The shipyards on the Bulgarian side of the Danube River, which marks the border between Bulgaria and Romania.
Marginea, Romania.
Romania has the largest population of bears in Europe outside of Russia.
Making țuică in Satu Mare, Romania.
Let me suggest a few typical Balkan tours.
Take train to Belgrade: then go by Danube steamer to Widdin. From Widdin to Sofia go by rail, and then back to Belgrade on horseback, sending on heavy luggage by rail, but making at Nish on the way a depot of provisions and linen.
Take train to Bucharest. Go from there to Stara Zagora on horseback, crossing the Roumanian frontier at Roustchouk, going over the trail of the Russian Army of Liberation and seeing the Balkan mountain passes.
Take train to Sofia, and from there to Yamboli. At Yamboli go on horseback (in the track of the Bulgarian Third Army of 1912) to Kirk Kilisse, Lule Burgas, Chorlu, Silivri (on the Sea of Marmora), and Constantinople. A somewhat wild trip this would be, but quite practicable. The most comfortable way to travel would be to take ox wagons for the luggage and the camping outfit. That would restrict the day’s march to twenty miles. The horses—(diverging to look at scenery and battle-fields)—would do about thirty miles a day.
Take train to Constantinople, and from there boat to Salonica. Go on horseback from Salonica to Belgrade. This would show the most disturbed part of the Balkan Peninsula and some of its wildest scenery.
Take train to Philippopolis, and from there go on horseback and with ox wagons for a tour of the Rhodope mountains.
The Black Sea coast, Romania.
To be honest, I am pretty much the antithesis of a movie buff. (I saw nine movies last year. Not nine movies in the theater, nine movies in total. None of them were in the theater.)
Anyway, I just watched this Romanian film, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. Holy shit, you guys. Have you seen this? I am glad I watched it at home because I needed a break about halfway through, it’s so intense.
But I recommend it (it’s on Netflix Streaming in the US). Um, but not if you’re in the mood for something light.
What’s up, everyone?
Pictures of the Transnistrian side of the Transnistria War.
Not exactly a staple of most history classes outside of Moldova, the Transnistria War broke out in 1992. In the late 1980s, newly relaxed Soviet policies toward its constituent republics allowed the Moldovan government to make changes that appealed to the ethnic Moldovan (ie, ethnically Romanian) majority, like making Romanian the official language. There was talk of unifying the nation with Romania. The significant Russian minority in Moldova didn’t like it - and in September 1990, the primarily Russian area east of the Dniester/Nistru River declared independence from Moldova. (They didn’t declare independence from the USSR - they wanted to be a new republic within the country as a whole.) Moscow, however, did not recognize the territory. Almost immediately, small scale fighting between Moldovan police and the rebels in Transnistria broke out.
In August 1991 with the USSR falling apart, Moldova declared its independence and began to field an army to fight the separatists. Full scale war didn’t break out until March of 1992, when independent Moldova (with borders including the disputed Transnistria region) received recognition from the United Nations. Russia and Ukraine aided the Transnistrians; Romania aided the Moldovans.
The war itself was short - a cease-fire was signed in July of 1992. But very little progress has been made in the interim. Transnistria continues to maintain that it is an independent state, but the only other states that recognize it are also unrecognized former Soviet territories. Until it can be resolved, the standoff has a negative impact on the political and economic power of Moldova. Don’t hold your breath, though. The government in Chisinau doesn’t have the political strength to reunify the country, and Moldova is not exactly a high priority for the regional powers that do.
BTW, the writing on the tank in the top picture declares death to the Romanian occupiers, and the graffiti artist in the middle right is depicting what he thinks Moldova does for Romania.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Athletic Bilbao last won silverware in 1984, so fans of the popular Basque side travelled in their droves to attend the Europa League Final earlier this week for a chance to witness a rekindling of their former glory. Sadly, Falcao and ten other Atletico Madrid players were 3-0 victors on the night, which was particularly hard news to take for the 400 Athletic Club fans who traveled to Hungary for the game by mistake.
The final was held in Bucharest, Romania, but the geographically embarrassed supporters found themselves in vaguely-similar-sounding Budapest, a city roughly 500 miles away and in a completely different country.
LOL.
