Bublin' Dublin

Dublin was the first trip of the year and it came unexpectedly as a spontaneous idea from Cristina who had read about St Patrick's day and a great offer to stay at a castle!

It was very difficult to resist it, especially since it qualified as a very nice birthday present for me :)
So a couple of hours later we were good to go the following weekend to Dublin.

We got there late Friday evening and went straight to the 'castle' which was definitely the coolest hotel we've ever stayed in. There are sooo many reasons to stay there and indulge utter comfort. It was a truly unforgettable experience.

But Dublin was definitely much more than that. First of all, it was bursting green while in Prague it looked like spring gave up any hope of beating the gloomy winter. Green and springy with a permanent wind performing disco-like effects with the sun and clouds.

That must be a reason why the whole city is so alive! Despite not having a great deal of imposing architecture nor dramatic views (which i pursue fiercely wherever I go) Dublin has a great personality as you will see in the videos i shot in a matter of a couple of hours walking through the city center.

Dublin's houses are rather modest looking: basic Victorian architecture of what was at the time a mere provincial town of the British kingdom which could hardly dream of one day becoming a prosperous capital of its people. Even so, they are very well kept - especially the doors. It seems a great deal of effort goes into maintaining a nice shine on the thick, colorful paint layers carefully laid on these symbolic and yet so functional inventions.

We spent the whole Saturday admiring the city unwinding along the banks of the Liffey and we ended the day with a fulfilling creamy experience where else than at the Guinness factory. Word of advice though, get your tickets online to get in smoothly without waiting like us for almost 2h... It's cheaper too... Anyway, it was worth it - the museum is really cool and highly interactive. The best aspect of its interactiveness is getting trained to pour your own perfect pint
of Guinness - a skill which becomes ever more important in the partner selection these days :p


Top that up with a view of the city (albeit not very impressive but nice nevertheless) from the Gravity bar, a 360 glass bar on top of the museum (which is part of the old factory in fact) and you won't even regret not catching the St Patrick's day fireworks display which we thought ought to have happened at the other end of the city when in fact it was happening in a completely different town in Ireland.

We've called it a day after wondering through the temple bar where there's no temple and no bar but in fact tens of them. There's this bar of sand which belong to the Temple family where all the bars were built in what's today Dublin's cultural core.

Sunday welcomed us with a sunny breakfast in the castle that was just amazing and kept us filled for most of the day. This day we got to experience the local flavour a bit more intensely as we walked through the pedestrian streets and parks of Dublin. We came across a great open air kids fair and witnessed the Irish baby boom - basically every family had at least two kids swirling around them. It's kind of understandable, which such nice events and opportunities for kids there's probably never been a better time to be one!

As we were headed t0 another park nearby, my eyes slipped across the firm of a very uninspiring pub and as they read ''O'Donoghues", Rory's pub advice came to my mind and we had to give it a try since we were so lucky to run into it. Rory's Irish and i met him during my monster days :) And how glad I am I did! The people you see in the video below are regulars of the 200 years old pub and we had just managed to pop by their Sunday afternoon session. It was the most flavourful Guinness we had enjoyed so far!




After crossing the park we were headed for in the first place, we saw this nice dancing troupe performing:


And finally, as we were spending our last half an hour in town before heading to the airport, from an alleyway came a most intriguing deep bass and fanfare sound from these guys.


They had no less than 6 drummers!!!

Maybe some of events that spiced up our stay were due to the St Patrick's celebrations but even without those, Dublin has always something surprising to offer and amaze! So go and green yourself up a bit!

More pictures here

Delightful athens

Having heard mixed reviews about Athens before visiting it last weekend, i wasn't sure what to expect but as before when people say there's not much to see/do in a place or the other, somehow we've always found something intriguing, interesting and disarmingly beautiful wherever we went. The most recent example is Dublin about which I'll (hopefully) write soon although it's been a month almost since we visited it.

Somehow predictable, Athens proved to be a great experience, staring even with the sky europe flight which was on time and with their original new boeings :) (seems they've re-gained them back). The route offered an incredible Olympian god's view of the ancient city now spread across a humongous valley between mountain peaks: whitewashed, dwarfy looking buildings spilling into the sea from the sloped relief.

Once on ground, it all seemed like a giant ant colony but clumsier and more cluttered than the miniature creatures'. And still it's probably much better that some decades ago with the massive infrastructure boom which came with the Olympic games held in 2004. I would dare say, Bucharest's traffic is a laughable wannabe compared to the one in Athens, but then again, i never really lived in Bucharest.

We stayed in one of the most picturesque neighborhoods of Athens (kind of like Zizkov in Prague) called Monastiraki, which at first sight looks a bit shady: crumbling buildings, nonexistent sidewalks so you have to crawl between the slow-motion cars stuck in traffic, overflowing garbage bins, a rainbow of immigrants pursuing their hopes for a better life, all under the sumptuous acropolis plateau, soaring unspoiled above the busy surroundings. The hostel, although very basic, offered a great view of the neighborhood, ancient Agora and the Acropolis from its roof top and it was always withing walkable distance from any spot of interest. Monastiraki is a good place to stay in even more as we discovered some very interesting back alleys with flea markets at day and typical tavernas at night which were not as touristy as the ones in Plaka, the posh-est neighborhood.

As we arrived on Friday afternoon, we've set to this steep hill next to the Acropolis called Lycabetus. Legend has it that Atena had dropped a rock it was trying to put on the acropolis plateau to make it even higher and so the hill was created.

It's got a dramatic view of the city, with the Acropolis half the way to the sea stretching on the horizon.

We caught the sunset on the peak of the hill where there's a tiny church which used to be part of a monastery complex which has turned with the times into a restaurant with a terrace.

The area surrounding the hill is the residential quarter of Athens' nobles: posh homes, restaurants and clubs, all hidden behind bloomed orange trees. Their perfume was enchanting, seemed a bit like jasmine. It is probably the greatest antidote to the city's smog problem and helps the people keep their chilling Mediterranean mood.

On Saturday, we ventured to some more off-beat paths. Kicked off the day by visiting an old Gas Plant now turned into a cultural center that takes advantage of the industrial buildings to turn them into 'modern' art, then made our way through the city center and took a bus to the city outskirts, at the footsteps of a mountain range to the east of Athens attempting to reach a nice monastery which was recommended in a guide. We were put off by the uphill walk of a couple of km, which a guy selling mortuary stuff at a cemetery had gaily suggested would be 'good gymnastics' after asking if i was from Suceava :). We pondered if it's worth the time and energy and decided to head back into city but then we spotted a taxi which eventually took us there. I just hated the feeling we had come all the way to there for nothing. Well, in fact the monastery was closed but still we didn't go there for nothing: the setting was very nice: a very green, flowery hill looking onto the city with some grazing donkeys and a typical Greek cottage was a welcome break from the intense city rhythm.

We've ended the day with a trip to Piraeus, Athens' huge port which is rather disappointingly industrial when first exiting from the metro almost on the quays.

But the whole area is more of a peninsula and on the side opposite of the port, we've discovered some picturesque harbors with small boats and restaurants. We had to indulge ourselves in some deliciously fresh sea food and it was well worth catching the sunset there.

The second day was mostly dedicated to visiting the historical Athens as it was the first Sunday of the month which means it is free everywhere. We've tried to get there as early as possible which wasn't really early but still reasonable (the second day of 'free' breakfast consisting of marmalade, butter and overly sweet orange juice helped our hastiness) to avoid the hoards of tourists. And guess what, we met there hoards of tourists, probably following the same advice of avoiding the hoards of tourists... Anyway, there weren't just tourists, there were some immigrants as well, enjoying the morning on Areopagus Hill, an ancient rock where they used to judge the worst crimes of antiquity.

And also, hard to ignore some utterly lazy and extremely fat stray dogs lying around like some forgotten relics. My theories about these dogs are that they're either sick, either overfed from all the great restaurants spread at the foothills, or rather both after having eaten rotten food.

The ruins are impressive even more if nobody tells you that most of the interesting parts are replacements with the originals being either destroyed, stored in the acropolis musem or at the british museum... The partheon was in reconstruction as well: fixing the crappy restauration from a century ago. There are many temples roughly 2500 years old around the acropolis hill, the best preserved being the temple of Hephaestos, you can easily spend half a day visiting them like we did.

Following a local tip, we found a nice little family restaurant called Sholarhio, right at the foothill of the Acropolis where we had a 'sampling' of mezes (small portions of various dishes, kind of like tapas). Trust me, it's very difficult to chose when the waiter drops a tray of about a dozen mezes on your table out of a sudden, facing you with the tough decision 'to eat or not to eat?'. That's why we got a bit carried away and got 7 of them instead of the 5 reccomended for two.

The Greeks seem to find time to enjoy life in this hectic city and you'd find them taking refuge in such typical tavernas spending whole afternoons with their large families. It's also interesting how the central neighborhoods have distinct things to offer: flea markets in Monastiraki, night life in and great pastry shops! in Psiri, picturesque streets climbing to the acropolis and tourist hot spots in Plaka, all in all making a mediterranean city with attitude.

Athens is a contrasting city, I can't help calling it a combination of Bucharest and Lisbon with a twist of Rome and a tendency to Istanbulishness. I know, it sounds freakish but that's how i kind of felt it.

Check out some more photos here.

Milano, a city for all senses

and all tastes, obviously :)

things here deifinitely aren't what they seem to be

Closing time at "La Dolce Vita"

To cook or not to cook, isn't this the question?!

To infinity and beyond!

Friends in London

Ana Catarina from Angola, my AIESEC buddy in Portugal

Murat from Turkey, started first day at Monster together

Lucian from Iasi and Oxford :)

Nice to see you guys in the capital of the world. It's all such a small place after all, isn't it?!

Londra pe scurt

Paradoxal londra nu se prea poate pe scurt dar iata:

Vazut Tate Galley azi, quite cool, mai ales ca explica fiecare lucrare pe intelesul muritorilor de rand si nu pleci chiar bou dupa ce ai intrat vaca, sau era invers? Pe scurt, picasso, monet si niste afise comuniste graitoare, pe restul i-am uitat pt ca n-auzisem de ei. dar erau faini.

Pt oarecare motiv misterios busurile au fost mocca azi, mai putin unu la care s-a uitat soferita insistent la mine sa folosesc oyster cardu. deci la celelalte busuri erau inactive aparatele alea, nu ma faceam eu ca ploo, ca sa fim intelesi.

St Paul's costa 10 lire, la cate catedrale am vizitat deja, nu prea parea sa se merite. Daca toti ar fi ca mine, s-ar odihni mai bine oaspetii permanenti probabil.

Am primit un sfat de cumparaturi la selfridges (nu, nu vand frigidere), general store cica. Cu sperante de magazinu milcovul din focsani sau hai, de unirea din buc, am intrat sa-mi iau inca un pulover sau chiar vo geaca caci londra se pare ca nu-i ca praga cand vine vorba de vara(si la praga nu e cald deobicei). aici e mai degraba asa cam de octombrie. Da, deci o geaca emergliacoghiwenco benga sau nu stiu cum ma-sa, redusa la doar vo 1000 lire, un chilipir! Si tot asa... wrong move deci. In schimb aveau chiloti gen borat, cu doar 10 lire, am luat vo 5 sa am de schimb...(not)

Daca tot am intrat pe hardcore shopping, si fiindca muzeele din zona erau inchise, am intrat si la harrods. un fel de glittering kitsch impanat cu firme de renume interplanetar si multi arabi care pareau putrezi, de bogati. Interesant de remarcat niste tinerice musulmane cu broboade dar cu un machiaj agresiv.

La metrou au designated areas pt buskers sau muzicieni de strada (ce de-a cuvinte) destul de bazati asa.

Hotelul la care stau pare sa se specializeze in nunti pt orientali. duminica trecuta numai ce vad in hol un anunt printat cu verdana de 14 care anunta nunta unor persoane conform nustiu carei legi din UK (sa fim siguri cu totii ca nu avea loc ceva ilegal, Doamne sau Alah, dupa caz, fereste!)

In seara asta, iarasi un cuplu masliniu, poza blazat in fata catorva invitati in holul de lg receptie. Tipa avea o rochie argintie cu mult sclipici care mi s-a parut vag nepotrivita(nu ca am mari abiliatati vestimentare).

Mai strident mi s-a parut cand am vazut pe-aici prin canary wharf, o asiatica cu val de mireasa, in tenisi si (aici speculez ca nu-mi mai aduc aminte) un fel de egari sau ceva care nu se potrivea deloc pe sub top-ul de mireasa. Proabil ca era mai practic asa, ca sa ajunga optimizeze timpul dintre cele doua joburi in care si-a permis sa se casatoareasca (iarasi, speculez cu gratie).

Oamenii sunt prietenosi si incearca sa te ajute chiar daca de ex, la un sushi bar, chelnerita(asiatica) nu stia din ce se face wasabi, la fel cum nici ceilalti chelneri nu stiau. Inainte sa plec, vine totusi si-mi spune ca a intrebat bucataru si ca ar fi dintr-un fel de hrean. treuia sa-mi dau seama dealtfel! Apropo, sushi nu e doar cool, e si super gustos :)

Intr-un bar(si nu cred ca e singular) am remarcat un poster care recomanda clinetilor sa ceara sa li se umple paharul in caz ca gulerul de la bere e prea mare, la 3 lire pe pahar, cred si eu ca e cazu!

Live in London

For about 3 weeks I'm in London town on a business trip at the Barclays Capital HQ straight on in Canary Wharf.

I've just uploaded here the results from my first photo shoot this evening.

Enjoy!

An image says a thousand words

And therefore, my recently uploaded picasa albums make up a small encyclopedia:

Paris & Louvre

Copenhagen
Stockholm

Baltic Sea ferry trip
And finally, Helsinki

This is what's been keeping me busy during the wonderful month of May!

What makes Paris stand out

Well, actually, it's not this that makes it stand out in particular, but most of you might know already what the city is famous for, so for now I'll take you on a tour of interesting stuff we ran into while wondering through the streets of the most visited city in the world.

smart parking

"I forgot my spare battery home, may i please recharge my car?!"

1 mai muncitoresc

recognize him? Pope out of stripes

and the devil out of the stencil?!

this was inside a museum! - a heartstopping experience

new trends in parisian fashion: bio dress

flower supermarket, sheesh!

1st of may, Kurdish people easing their 20-30 admirers into comunism with some barbecue and oriental music

daca zice Gianmaria, asa o fi!

i hope you know french

actual shell with Holy water inside a Church

wonderful place near our hotel

martzipan (or sugar?!) figures in a candy shop, very realistic(plastic-wise) stuff

cake tops for gay weddings, nice adaptation

and, a really uninspired ad