2008 holidays

On our way back from France, while passing through Germany, the down reached us somewhere near Munchen. While we were searching for a hotel to spend over the night, we had to exit the highway and head towards downtown as all the hotels in the neighborhood were stuffed. We finally reached at a hotel that had one more available room just suitable for as. We also had a price offer as otherwise the room would have been left empty. It looked quite comfortable so we didn't spent too long to make our minds.

At the ground floor this discreet hotel, even if it had 3 or 4 floors, had a nice restaurant. There was even a party going on, and I remember that I was impressed about the party 'quality'. I don't know if it was a wedding, a baptism or something else, but someone with a opera some voice was singing live. That made me think that it was a party of Munchen's actors. But I can't bet on it. First there was a lady singing and after a tenor.

The songs didn't seem to be of some well known areas but they had something pleasant in them, and it made me think they were some traditional songs that are played at these occasions. No instruments were involved either.  The audience was impressed about their performance, but they seemed altogether used with this kind of party. For the moment I really loved Germany, and wish I could be part of their party, of their mates.

I can't say I've ever found myself wanting to join some stranger party here in this part of the world I grew and live.

Compared to our slacker officials organized parties, even the party organized in the neighborhood of Esplugues De Llobregat of Barcelona,  we assisted last year, seems to be a better outcome. The party was simple, organized in free space in one square near our Lami Hotel, in this peaceful neighborhood. It's true that most of the participants were elders, but among them there were some young people too. We assist this party as we were waiting for some restaurants to open, around 1 o'clock pm. 

A brass band was ensuring the background sound with traditional songs, while the participants were dancing together in a circle, a kind of hora. 

Hora is one of our traditional forgotten way of celebrating holidays. We merely can find such celebrations in Romania these times. In fact, young people from country, nowadays, like better some commercial type of music which is a mixture of turkish, gipsy and traditional music that gives a languorous effect. Who's to blame for this...?

However I must say that our relaxed holidays and the fact that we didn't understood what the participants were mumbling about, could affect our perception about this, and give a better mark to what we see abroad. 

That's way I prefer to spent my holydays abroad: If I can't understand peoples troubles it's easier to relax and consider that place more perfect. In fact, all our trip to Barcelona which last almost 6 days, I saw only one anxious face, not considering our conational from airport.

To have a better understanding on weather am I judging too hard my conational I might expose our trip to seaside to the Black See later last year, in the summer.

Even if my overall perception over this summer holiday is positive I could say from start that here things are different. We struggle to be more occidentals but we end up by doing some mix of gestures that are less appreciated than if they were pure provincial.

The problem is that everyone blames other for this, but no one can see himself. In this situation if you  are not a foreigner that came to see Romania for the first time, the solution to relax in our see sites is to be able to abstract, to ignore and to be able to avoid the crowd.

(In fact one of the most original sightseeing during this holiday was my grandmother house at which I returned after more than 5 years. It's sight even impressed Mela which appreciated it as being original. It was built more than 100 year ago, but it's more like a ruin. Since last year my grandmother lives with my mother in Timisoara. The neighborhood is so wild that I could hardly reach to the house with my car - one of my daydreams while I was a kid, and spent summers there)

At seaside we finally anchored at Eforie Sud. It's a quieter resort as it doesn't have too many hotels, and this didn't gave as so many problems as if we stood in Costinesti, a student friendly resort.

However, during our stay, there were some music concerts at the Summer Theater. The main sponsor for these events was one local business man called Guta (in romanian it sounds funny and it resonates with pigs). From time to time he even offered 10% off from ticket's price, as we learned from posters. Guests: today or past music stars. Among them I saw that during a couple of days was singing Mirabela Dauer and Ducu Berti. They can be named classics. Ducu still has some musical activity after '89 but Mirabla is known better for her performance before '89. They have some songs that I appreciate too. 

The host house were we accommodated (hotels are expensive in Romania, especially if ou want to stay 2 or 3 weeks) was placed on a quiet  street that at 500 m gets into central park were the theater is placed. This way from time to time among winds and leafs mumbles we were able to hear the performance. To satisfy Eli's curiosity we even got closer to the theater. The summer theater is an open air scene, but surrounded by great walls, colored in a kitschy yellow color. From outside it seems more like a metamorfosised ghetto.

However the central park is nice and quiet. We walked along it's alleys, during cool evenings.

Eli reached 4 years while we were there and I bought her a new bicycle with two helping wheels. 

I'll recall from this holiday these evenings when we were walking through this park helping Eli getting forward with her bicycle, or the day when she got 4 years old and having a stomachache we prepared a send cake and placed four sticks in place of candles, singing Happy birthday. 

Of course I'll remember swimming. 

We were on the beach in the morning till 11 AM at most and in the evening after 5 PM. The beaches in the resort were still overfilled with people and mostly dirty. We went to the beach with our car between resorts, were we found some better and wider sand land, fewer pieces of shells, and fewer people.

One of our seaside strength is the see. It is much welcoming that the seaside from Normadie.

We had some great weather conditions, and the see overwhelmed us with its warm and alternates of wavy and quite days. I liked both these type of conditions. It even could stand still for some couple of days in row, and in the first day the jellyfishes and the dirt were making the swimming unpleasant.