Photo: Wikipedia
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 A.D., Europe has been besieged by waves of invasion from tribes of peoples such as Goths, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Vandals, Angles, Saxons, Lombards, Suebi, Frisii, Jutes, Franks, Huns, Cumans, Avars, Bulgars, Alans, Moors, Mongolians, Khazars, Tatars, Vikings, Normans, to name a few, who brought war and pillage across Europe from 376 to 800 A.D. Continue reading
“Truth is sleepwalking with a hole in its head.” – Mircea Brenciu
Mircea Brenciu Photo: Wikipedia
I met Mircea Brenciu on a sunny day in May 2015 in the downtown park as he was delivering a speech in Brasov on Heroes Day. The background of the rally was a huge cross erected in the memory of those who lost their lives during the Revolution of December 1989, when dozens of people were shot in the anti-communist revolution. Some of those young people were buried not far behind the cross.
I don’t believe in coincidence – there is a higher purpose for this seemingly chance encounter on such an important day in Romania’s history. Continue reading
Neagu Djuvara Photo: Wikipedia
Neagu Djuvara, writer, historian, philosopher, journalist, and diplomat, was interviewed on his 99th birthday by Radu Turcescu from Evenimentul Zilei. Born in Bucharest on August 18, 1916, Djuvara studied at Sorbonne in Paris, lived in France, Niger, and Romania. http://www.evz.ro/vremea-intrebarilor-cu-robert-turcescu-neagu-djuvara-la-99-de-ani-hegemonie-americana-in-lume-este-o-certitudine-de-liniste.html Continue reading
Prejmer Citadel Walls Photo: Ileana Johnson 2015
Leaving our hotel in Brasov and barely avoiding two collisions from impertinent drivers who seem to be in so much hurry that they triple and quadruple pass other vehicles close to dangerous curves and impassable hills, we made our way a few kilometers north to the neighboring Saxon villages of Prejmer and Harman. Continue reading
Brasov Rally 5-21-15
Photo: Ileana Johnson 2015
On a beautiful sunny morning, May 21, 2015 when the Orthodox celebrated Ascension Day and Sf. Elena, we walked in the beautiful park downtown Brasov set at the foot of Timpa Peak, where a crowd had gathered in front of a large cross and several tombs of the young men and women killed on December 22-26, 1989, during the Revolution that toppled Ceausescu’s brutal communist regime. Some of them came to a rally and some were simply walking through the park. Continue reading
Photo: Ileana Johnson 2015
The plane was rocked violently on the tarmac at Dulles by a freak storm. The ten passengers and crew that had managed to board were wide-eyed, praying that the shaking of the Boeing 767 would stop soon and the boarding would resume. My husband was still in the terminal with the rest of the passengers. Lightning and wind gusts were so intense that boarding had been temporarily suspended.
The seven and a half hour flight to Zurich finally took off two and half hours late amid scary dark clouds and soul-rattling sudden altitude drops. Fortunately, as we reached a cruising altitude of 39,000 feet, everything calmed down and we settled into a routine of getting up, stretching, bathroom trips, and watching movies for seven and half hours. I can’t sleep on planes; all my limbs go numb rather quickly. Continue reading
The 40 martyred Saints
Photo: Wikipedia
The celebration of spring in Romania starts on March 9 through April 23. It coincides with the Orthodox tradition honoring the forty martyred Saints (Mucenici) at Lake Sevastia. The forty Saints were Christian soldiers employed by the pagan Roman Emperor Licinius around 320 A.D. The governor of Armenia, Agricola, who found out about their faith, forced them to pray to his pagan gods. Because they refused and did not give up their Christian faith, the forty soldiers were jailed for eight days, stoned, and finally sentenced to death by freezing in Lake Sevastia. Continue reading
Voronet Monastery Photo: Wikipedia
These days Romania receives bad press and Romanians are preceded by an unfair and negative reputation across the European Union thanks to its large indigenous gypsy population that travels to Western Europe in search of jobs and lucrative activities and businesses, legal or illegal. Continue reading
Today, July 29, 2012, Romanians are going to the polls to vote for or against impeachment of their President, Traian Basescu. It is not something Romanians are happy about since their choices are either the old communist guard represented by President Traian Basescu or the new communism represented by the Prime Minister, Victor Ponta, and his ruling parliamentary coalition government.
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