Friday, July 21, 2006
Roskilde Festival
The festival had its own radio station and our job post was quite in the vicinity. They played the music of the bands invited to the festival and, of course, the classics of each genre.
Rock Romance - a bit tired though
There was no need for pushing people to consume beer, in each and every possible form: it came naturally!
Tuborg was festival's sponsor - quite obvious, wouldn't you say?
How many people can one festival fit? Quite a lot: 115 000 this year at Roskilde.
The Roger Waters concert was really the best one out of the 22 (!) I managed to see. The cherry on top of the cake!
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And the stage on fire for the Guns'n Roses concert, somewhat of a disappointment, but not too bad after all.
The campsite looks like a disaster area: little could we, volunteers, do in terms of restoring a sense of order: we just help prepare the way for the bulldozers who picked up all the remains and trashed them away
One-day stop in Budapest
As cheap airlines have not made their way yet to Romania, the easiest way to travel (or easiest for the purse) is to fly to Budapest and then take the bus or train down to Bucharest. On our way back to Sweden we had a day to wander about in the Hungarian capital - these are just some of the glorious aspects of the town, so to speak...
The Dutceacs and their hometown
Well, usually I hesitate in putting up pictures of people, I think it is a sensitive issue (according to some traditions, taking one's picture is like stealing one's soul), but these are "my" people so I guess they should have a place on my page. And of course, there is Bucharest, the backdrop of my growing up - hard to leave aside, with all is concrete and lost splendour...
Landscapes
As the train was rushing us by the Transylvanian plain and over the Carpathian mountains, I could not resist taking some pics of the surrounding landscape. Just a sample below:
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Travel to Romania - Cluj
Between the German and the Romanian episodes there is nothing really particularly exciting or worthy of note that I can write about. A lot of preparation work for two summer courses and some writing, plus, of course, the everyday...
At the beginning of June however, excitement came in the shape of our trip to Romania (these days I travel there quite often, it feels like, at least once a year for 2-3 weeks!), motivated in particular by the special occasion of Irina and Dan's wedding.
But before we reached Bucharest, the location of the fete, we stopped a day in Cluj, the cultural capital of Transylvania, to visit both the city and our friends Cornel and Anca.
Here are some images from this culturally-mixed place, where half of the city is Hungarian and half Romanian, and where Habsburg influences are clear.
An old building with a face-lift
Men at work - it almost looks like a set-up, but it isn't - they just are perfectly aligned!
The interiour courtyard of a monastery converted now into a music highschool - what an atmosphere these teenagers have!
At the beginning of June however, excitement came in the shape of our trip to Romania (these days I travel there quite often, it feels like, at least once a year for 2-3 weeks!), motivated in particular by the special occasion of Irina and Dan's wedding.
But before we reached Bucharest, the location of the fete, we stopped a day in Cluj, the cultural capital of Transylvania, to visit both the city and our friends Cornel and Anca.
Here are some images from this culturally-mixed place, where half of the city is Hungarian and half Romanian, and where Habsburg influences are clear.
An old building with a face-lift
A panorama of the city with the Catholic cathedral at the center
Men at work - it almost looks like a set-up, but it isn't - they just are perfectly aligned!
The interiour courtyard of a monastery converted now into a music highschool - what an atmosphere these teenagers have!
Berlin Graffiti
A special note must be made to the Berlin graffiti - they are as much of a city landmark as the Brandenburg gate! Either political, along the remains of the Berlin wall, or just artistic, along ANY wall, or even on cars, trains and pretty much any surface that qualifies, the graffiti are a show in and of themselves.
Berlin stories
While I was in Germany, I took advantage not only of the great library of the Eckiert Institute, but also of the opportunity to visit some popular spots. I could not possibly skip Berlin, especially since Roman , our good friend there, was kind enough to extend his hospitality for a couple of days.
Berlin is a fascinating place, full of history but also full of life, not stuck in the past but growing into the future. And this shows not only in people's attitudes, but also in urban planning.
advantage not only of the great library of the Eckiert Institute, but also of the opportunity to visit some popular spots. I could not possibly skip Berlin, especially since Roman , our good friend there, was kind enough to extend his hospitality for a couple of days.
Berlin is a fascinating place, full of history but also full of life, not stuck in the past but growing into the future. And this shows not only in people's attitudes, but also in urban planning.
The emblems of Berlin: the East Berlin TV tower and a construction crane
Just outside the Berlin Dome there is a "Lustgarden" which sounds pretty funny for an English speaker :) Lust and the Germans...
Roman is so very tall that this is the only way both me and him can be in the same picture without cutting either our heads or our legs off.
The memorial for the victims of torture (if I remember correctly), stark and impressive. The whole in the ceiling lets in the elements to rain or shine on the statue.
Another typical Berlin melange between the old and the new, the History museum which hosted at the time a great photo exhibition.
A real Berliner, at least according to me (it would have been funny to ask him where he's from and his answer to be Poland or smth like that)
Inside the glass coupole that crowns the Bunderstag - a modern gracious construction on top of the classic power-architecture type of building
The Holocaust Memorial
The Prussian Berlin is illustrated well by the Charlottenburg Palace, built at the end of the 17th century for the wife of Frederick III
And in contrast with the above, see here a very striking happy-colors kind of building
Martin and Roman in the square where the book autodafe took place in 1933
The weather was cold in March-April, so we even got the chance to see the city under a layer of snow
Berlin is a fascinating place, full of history but also full of life, not stuck in the past but growing into the future. And this shows not only in people's attitudes, but also in urban planning.
advantage not only of the great library of the Eckiert Institute, but also of the opportunity to visit some popular spots. I could not possibly skip Berlin, especially since Roman , our good friend there, was kind enough to extend his hospitality for a couple of days.
Berlin is a fascinating place, full of history but also full of life, not stuck in the past but growing into the future. And this shows not only in people's attitudes, but also in urban planning.
The emblems of Berlin: the East Berlin TV tower and a construction crane
Just outside the Berlin Dome there is a "Lustgarden" which sounds pretty funny for an English speaker :) Lust and the Germans...
Roman is so very tall that this is the only way both me and him can be in the same picture without cutting either our heads or our legs off.
The memorial for the victims of torture (if I remember correctly), stark and impressive. The whole in the ceiling lets in the elements to rain or shine on the statue.
Another typical Berlin melange between the old and the new, the History museum which hosted at the time a great photo exhibition.
A real Berliner, at least according to me (it would have been funny to ask him where he's from and his answer to be Poland or smth like that)
Inside the glass coupole that crowns the Bunderstag - a modern gracious construction on top of the classic power-architecture type of building
The Holocaust Memorial
The Prussian Berlin is illustrated well by the Charlottenburg Palace, built at the end of the 17th century for the wife of Frederick III
And in contrast with the above, see here a very striking happy-colors kind of building
Martin and Roman in the square where the book autodafe took place in 1933
The weather was cold in March-April, so we even got the chance to see the city under a layer of snow
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