Arbore Monastery

Situated 30 km from Suceava, Arbore Monastery was built between the 2nd of April and the 29th of August 1503, by Luca Arbore, one of Stephen the Great’s generals, in the village of Soloca, that he owned. The monument has been consecrated to the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist.

Having a rectangular plan, the church has walls made of raw stone and vaults made of brick. Smaller than other painted churches, Arbore has a gloomy narthex and a nave with large windows. There is no steeple, as it was built by a landowner, and not by a ruling prince.

It has remarkable fresco exterior and interior paintings against a predominant green background, unlike Voroneț, where blue predominates. The green is in five shadows and 47 hues combined with red, blue, yellow, pink and ochre. The secret of combining colors was kept by Moldavian master painters to their grave and is now lost in the mist of time. However, scientists were able to identify thirty substances, including animal size, vinegar, egg, gall and honey. Restorers cannot hope to duplicate the paint: they can only stabilize what has been left of the frescoes.

The paintings were made by a team led by Dragos Coman from Iasi. Most of them represent scenes taken from the Genesis and the Saints’ lives. They are delicate and vivid, whereas houses are drawn in perspective. The best preserved frescoes are found on the relatively sheltered south and west walls. Among the most valuable scenes one may see are The Hymn of the Prayers to the Virgin, The Siege of Constantinople, The Last Judgement, The Prodigal Son and many others. The Siege of Constantinople is a syncretic representation of the attacks of Persians, Avars and Slaves upon Constantinople in 617.

The two heavy slabs of stone preserved near the church from the time it was painted have fifteen small holes which used to serve as containers for the mixing of colors, thus providing the large display of shades used by Moldavian painters.

In the narthex one may find the tombs of the church founders, i.e. Luca Arbore and his wife, Iuliana.

Inside the monastery, an ethnographic museum with a rich display of the region's most valuable assets is worth visiting.

The monastery was restored between 1909-1914 and 1936-1937, and is a UNESCO protected site.

Smile!

Let's look at the simple wonders around us and learn, from all that surrounds us, how to be better, more beautiful, wiser and more loving. Let's stop for a moment from the daily rush and enjoy what we have here, now. SMILE!

Off-season relaxation

Where: Aqvatonic Balneo Spa - Steaua de Mare, Eforie Nord

What:

• The pool, the saunas and all activities there are excellent for total relaxation. (As end of October is off-season on Romanian seaside and you do not have many things to do outside the hotel, the pool is what you need!)
• Breakfast is brightening the day and the dinner is excellent too!
• It was not very clear if the booking includes free access to pool. (I presume not, but somehow, I expected to be wrong. I was right.) May be, would be batter to have also booking rates with pool access included.
• The room is small, but it doesn't matter too much.

Harmony Suites Monte Carlo

Location: Sunny Beach, Bulgaria
Web: https://www.harmony-suites.com/book-a-vacation

It good for relaxation, but depends on what is your expectation. For me, was not what I was looking for:

• Too far from beach. (The advertised 400m is from the back door of the location, in straight line. The real walking distance is 1200m).
• Too small for four adults.
• Only a pan and a small pot for cooking.
• No bed sheets change in 4 days.
• Clean towels but with spots on them.

Conclusion: There are more better locations!

Air Baltic

I started flying a long time ago. One of the small pleasures that made time pass faster was the meal on board. At Air Baltic I had the surprise of a paid service! (On the one hand, such an approach is much better: you can see in advance what the menu is and decide whether to eat on the plane or not. Otherwise, thinking about the meals served years ago on board, you have the surprise of a piece check or a small package of biscuits.)

I flew an A220-300. On the left side, in the direction of flight, there are only 2 sets. On the right, three. Be careful when booking!

The Journey!

The only thing

All best for 2019!

Keep Going!

Relax

Directions

UrBarn: a Cozy Coffee

Addres	Str. I.C.Visarion 6, București
GPS	N44,44717 E26,09541
web	http://urbarn.ro/
What	cafea și sandvișuri

Lovely place, unique atmosphere. The coffee is a very interesting blend and the staff is friendly. Put a sandwich aside, and you will have an excellent afternoon.

Words

A Highly Rated Noisy Place

In the last period Hanul lui Manuc became a very commercial place, too rated: it is too noisy, with little room for your chair, with too loud music (is almost impossible to talk with the person near you). It became like a busy restaurant in a busy transit area.  Many tourist are coming here in organized tours for a taste of Romanian food (yes, the food is good, but it served, for them, as in a canteen) and Romanian folklore (if you are lucky to be on the right time you will have 12 minutes of folk dances).

The food is tasty, the prices are OK, but you can find many more other small and cozy places where to taste the Romanian food, spirit and spirits.

In my opinion, Hanul lui Manuc became a must NOT to visit place in Bucharest.

Good relaxation in an almost empty location

Some notes about Arena Regia Hotel & Spa (Mamaia Sat):

• After mid September the area, as well as the location, is almost empty. This is very good for total relaxation but you do not have too many things to do.
• Pool is excellent (especially as you are the only one using it!).
• Breakfast is brighten the day!
• The restaurant is expensive (and wines, very expensive). Likely, there are some good restaurants still open in the area.
• For myself, it was strange to be on the seaside, but not able to see the sea from the balcony.

ΝΙΚΟΣ Greek Taverna: Greek Delights on Romanian Seaside

After a long walk, on a sunny-pleasant autumn day, we were hungry. With the nostalgia of the Mediterranean, we think at a Greek restaurant. We did not have any idea where to stop, we choose the place where we saw a lot of people. And it was excellent!

Destroying the past

We are talking about new technologies, digital life, virtual reality and augmentation, and so on. Changes are drastically. But what about our parents as they are used with the real world, face-to-face dates and no digital life? We are here due to them. While changing, we need to keep the future in sync with the past. Digital disruption should not become the destroyer of yesterday (and, after this, of the tomorrow too)! At the end, we are living in a real world and not in a digital one.

Counts

Everyone has the age he feels. (Jerome K. Jerome)

Daily Log: Sunday July 15, 2035

As I have nothing planned for today, I tried to sleep more in the morning, but the cat-bot did not agree: it is scheduled to get me up every day at 6:00 to give its food (actually, pretending to feed it, as it works with microwave energy). I have tried several times to disconnect it on such days, but I have received a fairly consistent fine from ABoPBa (Animal-Bot Protection Bot-Association).

So, unwillingly, I get out of bed and start the daily routine. I will have to solve the problem of apartment automation (yesterday I was the 500312th in line for this): for four days now, I have no contact with the exterior except the emergency line (with no video signal, connected only to 911 and limited only to information strictly necessary for life support). I have no idea if out there is clear sky or rain. (And I suppose it is morning, because the cat-bot got me up!)

Four days ago there was a major solar storm alert and the whole city, every apartment, was totally isolated from the outside. After 4 hours everything should have returned to normal, but it seems that part of the Intelligence Power Plant robots have refused the high volume of work required because they have not been in General Maintenance and Cleaning Program for more than 3 years. Half of the city remained in major disaster mode. Good luck that the Centralized Emergency Survival Plan works in normal parameters. (However, after four days, the diet on cereal biscuits and vitaminized water became quite ...)

...

The awakening clock comes alive. The lazy cat comes to wake me up (in her own way, with meow). She hurries to the kitchen asking for the bowl of food.

I realize that again I had one of the nightmares on the absurd intelligent technology. We were lucky with the Great Revolution to Nature in 2025, when, after a major fall in smart computer networks (unfortunately, with a huge loss of lives), all the madness toward robotization and artificial intelligence was rethought.

A new sunny day is starting

The National Bank of Romania

The National Bank of Romania (BNR - Banca Națională a României) stands on the site of one of am old famous buildings: Hanul Șerban Vodă. From 1678 until 1883 it was the home of various activities: from a pub to an inn and to a girl's dormitory! After two fires gutted the building, the land was levelled and in 1883 work began on the BNR, completed to the designs of French architects Cassien Bernard and Albert Galleron in 1885. Built in a French, neo-classical style, the building boasts a facade with Corintian columns, and an enormous central banking hall. The passing of time has seen the building become rather hemmed in, but it remains a classic worthy of admiration. 

Address: Str. Lipscani 25