Hamburg – the official name being official name is the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg – is the second-largest city in Germany, after Berlin, and the seventh-largest city in the European Union. Situated on the river Elbe, the port of Hamburg is the third-largest port in Europe.

I’m inviting you to see the city in 3 lovely videos.

Hamburg

Sightseeing Hamburg

Hamburg meine Stadt

I’ve told you some days ago about Ramnicu Valcea city from Romania, but now you really have to see the City Hall by night. It turns blue and red, pink and yellow, green and white Pretty unusual for a city hall, isn’t it?

Ramnicu Valcea City Hall blue

Ramnicu Valcea City Hall green

Ramnicu Valcea City Hall pink

Ramnicu Valcea City Hall yellow

Ramnicu Valcea City Hall statue

At about an hour outside of Vienna, in Herrnbaumgarten, Austria was opened this month The Museum of Nonsense. Fritz Gall is an Austrian inventor who, however, didn’t manage to invent something special. But he obtained some money in order to fund the opening of a museum dedicated to weird, unuseful objects. And it seems the museum is quite a success.

I remember reading a while ago an article on most strange and stupid gadgets ever invented. I admit I laughed at some. So this Museum of Nonsense sounds like a good idea. I am sure there are many inventions that can be catalogued as strange, unnecessary or unuseful.

The museum, as I already mentioned, is localized in Herrnbaumgarten – the hometown of the inventor – and it is only one hour from Vienna.

I didn’t find – unfortunately – an official website of the museum – but I really want to go visit it next time I’ll be in Vienna.

I saw some photos here and below is a video that appears also on an article on Huffington Post dedicated to the museum. I found out about the museum via Slashdot.

How do you find this museum? Would you visit it?

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal. According to visitlisboa.com, legend has it that Lisboa was founded by Ulysses. The name comes from “Olissipo”, which has its origins in the Phoenician words “Allis Ubbo”, meaning “enchanting port”.

photo source

Most likely it was founded by the Phoenicians and styled by the Moores which shows in the strong Arabic influences. It was, after all, ruled by the Moors for 450 years. In the 12th century  the Christians re conquered the city but it was not until the mid 13th century that Lisboa became the country’s capital.

Here are some videos I found online and I really liked about Lisbon, Portugal.

Visit Portugal

Travel Guide – Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon by night

Lisbon Portugal in photos

The Romanian Traditional Costume Museum  is a new museum that I’ve discovered in Bucharest, with a rich collection of textiles, especially costumes  belonging to the Romanian peasants.

Located in the House of Parliament via The People’s House – one of the biggest buildings in the world –the museum falls under the patronage of “Dimitrie Gusti” National Village Museum. Its collection includes costumes of the women and men from different Romanian areas as: Muscel, Arges, Dambovita, Valcea and Teleorman, the best represented being Muscel, Arges.

Founded in 2004, the museum shows the evolution of Romanian traditional costumes in the last hundred years. I’ve discovered with pleasure ones sewn with silver and gold thread that belonged to the wealthiest people from the village.

Unfortunately, I’ve found out that the museum is under pressure to be evacuated and the lack of tourists  does not help the situation

Although the pictures speak for themselves, I must emphasize that the museum is very friendly and modern. The ticket price is 6 RON for adults or 3 RON for students. It is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 9.00 - 17.00, but I wanted to visit it in the weekend and it was closed. Perhaps you should call ahead (phone: 021.311.49.90/021.311.49.91. If you call from abroad, please insert the country code).

I simply can’t find a real reason for why you shouldn’t visit this beautiful piece of history if you come to Romania!

Romanian Traditional Costume Museum entrance

Romanian Traditional Costume Museum 01

Romanian Traditional Costume Museum 02

Romanian Traditional Costume Museum 03

Romanian Traditional Costume Museum 04

Romanian Traditional Costume Museum 05

Romanian Traditional Costume for bride and groom

Romanian Traditional Costume for bride - detail

Romanian Traditional Costume painting

Romanian Traditional tablecloth

Patrimony Romanian Carpets Album

Situated in the heart of Europe, Prague is one of the cities that it’s definitely worth-seeing. With its narrow streets, colorful houses and touristy atmosphere, you will soon find yourself in a town which bristles with energy.

This time I want you to simply experience the unique blend of tastes from the Czech cuisine because evenings spent with some friends over a glass of exquisite wine or a delicious beer and plates full of local delicacies are simply magical.

But let’s take it step by step!

In Prague, people spend their days working, shopping and sitting in cafés, so to find a table at lunch-time takes a lot of concentration and ability. But after a short exploration of the city in the morning, you should take a rest in a teahouse or a café, where time stands still and the only sounds are the whisperings of your table neighbors. I don’t even really like coffee all that much, but believe me that after visiting Prague, I will never forget the taste of the unique mix of coffee, chocolate and caramel. And the best thing was that everywhere they had a special offer: a cup of coffee or tea with a cake included. Simply divine!

A simply delicious variety of coffee and cakes

For the lunch time you have two options: you choose to eat something in the main square or in a fine restaurant. As far as I am concerned, in order to feel the unique atmosphere of the city you should experience and enjoy both of them. In the main square, situated in the Old Town Quarter, you can taste all kinds of sausages, pork meet, potato chips or drink beer from the stands all around.

On the other hand, you can choose to eat at a restaurant in the center, even though it is a little bit expensive, or to find one somewhere on the narrow and romantic streets. It is full of them and you can decide what to eat before entering, as in front of most of them there is a menu exposed with prices and photos of the dishes.

The traditional starter is a soup and you can choose a tomato soup served with cheese or a mushroom one served with bread and a mixture of butter and spices. Czech cuisine is quite heavy, the traditional plate always includes lots of meat, usually pork, served with potato dumplings. Even though it could be a little bit too sweet for some tastes, it’s worth to try it.

Tomato soup

Pork meat with potato dumplings

Chicken stuffed with cheese and Prague ham

But if you aren’t a pork aficionado, you can always try chicken stuffed with Prague ham or cheese and served with baked or fried potatoes. A chocolate cake with honey and nuts or a piece of apple pie with vanilla ice cream and some cream for the dessert will be just the thing! And don’t forget to wash them down with some Czech beer, said to be the best in the world, or a glass of fine wine! What else could one wish for?

Chicken stuffed with cheese served with spinach and backed potatoes

A tasty mixture of chicken, Prague ham, cheese, broccoli and cream

I bet I just made you hungry (or thirsty), so book a flight and go to Prague! You will definitely not regret the experience!

What is your favorite dish tasted in Prague or somewhere in the world?

Anca Stefanita – Each time anyone asks me to say something about myself, I find it a very difficult thing to do. Why? Shouldn’t be quite easy to make some PR for yourself, especially if you are in loved with this particular kind of job? The answer should definitely be a positive one, but again…I prefer to let the others or my activities to speak for myself. But there are a few things that I can tell you: I am trying to live my life by what Ghandi used to say: “You must be the change that you wish to see”, I love everything about public relations, advertising and media, I am passionate about reading and travelling, and let’s face it, about some adventure now and then.

As we all know, the sales season approaches and if you have a really good budget, you can visit Paris and his famous Lafayette Galleries. Being a Romanian, I am very proud that at the last year season’s sales I found here a great award winner, the lingerie Romanian brand: Triumph. I like it when our brands go abroad.

The Lafayette Galleries are the biggest department store in Paris and a noteworthy monument of La Belle Époque. It can be reached by metro: Chaussée d’Antin, Opéra, or Trinité or RER: Auber (Line A) or Haussmann St-Lazare (Line E).

The first store of the firm was opened in 1893 on the corner of rue La Fayette and the interior of the present building with its beautiful cupola and Art Nouveau staircases was created in 1912.

I’ve tried to took some pictures for you, but it was very, very crowdie

Burberry stand

Lafayette Galleries interior

Pierre Herme stand

shoes in Lafayette Galleries

Shopping at Lafayette Galleries

Triumph in Lafayette Galleries

As I mentioned here, on December 31st we went visiting some places, including Hurezi Monastery. I told you in the post that I’ll dedicate a special article to this monastery – for we’ve discovered a very-very interesting thing! So here’s the article

First of all, I have to tell you that this monastery is a fortified one. It is a convent for nuns, and it was built between 1690 and 1697 by Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu. Situated near the town of Horezu, this monastery is considered a masterpiece of Romanian “Brancoveanu art”. The Hurezi Monastery is part of UNESCO World Heritage. It is said that the name of the monastery comes from “huhurezi” (eagle owls), a species of night birds with coloured plumage.

As mentioned in the post, when we got there the monastery was closed – so we don’t have interior photos. However, we have some interesting findings.

This is the monastery from the road

Hurezi Monastery - entrance

This is the monastery after the “first entrance”.

Hurezi Monastery towards entry

Hurezi Monastery towards entry 2

We parked the car and entered.

Hurezi Monastery

Hurezi Monastery side

Hurezi Monastery interior garden

And now the curiosity: at the entrance, in the paintings, there are palm trees! and we don’t have palm trees in Romania… (growing naturally here). It is not a specific tree for us – and as we found out in other churches (from Moldavia), the paintings are always adapted to the area, showing specific vegetation, animals, occupations of people… So how come there are palm trees here?!? See it for yourself.

Hurezi Monastery entrance general

Hurezi Monastery entrance detail palm trees

Hurezi Monastery entrance detail 2

We also photographed the paintings on the right wall

Hurezi Monastery painting right wall

and a detail from one of the columns from the entrance:

Hurezi Monastery entrance column detail

What do you think about that?

I don’t know if it is because I’m a girl, but I simply love flowers. I’m photographing them everywhere I go.

I’m inviting you today to see some red and yellow tulips and small chrysanthemums photographed in a park.

I have to tell you that I love a good cop story, a thriller novel and… OK, if I have to tell you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, I have to tell you that I love to read But one of the top novels are the detective ones

Sherlock Holmes is definitely one of the most famous characters from this type of literature. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle imagined an address for Sherlock Holmes and Doctor John H. Watson (his assistant): 221b Baker Street. So here we find today a house that “is protected by the government due to its “special architectural and historical interest”, while the 1st floor study overlooking Baker Street is still faithfully maintained for posterity as it was kept in Victorian Times.” (source: http://www.sherlock-holmes.co.uk/)

Shelock Holmes Museum - logo

They even say that this is The World’s Most Famous Address – the Official Home of Sherlock Holmes!

Open every day of the year (except Christmas Day) from 9.30am – 6pm
Admission: Adult £6 Child £4 (under 16yrs)

My husband – who is now in London (until tonight) – saw this museum. Unfortunately, it was already late in the evening (he is there working) so he was able to take photos only from the outside. But I definitely want to go there and see the museum!

Sherlock Holmes Museum Shop

Sherlock Holmes Museum - from above

Sherlock Holmes Museum - Souvenir Shop

announcement

(yes, I know, you can see Andrei in this photo, but he wasn’t able to take a different photo)

Have you been to see this museum? Did you liked it?