Mircea Eliade "Maytreyi"

Today I would like to write about the first romanian book that I have ever read. This book is called  "Maytreyi"and it is written by Mircea Eliade.
Mircea Eliade was born on March 10, 1907 and he died on April 22, 1987 in Chicago. He was a historian of religion, indologist, diplomat and professor at the University of Chicago.
In 1928–1932 he lived in India and he studied at the University of Calcutta. Eliade knew several languages and was fluent in Romanian, French, German, Italian, and English but also he could read in Hebrew, Persian, and Sanskrit. In 1933 he did the doctorate with the thesis "The comparative history of yoga techniques". He was known for its support for the Iron Guard which is also known as the Legion of the Archangel Michael. ( It was a ultra-nationalist and antisemitic movement in Romania)

 The main characters of this book are Maitreyi Devi who is daughter of the indian philosopher and Allan who is a foreigner who works in India. The action takes place in 1933 in Calcutta and tells the story about the love of these two persons. This book introduces readers into the mysterious world of India and the oriental customs and traditions.
The novel was translated into English as  "Bengal Nights" in 1993. It is considered as an autobiografic book because it contains many plots of the author's life.

Max Blecher "Scarred Hearts"

Today I would like to write about the book that I have started reading last week. This book is called "Scarred Hearts" and it's written by Max Blecher.
Max Blecher (1909-1938) is a romanian writer, jewish nationality. Shortly after he came to Paris to study medical science he was diagnosed with Pott disease (spinal tuberculosis). He spent the last ten years in his bed. He wrote three novels, one volume of poetry, diary and correspondence with Breton  and Heidegger. Max Blecher wrote "Scarred Hearts" in 1937 and the story is based on his own experiences. In 1938 he died after a long-term ilness.

 

 "Scarred Hearts" tells the story about Emanuel's life. He is a young romanian man which is studying in Paris. One day he finds out that he suffers from spinal tuberculosis. He goes to a sanatorium located by the sea where he must wear a plaster which makes him unable to move. During a few months in a special wheelchair he makes friends with other patients, he is a witness of their death and finally he falls in love with a girl from sanatorium. 

A story presented in this book is very simple. Describes a real life of a man which suffers from incurable disease. For a moment we can see how looks like life with the eyes of the main character.

Connect-R

Connect-R is a musician well known in Romania, who was born June 9, 1982, in Bucharest. His real name is Ștefan Relu Mihalache and he has a gypsy origin. Ștefan began his career at the age of 8. Then he was a danser and a member of the dance group Primăvara which in romanian means spring. When he was 15 years old he bacame interested in hip-hop and for the first time he entered the recording studio to record his first song "Observ". In 1999 he released a new song named "Operație pe suflet deschis" which means "Open-soul surgery". In 2000 he colaborated, for the first time, with the band R.A.C.L.A. which was a big star in romanian show business. In 2006 he bacame the first rapper which took part in the Eurovision Song Contest as a representative of Moldova. He performed a song named "Loca" with Arsenie Todera who is well known from the fact that he was a part of a trio "O-Zone" which in 2004 released the most famous song of the summer "Dragostea din tei". This event opened the door to his further career and in 2007 Connect-R recorded his first album Dacă dragostea dispare (in english If the love dissapear). Three years later he founded his own record company named Rappin’ On Production. In 2012 he recorded a new album "From Nothing to Something''.

Today Connect-R is one of the most popular artist in Romania and his songs gain more and more attention not only in his country but also in Europe. Thanks to a fact that he records his songs not only in romanian but also in english he can be listened in different parts of the world. His latest song "Se poarta vara" ("It's wearing summer") was recorded with Nicole Cherry - the new young romanian artist. The song describes the warmest time of the year.

"Vara nu dorm" (I don't sleep in the summer time) is one of my favorite songs because this song I have heard when I have visited Romania for the first time. I participated in the summer course of the romanian language and one day our teacher gave us a piece of paper with the lyrics of the songs about summer. One of the songs was "vara nu dorm" performed by Connect-R. Since then I have started listening to his songs because all of them give me a possitive energy.

3 interesting facts about Romania

Romania is a wonderful country but it is still little known among the turists. Today I have prepared 3 interesting facts which can help you learn more about this misterious country.

1. The smallest banknote of the world

The smallest banknote of the world was released in 1917 by the Ministry of Finance of Romania. It setted a world record as the smallest paper money. It is 2.75 cm long and 3.8 cm in height. The main colour is orange and green. On the obverse is presented a bust of Ferdinand I (King of Romania), and on the reverse the coat of arms of Romania (the golden eagle with a cross in its beak).

 2. Bears

Romania has the largest population of brown bears in Europe. In the Carpathians mountains live about 6.5 thousand of these kind of animals. It is the only country in Europe that didn't banned hunting.

 3.Vama Veche

Vama Veche is a small town located on the Black Sea, a few kilometers from the border with Bulgaria. It is considered as the place where there still are the last hippies beaches in Europe. It is to some extent a wild place where people organize the campfire and pitch a tents. There is also a lot of beaches where people do not need bathing suits :)

The most beautiful route in the world

The Transfăgărășan is a route located in Romania and it is considered as the most beautiful route in the world. It is the second highest road in Romania which whole length is about 151 kilometers.

This year in july I decided to check if the road is as wonderful as everyone says. During my trip in Romania the Transfăgărășan was the most important place to see. I got up early in the morning and after eating breakfast I started a journey with others companions of this trip. We have been driving for a long time when finally we got to the place. The view of the landscape was breathtaking! We spent a lot of our time on taking a photos and walking around just enjoying the view. The lake Vidaru located in the middle of this road is one of the atractions which we can find travelling this road. We can also admire an old castle Poienari which is considered as a castle in which lived Vlad the Impaler.
Here are some photos that I took during a summer day in that wonderful place.

I have even met a friendly dog which was living there. I have fed him with a traditional delicacy called covrig. I think the dog liked it :)

After taking photos and spending some time there we have drunk a white wine produced in this region and we have eat some traditional food. All this time we could admire the magnificence of this place. At the end of the tour I found out that this road was chosen the most wonderfull route by the famous british television series Top Gear.