Into the forest and near the waterfall

The mountains are not very close to our town, but near enough for a short Sunday drive. There are a few nice resorts, forming a chain in Prahova's Valley. Sinaia is the first and best known, but the others are worth a visit, too.
If you drive past Sinaia, you get to Busteni (meaning "Logs"), and after only an hour long walk in the fir-tree wood you can find a waterfall called Urlatoarea ("The Roaring"), not the biggest one in Romania, but a quite popular place.
I'm inviting you to try this short trip in the woods, by the quick mountain stream, in a half-cloudy-half-sunny early spring day.

Roll Up Art

These last three evenings, art got down into the street due to an activity dedicated to the Intercultural Dialogue Year.
The activity, part of a project called "I Love Bucharest", initiated by the architects' organization, art galleries and several cultural associations, was named Roll Up Art and had the catch phrase : "We know you have no time to get to galleries". It consisted of projections on a 6m/9m canvas screen placed on the front of the Architecture Faculty, in the University Square, a place very popular among the students.
There were more than 1000 works projected there, belonging to young artists from Romania, UK, USA, Sweden, Netherlands, India, Serbia, Ireland and so on. An opportunity to see different techniques and forms of art: painting, sculpture, graphics, photos, video, dance.
A real dialogue, a way to know and understand more about other cultures.






http://www.roll-up-art.blogspot.com/
http://metropotam.ro/

Green

It's good to see these initiatives becoming more and more frequent in Bucharest.
The first poster is about the spring cleaning in the Botanical Garden. It's an activity that University students are doing for the third time this year.
And this one is for another initiative: the cleaning of the Baneasa Forest, which unfortunately is a very popular place for week-end get-aways and barbecues.
I've seen many similar projects lately, including a school project about week-ends of cleaning and spending time in the forests around our town, on-the-spot Botanics lessons and so on.
It's good to know that not all people want to leave a mark like this.

Candeleda and Chilla

Candeleda is a village in the Tiétar Valley, in the South of Ávila. It has a tropical climate , the high peaks of Gredos defend it from the cold in the North. Vegetation, constructions and lifestyle are different to the rest of Ávila. A border area taking advantages of Extremadura and Castilla y La Mancha, regions more in the South.Many houses are covered with plants and flowers. Balconies are colourful and refreshing.

Streets are narrow to protect the houses from the summer heat. This one leads to the church and hosted the Jewish quarter in medieval times.

This is Castle Square. There is no castle left, but being in the border a fortress would be near.


Getting into the mountains near Candeleda there is this Sanctuary. It is Chilla Sanctuary. It is built in a forest watered by rivulets born in Gredos. The church is not a beautiful one, but even so, it is very popular in the area.
The house belongs to the caretaker of the sanctuary.

The house is built in the typical style in this part of the province. It looks much more beautiful than the church.

Old Cismigiu Postcards

I like old postcards and, on the other hand, the Cismigiu Garden is a place that we all love. There is a special place for it in my heart because...my high-school was next door and we always went there when we skipped classes. I trust you all with my little secret.
Here you are some.

Pictures from www.metropotam.ro

Spring food

Spring food is a way of fighting the weakness and fatigue our hard winters leave us with. People here eat a lot of greens during this time of the year, as we have missed most of them for the last months. We use them for salads, soups, hot dishes. Many are just wild plants peasants pick and bring to the market, such as nettles.
Nettles are rich in iron and vitamins and here is a way to cook them. I think you will find this a primitive dish, but actually it's an ancient one. Tasty, too, if you like garlic.

Ingredients: half a kilo of nettles, two spoonfuls of edible oil, one spoonful of flour, salt, garlic sauce, polenta.

Recipe: First, you choose some fresh nettles (their leaves and their tops) and you wash them many times, to eliminate the sand that is in them. Then, you boil them in hot water with salt. After you take off the pot, you separate the nettles from the water. The sauce which results is put away. After that, you put the nettles in a clay bowl and, with the back of a wooden spoon, you mix them till you get a homogeneous paste. In this nettles paste, you add some flour, the oil, the salt and a little part of the sauce in which the nettles were boiled. The rest of sauce, which is rich in vitamins, can be used to prepare some soup or some rice. After 10-15 minutes of boiling the nettles paste, you add the garlic sauce( made of garlic, oil, salt and water). Finally, it is served with hot polenta and, if you want, fried eggs.

Just Ávila

After two snowy days, this is what we have. I like the view. White Gredos, Santiago tower, the roofs and these trees in a yard on the left.

Tree Tears

This was a torn young fir-tree in our park. A wind too strong for him? A bad person?
Even trees can cry. We should not make them.

Spring Activities

New scenes this spring

Despite the snow, it was sunny this morning. As in any other sunny day, people in Ávila go for a walk round The Walls.
Even these three pidgeons were trying to get the best from such a clear morning.



Children and young people invade the slopes with their sledges to enjoy a good moment.

Ours

Snowy Spring

What a change! do you remember the sunny days in Ávila? It started snowing yesterday morning. It means a great joy for us, a Spring present, we were already suffering an ugly drought.
The town looked like it in the evening.

A blossoning tree in San Roque Walk showed its pink and now white flowers.

El Grande, almost solitary in the windy snow.

The lions around the cathedral, their heads covered in white waited for visitors to walk to them and take photos.

San Vicente, The Walls feeling the refreshing cold of snow.


San Roque Walk getting dressed with the white gown.

Our towns are alive. They don't rest, they change, move, surprise us. Like human beings.

Sharing our place

You are always welcome in our house, any time you want.

Making our place your place, showing you either public or hidden treasures, sharing our history, culture and art are the best way to understand each other.

Our heritage does not belong to us. We belong to it. We are part of it. This is why our stones, out quiet streets, our ancient music and our language can be helpful to meet ourselves, our very personal inner castle. You are also invited to make this journey into yourself.