bucharest

Hi all!

Let's continue with Blogmas in January. Well, if you were living in Russia, you'd be celebrating Christmas in January, actually. At least there's that, i suppose. 

Once again I'll batch a few days together, mostly because i failed to post it in December, as I mentioned in the previous post. 

Day 12

On the 12th day, we were expected to mention or make a list of our favorite Christmas movies. 

Just like with seasonal music or the wreath, I'm not a fan of such movies. 

I can't remember if we watched any movie in December. I did watch Star Trek The Next Generation. And yes, I'm more of a Trekkie, and definitely not a fan of Star Wars, sorry. :( Currently, I'm watching the Deep Space Nine series. 

Day 13

On this day, we once again had the opportunity to earn a premium or business paid account for our blog or site. 

This time I participated and ....

I actually won!!!! YAAAAAY!!!!! I'm really happy about it! :D 

Nothing more to talk about for this day. 

Day 14

Today's challenge was related to the food we planned for Christmas. If you remember from last year, i may have mentioned we usually have traditional foods we eat for certain celebrations. This link may refresh your memory.

One of the dishes you can expect to see Salad a la Russe. While the recipe is the same year after year, the design will always be different. This is the recipe I use, in case you haven't seen it yet. 

I made probably 3 plates and a casseroles of salad. The casserole went to Anna's parents, as her mother was sick and couldn't stand or sit for too long. As such, we offered to make the salad for them. 

These are most of the plates i decorated for this Christmas. I'm surprised to see just how clear and crisp the image and colors are. Well, If I'm not mistaken, these were taken with my new iPhone 8, so maybe this is why. 

For this salad, the carrots and almost everything should be cooked or pickled, including the carrots and pieces of red bell pepper. My carrots are boiled, and the peppers are raw. The salad is better with these 2 decor pieces as pickled. 

As a side note, the last image is the salad for Anna's parents.

Day 15

 I don't think I have much to report for this day. The admins of the platform said today's international tea day. or something along these lines. 

They asked if we prefer tea or coffee. Well, i prefer coffee, though I drink quite a bit of tea as well. If you want to know more about tea in Romania, this link can help you out. 

Day 16

On this day, we're supposed to go to the Christmas market. Last year we didn't have one. This year we did something organized, but it was disappointing. 

For starters, there was an entry fee, we needed proof of being vaccinated, to wear the mask, and it was MUCH smaller. Furthermore, it didn't even really have the usual stands with traditional Christmas food. 

And there was also no Kurtos Kalacz, or chimney cake, either. 

Here are some of the pictures I took at the event: 

Actually, it seems i lost the pictures from the actual market. These stalls are an "unofficial event" taking place in the heart of the city, in Union Square. 

The picture with a few chimney cakes being cooked, is from a several-year-old event happening at yet a different location. 

This year, we didn't buy anything from the Christmas market nor from these vendors. 

©Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Hello, everyone!

As you already know from this entry, Bucharest is currently opened for business after last year's mess that leaked into this year as well.

This meant that museums also opened, and honestly, since we don't have any Louvre or other similarly popular museums, i see no reason not to visit some of the ones we have.

One of the museums in the city, Antipa Museum, holds temporary exhibits on a regular basis. This year it held at least 2 temporary exhibits. One was dedicated to butterflies and the other one to the Moon. 

Butterflies

We first went to see the butterflies first. These were tropical butterflies and they were alive. This exhibit will still be available for 1 month or so.

We decided to go early on a Saturday morning, hoping to be alone there. This didn't go as we had hoped since several families with kids also came. Most likely because it's a bit cooler in the morning than later in the afternoon. And that day was quite the hot one.  

Luckily for us, not everyone came to see the butterflies. However, access into the museum [where the tickets are sold] was allowed to only small groups. The rule was to allow the groups to be decently distanced. 

The butterflies were not held inside the museum, but in its garden. We did have to walk through the museum to get to the special greenhouse built for them. 

We had to follow a special protocol to go in and out of this greenhouse:

• show the tickets [to go in]
• wait for the employee to let us in or out through the special curtains.

The exit from this exhibit was separated from the entrance. of course, all due to "lovely 'rona." 

As i mentioned, the butterflies were alive, so we had to watch our steps, as not to step on one by mistake. 
Besides us, there was maybe a family or two more. 

The majority of the butterflies were blue when the wings were opened and brown when they were closed. The brown side seemed to have a pattern with eyes. The picture below is a bit blurry and doesn't do the butterfly any justice, sadly. There are actually 2 of them eating. Can you spot the 2nd one?

Most of these insects were resting with the wings closed, to show the eye (or perhaps scary side) of their coloring. See an example below:

The greenhouse was small, so the visit wasn't very long. An interesting corner of the enclosure was the box in which they showed the various stages of an insect that turns into a butterfly.

Even more interesting was the fact that some of the pupae were alive, especially those in the later stages. 

There were many stages, and i couldn't capture them all in a single picture, if i wanted to understand something from the image. hello to my reflection and of random people in there, hehe.  

Despite having a short visit, the butterflies made me really happy. this happened perhaps because they're usually associated with hope. they were also very colorful, and colorful stuff is cheerful. 

When we left, we bought this stone tree. I'm not sure what most of the stones are, and thus what's supposed to attract. 

Unfortunately, after we left, Anna started feeling bad and we couldn't continue our plans for the day.

Here are a few more pictures with the butterflies:

Look how beautiful this black butterfly is!

The Moon Impact Exhibit

As mentioned, the 2nd collection we went to see was dedicated to the Moon, and called "The Moon Impact."- link This exhibit will still be on until January. 

This was a presentation with large images and some text, everything from the point of view of a billion of years globe Earth. If you believe in the Creationist theory or in the Hollow Earth, you're probably laughing at me for going to see this exhibit. 

The presentation started with the Big Bang theory, and who is not even a bit familiar with it? 

I didn't take pics at this exhibit, so, here are the tickets instead. 

I didn't take pics because i found this presentation rather disappointing. I think it was meant for kids who lose their patience rather easily. It was a small one, just like the one with butterflies. 

We also had to show our tickets before getting in, and the person checking them was sitting in such a dark corner we couldn't even see him. 

Anna and i were the only ones there, though a family tried coming in as well, but they didn't have tickets for this expo so they weren't let in.

There were 3 or 4 large cases in which various rocks and/or minerals were held. This was the only interesting part of this exhibit. 

Worth noting that the written presentation was both in Romanian and English. i completely recommend you go see something similar in your city, or even in Bucharest if you're in town until January. 

see ya!

©Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

A few months ago I came across a post on Instagram, that made me think of this issue. I'll share the post with you later, in a different entry. 

Well, i thought about it before, but I somehow didn't have the right muse around me to write about it. I think the time is better now. 

Many types and shapes of plastic

I won't dive into what plastic is made of. We all know there are many different types and forms of plastic out there, and i believe this wiki page is only an opener for a whole can of worms on the topic.

Here, in the images below, you can see some types and shapes plastic can take:

• the hard shell of a mouse and of a regular pen
• the soft-cover protecting the wires of a mouse, 
• the faux-leather cover of an agenda (that i use as a planner AND mousepad),
• my home-pants made of 100% polyester that you get a small snippet of as well (flowery blue, in the lowest part of the image) 
• a pencil - the green one (the blue pencil is made of the traditional wood)

In these images, most of the mentioned plastics can be used just once. Granted, they can be used for a VERY long period of time. I have to find a recycling program for the mouse, and I'll most likely keep the agenda -as I recorded some memories in it as well. 

The plastic pencil is both useful (when writing or drawing) and wasteful (when sharpening), but it has just 1 life as well. When it becomes too short to still sharpen/write with, I'll have to somehow discard it. 

I got the pants as already worn, but they were still in a good shape. When I'll be done wearing them, I can turn them into something else, until the fabric can no longer be used. 

Speaking of clothes, I have 2 more types of plastics to show you. Well, one is a repeat, while the other is not. 

The vest is made of faux-fur and the coat of faux leather and has a polyester lining. These items too, can be used for an extended period of time. Additionally, they can somehow be reused when they can no longer be used as clothes. 

So, overall, this type of plastic is a tiny bit less problematic.  

Soo ... single-use plastic bags?

I'm not sure where in the world you live, and what the situation is with single-use plastic bags over there. In Romania, these are seen everywhere, especially when you go do your groceries. just look here:

This is a typical plastic shopping bag. It used to be free of charge, now it costs a few cents, depending on the store. They say this bag is single-use. Well, it is not really, unless it breaks. 

I often reuse these when shopping and sometimes as trash bags, when they become a bit too worn out. This particular bag is filled with other plastic bags, and many households across the country have a big plastic bag filled with other (smaller) plastic bags.  

The irony is that most single-use plastic shopping bags of certain compositions have been banned. They have been replaced with "bio" single-use plastic bags. I'll show you one below:

This bag is for fruits and vegetables. it's very soft to the touch, breaks easily, and I'm not 100% sure, but i think it disintegrates quite rapidly once it gets punctured. Currently, shopping bags are very similar to the touch to this 'bio' bag. I still re-use these for lightweight trash, if they didn't already break. 

I made 1 bag for fruits and vegetables, but as you can expect, I forget to bring it with me when shopping. And it's not even guaranteed I'll buy such goods. 

Now, the biggest offenders

I'm not even done, because these previous items can be re-used or have prolonged use if you care to spend less and have a creative spirit. 

Now, I'll show you the biggest offenders of plastic products. 

Cling film is indeed a pretty decent invention for covering foods when putting them in the fridge, or for the sandwiches you make for your lunch break. It probably has other uses that I'm not aware of. 

Regardless, this item should be banned! Or people should stop buying this product altogether! It can be replaced with at least 3 other items:

1. casseroles with lids: These can be used to store food in the fridge and to take your lunch in. These can easily be washed and reused. I wouldn't recommend the ones made of hard plastic, but it's not very convenient to carry glass stuff around. Maybe metal containers can do the trick here, but I'm not sure they still exist. 
2. lids or plates used as lids: These can be used only in the fridge. These are more accessible to those who don't always have a fridge full, and they can occupy more space. 
3. zip-lock bags: Yes, they're still plastic, not great, but if we carefully handle these, they can serve for a long(er) period of time compared to cling film. 

This bottle held apple cider vinegar. When you walk into any store, you'll see hundreds if not thousands of plastic bottles: for beer, oil, sodas, milk, laundry and dish wash, and on and on. 

These are BIG one-time plastic use offenders. Granted, some of these products cannot be sold in a different type of container. 

I think that all stores should request buyers to come with the old/empty bottles when buying a new product of the same type (regardless of brand), or else be forced to pay more. The empty bottles should be collected and recycled. 

I know some people re-use plastic bottles for various things, mostly instead of a traditional pot for plants. This is great, but not everyone has a green thumb or is creative enough. 

There are SO many items packaged in plastic! Above you can see a bag of frozen mixed vegetables and 3 small containers (I'm not sure what to call them), for milk for coffee. 

The bag above is a single-use bag that should be banned. it's too small to be reused and breaks quite easily when not careful. The only re-use i can think of is for the above-mentioned lunch if it comes as a sandwich. I must admit, I'm not sure what can it be replaced by, and therefore it can be spared for some time. 

I saved the worst for last and i don't even know what to say here. We literally buy these bags to throw them away! Make this make sense because it doesn't make any sense to me!  

As far as i saw here, these rarely have a 'bio' version. And even then, they're way more expensive than 'regular' trash bags. It's also not a guarantee those 'bio' bags last for less time in nature. 

P.S.! 

I know there are also single-use plastic plates, glasses, straws, and cutlery, however, i don't own any such items anymore. Precisely because of their single-use attribute. Additionally, it's not healthy to eat out of re-usable plastic plates either - plastic can leech into the food. This is akin to slow poisoning.  

I don't think paper is a good alternative to plastic, especially not the plastic/paper combo we see on some products. We need to cut trees to make paper, and we need trees to breathe cleaner air. Also, many animals rely on trees to survive. 

I think that paper could be recycled easier than plastic and it decomposes faster when left out in the open. Maybe we could make packaging out of bamboo instead? 

I didn't watermark these pics as I didn't see the need to, but they were taken by me in june/july of this year (2021).

See you next time! 

©Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Hello all!

It's been a while since i posted. Well, i do blog for fun, not really for money, and I'm a freelancer, so this makes sense. 

We all know what happened in 2020. the lockdown wasn't easy and hit Romania in mid-March.
I don't think I need to explain what the lockdown means - we all know at this point. The only open places were supermarkets, drugstores, hospitals, along with some restaurants that do deliveries, such as pizza places. 

Walking the dog, taking a short stroll around our buildings, especially those with dogs, and helping the elderly were the main activities that we were allowed to partake in. It goes without saying that buying groceries, meds, or doctor appointments were also allowed but had to be restricted to the minimum. Going to work, for 'essential workers' was also allowed, of course. 

The times were hard on everyone. How hard was it for me? read here -link to post 1 of struggles. 

We also had to write a document stating where we went and why. This was a nightmare in itself. Why couldn't we just send a text or something to some call center or I don't know, somehow make things easy like in South Korea? Those without the paper risked heavy fines. 

When restrictions lifted, things became more bearable. clothes stores opened later than restaurants and cafes, of course. Even these places opened only if they gave food/drinks as a takeaway. 

the streets were eerie and empty the first time we ventured further away from home for a coffee:

The city looked beautiful, despite it being deserted. It looks as if the zombie apocalypse just hit or ended. The messed-up sidewalk is a sight to behold. Welcome to Bucharest, baby!

These two images are the 'entrance' so to speak, of the Old Town. Everyone gathers here during the weekend, but not only. When there's no pandemic or restrictions, of course. 

Of course, not everyone dared to go out just yet. I like the image above the most. It is also in the BEST area in the country to own property (aka an apartment). Some 5 years ago it used to look different. The blue building on the left didn't even exist.

This is another area of the city, across the street from the University of Bucharest. There are maybe 4 statues there? of various important historical people. 

These 2 images are from the Old Town. It'd obviously the same street from 2 different points.

The coffee we got was from Tedd's. I remember it as being just meh, but after 2 months of confinement, it felt like some sort of luxury. 

That's not the only place where we could find something to drink. Somewhere close to the University of Bucharest, there's a small bar called Rainbow. It serves cocktails and coffees, and not only. Most of the stuff they serve is take-away. 

I believe this is the first time we found it and we had to order something. A frappe, a fresh fruit juice, and a mojito, i believe. Drinking in public is allowed in Romania. You could get in trouble if you're getting very drunk/wasted. Besides, it's difficult to tell what the transparent drink is - perhaps some tonic water with lemon/lime, ice, and some mint for kicks, haha. 

The fresh juice is of catina (Seaberry?). It's apparently rich in Vitamin C and this helps fight this virus that messed up our lives. It' one of the best fresh juices I tasted, and it's amazing on a hot summer day. 

We couldn't sit at any table, just on benches or wherever else we could. 

I remember ordering some food from this fancier restaurant, Van Gogh. Here are some pics of the place:

Cases started increasing as soon as people were allowed to go places and do things, due to the rules relaxing further. 

One of the first things we purchased after the lockdown, was a VERY cute backpack. It's cute in my opinion, at least.

In July, we were allowed to sit at terraces with appropriate distancing. We had a raspberry gin tonic i believe and a very traditional Romanian dish.

The dish is polenta mixed with cheese, bacon, and eggs. I forgot if it had anything else added. It was delicious, rather a large portion and I was barely able to finish it. Polenta is rather filling, to begin with. 

Over the winter, most restaurants were again closed for the most part, as well as the theatres. There were no events taking place either. Especially not the Christmas market. We thought we might have it at first, but then it was confirmed they canceled it. 

As the weather improved this year, the authorities started allowing more and more businesses to restart their activities as well. Even events started to slowly take place. 

We finally went and sat at cafes this year, after getting vaccinated. We had both cocktails and coffee-based drinks, just like before.

I missed this matcha latte! I only found one other place that makes it, Handsome Monk. I did order it from there once, but it sucked. :( 

I just don't understand why they don't bring napkins anymore, now that they started having customers again. The napkins you can barely see in the picture above with our drinks? I had to ask for them! 

One of the most exciting things we did this year after everything opened, was going to see a movie! 

The movie we saw was The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. 

At the movies, there was just one more couple. This place didn't run any ads before the movie, and it was pitch black. Also quite cold inside. I started shaking and not out of fear. I was actually not really scared.

There are a few other things I want to share in the (hopefully near) future, such as the visit to the City Hall. OOOH!

The entry will come maybe next week or in 2 weeks. 

until next time, bye~~~

©Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved. 

Happy new year! 

I have no idea since when you guys read my ramblings here. But with a quick search in my past entries, you'll see that at the end of each year, for the past 2 or 3 years, i tried to post some "End of the year thoughts". See here, here.

This time i decided against it. I have more reasons:

• All December I had work to do (my main job)
• I tried to do/did blogmas (see my recent posts or the link)
• I have this entry where i drew a bit of a line for 2020.

For blogmas day 10, we were supposed to talk about the Christmas menu. And I did. And i mentioned that, traditionally, in Romania, people like to make salad à la russe. 

I looked through my shared recipes and i noticed that i haven't shared this one yet, despite having made it quite a few times already. 

Well, now's the time to share the recipe! 

We wanted to make a lot of salad this time around because we really like it. This wasn't the best idea ever but we did it anyway, so here we go.

We used for the salad:

• 2.5 kg potatoes
• some 4 carrots
• 4 -5? pickled cucumbers
• some salt
• 1 big jar of peas (already cooked, drained)
• egg-whites from 1 or 2 boiled eggs

We decided to make our own mayonnaise, but to also buy some, in case I fail at making the mayo. I remember the first time I made mayonnaise - it was thick, yummy, and I was proud of myself. 

Most likely, after that, I was over-confident, as the next other times I made it, it didn't turn out quite the same. Oh, well, we live, practice, and then we become better. 

For the mayo I used:

• 1 egg yolk (from a boiled egg)
• 1 raw egg -whole
• some mustard 
• some salt
• oil (as much as needed)

For decoration: (you can use what you have on hand, these are the most common things you'll see in Romania, on this dish)

• black olives - pitted
• pickled red peppers
• pickled cucumbers
• pickled carrots
• fresh parsley (not other herbs)
• hard-boiled egg(s)

For this salad, we have to boil the potatoes and the carrots, then dice them. The dice shouldn't be too small, nor too big. You want the dice to be actually smaller, rather than larger, so that the salad would have a smoother appearance. 

If the dice are larger, the salad will look as if you made it with rocks and boulders instead of potatoes.

We decided to boil these 1 day ahead. And as you can see from my pictures, i boiled the potatoes for far too long. They shouldn't crack like that. The potatoes should be cooked, but firm for this salad.

Maybe I should have used red potatoes? I have no idea, but almost every time I try making this dish, I overboil my potatoes and they're far better mashed than diced. 

As you can see, I used larger pieces of carrots. I think by weight, the carrots are half the weight of the potatoes, maybe even less than that.  

Given the quantities, you'll need a very large bowl in which you'll throw everything for mixing. 

I suggest that on the day you want to prepare this, you first make the mayonnaise. If you don't want to make it, you better buy 2 bigger jars of mayo. 

To make things better, get the fancier, more expensive brand. It should taste better. The type and taste of the pickles, as well as that of the mayonnaise, are the secrets to this dish.

These 2 ingredients will make or break the taste of the whole thing and will decide if you like it or not. 

So, to make mayonnaise, you have to mix the hard-boiled egg yolk, the raw egg yolk, some salt, some mustard, with plenty of oil. 

The best tool for mixing, I noticed/learned to be the vertical blender part of your mixer. You add the oil bit by bit, and you might also need to add some salt and mustard from time to time. 

If you think the mayo looks too thick (almost like cream cheese) you can add the raw egg white as well. Try not to add it all at once as you could ruin the result, or it may take some time for the mayo to re-gain a decently thick consistency (yogurt-like). 

Once you figured the mayo out, cover it and put it in the fridge to rest. Now you can start dicing the potatoes, carrots, and pickles.

You throw these in the large pot/container along with the drained peas. For reference, I used the pot in which I boiled the potatoes after cleaning it.  

At the end, you can also throw in a hard-boiled egg you diced. This improves the taste of the salad. Don't forget to add some salt in with everything, or this will be a bit sweet and tasteless. This is not something you want.

As you can see, I diced my potatoes in sizes that are a bit too big. They should have been half that size, thus slightly larger than the peas. I also forgot to add the salt. And that's not the only thing i forgot to add. 

Now, it's time to add in the mayonnaise and to get your hand dirty. Mixing with a spoon is fine, but I feel I have better control over the mixing process if I use my hand. 

Once you're done, you can transfer the salad to other containers or plates, for decoration. I used 2 plates and a big soup bowl - i forgot its name. 

 And then, you'll need to use your imagination on decorating these. Nature-inspired decor (like flowers, or the sun) looks the best - somehow it balances out the heaviness of the mayonnaise. Red, orange, and black give it a nice visual contrast.

Above, you can see the decor I came up with. I had black olives in the fridge, but i forgot about them at first. I added some after, but i didn't take pictures anymore. 

Like i said, this is best eaten the day after you prepare it, so that the flavors mix in a bit more. We eat this usually on its own, but with bread. Extra pickles also work, as there is plenty of mayonnaise to make one nauseous. I think it's served before dishes with meat. 

I hope you can give this salad a go and that if you do, you'll enjoy it as much as we do. 

Bon Appetit! 

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Hello all!

So today I'm supposed to plan the menu for Christmas. Except I don't need to because every year we eat the same thing. 

See, here in Romania, there are a set-in-stone celebration dishes. Everyone makes the same food. Rarely there's any variation. 

One of the first things that need to be made for Christmas, or any other big celebration that is, is the cozonac. 

I personally never made one, so I don't have a recipe for it. As type of food, this is a dessert. By the method used to make one, it is a bread. So basically, it's a sweet bread and traditionally it has a filling made of nuts and cocoa. Rum (the alcohol) or rum essence (flavoring) can also be used in the filling. 

Of course, nowadays it is very common for city folks to buy one or a few. In the country side, it is still being made the traditional way.

The cozonac found int he city comes in different shapes and flavors, with some of them better than others. 

Another dish that cannot be missing from the Christmas table are the sarmale. This dish comes from Turkey and if you know that dish you'll know this one as well. 

We have cabbage leaves wrapped around a filling made of rice mixed with meat. Generally, the meat is a mixture of beef and pork. I talked a bit about the filling in this article. 

You just have to take about a spoonful of filling mixture and put it on the cabbage leaf, then to roll or pack the whole thing neatly. We'll most likely receive some Sarmale, if everything goes smoothly this year, considering the virus. 

Sarmale are labor intensive and this is why they're kept for special occasions. These special occasions can include weddings and funerals, especially in the countryside. 

Another dish you'll see is the Oliver's Salad, though it's usually called Boeuf Salad or A la Russe. There's actually a small difference between Boeuf and A la Russe: the former has meat and the latter does not. Otherwise, they look the same and generally have the same ingredients. 

The ingredients are boiled potatoes, carrots, peas, pickles, black olives, and mayonnaise. Everything gets chopped and mixed together. It is usually decorated with olives, boiled eggs, and red pickled peppers. This salad i plan on making. I made it before, and i can't believe i have zero pictures as proof, though i had some pretty ones made. 

That's what it can look like and the link will take you to a recipe in Romanian. Google Translate can be your friend.

This salad should be made a day or two in advance, so that the flavors mix well. It's definitely a dish that tastes better at least the next day, and it has to be kept in the fridge. 

The taste depends greatly on the pickles used as well as on the mayonnaise. It's best to make the mayonnaise at home, from scratch as it tastes better than the one from the store. 

Many people would prepare many dishes based on pork, as they butcher a pig a few days before Christmas. The most notable dishes are steak and home-made sausages. 

Some people will replace the pork with a roasted chicken or maybe beef. 

This is it for now! see you in blogmas day 11!

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

HeY eVeRyBoDy! 

Today's challenge is to make a playlist of songs for Christmas. 

Unfortunately, I don't like this type of songs. 

I don't like them because every year, no matter where you go, especially in stores, you hear the same songs played over and over and over gain. 

It becomes tiresome, overdone, and plain boring. 

However, Romania has quite the handful of traditions related to Christmas. I just realized I kinda never posted anything specifically related to this holiday. 

I spoke briefly about some of the traditions but not much details. 

Most Romanians celebrate Christmas on December 25th, with a few that celebrate on January 7th, like the Russians. 

The celebrations include preparing a lot of food, singing carols, as well as various dances and theater plays. In the old days, caroling was done by children but also by adults. 

This custom is still preserved in many villages today. However, it's important to know that each village would have its own caroling group made of both adults and children. 

Customary, only boys and men would go caroling through the village. The girls and the women would stay at home and prepare the meals, wait for the carolers, and do other chores. 

Some of the most popular carols and dances are the ones called "Steaua" and "Capra," meaning "Star" and "Goat" respectively. There's singing involved for both, but there's a dance associated with the "Goat." Another caroling dance and singing is the one with the "Bears". 

As far as the Goat and the Bears go, there's always someone in the group dressed as a Goat or Bears. Usually, the group has 1 goat, maybe 2 at times. There are usually 3 bears in the Bear group. There has to be at least 1 bear, but I'm not sure about how many bears there can be in the group. 

Below, there's a very short clip of the Bear dance, from 4 years ago, at the Christmas market. I don't think there will be any this year due to the virus. 

Across this city, various groups go with either the Goat or the Bears. I'm not sure if this year we'll see any Goats or Bears due to the current situation. 

I spoke more about the Goat and Bear because i like them the most. The Goat is very colorful. I don't think you can meet 2 identical looking Goats, but I'm not sure. She might look different from region to region. 

The Bear dance is loud and one can barely hear the words being sung or spoken. The Bears have 2 red pompoms around the neck or ears, i forgot. They are also supposed to appear closer to the New Year, so usually after Christmas. 

Traditionally, all carolers were supposed to receive some sort of reward from the person receiving them. The traditional rewards are apples, nuts, and a few other edible items. Nowadays, money is the most common reward. 

The Bears however, are supposed to receive clothes. I forgot if new or old clothes. It's best not to receive the carolers if you can't reward them: you'll be followed by bad luck in the new year. 

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Hello everyone!

DISCLAIMER: Bear in mind that some of the links in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission. I used these affiliate links to give you the option to check the book out, for yourself, if you so wish, through a well-trusted seller. While I will be very glad if you buy any of the linked items, the decision to do so or not, belongs to you. Thank you for reading!  

We learned that last week, on aug 22 and 23, a yard sale would take place. 

What is a yard sale?

A yard sale here is organized as a gathering of various artisans or authorized sellers. These folks sell either stuff they made or things they don't need anymore, that was collected over time. So a yard sale is more like a small fair or a flea market.

What happened?

So, Anna tells me about this fair taking place at Address1, but then the next day (aka, today) she tells me that the event is at Address2. And This Address2 was closer to us, so we decide to go there. 

And what do you know? There was NOTHING going on at this 2nd location! NOTHING! The place was a decent looking house with a yard. In the yard, i could see some sort of gazebos? made of wood or metal. So they were pretty permanent. The gates were under chains and locks, everything was quiet and almost eerie. 

So we decide to go to the Address1, hoping that the event may happen there. We hop on the tram as it the fastest way to get there, by a weird coincidence. What can i say, public transportation is like that here.

By tram, we only traveled 3 stops, and we reached the general area in which the event was taking place. It would have been quite difficult to go there on foot mostly because of the heat.

We get there, and lo and behold! the event IS happening! But we nearly missed it by passing it by, hahaha. It was hosted in a VERY narrow and long yard. 

There were quite a few people attending as well, so the place felt cramped. Everyone was wearing a mask due to the current situation. Anna didn't have the courage to browse, but i did. 

I saw the work of this local artisan. She made very unique necklaces out of leather and some large beads, as well as some hand-painted greeting cards. I wasn't enticed by anything, especially not her chatty personality. 

Ok, she was trying to make me buy, as she needs the money, yada-yada-yada. But i had no use for any of that stuff. I only wanted to buy something if i REALLY liked it or needed it. Her items, as unique as they were, didn't fit the bill. 

I walked further into the yard and i found this other girl selling a few things. The one thing that stood out to me was her Tarot de los Angeles. Angel Tarot?  

She was asking less than 10 USD for it (40 lei). And i wanted already to buy another deck. And in the only store where I saw a variety of decks being sold, the cheapest was 15 USD? (60 lei). You ight say the difference in price is not big, but every penny matters. 

I thought it would also be a good purchase for my site, BeingObscure.com where i currently offer some interpretations for the Shadowscapes Tarot deck. 

Why is that? because when I'll be done with the Shadowscapes, I'll need something else to write about. Yes, I do own an oracle deck, but i feel no connection to it, whatsoever.  

In this picture, you can see me comparing it to the (barely visible) Shadowscape Tarot. I must say, this new tarot being smaller, is easier to handle. As such, it feels lighter as well. 

The downsides is that it's in Spanish. See this card? It says "Tronos" not "Cronos" as i see it. So, yea, they really messed it up with the chosen font. 

The deck is complete and in very good condition. The package has some signs of tear and wear, but I can fix that, I believe with some glue and/or clear tape. 

If you're interested in checking out this deck, you can use this affiliate link.

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Hello! Don't take this post that seriously. Really don't. 

I am well aware I posted a few entries talking against consumerism: here - here - here

I basically was wrong in that post, at least to some extent, because we need to consume things in order to survive. 

I am against buying more than we need, I am against always buying the latest releases of anything, and against buying things simply because so-and-so promotes the item. 

Minimalism is the other extreme. There is a whole niche on youtube related to minimalism. 

I started writing this entry on the 18th day of the martial law instated in Romania. At this point, it is unclear when this "protectorate" will end. The other day they said after mid-May. we'll see.

I'm posting this a week before the martial law is supposed to ease.

The thing is, we're not allowed to go out without a pass - we can write it ourselves. who we are, where we go, why, carry the ID, and heaven forbid the paper is wrong. All the stores and malls are closed. Supermarkets, drugstores, emergency dentists, hospitals are the only operating "businesses." And also places like home renovation and pet stores. Other businesses that still operate, the post office, taxis, public transportation, delivery companies. If you need anything else, like clothes, craft supplies, you have to order online. if you have $$. 

Can you see how being a hoarder is now useful? Can you see how being a minimalist is not/was not a good idea? 

Living in a city is also not a good idea. But living in the countryside, in Romania, usually means no running water. See the image below, for a better understanding - seen first in this entry.

In any case, in the countryside, we'd be able to go out of the house, in the yard to attend to the animals, to the food we grow, to the toilet (as in most cases it's separated from the main house where we'd be living). 

As I was saying, as a minimalist, you're probably missing many things you wish you had. As a hoarder, you're probably feeling pretty secure you're not missing anything you might need. 

As a hoarder, you might have:

• Enough food to last you at least a month
• Enough cleaning supplies to last you through the lockdown
• An excuse to use them all up, clean the space and become more of a minimalist
• Various games to keep you busy and entertained
• A variety of tools that you can use to learn a new skill or make the things you wanted but didn't have the time.

As a minimalist, you might have:

• A lot of empty space in the house
• Not enough food
• Not enough supplies
• Just computer or smartphone games
• No tools for a new hobby
• A hard time finding in the supermarket what you need
• An excuse to go buy some things that occupy space, but are needed during an emergency situation

This "pandemic" taught me that: 

• Minimalism is not for me
• Hoarding is not that bad - just make sure not to go out of control
• You can be more sustainable as a hoarder as you have more items in the house to reuse and repurpose, and you dispose of fewer things, overall. 

Now, these are just some observations. I'm not attacking or praising any lifestyle or choices. 

You might hoard lots of plates and cups, but may have just 4 pairs of shoes and 5 pairs of jeans. 

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved. 

Hello. This is part 1. Part 2 will soon follow.

So with all this pandemic, scamdemic, going on and having to stay indoors, all we want is to go out. But we can't. 

This reminded me that last year, or so, we went to Carol Park in Bucharest, and I took LOTS of photos. You can read more about this park on its wikipedia page, which has decent info about it. 

So, in 2004, this public park was designated a historical monument, as it is currently 120 years old (it was created in 1900 by Édouard Redont). The park is also the place where the Mausoleum dedicated to the Unknown Soldier is found. The structure is pretty tall and probably is one most people in Bucharest would recognize. 

There are a few other attractions in the park, as you can read on the wiki page, but you can't really approach any of them. I don't think Romanians really know how to take advantage of their treasures. What a shame.

When we visited, on May 25, 2019, they were organizing a lights event on the steps leading up to the Mausoleum.

We were hoping to see the lights on, but we went there too early. When we got in the park, there didn't seem to be many people. But by the time we left, maybe an hour and a half later? There were many more people coming. 

In case you're wondering about the Mausoleum itself, You can't visit it. 

You can just go near it, take a few pictures, and this is it. There are guards there with guns, who make sure people don't go too close to the monument. 

I was mindful not to take pics of the guards, but this sign pretty much says "no tress passing." I'm not sure if we can go up to the sign or not as i didn't feel like trying my chances of getting shot. I'm fairly certain the guards would have tried to stop me verbally first, then physically, and they'd most likely try to shoot as last resort. 

These signs are on both sides of the Mausoleum, and there's also an eternal flame burning. Or there is supposed to be one. I can't remember it, and it doesn't seem like I took a pic of it either. 

There are also 2 of these war guns on each side of the monument. At least 2. 

Curious as i am, i went up to them and took a closer look and touched them. Even snapped a picture of part of the control mechanism.

It was smelling like heavy machinery oil. I didn't try to operate this thing, though it was pretty fascinating to be close to it. I could almost hear it in my head. I could almost see soldiers around me, trying to operate it, defend their country, and trying their best to keep the enemy at bay. 

Of course, the area around the Mausoleum is no playground, and at least 1 plaque tells you so. Just in Romanian. 

Needless to say, there were plenty small children and their parents, running around and playing. 

The view from the monument is beautiful as well. Sadly, I only have something partial, taken from a side. It's still pretty though.

And only just now I realized that the Palace of the Parliament can be seen in the distance. In all fairness, this park is not that far from the Palace. 

Next entry about the park will have a few snippets with the various structures and attractions found in this park.

Stay tuned!

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.