Word for the traveller
"May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, The rains fall soft upon your fields And, until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand." Finally, I've managed to bring to life an old idea: convey some feelings about my country, Romania. And since we are in the Information Age, what mean would be more at hand than the Internet ? This is why this site was born. To keep it short, what you'll find here: - Stories and travelogues from places less known (well, for some of you Romania is anyway less known, but here I mean places you don't typically find on the official touristic websites) - Photos together with descriptions of various places, monuments, traditions, etc. - A calendar of events; I focus mostly on the folkloric events, as I think they are the soul of our country - The piece de resistence of this portal: the tour generator feature, truly a kind of e-travel agent or, if you want, a system that generates optimal trip schedules for you based on your criteria; to my knowledge, as of October 2004, such a system doesn't yet exist on the Web Many links which appear in these pages are still unavailable. I'm building the site during my spare time, so please be patient. Also, these pages depend a lot on your contributions. So if you have stories, travelogues, photos from Romania, suggestions, remarks, ideas, please don't hesitate to write me at sorincalex@yahoo.com. You can write me in Romanian, English, Dutch, French or Italian.
Maybe you wonder why this picture shows a haystack instead of a monument or a landscape ? Of course you'll understand that Romania has a plethora of monuments and beautiful landscapes. But among other things, I think the haystacks are so definitory for Romania. Where else do you still see them spotting the landscapes ? Yes, you see the round-shaped or the cubic ones in Western countries, the result of the mechanization of the agriculture. But in Romania they are hand-made, just as hundreds of years ago. They are timeless. And this is where I want to get. This should be one ot the reasons to come here: the timeless beauty of the countryside and of its people. The unspoiled traditions, the untouched nature, the stark contrast with the hectic life of the "civilization". So come and enjoy !
This work is dedicated to the memory of my grandparents, together with whom I discovered for the first time the beauty of Romania. Sorin-Alexandru Cristescu, October 2004
For any comments, suggestions, ideas, stories, please contact me at sorincalex@yahoo.com.