let me give me a peek of how it looks in early spring time, a week ago:
Meyer planted more than 30,000 trees and shrubs, and placed pavilions to enjoy the main viewpoints of the city and the park. Later alterations have included the eclectic work of the German architect F. von Rebhuhn in 1910. Today long rows of clipped lime trees, yew hedges, rose gardens, and box-edged beds filled with seasonal bedding provide a basic structure.
This is my second post from our trip to Bucharest. The last one was about our culinary adventure.
So stay tuned, as there will be more about the famous Palace and the history of Romania and why this country is called so. Bucharest was a very different city from any other place I have been, maybe any other place in the world and when we got over the contrast in architecture it got to be quite funny to look around. Sunday in the park was also quite an experience since it is a popular activity for the local residents. I do hope you enjoy this series and will follow along. Do you want similar adventures in Scandinavia… join Oslo Blog Gathering 2010… sign up now!
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posted on 14th April 2010 under Food, Travel Abroad
Romania’s traditional food sees touches of Turkish, Hungarian, Austrian, and other cuisines, but over the years, these dishes have become just as traditional as the oldest Romanian traditional foods. So you might say it has had influence from both invaders and neighbours where its traditional cuisine is concerned. It’s heavily feature is meat. Cabbage rolls, sausages, and stews (like tocanita) are popular main dishes. Muschi poiana consists of mushroom- and bacon-stuffed beef in a puree of vegetables and tomato sauce. You can also sample traditional Romanian fish dishes, like the salty, grilled carp called Saramura.
When I attended CEPIS Council Meeting last weekend, I had a chance of some culinary adventures and as always, I gladly share them with you:
Restaurant Balkan Bistro:
The Continental Forum Hotel’s restaurant impressed us by the Balkan traditional food. Side by side you’ll also find their Wine Cellar, even in the original cellar of the former Habermann coffee house (built-up in 1876), famous meeting place and symbol of the cultural life from Sibiu at the end of eighteen century.
The atmosphere gives the most ideal choice either for a business meal or a delicious dinner. The day before I attend CEPIS Council Meeting (the reason for my stay in Bucharest), my wife and I had a nice dinner here and we invite you all to join us:
With a 100 seats capacity, Balkan Bistro invites you to indulge in a varied menu consisting of the most delicious specialties from various countries: Albania, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, and a lot more. Guided by their excellent servant Anna, I tried my best to stick to the Romanian style, Bon Appétit (click pics to bigify and enjoy):
Left: Bread with Alioli – Right: Fish & Egg salad
Left: Romanian meet stew (beef, pork, chicken & sausage) – Right: Coffee
La Mandragora:
In the evening after CEPIS’s council Meeting, we all had another culinary adventure. Decadent décor and smart ideas about food have inspired a classy, edgy ambience at this lovely new restaurant that opened in a renovated house in June 2006. Cristi Puiu suggested the name, after his production company, and chose a special place for the restaurant. The house in 29 Mendeleev Street (Bucharest) is where the painter Ștefan Luchian, the flowers master, lived and painted:
Lilac-colored walls, a glittering bar, and gathered drapes are the opening gambit for an evening of superb food. French dishes with a twist are how you might describe the divine creations of German chef Paul Peter Kopij, who plans seasonal innovations and additions to a cleverly sophisticated yet simple menu:
The menu is among Bucharest’s most innovative and I gladly share my dishes with you:
Left: Cream of carrot soup – Right: Red wine, Penfolds Shiraz Cabernet, Australian
Left: French breast of duck in Guinness ale with basmati rice – Right: Crème brûlée and Beignets filled with apple
This was our culinary adventure from our trip to Bucharest. Like I said in my last post, mentioning that I had DianeCA my wife with me, you might agree I have the ability to combine business with pleasure. However, I took a lot more pics and had some more time to explore this interesting, special and historical East European city. So stay tuned – there will be lot more about the contrast in architecture, history and culture as well as to show you spring was on its way!
This post is part of Reiseblogg2010 – A Norwegian Travel Blog Competition.
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