ROMANIA

Fuste la moda

2012-01-31T04:50:00.001-08:00

Sarafane elegante

Fuste elegante

Sandale de seara

Fuste de piele

Rochii tricotate

Jachete dama

Incaltaminte barbati

Fuste zara

Incaltaminte copii

Fuste scurte

Incaltaminte dama

Rochii elegante lungi

Geanta de plaja

Genti Louis Vuitton

Rochii scurte de seara

Rochii de seara ieftine

Noutati in moda

2012-01-31T04:48:00.000-08:00

Bijuterii barbati

Fuste creion

Ultima moda la pantofi

Rochii scurte de seara

Rochii elegante de zi

Jachete dama

Rochii office

Sandale cu platforma

Rochii elegante de zi

Cum se calculeaza varsta sarcinii

Jachete barbati

Salopete dama

Bluze tricotate

Incaltaminte romaneasca

Pantofi fara toc

Sutiene cu silicon

Pantofi cu toc inalt

Modele unghii false

Rochii drapate

Geci de piele dama

Cizme cu talpa plata

Tinute de seara - femei

Costume de baie intregi

Modele de unghii simple

Geci de iarna barbati

Rochii de seara din dantela

Rochii de mireasa pentru gravide

Fuste de blugi

Tatuaje pentru baieti

Sandale cu toc inalt

Reguli

2012-01-31T04:46:00.000-08:00

Depasirea este interzisa

Oprirea este interzisa

Parcarea este permisa

Stationarea este interzisa

Mersul inapoi este interzis

Intoarcerea este interzisa

Remorcarea unui autoturism

Cizme 2012

2011-10-12T07:20:00.001-07:00

Cizme 2012

Chiar a lovit Basescu un copil?

2009-11-30T00:40:00.000-08:00

După apariţia imaginilor in care preşedintele Traian Băsescu, aparent, loveşte un copil, s-a iscat un adevărat scandal, iar reacţiile nu au întârziat să apară.

Purtătorul de cuvânt al şefului statului susţine că acele secvenţe "sunt serios şi deliberat trucate", materialul video fiind "contrafăcut cu unicul scop de a-l lovi pe Băsescu în cursa pentru a obţine al doilea mandat".

De asemenea, Theodor Stolojan, a declarat că ar fi bucuros ca o expertiză să stabilească adevărul în privinţa filmului, pentru că în opinia sa este doar o manipulare.

"După părerea mea, este o intoxicare incredibillă făcută de aceşti domni, care doresc reîntoarcerea României în mâinile celor care au stăpânit-o în perioada 2001-2004 ", a spus Stolojan.

Pe de altă parte, Adrian Năstase susţine, pe blogul personal, că în imaginile respective se vede clar care este caracterul preşedintelui şi că aceasta este "o răzbunare a istoriei."

"Am văzut, în seara asta, adevăratul caracter al lui Băsescu. Nu mi-a venit să cred. Auzisem despre episodul ăsta, din alegerile prezidenţiale şi parlamentare din 2004, dar atunci când vezi e groaznic", scrie Năstase.

Mai mult, Dinu Patriciu a declarat că Traian Băsescu l-a lovit de două ori pe copil şi că este foarte bucuros că această înregistrare s-a făcut publică.

"Eu eram în stânga domnului Băsescu. Alături de mine se mai aflau câteva persoane care au mai văzut această scenă", a declarat Dinu Patriciu la RTV.

Ana Ghiţă, femeia care vorbea cu şeful statului în momentul în care se presupune că acesta l-ar fi lovit pe băiatul din imagini, susţine că era imposibil ca Băsescu să-l atingă pe copil.

"Nu l-a lovit pe copilul acela, pentru că nu avea cum să ajungă la el. Abia am reuşit să ajung eu ridicându-mă pe vârfuri", a declarat pentru Antena 3 femeia care îi cerea ajutorul lui Traian Băsescu în acel material video.

De asemenea, Ana Ghiţă spune că băiatul nu vorbea cu peşedintele în acel moment, ci îi adresa ei cuvinte urâte.

Marius Istrăţoiu a declarat publicatiei citate: „Vă confirm că eu sunt cel din imagini. Este o chestiune din trecut care nu m-a afectat nici atunci, nici acum. Aveam 10 ani, iniţial d-l preşedinte mă luase pe scenă şi am vrut să spun ceva legat de Iliescu şi Năstase şi probabil de emoţii am spus că Iliescu şi Băsescu nu sunt buni sau ceva de genul, apoi d-l preşedinte m-a dat jos de pe scenă. S-a enervat că spusesem o prostie şi când m-am dus lângă dânsul voiam să-mi cer scuze, dar m-a împins. Chiar am râs, nu a fost ceva care m-a marcat”.

Adi Minune a deschis restaurant de 300.000 de euro

2009-11-30T00:29:00.000-08:00

Adi Minune a făcut petrecere mare vineri seara, cu ocazia deschiderii oficiale a restaurantului “Cascada”, situat în comuna Ştefăneşti, judeţul Ilfov şi în care a investit 300.000 de euro.

De la eveniment nu au lipsit Sorinel Copilul de Aur, Ionică Minune sau Dan Bursuc, buni prieteni ai artistului, care, de altfel, vor concerta de joi până duminică în acest local. Vedeta serii a fost Mariana Roşca, alias “Blonda lui Iri”, care s-a declarat fan al lui Minune.

Mai mult, frumoasa ieşeancă, ce nu avea până acum nici un gând să se apuce de cântat, ne-a mărturisit că ar accepta oricând să facă acest pas alături de manelist. “Nu mi-a trecut nicicând prin cap să mă apuc de cântat, însă mi-au plăcut atât de mult Adi Minune şi localul său, încât aş acceptat oricând să fac o piesă cu el”, ne-a declarat vedeta, care ne-a mai spus că va fi nelipsită de la petrecerile organiza- te de Minune la “Cascada”.

Claudia Pavel este virgina

2009-11-03T01:14:00.000-08:00

Cu toate ca este vorba despre una si aceeasi persoana, Claudia nu mai vrea sa fie Cream. Acum a crescut, are aproape 25 de ani, spune ea, si vrea ca lumea intreaga sa o stie conform numelui trecut in cartea de identitate, adica Claudia Pavel.

Cand vine vorba insa despre viata personala cantareata devine brusc pudica, atat de sfioasa incat refuza sa raspunda pana si unei intrebari nevinovate: daca are sau nu un iubit. Cliseu sau nu, cica educatia nu o lasa, dar promite ca macar atunci cand se va marita toata lumea va afla cine este sotul.

"E viata mea intima si nu pot sa vorbesc despre asta. Asa am fost educata, asa mi se pare de bun simt pentru mine. Felicitari celor care pot vorbi despre viata lor intima. care isi pun viata sexuala pe tapet. Admir oamenii de genul asta, dar eu nu pot", a declarat artista.

Odata ce s-a stabilit ca nu este de bun simt sa stim daca Claudia are sau nu prieten, dar este educativ sa aflam ca sanii sunt partea favorita a corpului sau, credeam ca le-am aflat pe toate. N-a fost insa sa fie asa, caci a picat bomba - Claudia Pavel ne-a informat ca e la fel ca la 14 ani cand si-a facut buletinul: virgina!

Alina Puscau in Playboy

2009-11-03T01:04:00.000-08:00

Prima româncă pe coperta Playboy USA, Alina Puşcău, apare simultan şi în ediţia aniversară din România.

Tania Budi ar fi trebuit să se dezbrace pentru numărul din noiembrie, însă vedeta a fost nevoită să amâne pictorialul din cauza decesului tatălui ei.

În Playboy-ul aniversar mai apar Nicoleta Luciu, Cosmina Păsărin şi Gina Pistol, trei dintre cei mai importanţi "iepuraşi" din istoria de zece ani a ediţiei româneşti.

Alina Puşcău nu doar se dezbracă în revistele pentru bărbaţi. Ea este şi cântăreaţă.

Andreea Mantea are probleme cu Ţîrdea

2009-10-26T23:44:00.000-07:00

Andreea Mantea şi iubitul ei, Andrei Ţîrdea, trec prin cele mai dificile momente de când s-au cunoscut.

Fostul iepuraş Playboy luptă din răsputeri să nu fie eliminată de la "Dansez pentru tine", iar tânărul afacerist a fost obligat de judecători să meargă la IML pentru efectuarea testului de paternitate.

Mai mult, din sălile de judecată, fosta soţie a lui Ţîrdea, Alexandra, o avertizează pe femeia care i-a "furat" bărbatul: "Nu face copii cu Ţîrdea!".

Nenorocirile se ţin scai de perechea Mantea-Ţîrdea. După problemele "iepuraşului" cu emisiunea de la TVR şi dificultăţile financiare ale iubitului său care a fost obligat să renunţe la două maşini de lux, cuplul continuă să se "afirme" prin probleme.

Iubitul frumoasei brunete, Andrei Ţîrdea, a fost obligat, ieri, de instanţă să meargă la IML pentru efectuarea testului de paternitate. Decizia a fost luată după ce Andrei Ţîrdea nu s-a prezentat nici la termenul de ieri al procesului.

Astfel, Ţîrdea, fosta soţie şi fetiţa lor vor trebui să efectueze testul ADN săptămâna viitoare. "Sunt dezamăgită de comportamentul lui, dar nu se poate schimba. Sper ca Mantea să fie mai inteligentă ca mine şi ca fosta iubită a lui Andrei şi să nu-i facă copii", ne-a declarat Alexandra Ţîrdea.

Foştii soţi se vor întâlni miercuri, la Tribunalul Bucureşti, fiul controversatului afacerist Petre Paul Ţîrdea vrând să-i ia fostului model numele dobândit în urma căsătoriei.

Andrei Ţîrdea a fost forţat de Mantea să-i demonstreze că cel de-al doilea copil nu este al său. În caz contrar, fostul iepuraş Playboy a spus apropiaţilor că va renunţa la Andrei dacă testul va fi pozitiv.

Deşi el a fost cel care a deschis procesul de paternitate, Ţîrdea a evitat să ajungă în faţa medicilor din două motive. Nu a avut bani să plătească testul şi a mizat pe faptul că, odată cu trecerea timpului, vedeta tv îl va ierta indiferent de rezultat.

Daniela Crudu maestru de ceremonii

2009-09-30T23:25:00.000-07:00

Vecina de la Neatza cu Razvan si Dani face atmosfera in cluburi si discoteci pe bani multi. In timp ce MC-ii profesionisti se multumesc cu cateva milioane de lei vechi, bruneta vrea 600 de euro pentru un program de trei ore.

Cu toate ca nu se claseaza pe locul intai in topul organizatorilor de petreceri, Daniela Crudu are cel mai mare tarif ca MC (n.r. - maestru de ceremonii) printre colegele ei de breasla si, de cele mai multe ori, nu este negociabil. Pretul brunetei a crescut proportional cu popularitatea capatata in calitate de asistenta in cadrul matinalului de la Antena 1, in ciuda faptului ca, la baza, ea este animatoare.

Tocmai aceasta activitate inceputa inaintea televiziunii i-a deschis usile cluburilor din Capitala si provincie, mai ales ca i s-a dus vestea ca este extrem de dezinhibata si renunta usor la haine de dragul petrecerii. Atmosfera se incinge prin simpla ei prezenta, aceasta nemaifiind nevoita sa depuna prea mult efort pentru a ridica lumea la dans. Iar pentru trei ore petrecute in club cere 600 de euro.

Gina Pistol face atmosfera pe 500 de euro pe luna desi popularitatea ei este mult mai mare decat a Danielei. Aceasta insa nu este activitatea principala a blondei. Cele mai multe contracte ale Ginei vin din lumea modellingului.

Cosmina Pasarin negociaza si sub 400 de euro pe luna

Ea a fost desemnata de organizatorii de petreceri singura femeie MC din Romania. De cand s-a lasat de televiziune, bruneta s-a axat pe acest gen de activitate. Petrecerile ei devin incendiare. Cosmina canta, danseaza, striga si nu tine niciodata cont daca depaseste programul. Importanta e atmosfera. Si, cu toate acestea, accepta si onorarii mai mici de 400 de euro.

Oana Zavoranu si Ana Maria Prodan sunt mai rivale

2009-09-30T23:21:00.000-07:00

Altadata prietene, Oana Zavoranu si Ana Maria Prodan sunt mai nou rivale. Bruneta i-a declarat razboi dupa ce Ana i-a cerut 500 de euro ca sa vina in emisiunea sa, insa dupa ce a permis reporterilor Oanei sa filmeze in casa la aniversarea lui Reghecampf.

Se pare ca Zavoranu a oprit reportajul de la difuzare. Prezenta in emisiune lui Bahmuteanu, Prodanca a avut o confruntare cu Oana, la telefon, aceasta din urma acuzand-o ca vrea sa-si faca publicitate prin scandal.

Zavoranca o ataca iar pe Monica Columbeanu

2009-09-27T23:47:00.000-07:00

Deşi toată lumea credea că scandalul dintre Oana Zăvoranu şi Monica Columbeanu s-a încheiat şi că securea a fost îngropată de amândouă, iată că lucrurile nu stau tocmai aşa. Răzbunarea se dovedeşte dulce.

Aflată la început de nouă emisiune şi în căutarea ratingului mult râvnit, partenera de viaţă a lui Pepe a făcut dezvăluiri bombă. Dinu Damaschin, protectorul Monicăi pe când era o tânără neliniştită în Bacău, ar fi de fapt tătăl actualei doamnei Columbeanu.

Această informaţie i-a fost confirmată chiar de Monica, pe când era adolescentă. „Eram într-un club, când a venit şi mi-a spus că e fiica mea. Mi-a zis că ştie de la maică-sa. Se lăuda tuturor că e fata mea, iar acest lucru a scos-o din multe belele. Apoi, cu câteva săptămâni înainte de nunta cu Irinel, Veronica a venit la mine şi mi-a spus: «Dinule, să ştii că fata ta se mărită»”, a continuat Damaschin dezvăluirile.

Totodată, fostul protector a afirmat că tatăl din acte al Monicăi ar fi steril şi că nici surorile divei, Ramona şi Alina, nu ar fi fetele lui. Declaraţiile incendiare nu s-au oprit aici însă. Damaschin susţine că nici Irina nu ar fi copilul lui Irinel Columbeanu, ci fiica lui Alexandru Gavril, bărbatul acuzat că şi-ar fi ucis fetiţa. Monica a fost iubita lui George Gavril, dar mai târziu s-ar fi culcat şi cu fratele acestuia, Alexandru, pretinde Damaschin.

Cum va reacţiona doamna Columbeanu la noile dezvăluiri, cu siguranţă vom afla cât de curând. Până atunci însă, Paradisul Cenuşăresei de Bacău a fost din nou zguduit din temelii. Oare câte secrete au rămas nedezvăluite?

Roxana Ciuhulescu in Frankfurt

2009-09-24T23:30:00.000-07:00

Vedeta Pro TV Roxana Ciuhulescu a fost prezentă în urmă cu două săptămâni la Salonul Auto de la Frankfurt, unde au fost prezentate cele mai tari maşini ale anului 2010.

Printre „bijuteriile" expuse nu s-a regăsit şi bătrâna noastră Dacie, însă au putut fi admirate cele mai noi modele Lamborghini, Bentley şi Ferrari.

La eveniment au participat mai multe personalităţi, printre care Ion Ţiriac, Călin Popescu Tăriceanu, Michael Schumacher, dar şi Mr. Bean. Peripeţiile Roxanei la Frankfurt vor fi difuzate sâmbăta aceasta la ProMotor, ora 12.00.

Daniela Crudu dependenta

2009-09-23T22:23:00.000-07:00

Asistenta lui Razvan si Dani a devenit o clienta fidela a saloanelor de bronzat, pe care le frecventeaza din doua in doua saptamani. Dornica sa obtina un ten masliniu, bruneta se expune la razele ultraviolete in jur de 15 minute, desi e la curent cu riscurile produse de bronzul artificial. Daca e sa mor... mor si cand traversez sa-mi iau o punga de seminte, le-a marturisit ea unor prietene. Vedeta Antenei 1 face pauza de solar doar in lunile de vara.

Teo Trandafir revine pe ecrane

2009-09-23T02:49:00.000-07:00

Vedeta va realiza dupa zece luni de pauza un nou proiect de televiziune in cadrul unui post unde va ocupa si o functie de conducere.

La aproape un an dupa ce a demisionat de la Prima TV, refuzand sa lucreze fara echipa sa de productie, careia nu i-a mai fost prelungit contractul de colaborare, Teo se pregateste pentru o noua provocare in televiziune.

Informatia aparuta la inceputul saptamanii preciza ca este vorba despre un proiect revolutionar, mai ales datorita schimbarii de atitudine abordate de Teo in timpul emisiunii sale, insa pana in prezent nu se cunoaste numele postului TV in cadrul careia va fi difuzata aceasta productie.

Teo Trandafir, care are in prezent trei joburi, a refuzat sa dezvaluie numele trustului, sau postului cu care a semnat, precizand doar ca in cadrul acestuia va avea si o functie de conducere. Nici nu confirm, nici nu infirm. Va spun doar ca de acum incolo nu o sa mai am sefi, o sa fac ce vreau si cand vreau. Momentan o sa am o emisiune saptamanala, un format care, daca prinde poate sa intre si zilnic, a declarat Teo. Mai mult, aceasta a demontat pe loc, prin declaratii acide, zvonul revenirii sale in trustul Intact. Exclus! O televiziune care l-a dat afara pe Mircea Radu si intr-un singur an i-a pierdut pe cei de "Divertis" si pe Raduleasca, nu prezinta incredere. O sa aflati unde ma duc, aveti putintica rabdare pana joi la conferinta de presa pe care o vom organiza la Hilton, a adaugat ea.

Andreea Mantea la Dansez pentru Tine

2009-09-23T02:39:00.000-07:00

Ramasa fara emisiune la TVR 2, bruneta a primit o oferta tentanta din partea Pro TV-ului.

Andreea Mantea a reusit performanta de a schimba trei joburi intr-un singur an. Dupa ce emisiunea Din Dragoste a fost scoasa din grila Antenei 1, fostul iepuras Playboy nu a avut prea mult noroc nici la TVR 2, unde Tombola castigatorilor a fost suspendata dupa doar doua luni de emisie. Libera de contract, Andreea Mantea nu a stat pe ganduri si a batut palma imediat cu Pro TV, pentru noul sezon Dansez pentru tine, unde se va regasi in postura de concurenta. De saptamana viitoare, ea va intra in cantonament la Buftea, unde se va pune la punct cu numeroase stiluri de dans.

Dani Otil nu are masina

2009-09-17T23:51:00.000-07:00

Dupa ce a returnat autoturismul de teren obtinut in baza unui contract de imagine, terminat in urma cu cateva saptamani, Dani nu mai are cu ce sa plece la drum lung.

Pentru ca statutul de vedeta TV ii permite sa incheie contracte de imagine pentru masini gratis, Dani nu s-a grabit sa-si cumpere una personala. Nu s-a gandit insa ca negocierea unor astfel de intelegeri ar putea dura si l-ar lasa descoperit pana cand ar intra in posesia unui alt autoturism. Iar acest lucru s-a si intamplat. Otil a inapoiat autoturismul de teren pe care l-a condus sezonul trecut si, de cateva saptamani, cauta altul. Pana atunci, se vede nevoit sa apeleze la bunavointa prietenilor pentru a putea iesi din Bucuresti, asta, in ciuda faptului ca are patru motociclete.

Marcel Pavel bea noaptea cafea cu Lavinia

2009-09-17T05:25:00.000-07:00

Cântăreţul este acuzat că are o idilă cu fosta membră a trupei Spicy, Lavinia. Informaţia a apărut după ce artistul a fost zărit în preajma locuinţei brunetei la ore târzii.

Marcel Pavel şi-a explicat vizitele în apartamentul Lavinei susţinând că o ajută pe aceasta să-şi care bagajele sau că mai profită de timpul liber şi beau împreună câte o cafea, ca între colegi.

„Sunt coleg cu Lavinia de şapte ani. Când plecăm de la concerte, o duc acasă. O ajut să-şi care bagajele, doar nu pot s-o las singură. Mai ales dacă ajungem târziu, o ajut eu să-şi urce bagajele în apartament. Noaptea mai beau câte o cafea cu Lavinia. Dar nu suntem doar noi doi, uneori mai rămân şi dansatoarele ei”, a declarat Marcel Pavel pentru „ring”. Soţia artistului, Violeta, îi ţine partea acestuia, mergând pe încredere. „Soţia mea a început să râdă când a auzit”, a spus Marcel.

Monica Columbeanu a pierdut in afaceri

2009-09-10T23:47:00.000-07:00

Soţia lui Irinel Columbeanu nu se descurcă delocin afaceri. Drept dovadă, firma sa, SC Monica Columbeanu Media SRL, figurează în 2008 cu o pierdere netă de 95.246 RON, adică 952 milioane lei vechi, a aflat Ring. La cifra de afaceri este trecută suma de 379.598 lei, în timp ce plăţile se ridică la 476.120 lei.

La un calcul estimativ, pierderile se ridică undeva în jurul sumei de 250.000 de euro. Noroc totuşi că macar Iri se pricepe.

Catrinel Menghia si Lancia

2009-09-06T23:18:00.001-07:00

Supermodelul Catrinel Menghia a lăsat pentru puţin timp podiumul, apariţiile în reviste şi ţinutele luxoase pentru a poza pe „capota” primului iaht din istoria companiei italiene Lancia.

Cu toate că va fi lansată în luna octombrie, în cadrul Boat Show Genova, Lancia Powerboat a fost prezentată cu ajutorul modelului român, în cadrul Festivalului Internaţional de Film de la Veneţia.

Barca, lungă de peste 13 metri, a fost desenată de Christian Grande şi poate transporta până la 11 persoane, deşi are o cameră doar pentru două.

Cele două motoare diesel, ce dezvoltă 1.120 CP, ajută ambarcaţiunea să atingă o viteză maximă de 55 de noduri, adică aproximativ 100 km/h. De la bordul iahtului nu lipsesc tehnologia ultra-performantă şi nici materialele de ultimă oră.

Nicoleta Luciu and her underwear

2009-08-30T23:03:00.000-07:00

Nicoleta has "escaped" on the sets and gave one away in Mamaia, where he was the star of fashion shows signed Adrian Pescariu. The visit was heading to the seaside a prolific, Lucius being paid an amount of 1,500 euros, to scroll in bikinis.

Rare presence on the podiums of fashion when he dedicated "job" of mother, Nicoleta returned to fashion. Home TV station gave the star, Saturday afternoon, one flight up in Mamaia, along with her sister and boyfriend it, being the show's special guest signed Adrian Pescariu.

Punctual, as usual, Nicoleta arrived Wish Club more than 30 minutes before the presentation, during which the state revoked, on the couch, in the company of her sister.

Dressed in black underwear with bikini but covered, however, with a penile sheath of silk, cut Nicoleta breath all men in the club, who threw glances full of implied.

With an enviable figure, lower than all other models who marched with her, behold titulaturii owner of the sexiest woman in Romania regained status in less than a year after becoming a mum.

Nicolete benefit was paid as, the tidy sum of 1,500 euros, money that he received as soon as the event ended. In addition to the scrolled lingerie, underwear Nicoleta has shown before the presentation, unwittingly her sexy dress and playing tricks.

Bianca Dragusanu will be Capatos`s assitent

2009-08-25T00:59:00.000-07:00

Bianca Dragusanu is one step to become the new star of the show "un show pacatos". It has passed a series of tests today to become an assistant to Dan .

"I went to a casting, but still do not know if I will be his assistent ",she told us . However, rumors certainly give that autumn, we see Bianca appetizing on small screens, on Antena 1.

Valea Izei

2009-08-12T00:54:00.000-07:00

Satul Vadu Izei, cunoscut pentru meşteşugarii săi şi pentru sculptura în lemn, se află la unirea a două râuri importante, Iza şi Mara, la aproape 7 km sud de Sighetu Marmaţiei. Populată încă din Epoca de bronz, dovadă stând brăţările şi monezile din argint, satul este atestat prima dată în 1383, cu numele Satul lui Lupu. Acum, nu este doar unirea celor două drumuri aici, ci şi unirea a două drumuri importante, DN 18 cu DJ 186, care oferă o importanţă notabilă satului.

În Vadu Izei există pictori care fac icoane pe sticlă, precum Ioan Borlean; ţesători precum Maria Moldovan şi Ileana Borlean, persoane care fac pături sau covoare cu lână vegetală vopsită; şi oameni care fac coşuri împletite, precum Mihai Petreuş, care face coşuri minunate şi alte obiecte folosind răchită şi alun. De asemenea, există în zonă numeroşi muzicanţi şi cântăreţi, iar oamenii din Vadu Izei nu sunt numiţi dobaşi degeaba.

În concordanţă cu acestea, în fiecare an în iulie, există Festivalul Nuntilor. Grupuri de cântăreţi populari şi dansatori vin din toată zona Maramureşului, din alte părţi ale României şi chiar din străinătate, pentru a interpreta cântece sau dansuri legate de nunta tradiţională.
Există un mic muzeu, Casa memorială a lui Vasile Kazar, lângă noua biserică Greco-Catolică. Aceasta este o gospodărie din secolul al XVIII-lea, cu obiecte vechi şi textile, care arată cum vieţile sătenilor continuă pe aceeaşi linie.

În afară de pensiunile bine stabilite, există şi un punct de informaţii pentru turişti, lângă primărie şi poştă. De aici se pot cumpăra hărţi şi cărţi despre regiune, diverse obiecte de artizanat (icoane, olărie, costume, măşti, etc.) sau se poate angaja un ghid local pentru turul satelor din apropierea văilor râurilor.

Următorul sat de după Vadu Izei, la 5 km în sus spre valea Izei, este Onceşti cu 1,500 de locuitori. Mai multe descoperiri arheologice demonstrează continuitatea aşezării din timpurile preistorice: unelte, bijuterii şi săbii medievale. Satul obişnuia să aibă o biserică frumaosă, din lemn, care este acum la Muzeul Satului, din Sighetu Marmaţiei.

Bârsana este o comună mare, de aproape 5.000 de locuitori, aflat pe malul drept al Izei, la aproape 20 km sud-est de Sighetu Marmaţiei. În afară de drumul principal DJ 186, care urcă pe valea Izei, DJ 185 leagă satul de Ocna Şugatag şi valea Cosău.

Bârsana este unul dintre satele cele mai cunoscute din Maramureş datorită mănăstirii construite destul de recent, care a devenit simbolul Maramureşului şi al arhitecturii din lemn. Mai mult decât atât, aceasta există şi biserica veche din lemn a satului, Intrarea Maicii Domnului în biserică, construită în 1720 ca biserica mănăstirii, care se află pe Lista Moştenirilor Mondiale a UNESCO.

Poienile Izei se află la maxim 4 km distanţă de Glod, spre Botiza şi Şieu; satul este înconjurat de cărările de pe munţii Lăpuş. Este un sat de aproape 1,100 de locuitori cu puternice tradiţii.

Rozavlea este un sat cu peste 4,000 de locuitori, pe partea dreaptă a râului Iza, la 7 km în contra curentului de Strâmtura, şi la cam 37 km de sud-vest de Sighetu Marmaţiei via DJ 186. Cele mai vechi descoperiri sunt din Epoca de Piatră, deşi atestările scrise datează din 1353.

În fiecare an la sfârşitul lui august, se sărbătoresc Zilele Culturale ale Rozei Rozalina, prilej cu care se adună grupuri folclorice care vin din diferite părţi ale regiunii şi ale ţării. Tot atunci, tradiţiile maramureşului sunt discutate în cadrul unui simpozion.

Naomi and Ramona Badescu, on stage at Mamaia

2009-08-07T00:54:00.000-07:00

At the 39 th edition, the Festival feels Mamaia in turn crisis.

With a budget less than 20% percent from the previous year, to 1,760,000 Lei Event that follow take place during August 17-23 does, however, discount theawards and their guests and the public expects in a cosmetizat in Tannery Park in Constanta, which has hosted this event in 1999.

With new clothes, the show this year's anniversary stands under the sign of 2000 years of exile, the tip Euxin, the poet Ovidiu. A festival without scandals last year to invite friends before, such as Ramona Badescu, and names that do honor the Romanian scene, as Olimpia Panciu, are just some of the surprises revealed by the organizers.

Novelty Edition "Mamaia 2009" Interpretation is the section where all finalists will be required to submit to the last confrontation with another piece than that with which they competed.

The jury this year was a particularly difficult mission, because as said chairman Mădălin Voicu, at the 2009 edition will show that English music begins to depart from the more than kitsch is in a corner recent years, and "those who write music to us become more professional."

About professionalism and rigor with which they were tested candidates speak Corina Chiriac, which, along with Mădălin Voicu, Viorel Gavrila, composed of "triumviratul "for sifting the wheat cockle. Optimistic on this year's edition, although it can not fire to fire, Corina Chiriac ensure that he chose the best competitors. Among them are, for the second time, the controversial transsexual Florin Moldovan, Naomi alias. If the sexual occupations were always the subject of controversy, few were those who denied his interpretative abilities.

Among trophy at the 2009 edition include Naomi, whose opportunities in competition
are equal to those of contracandidaţilor. View this year's President Mădălin Voicu, it is more "quietly" than the previous edition. He openly acknowledges qualities Naomi's voice, but says that assumes the right not to comment about his private life and the scandals that he caused last time.

Naomi got the most powerful applause from the public, but not qualified for an award
Interpretation of section. Without trying to discourage him and this year, the same section, after having convinced the jury, the pre, with pieces "Salcia" and "A player rushed. "

According to Cristian Zgabercea Director Directorate of culture Constanta County Council, every night of the festival will mark the celebration when his presence Ovidiu shore dobrogean recitals by artists supported by the Romanian and the Italian brand. Thus, on August 20, will play Corina Chiriac and Italian Erminio, 21 evening will be completed by Nicola and his guests, Distincto Adrian Romcescu and Ladyes and Francesco Napoli, and the final of August 22, Ramona Bădescu and call its , Millennium and Rafaelo di Pietro.

Gala winners will end in the groove of samba school dancers Brazilian names hard to remember, "Cultural Social Gremio Recreativo Escola de Samba Vai-Vai, to delight in Mamaia for tourists by the mayor of Constanta, Radu Pea.

Elena Carstea will be operated on the brain

2009-08-05T00:38:00.000-07:00

Singer determined three years in the United States was diagnosed at acontrol routine with cerebral aneurysm and surgery will be next week at JFK Hospital in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Surgery is a considered a pretty big risk, because the aneurysm is located behind the eyes.

Italians, shield around Adrian Mutu

2009-08-02T00:06:00.001-07:00

The news that Romania is obliged with 17 million Chelsea team take on sensitize officials and supporters toscana. Adrian Mutu returned to the spotlight in Florence after Friday at noon, it was noised abroad that the English club is indebted bald sea London with 17 million. Romania was approached immediately after practice Friday morning Andrea Della Valle, chairman of the club Fiorentina, who promised his support to efforts that will continue to get rid of debt burden dictated by FIFA in May last year and approved TAS now for two days.

Supporters awaiting a sign from association football players

"Adrian is sad, but it is our duty, all to protect it and not expose him to pressure the media. I hope the anger that has accumulated one of the long process to reverse the land of soccer in a positive sense, "said Della Valle.

Not only the president band "rape" is alongside Adrian Mutu. Fiorentina supporters have suggested the site fiorentina.it, organizing public takings in order to help the "Brilliant" to raise the amount of 17 million. "A joke? Maybe not. The idea that players' association and Fiorentina supporters to lie down and help kick Mutu circulating for some time, shown on the website of supporters Toscani.

They expected an initiative of the professional players association in Italy to help with the symbolic sum of money.

Call RightsHuman?

Mutu has consulted with his lawyer in Italy, Paul Rodella, and put on paper the decision to counterattack the TAS, which is the final line sports. Attorney seeks in these days a procedural flaw in the decision TAS, following that between August 15 and September 15 that the Swiss Federal Court. "We will use this for the decision to block TAS. If there will be lots of zibândă, Rodella make a petition to the European Court of Human Rights.

Journalists from the Italian "Gazzetta dello Sport" notes that Mutu seemed "in shock" at Friday night training of Fiorentina. Finally, had a separate discussion and coach Cesare Prandelli.

Londonezii enjoys: "I was right"

London club Chelsea, Mutu that evolved between 2003 and 2004, when he was found with cocaine positively welcomes the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. "Chelsea has made known TAS decision to reject his call Adrian Mutu and maintain financial penalty dictated by the Chamber of Re zolvare dispute within FIFA for our club. TAS Decision justify all our actions in this case, shown on the official website of the London group.

Cleopatra Stratan with Daddy at the beach

2009-08-01T10:38:00.000-07:00

In the tournament season, and Pavel Stratan Cleopatra took advantage of her free time between concerts to tan and wallow in the sea.

The two were at the beach Eforie Nord, and the star of six years has attracted attention to her once and made the appearance sheets, dozens of fans strângându be near her. Răbdătoare, Cleo has been talking to all her admirers, big and small, and awarded them, happy, autographs. Little diva and her father were at the beach an hour, then went to the hotel.

Princess Lia, pregnancy without problems at 56 years

2009-08-01T10:30:00.000-07:00

Princess Lia, wife of Prince Paul of Romania, is charged in three months, will give birth early next year.

Although the future mother is listed first youth, with this 56 years, until now no difficulty with the task that you wear.

Parents future prince announced that the baby will be baptized in the Orthodox religion.

Madalina Manole became mommy

2009-08-01T10:25:00.000-07:00

Madalina Manole a boy was born on 8 June 2009 at the Giulesti maternity Capital.

Artist is to fulfill 42 years in July and mommy is a happy and fulfilled, the little boy with them 2.6 kilograms and 56 cm.

"The girl with hair of fire" will baptize son Peter, and in autumn this year is scheduled wedding Mircea Petru.

Serban Huidu

2009-06-18T04:05:00.001-07:00

Serban Huidu was born on July 16, 1976 in Bucharest, Romania. He is a famous romanian radio and television personality.

Biography and Career :

Serban Huidu proved even as a child that his destiny is to be in the show biz and television life. He discovered his passion for mass-media during his voluntary stage for a radio channel in Romania.

He is a self-confident person and one could hardly contradict him.

Serban Huidu can't stand foolishness and stupidity and that's why in his TV Show on Prima TV named "Cronica Carcotasilor", together with his friend Gainusa, they laugh at other people's mistakes.

In his spare time he likes to sleep and travel at the mountains.

He thinks celebrity is a disadvanta ge for stars because you cannot walk unnoticed on the streets and you can't have a private life anymore.

His favorite football team is Universitatea Craiova and when he goes to their matches he wears their colors : white and blue.

Serban Huidu's hobbies are : football, basketball, cars and traveling.

His big wish is a house and a family who love the way he is.

He owns a Radio Show with his friend Gainusa on Kiss FM : "Cronica...cu Huidu si Gainusa" each morning from 7 to 10.

Trivia :

- He has 2 brothers : Vlad and Matei.
- His wife's name is Cristina.
- His idol is Howard Stern.
- Serban Huidu's favorite flowers are tulips.
- He likes Hard-Rock music and his favorite band is AC/DC.
- Diamonds are his favorite jewelry.
- He prefers Caragiale and Umberto Eco as writers.

Lucian Mandruta

2009-06-18T04:03:00.000-07:00

Lucian Mandruta was born on September 15, 1967 in Romania. He is a famous Romanian TV presenter.

Biography and Career :

Lucian Mandruta studied at Mihai Viteazu High-School from Bucharest between 1982 - 1986 and while in high-school he discovered he doensn't like Maths. He had a big passion for poems and for journalism.

In 1989 he attended the Faculty of Hydrotechnics (ICB) from Bucharest and after the Revolution from Romania in 1989 he joined The Students League.

In 1991 he got a colaboration with SOTI where he was a presenter.

When he ended his colaboration with SOTI he received offers from Adrian Sirbu to join Pro TV

In 1994 together with Mihai Tatulici and others Lucian Mandruta formed Tele 7 Abc.

In 1995 he started a colaboration with Pro Tv where his role was a news editor.

In 1999 Lucian Mandruta started again to study at The University of Bucharest (FJSC).

In 2003 he received his best job ever and that was in colaboration with Antena 1. His role was to present the Observator - the daily most important news show.

Trivia :

- He studied management in United States
- Hosted TV News for SOTI and also Chestiunea Zilei
- In 2000 he started to colaborate with Ziarul Financiar.
- He loves Dacia Automobile
- He likes to spend his weekends at his grandparents' house from Arges
- Has 3 children
- He doensn't like at all to live his country even for a few days.
- His favourite designer is the one who made his first jeans.

Dan Negru

2009-06-18T04:01:00.000-07:00

Dan Negru was born on Fenruary 23, 1971 in Romania. He is a famous TV presenter.

Biography and Career :

Dan Negru studied Economics High-School and after that Law Faculty and Journalistic in Timisoara.

He started his career working for Radio-TVR in Timisoara.

He says about himself he has a lot of shortcomings and many of them are necessary, a man without any shortcomings is like Superman.

Sometimes I realize that I've already made a lot of beautiful things and when life is full of wonderful things you wonder if there's a trick somewhere.

Dan Negru loves cars and movies and has a big passion for watches.

He is a big watches collector and started by receiving an old Russian Pobeda from his grandma.

Dan Negru hosted the following TV shows:

- Ziua Judec atii
- Chao Darwin
- Academia Vedetelor
- Saint-Tropez Games

Quotes :

- I've had a lot of idols in my life, as you grow up you discover a lot of other interesting people
- His biggest wish is to live the moment when Tom eats Jerry

Trivia :

- He loves dogs and owns a german shepherd named Ghita.
- He is a loyal man
- Detests hypocritical persons
- Loves his natal town Timisoara
- Wanted to be a driver
- Loves children
- His favourite music bands: Akcent , Depeche Mode and Sistem
- His wife name is Codruta
- His favourite Romanian singers are : Luminita Anghel , Andra , Ruslana

Catalin Maruta

2009-06-18T03:59:00.000-07:00

Catalin Maruta was born in Targu Jiu, Romania. He is a famous Romanian host for TVR and Pro tv.

Biography and Career :

Catalin Maruta left Tg, Jiu to study The Faculty of Law, like his father did. While studying he started to collaborate with a radio station because he needed money and wanted no more help from his parents.

He started to like his job at the radio and he focused all his energy when started to work for TV Super Nova and then for TVR. His first show was Trupa DP 2 on TVR 2.

While working in the media industry, Catalin Maruta started to study Jurnalistics in Bucharest.

He says he's going to marry when he will know for sure it'll be the first and the last time in his life when he does it.

Quotes :

- If you'd like a short personal description I'd say tha t I'm an opened minded and
I like to be fair with everyone even if this could put somebody to inconvenience

- I remember when I could help some people that has suffered a disaster in a village from Teleorman.

Trivia :

- Hosted the national selections for Eurovision 2006 together with Luminita Anghel
- Has sexy lips
- Was the entertainer for Caravana TVR 50 in Timisoara, Craiova, Iasi, Cluj
- Likes to collect things : stars, watches and caps
- He loves animals and used to have a cat named : Oscar
- Height: 1,80 m
- Weight: 78 kg
- Eyes color : brown
- Favourite artists : Vama Veche, Directia 5, Voltaj, Antract
- Hobbies : equitation, Formula 1, karting
- Likes to wear sport clothes
- Favourite writers : Cartarescu, Teodoreanu, Arghezi, Mircea Dinescu
- His father has a big influence on him.

Mirabela Dauer

2009-06-18T03:53:00.000-07:00

Mirabela Dauer (real name Bela Scortaru) born on July 9, 1947 in Romania. She is a famous Romanian singer.

Biography and Career :

In 1963 she makes her début as a singer in the band Rosu si Negru. They mostly sang remakes of Rita Pavones tunes, her idol. At the age of 17, the head master caught her singing in a restaurant and she was expelled. Finally, she was reaccepted, and after finishing highschool, at 18 years old she got married with her firts husband, Mircea Dauer.In 1967 she starts going to the School of popular Arts, under the guiding of the teacher Florica Orascu. There she meets Marius Teicu and Marius Popp.

In 1970 she has her first appearance on tv, at the show "Tele Top", where she sings "De cand te am cunoscut", composed by Marius Teicu. She then becomes a f amiliar face on TV.

In that same year she is awarded a special prize from the journey at the Mamaia Festival.One year later, in 1971 she earns first prize at the same festival.
In 1974 she started a series of colaborations with the Polish television. She appeared in various shows on TV in Varsov, Katovive or Krakovia. In Poland, she sings with the band NO-TO-CO.

In 1975 she wins first prize at a Moscow festival, "Friends tunes", and in 1976 she gets 3rd prize at a festival in Bulgary, "The golden Orphy".

During the years she won many more awards, and in 2002 she is awarded a diploma from The ministry of Culture, at the gala "A day among stars".

Quotes :

- " I've never gave up. I love my music, and, in order to sing I have sacrificed all my wishes."
- " I don t know how to do anything, unless sing."

Discography :

Voi canta (1980)
Taina noptii (1982)
În zori (1984)
Morarita (1985)
De ce nu-mi spui ca ma iubesti (1985)
Dimineti cu ferestre deschise (1986)
Esti visul meu (1986)
Te-astept sa vii (1987)
De dragul tau (1988)
Revino (1989)
Nopti albe de dor (1990)
Mirabela si Romanticii '90 (1991)
Daca nu te-as iubi (1992)
E bine, e bine, e foarte bine (1992)
Te iubesc, iubirea mea (1993)
Tu (1994)
Esti barbatul altei femei (1995)
Best of (1995)
Nu te parasesc iubire (1996)
Plânge un artist (cu Catalin Crisan, 1997)
Iubiri ce mor in zori (2003)

Adi de la Valcea

2009-05-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

Adi de la Valcea (full name Dinut Adrian Nicolae) was born in Rm. Valcea, Romania. He is a famous Romanian manele singer.

Biography and Career :

Adi de la Valcea started to sing manele music and he says the feeling discovered while singing in front of his fans is a unique one.

He is a very honest man and a very good friend.

Adi de la Valcea had a big success with the song "Suparat", song which was first of Tinu Veresezan.

One of his famous albums is :

M-a pus viata la incercare :

1 Am avut multe femei 04:54
2 Jalem, Jalem 04:33
3 Vecina de la patru 04:12
4 Duceam viata de golan 04:06
5 Sapte vieti 04:15
6 Suparat, suparat 03:28
7 Trebuie sa renunt la tine (cu Dorel de la Popesti) 06:03
8 Femeia cu vorba dulce 03:10
9 M-a pus viata la incercare 04:16
10 Dragoste adevarata 05:02

Quotes :

I feel my fans singing with me. I have a big respect for my fans and maybe they also respect me

Trivia :

- He like sports and especially Boxing
- His hobbies are : cars and hunting
- Favorite fashion designer : D&G
- Favorite movie : The Gladiator

Discography - Albums :

- De viata si de dragoste;
- Pe obraz lacrima imi curge;
- Suparat;
- M-a pus viata la incercare;

Florin Salam

2009-05-27T13:12:00.001-07:00

Florin Salam (also known as Florin Fermecatorul) is a famous Romanian manele singer.

Biography and Career :

Like many other manele singers from Romania, Florin Salam started to be a star singing at weddings, parties and other private celebrations.

In Romania manele musicians are called "manelisti". Romanian intellectual class considers this kind of music being inspired from other people music and they also think it incite to subculture even it is one of the most disputed music genres in Romania.

During his career he collaborated with a lot of Romanian singers like : Costi Ionita, Vali Vijelie, Nicolae Guta, Daniela Gyorfi etc.

In 2006, Costi Ionita produced a movie inspired from Indian movies, where the dialogues between characters were interrupted by musical moments. In this movie Florin Salam got the role of a bad brother who was having a lot of bad entourage.

One of his best selling albums was named “Doar cu tine” and it is a collaboration with Costi Ionita. This album was sold in over 40 000 pieces and it was produced in Constanta, where Costi Ionita has his own musical studio.

Florin Salam and other manele singers from Romania have created their own fashion style : they wear very tight T-Shirts, Tight white pants or jeans, white sneakers or expensive shoes and they wear exaggerated gold jewelry. They also prefer luxury cars like Mercedes S-Klasse or Bmw because they like to show off.

Florin Salam sings passionately and he started when he was 4 years old. He took his father's accordion and played at it for hours.

Quotes :

- " My parents have always supported me. They've seen music is my passion and they've shown me the right path in life."
- " There is a popular saying : If there is no one to envy you, it's like you don't even exist. "

Top Tracks :

1. Vreau sa beau sa ma fac manga
2. V-am facut-o, Am facut-o
3. Vin dolarii
4. Cerul plange ca azi ne despartim
5. Toate clipele frumoase

Albums :

Florin Salam si Invitatii Sai (Florin Salam and Guests - English Title) :

1. Florin Salam - As renunta la tot
2. Petrica Cercel - Aseara ne-am certat
3. Dorel de la Popesti - Fac metrii cubi de bani
4. Narcis - Iubire mincinoasa
5. Gina Lincan - Viata merge inainte
6. Stefan de la Barbulesti - Minune de copilas
7. Elvis - Toate visele
8. Adrian Minune - Stau si plang
9. Catalin Arabu - Eu sunt Barosan
10. Viorel de la Constanta - Prietenii mei
12. Vali Vijelie & Baboi - Sapte inimi nu au puterea
13. Florin Salam - Portugalia live

Trivia :

- In 2006 was he paid more than $7000 an hour to sing at parties.
- They've worked for the album "Doar cu tine" for about 8 months.
- He prefers clothes from Laura Olteanu (a Romanian designer)
- His uncle Nicu Salam was a famous musician too.

Costi Ionita

2009-05-27T13:11:00.000-07:00

Costi Ionita was born on January 14, 1978 in Constanta, Romania. He is a famous Romanian singer.

Biography and Career :

When he was a kid he was one of the bad boys in the neighbourhood and he received a lot of complaints from other childrens' parents because Costi used to argue with them and sometimes fight.

He likes sports a lot and he used to practice martial arts, tennis, basket, swimming and others.

Costi Ionita studied at Scoala de Muzica si Arta (Music and Art School) from Constanta and after that he attended the Informatics High School but without quitting his musical career studying at "Scoala Populara de Arta" - The Popular Art School. He used to play accordion and he loved the Romanian folklore.

When he was 12 he was a vocalist for "Taraful Clubului Elevilo r din Constanta" and they visited a lot of European countries like : Hungary, Germany, France, Italy, France for some live concerts.

When he was in the 9th grade in high-school he had a tour in Japan, where he represented Romania at an International Peace Congress.

In 2001, Costi Ionita went to London where he met some international producers like Rod Stewart and Robbie Williams.

After finishing high-school he formed Valahia band together with his friend Dorin and their hit was Banii si Fetele.

Costi Ionita got his own studio and formed a lot of Romanian bands like : Exotix - the first Romanian power-girls band.

Costi Ionita changed his music style and started to collaborate with a lot of manele singers like : Adrian Copilul Minune, Florin Salam, Liviu Guta etc.

Quotes :

- I've had a beautiful childhood and I want to thank to my parents because they took care of me;
- I don't sing for awards; they don't impress me much. I sing from my heart with a lot of passion and I do it for my fans. The most wonderful thing in the world is when your fans are besides you.

Trivia :

- Has green belt in Karate Shotokan
- His mother is a chemistry teacher
- He sang duet with Adi de Vito called "Of, viata mea" (English Title : Oh, My Life)

Discography - Albums :

- 2005 "Costi & Florin Salam"
- 2005 “Garantat Costi - Muzica autentica inspirata din realitate”
- 2003 "Costi Ionita si Liviu Guta"
- 2002 "Juraminte si suspine”
- 2002 “Nopti si zile”
- 2001 "Dr.Costi”
- 2001 “Play”
- 2000 Costi Ionita&Adrian Copilul Minune “Autoconcurenta”
- 2000 Costi Ionita &Adrian Copilul Minune “Fara Concurenta”
- 2000 Costi Ionita&Vali Vijelie “La marele fix”
- 1999 Costi Ionita “Viata mea”

Nicolae Guta

2009-05-27T13:09:00.000-07:00

Nicolae Guta (full name Nicolae Lingurar) was born in Aninoasa, Hunedoara, Romania and he is one of the most famous Romanian "Manele" singers.

Biography and Career :

Nicolae Guta started to work for "CFR Romania - Petrosani" (The Romanian Train Transport Association) in a gipsy team workers, until all of them got fired.

He says they used to work hard with their hands because the gipsies from Romania don't go to school too often... they have "the school of life".

After his first job he worked for "Regia Apelor Petrosani" for 8 years. One of his partners helped him to get a high ranked and qualified position there.

Before making music Nicolae Guta used to work 8 hours a day but he didn't like the job. Making music and singing to parties and weddings takes him a lot of t ime but this is the think he loves and he does with passion.

Immediately after 1989 when the Communism Empire disappeared Nicolae Guta started to sing party music which is called in Romania "Manele".

His debut was in Timisoara's restaurants and short time after he became the "King of Manele Music"

"Manele music" got more fans outside Romania and nowadays there are a lot of musicians that changed their styles to "Manele" because they are commercial.

Trivia :

- He's got one brother named Samir, known for his Old-Iron Business in Romania
- Both of them have built big houses in Iscroni, Romania.
- Nicolae Guta was named "Tha King of Manele" in 2005 and his friend Adrian Copilul Minune "Adrian the Wonder Boy" was named "The Emperor of Manele".
- The King of Manele has 2 daughters and 2 sons.
- Nicolae Guta has over 50 Manele Music Albums.

Mirel Radoi

2009-05-27T13:02:00.000-07:00

Mirel Radoi (full name Mirel Matei Radoi) was born on March 22,1980 in Drobeta Turnu Severin, Romania and he is the leader of Steaua Bucharest an ex-european champion and one of the most valuable Romanian team.

Biography and Career :

Mirel Radoi started to play football at 8 years old first as a goalkeeper and after this as a defender. Now at Steaua is a central back midfielder. His first team was FC Drobeta Turnu Severin and there was remarked by Sorin Cartu , the coach of FC Extensiv Craiova and was transferred in 1999 to that team. Because was impressed by Radoi's skills Cartu paid from his own pocket the money for transfer. Sorin Cartu said that this player is a big talent and he was right.
After 5 months Radoi became one of a multiple champion team's players Steaua B ucharest. His new coach became Victor Piturca, the actual Romanian national team's coach who promote him and in a few years became the best and the most important player for Steaua.

About the first day at Steaua Radoi say that: " it was like a positive shock for me. Suddenly I was in the same place with players like Miu, Baciu and Belodedici, players I saw at TV. It was like a dream…".

In 2001 helped Steaua to became the champion team in Romanian Championship and after this won the Romanian Supercup against great rival Dinamo Bucharest.

In 2005 won the second champion title with Steaua and after one year, in 2006 won the 23th champion title for Steaua and his 3rd personal title.

In 2005 won in UEFA Cup against en-titre champion Valencia and in 2006 Steaua with Radoi as a leader played UEFA Cup semifinal against Middlebrough but unfortunately lost after 2 terrible games with final score 4-3.

In 2006 Steaua succeed to qualify after 10 years in UEFA Champions League in a group with Real Madrid, Olimpique Lyon and Dinamo Kiev but Radoi didn't play in first games because was injured.

For Romanian national team played in 38 games and scored 1 goal.

Short Info:

- Height:177cm
- Weight:77kg
- Number: 6

Trivia :

- He played his first match for Steaua on march 4, 2000.
- Is married with Viviana, a girl from his natal town Severin from 2001 and they have a boy called Denis. They live in an luxury flat in Bucharest .

Cosmin Olaroiu

2009-05-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

Cosmin Olaroiu was born on June 10, 1969 in Bucharest, Romania. He is a famous football player and coach from Romania.

Biography and Career :

Cosmin Olaroiu started playing football at Gloria Buzau in 1989 and before he played his first game in Liga 1 (first Romanian league) on 2nd of Septemper 1992 at Progresul Bucharest, he also played for Carpati Nehoiu, MECON Bucharest and Girueta Bucharest.

He played 3 seasons in 80 games for Progresul Bucharest and scored 8 times.

In 1995 Cosmin Olaroiu was transferred to Universitatea Craiova where played 39 games in Liga 1 and 2 games in UEFA Cup and scored only 2 times.

Cosmin Olaroiu left Romania in 1997 for South Korea where played at Samsung Blue Wings fo r 3 seasons and in11999 ended his football career.

Cosmin Olaroiu started his manager career in 2000 at National Bucharest and finished on respectable 7th place in the end of his first season as a coach. In the next one he lost in the last game the champion title after he was defeated by Universitatea Craiova and Dinamo Bucharest became the champion team.

Cosmin Olaroiu started a collaboration with Steaua Bucharest but it lasted only for 7 rounds after Steaua had the worst start of season in its history.

He came back to FC National first as a manager and after Walter Zenga left, as a coach.

In the winter of 2004, a business man, Marian Iancu became the new boss of FCU Politehnica Timisoara and asked for Cosmin Olaroiu as coach.

Cosmin Olaroiu took his best players from National and went to Poli where finished on 4th place his first season there. After one year Iancu resigned him and said that "he can't win the championship because is a 3rd-4th place coach".

Cosmin Olaroiu signed after a few weeks for Steaua and at 37 years old he succeeded to win the championship and the Romanian SuperCup in 2006 and qualify in the semi-finals of UEFA Cup where was defeated after a dramatic game by Middlebrough.

On 23th August 2006 after Steaua defeated Standard Liege, Olaroiu became the first coach playing with a Romanian team in UEFA Champions League after 10 years in a group with Dynamo Kiev, Olympique Lyon and Real Madrid.

Vali Vijelie

2009-05-27T12:57:00.001-07:00

Vali Vijelie (real name Valentin Rusu) is a famous Romanian manele singer.

Biography and Career :

He discovered his passion for music when he as 11 years old and his father bought him an accordion and sent him to his cousin to learn how to play with it.

Vali Vijelie was discovered by "Nicu al lu' Dorel" who gave him the nickname "Vali Vijelie" being a cousin of Mircea Vijelie (a famous musician). His cousin, Mircea Vijelie was the person who introduced him in manele music production.

When he was only 14 years old his father sent him to a wedding to sing and entertain the people together with his cousins. The wedding was in Padureni village (sometimes called Gastesti). One of the musician was Gheorghe a lui Bosorogu'.

When he was 15 years old he used to sing with a lo t of famous musicians like : Neluta Neagu, Leonard, Hantu and others. His favourite song was : "Printisorul".

Compared with Ozzy Osbourne sometimes, Vali Vijelie started his career singing at different parties and weddings. He loves music and when he sets to music his songs he does it with passion, that is why he has a lot of fans not only in Romania but all over Europe.

Many of his albums are published through "Casa de productie Autentic Music" from Romania.

During his career, has collaborated with a lot of manele singers such as : Adrian Minune, Costi Ionita, Florin Salam, Adi de la Valcea etc.

Due to his popularity and his talent, he was invited to produce a Tv Series on Prima Tv named "Aventurile familiei Vijelie" ("The Adventures of Vijelie Family" - English Title). This Tv Series got rapidly a high audience and his number of fans continued to rise.

Vali Vijelie respects and loves his fans a lot that is why he promises a lot of surprises for them before each album's publication on the market.

The happiest moment in his life is when he moved in a new house together with his family.

His lifestyle is without prejudices and he is a real professionist dedicating his life to music.

Vali Vijelie's ideal in life is to be as famous as the popular singers were before the Comunist Empire from Romania.

In Romania, there is a lot of people who contest their music genre but besides them there are others who consider manele music and Vali Vijelie's music real poems of life.

Quotes :

- "There are songs which will become hits and the ones who are going to buy the album will have a lot of surprises." - Referring to one of his albums

- "I'm a superstitious and faithful person."

- "When I sing love songs, I sing it with passion because the audience must discern the message well and live the moments truly."

Trivia :

- The word "vijelie" means storm in Romanian.
- Hobbies : cars, women, clothing
- He likes playing Ping-Pong

His album with Adi de la Valcea is named : "De Nepretuit" and it contains the following songs :

1. Vali&Adi - Aseara te-am sunat
2. Vali - Doar amintirea
3. Vali&Adi - Am fost un om sarac
4. Vali - Aud o voce
5. Adi - Nu sunt baiat de bani gata
6. Vali&Adi - Unde esti tu sunt si eu
7. Adi - Numai Dumnezeu
8. Adi - Joc mereu la cazino
9. Vali - Ce inima ai avut
10. Adi - Icoana sufletului meu
11. Vali - As pleca

Adrian Copilul Minune

2009-05-27T12:55:00.001-07:00

Adrian Copilul Minune (real name Adrian Simionescu, also known as Adrian the Wonder Boy or Adi de Vitto) was born on September 24, 1974 in Bucharest, Romania. He is a famous romanian manele singer.

Biography and Career :

He is a lovely and passionable man and he knows how to respect people around him. Adrian Copilul Minune considers the idea "live your life and don't disturb the others" a vital one and he says everybody should take it in consideration.

Adrian Copilul Minune has a great voice and he is adapting himself to every situation.

He knows to listen to people confessions and he gives good advices.

His apparition in the media started with the apparition of the hit : "Of! Viata mea..." togethe r with Costi Ionita, one of his best friends.

Adrian Copilul Minune and Costi Ionita came up on the market with manele music albums sold rapidly all over Romania : " Fara Concurenta " and "Autoconcurenta". By the time Costi Ionita just left from his group band Valahia.

He is married with Cati and they have 3 children : a boy named Florentin Adrian and 2 girls: Claudia and Adriana. Their family is united and extremly happy and there is no album without mentioning their names in songs.

In 2006 Adrian Copilul Minune was named "The Emperor of Manele" and his partner Nicolae Guta "The King of Manele".

Quotes :

- Even if I started singing pop and house music, my love for manele music will be forever. I remember my first song from my first year of school "Magdaleno, fii cuminte, esti fata lui Kunta Kinte".

Trivia :

- He adores colors, paintings, music and he loves to dance.

Filmography :

1. Furia (2002) .... Himself

Teo Trandafir

2009-05-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

Teo Trandafir was born on June 2, 1968 in Pitesti, Romania. She is a famous Romanian TV hostess.

Biography and Career :

When she was 8 years old, her uncle bought a TV and since then she felt in love with television.

Teo Trandafir loved entertainment transmission, she admired Margareta Pislaru a famous Romanian singer.

Teo Trandafir graduated Faculty of Foreign Languages – English and Arabian Language.

Teo Trandafir started her career in 1994 at Antena 1 and in 1996 she started her collaboration with Pro Tv. Teo Trandafir is famous due to her transmission named "Teo", started in 2001. Teo Trandafir has a strong personality, she is an ambitious and full of energy.

Teo Trandafir collects lighters and she has a passion for mobile phones, binoculars and field glass .

In her collaboration with Pro Tv she hosted many tv shows :

1. "Teo"
2. "Bilet de vacanta"
3. "5 saptamani in balon"
4. "Vine Teo"
5. "Teo si vedete cu sacu’ "
6. "Teo si Andi"

Quotes :

- "Better healthy and rich than poor and sick"

Trivia :

- She admires loyal people;
- She likes shopping;
- She admires the brave women;
- Teo Trandafir speaks English and Arabian fluently
- She likes Vita de Vie and Zdob si Zdub bands

Awards :

2003 - Cea mai buna emisiune de divertisment ( CNA )

- Cea mai populara vedeta de divertisment ( Tv Mania )

2004 - Transformare de stil ( Pantene )

- Cea mai populara vedeta de televiziune ( Tv Mania)

- Cea mai simpatica mamica ( Tv Mania)

- Premiul Pro

2005 - Cea mai populara vedeta de divertisment ( Tv Mania)

- Premiul de popularitate ( Beau Monde)

2006 - Discul de Aur pentru "Cutiuta Muzicala" ( MediaPro Music)

Doina Levintza

2009-05-27T11:22:00.000-07:00

Doina Levintza was born on February 1, 1959. She is a famous Romanian designer.

Biography and Career :

Doina Levintza started her career creating costumes for TVR - Romanian National Television together with the director Alexandru Bocanet. Her first international appearance was in Paris, 1984. She is the first east-European designer who has been accepted in the New York Fashion Week Model "7th on Sixth".

Doina Levintza created a lot of fashion shows in Romania and not only and after 1990 she got her own modeling agency specialized in theatre and film costumes and also on fashion. Her name is famous all over Europe and United States due to he r high number of exhibitions realized in Paris, Monte Carlo, London, Washington and New York.

Quotes :

- Inspiration? Generally I dream with my eyes opened. I have my own world where I find my resources. I could get inspired by some of my moods, or one of my dreams could become true.

- My chance to design a costume and to make from it my own play with imaginary actors gathering from me substance and spirit.

- My childish gladness followed me all my life when designing and maybe that's why I still keep creating characters

Trivia :

- She has a TV Show named "Levintza Prezinta" on Prima TV.
- She loves sculpture and she studied architecture

Tolea Ciumac şi-a făcut blog

2009-05-21T00:08:00.001-07:00

Asaltat de fani care vor să-l vadă, să-i vorbească şi să-l încurajeze în puşcărie, Tolea Ciumac şi-a făcut blog prin care împărtăşeşte internauţilor impresii din celulă.

“O zi la puşcărie = un pic mai bine ca în iad. Plictiseală, neputinţă, ciudă, mizerie. În bine nu te schimbă niciodată, dacă nu ai un caracter puternic. Şi, dacă- l ai, te doare că pierzi timp în care ai putea face ceva mai bun afară. În rest, mizerie, mizerie, mizerie …” Acestea sunt impresiile pe care Tolea Ciumac le scrie pe blogul său www.toleaciumac.ro De pagina sa electronică se ocupă un bun prieten de-al luptătorului, care îl vizitează periodic.

Elena Udrea susține "the land of choice"

2009-05-19T23:56:00.000-07:00

Ministerul Turismului va continua să susţină imnul turistic al României şi va intensifica acţiunile de promovare a acestuia, chiar dacă la OSIM există mai multe cereri de înregistrare ca marcă a sintagmei "the land of choice", a declarat agenţiei MEDIAFAX ministrul Turismului, Elena Udrea.

"«The land of choice» este un vers din imnul turistic al României. Ministerul Turismului a folosit această sintagmă încă de la mijlocul lunii aprilie, în campania de lansare a respectivului imn", a spus Udrea.

La Oficiul de Stat pentru Invenţii şi Mărci (OSIM) există mai multe cereri de înregistrare ca marcă a sintagmei "the land of choice" sau a unor variaţiuni ale acesteia.

Pentru înregistrarea ca marcă a expresiei "the land of choice" a fost depusă o cerere din partea unei persoane fizice, Florin Ioan Zamfir, din Iaşi, pe data de 30 aprilie 2009, iar pentru sintagma "Romania, the land of choice" la OSIM este depusă o cerere de înregistrare ca marcă din partea cabinetului individual de avocatură Năstase Iulian Bogdan din satul Daia, comuna Roşia, judeţul Sibiu.

Udrea apreciază că este inacceptabil ca "anumiţi impostori" să încerce înregistrarea sintagmei ca marcă ce le-ar aparţine.

"În timp ce noi ne străduim să îmbunătăţim imaginea ţării noastre cu cheltuieli cât mai mici, unii indivizi stau la colţ şi vor bani pentru a ne lăsa să continuăm aceste eforturi", susţine ministrul Turismului.

Udrea a precizat că cei care încearcă să înregistreze "the land of choice" ca marcă nu au cerut încă bani ministerului, însă crede că acesta este motivul pentru care au făcut solicitările la OSIM.
"Nu avem niciun fel de motive, nici de natură legală, cu atât mai puţin de natură morală, care să ne determine să abandonăm acest proiect. În consecinţă, vom continua să susţinem imnul turistic al României şi vom intensifica acţiunile de promovare a acestuia", a conchis Udrea.

http://www.mediafax.ro/

Daniela Crudu a fost ceruta de nevasta

2009-05-19T00:03:00.001-07:00

Vedeta Antenei 1, Daniela Crudu, a fost prezenta in acest weekend la Craiova pentru o prezentare de moda, ocazie cu care i-a fermecat pe olteni, asa incat a fost ceruta si de sotie.

Craiovenii care au umplut sambata pana la refuz sala Teatrului Liric au putut admira tinutele nonconformiste prezentate in premiera de designerul Stefan Musca, dar si formele frumoasei asistente de la matinalul cu Razvan si Dani.

Admiratorii insa nu s-au limitat la a-i trimite numai flori brunetei focoase, ci unul dintre ei a cerut-o chiar de nevasta, scrie
Cancan.

"Daniela Crudu are cei mai frumosi sani din Romania. Cand a urcat pe scena, m-a fermecat. Am cerut-o de sotie pentru ca in clipa de fata este idolul meu, iar sanii ei sunt perfecti, ii admir in fiecare dimineata, la emisiune", a declarat craioveanul, care a spus ca nu mai doarme noptile de dorul ei.

Mihaela Rădulescu se mută în Monaco

2009-05-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

Mihaela Radulescu renunta la cariera in televiziune pentru a se muta in Monaco, alaturi de fiul ei, Ayan. Se pare ca vedeta "Duminicii in familie" a negociat plecarea cu Elan Schwartzenberg, fostul ei sot.

"Mihaela se retrage in Principatul Monaco. Ea va intrerupe orice activitate in mass-media si se va dedica cresterii copilului. Mihaela a facut multi pasi importanti in aceasta perioada: si-a cerut scuze fostului sot pentru comportamentul indecent pe care l-a avut in ultimele opt luni si recunoaste ca ii pare rau ca familia si casnicia s-au distrus", a declarat o sursa apropiata Mihaelei Radulescu, pentru Cancan.

Se pare ca Mihaela se gandeste serios la posibilitatea de a-si reface viata, chiar cu Elan. Vedeta parcurge incet acesti pasi, si pentru moment, pentru linistea copilului, ea i-a cerut lui Elan sa o sprijine sa se mute definitiv la Monaco, unde va pleca in urmatoarea saptamana.

Mihaela Radulescu a anuntat in cadrul emisiunii pe care o prezinta ca se retrage definitiv din televiziune si ca aceasta este "ultima luna" din cariera sa in televiziune si ca intentioneaza sa se retraga definitiv din lumina reflectoarelor.

Adresandu-se publicului din sala, Mihaela Radulescu a explicat ca actiunea sa nu este o toana, ci o decizie pe care a luat-o dupa mult timp de gandire.Urmand modelul lui Teo Trandafir, Mihaela Radulescu a anuntat ca va mai face inca doua editii ale emisiunii sale, si apoi va disparea din peisajul mediatic.

In ultimul timp, iubita lui Dani Otil nu a mai aparut in nicio publicatie, ca o forma de protest fata de colegii din presa.

http://www.ziare.com/

Romaniţa părăseşte casa din Primăverii

2009-05-18T01:29:00.000-07:00

Carmen Harra i-a spus Romaniţei să părăsească casa din Primăverii pentru că spiritul celui care a fost ucis încă este prezent în clădirea respectivă.

„Spiritul, se spune, al unui suflet care a plecat într-un anume loc, felul în care el a plecat... el a plecat omorât... spiritul lui nu şi-a găsit drumul dincolo aşa de uşor cum credem noi. E un proces. Să te naşti e un proces care durează nouă luni, să treci dincolo de lumea asta fizică durează cel puţin 40 de zile... unele spirite nu se eliberează atât de repede şi au tendinţa să revină prin locul unde au mai trecut”, crede Carmen Harra.

Cât despre viitor, parapsihologul de peste Ocean i-a prezis Romaniţei că se va recăsători: „O... păi ne căsătorim, cam în doi ani şi ceva, până la trei ani, găsim un bărbat foarte frumos, care face foarte multe drumuri între România, Italia, Paris. Este un bărbat înalt, frumos, prezentabil, a mai fost şi el însurat”, a spus Carmen Harra la „Happy Hour Special”. În emisiunea moderată de Cătălin Măruţă, creatoarea de modă a aflat că urmează să se căsătorească, însă nu cu actualul iubit. Cel puţin asta este ceea ce prevede. Despre bărbatul cu care Romaniţa are în prezent o relaţie, Carmen Harra a povestit că a mai fost căsătorit şi că are un băiat.

Lucru pe care l-a confirmat în prezent şi Romaniţa în cadrul emisiunii „Happy Hour”. Romaniţa a mai aflat şi alte aspecte despre propria persoană, aspecte încifrate în codul vieţii sale. Astfel, pe baza datei de naştere, 3.10.1964, Carmen Harra i-a dezvăluit creatoarei de modă că într-o viaţă anterioară a fost, cel puţin în viziunea prezicătoarei, o prinţesă din Polonia, un om puternic şi plăcut, dar care a avut o familie rigidă. În schimb, ea a încercat să îşi determine destinul propriu plecând de la Curte. Mai mult, crede Harra, pasiunea Romaniţei pentru artă, modă şi culori vine dintr-o altă viaţă anterioară, trăită la Paris. Invitata lui Măruţă a mai povestit că în codul vieţii Romaniţei sunt scrise talentul, independenţa, dar şi o relaţie puternică cu mama sa.

Romaniţa plimbată cu Oltcit-ul de Columbeanu

Intrebată despre relatia veche cu Irinel Columbeanu, Romaniţa Iovan a decis să pună punct povestii dintre modelul sărac şi fiul de milionar, explicând ca la momentul relaţiei lor de dragoste, Irinel era un bărbat modest din punct de vedere financiar.

Romaniţa Iovan a explicat că pe când era iubita lui Columbeanu acesta nu conducea un Rolls-Royce, ci un Oltcit, nu o ducea în străinătate şi nu îi făcea cadouri extravagante. Designerul de modă a ţinut să precizeze că abia din momentul despărţirii, atât ea cat si Irinel au început să crească financiar, ajungând în paralel să construiască adevărate averi. Apoi timpul a trecut şi Romaniţa Iovan a reuşit chiar să se împace cu actuala răsfaţată a lui Irinel Columbeanu, Monica.

Diana Dumitrescu, nunta cu apus de soare la Buftea

2009-05-18T01:27:00.000-07:00

Diana Dumitrescu, vedeta telenovelei Regina, a ales sa se marite cu Ducu Ion, producatorul telenovelei Ingerasii, pe malul lacului Buftea, adica in locul unde cei doi isi petrec cel mai mult timp.

"Studiourile MediaPro din Buftea sunt cel mai potrivit loc in care putem face nunta. Asta pentru ca acesta este locul in care ne-am cunoscut, aici ne petrecem cea mai mare parte a timpului si tot aici am vazut cele mai frumoase si romantice apusuri de soare.

Este un loc magic pentru amandoi. Cununia noastra religioasa va avea loc pe malul lacului, la apus, cadrul va fi unul feeric si romantic. Sunt sigura ca toti invitatii se vor simti ca intr-o poveste", declara Diana Dumitrescu .

Actrita a declarat ca deja a gasit firmele care se vor ocupa de evenimentul programat in luna august.

Mihaela Radulescu renunta la televiziune17 Mai 2009

2009-05-18T01:26:00.001-07:00

Vedeta Antenei 1, Mihaela Radulescu , a declarat duminica, 17 mai, in timpul emisiunii "Duminica in familie", ca se va retrage din televiziune in aproximativ o luna de zile, titreaza agentia Mediafax.

Motivul retragerii este fiul vedetei, Ayan. Potrivit Mediafax, aceasta stire a fost confirmata si de reprezentantii postului Antena 1, care au spus ca Mihaela Radulescu i-a anuntat despre aceasta intentie de a se retrage din televiziune.

"Mai lasati-ne in pace, pret de o luna cat vom mai face emisiuni impreuna", a spus Mihaela Radulescu in emisiunea sa de duminica.

Stefan Banica Jr

2009-05-17T04:32:00.001-07:00

Stefan Banica Jr was born on October 18, 1967 in Bucharest, Romania and he is a famous Romanian singer and actor.

Biography and Career :

Stefan Banica Jr started his singer career when he was 3 years old, at the same age like Mozart, only his father told him: “Never play for free!”, and the awards he won confirm this fact.

Stefan Banica Jr graduated I.A.T.C. University in 1990.

His first role was Gurita in serial movie “Eroii nu au varsta” , directed by Mihai Constantinescu in 1984. He is also a composer, he writes texts of the songs he sings with his own bands The 50’s and Rock’n’roll Band fulfill in 1994. He had been director and host at famous Roumanian televisions like : TVR 1, TVR 2, PRIMA TV, ANTENA 1, TELE7 ABC, but at PRO TV he had the most projects, the most important “Dansez pentru tine” in 2006.

Trivia :

- He loves talented people;
- He hates foolishness;
- His favourite actor is Charlie Chaplin;
- He would like to play in a movie by Anthony Hopkins;

Quotes :

- "Let others to do"

Stefan Banica Jr had been remarked also on the stage of the theatre, he inherited this talent from his father, Stefan Banica , a great name for the Romanian theatre and music.

Theatre :

1. "Drum spre adevar", 1987
2. "D'ale carnavalului", 1989
3. "Buna seara, d-le Wilde!", 1989
4. "Maidanul cu dragoste", 1990
5. "Merlin", 1991
6. "Desteptarea primaverii", 1991
7. "Visul unei nopti de vara", 1992
8. "Poveste de iarna", 1994
9. "Domnisoara Nastasia", 1996
10. "Descult in parc", 1996
11. "Black & White", 1997
12. "Hamlet", 2000
13. "A douasprezecea noapte", 2003
14. "Chicago", 2005

Discography :

1. " Un actor/un rock'n roll ", 1992
2. " Te rock…frumos" 1998
3. " Cel de acum", 2000
4. " Doar un Craciun cu tine", 2000
5. " De dragoste…in toate felurile", 2001
6. " Stefan Banica Jr in concert", 2003
7. " Zori de zi", 2003
8. " Numele tau", 2005
9. " Duete", 2005

Filmography :

1. "Eroii nu au varsta", 1984
2. "Liceenii", 1987
3. "Extemporal la dirigentie", 1987
4. "O calatorie de neuitat", 1988
5. "Liceenii rock’n roll, 1990
6. "Templul tacerii" 1992
7. "Triunghiu mortii", 1998
8. "Sexi harem Ada-Kaleh", 1999
9. "Proprietari de stele", 1999
10 "Baieti buni", 2005

Awards :

1987 – Premiul ACIN de interpretare;
1995 – Cea mai buna emisiune de divertisment TV
1998 – Cel mai bun cuplu musical satiric TV
1999 – Premiul ‘Mari cupluri ale micului ecran"
1999 – Cel mai bun interpret rock
2000 – Locul 1 sectiunea slagare – Mamaia festival
2001 – Cel mai bun album pop-rock
2002 – Dublu disc de aur si de platina "De dragoste in toate felurile"
2002 – Locul 1 sectiunea slagare – Mamaia festival
2002 – Cel mai bun cantaret
2002 - Artistul anului
2002 – Cel mai iubit interpret
2002 – Cel mai iubit cantaret
2003 – Premiul TV K Lumea
2003 – Cel mai bun cantaret
2003 – Vedeta anului
2003 – Best Male, MTV
2004 – Disc de Aur " Zori de zi "
2004 – Cel mai iubit cantaret
2004 – Ordinul Cavalerului
2005 – Cea mai iubita trupa pop, rock, dance
2005 – Cea mai iubita melodie a anului "Veta"
2005 – Cel mai iubit cuplu – Stefan Banica Jr & Andreea Marin
2006 – Cel mai bun interpret solo, MTV

Andreea Esca

2009-05-17T04:29:00.001-07:00

Andreea Esca was born on August 29, 1972 in Bucharest, Romania. She is a famous Romanian journalist and TV hostess.

Biography and Career :

Andreea Esca finished Lazar High-School from Bucharest in '90 and after that graduated the Journalism Faculty in 1992.

Andreea Esca started her career in 1992-1994 being a reporter and TV presenter for Soti TV.

In 1995, Andreea Esca made a TV documentary named "Sistemul de invatamant american" - American Learning System (English Title).

In 2003, Andreea Esca was the most loved women in television. She studied Independent Journalism at Prague and also took Journalism courses at CNN Atlanta, United States, Athens and Greece in 1994.

Awards :

- She has been nominated as the best news presenter in 2001, 2002, 2003.
- Has been nominated the Woman of Year in 2002/2003

Trivia :

- Has broadcasted live from SUA, Paris, Madrid, Helsinki, Varsovia
- She collaborates with CSVD magazine
- Wrote a book : Buna seara Romania, buna seara Bucuresti!
- She is a member of CNN World Report and also of the Fight Against Breast Cancer Foundation.
- Manager for "The One" Magazine

Quotes :

- I don't know how all these 10 years have passed. I'm a little bit scared about the idea that 10 years flew away so fast, but on the other hand I'm really happy I realized a lot of things with Pro Tv.
- I'm usually a very happy woman but as a news presenter I cannot afford to laugh.

Monica Columbeanu vrea la Holywood

2009-05-17T04:19:00.000-07:00

Tanara sotie de miliardar, Monica Columbeanu, intentioneaza sa ne paraseasca. Ea sustine ca tara noastra este prea mica pentru ambitiile ei si vrea sa dea marea lovitura în strainatate.

Irinel Columbeanu nu mai are ce sa-i ofere. A facut-o vedeta peste noapte, a transformat-o într-o mare doamna, însa ea viseaza la mai mult. S-a plictisit de succesul pe care îl are printre romani si de gramezile de bani castigati cu usurinta. Moni vrea la Hollywood, printre adevaratele staruri!

Eva Kent: "Cu mosi nu voi avea niciodata o aventura"!

2009-05-17T00:16:00.000-07:00

Eva Kent a fost curtata de miliardarul Cristian Tantareanu, insa i-a respins avansurile, pe motiv ca ei ii plac barbatii tineri, destepti si dotati.

La emisiunea Oanei Zavoranu, "Pact cu diavolita", Cristian Tantareanu si-a manifestat dorinta de a o cunoaste mai bine pe Eva Kent si de a viziona impreuna filmele ei, in "paradisul verde" din Corbeanca.

Oana Oprea, alias Eva Kent, nu a gustat aceasta invitatie si a declarat transant ca domnul Tantareanu nu corespunde preferintelor ei si ca s-a simtit hartuita.

Mădălin Voicu, tată pentru a şasea oară

2009-05-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

Carmen, iubita lui Mădălin Voicu, a născut sâmbătă un băieţel de 3,550 kg, care a primit nota 10. Micuţul şi mămica se simt foarte bine şi vor pleca în curând acasă, unde totul îi aşteaptă gata pregătit.

Surse medicale au mărturisit că pe Carmen au apucat-o durerile facerii vineri noaptea, iar sâmbătă copilul a venit pe lume. Numele ales este Ştefan, "ca pe Mădălin", după cum ne-a mărturisit mămica.

"Toţi băieţii mei se numesc Ştefan. Este un fel de "pedigree". Normal că sunt fericit. Să vină acasă, să fie sănătos, să ne putem ocupa de el. Pentru mine, copilul este sfânt" , a spus deputatul care mai are patru copii recunoscuţi şi alţi doi din relaţii din tinereţe.

Bărbaţii se plictisesc de Ramona Gabor

2009-05-16T23:55:00.000-07:00

Ghinionistă mai e şi Ramona în dragoste. De când a venit de la Bacău niciun bărbat nu rezistă alături de ea mai mult de câteva săptămâni.
Aşa se face că şi fotbalistul de doar 19 ani Cristian Daminuţă, pe care îl vrăjise după o singură seară petrecută într-un club de fiţe şi cu care ieşise de câteva ori, i-a dat rapid papucii.
Zilele trecute, el şi-a postat pe contul de Messenger un status surpriză pentru domnişoara Gabor: „Caut iubită”. Ce umilitor! Degeaba şi-a pus silicoane şi a tăiat din nas, că tot fug bărbaţii de ea. Asta e, când nu ai noroc…

Elena Udrea, dezamăgită că unii hotelieri nu au menţinut unitățile deschise

2009-05-16T23:51:00.000-07:00

Ministrul Turismului, Elena Udrea, a declarat, sâmbătă, la Neptun, unde a participat la inaugurarea unui centru SPA, că este dezamăgită de faptul că unii hotelieri care au avut unităţile deschise de Paşte şi de 1 Mai nu le-au menţinut în continuare la acelaşi regim.

Udrea a spus că faţă de anii precedenţi s-a înregistrat o creştere cu 200 % a numărului de turişti în perioada sărbătorilor de Paşte şi de 1 Mai, dar s-a declarat dezamăgită că unii hotelieri care au avut unităţile deschise în acea perioadă nu le-au menţinut în continuare la acelaşi regim.

"Îmi exprim dezamăgirea că nu toate hotelurile care au deschis de Paşte şi de 1 Mai au mai rămas deschise. Litoralul e frumos, dar nu-mi place pentru că nu s-au găsit soluţii pentru operatorii de turism care ţin hotelurile nemodernizate sau închise. Sunt oameni care consideră că a fi proprietar într-o staţiune înseamnă a face orice doreşti, fără să-ţi pese de cum merge staţiunea respectivă. Vom găsi soluţii legale să se întâmple lucrurile cum se întâmplă peste tot în lume", a declarat Elena Udrea.

Ea a mai spus că doreşte dezvoltarea activităţilor de agrement pe litoral şi că intenţionează să-i sprijine pe investitori în acest sens.

"Căutăm modalitatea de a le oferi diverse facilităţi", a spus Elena Udrea.
Ministrul Turismului a susţinut că mai mulţi investitori străini din ţări UE în care ea a promovat turismul românesc vor vizita România, în luna iunie, şi şi-a exprimat speranţa că va reuşi să-i convingă pe aceştia să investească în turism pe litoralul românesc.

"Dacă avem mai multe asemenea investiţii ne putem recăpăta turiştii pe care-i aveam acum 20 de ani şi îi vom determina pe turiştii români să-şi petreacă aici vacanţele", a adăugat Elena Udrea.

Sursa: MEDIAFAX

Elena Gheorghe s-a clasat pe locul 19 la finala Eurovision, iar reprezentantul Norvegiei a câştigat

2009-05-16T23:49:00.001-07:00

Elena Gheorghe, care a reprezentat România la Eurovision cu melodia "The Balkan Girls" s-a clasat pe locul 19, iar Alexander Ryback, care a interpretat melodia "Fairytale" a ocupat locul I în urma finalei care a avut loc sâmbătă-seara, pe Olympiysky Arena din Moscova.

Elena Gheorghe, care a reprezentat România la Eurovision cu melodia "The Balkan Girls" s-a clasat pe locul 19, iar Alexander Ryback, care a interpretat melodia "Fairytale" a ocupat locul I în urma finalei care a avut loc sâmbătă-seara, pe Olympiysky Arena din Moscova.

Norvegia a mai câştigat de două ori concursul Eurovision, în 1985, când a fost reprezentată de Bobbysocks, cu melodia "La Det Swinge" şi în 1995, cu melodia "Nocturne" cântată de Secret Garden". În 1996, Norvegia a obţinut locul 2, cu melodia "I Evighet" cântată de Elisabeth Andreasson.

Alexander Ryback, în vârstă de 23 de ani, care a reprezentat Norvegia cu melodia "Fairytale", compusă şi scrisă de el însuşi, este un adevărat copil-minune. Şi-a scris singur melodia, din această vară va face parte din distribuţia unui film şi a primit un număr record de voturi la selecţia naţională a Eurovision. Alexander cântă la pian şi vioară încă de la vârsta de cinci ani şi îşi compune propriile melodii.

Clasamentul final a fost stabilit în urma notelor acordate de toate cele 42 de ţări participante la Eurovisionul de anul acesta. Chiar dacă în finală au participat 25 de ţări. Notele fiecărei ţări au fost alcătuite în proporţie de 50% în baza voturilor primite de la telespectatori şi 50% de către un juriu de specialitate.

Reprezentanta României la Eurovision, cântăreaţa Elena Gheorghe, care s-a calificat în finala concursului Eurovision 2009 cu melodia "The Balkan Girls", după semifinala de marţi, a intrat în concursul de gală a 22-a din 25 de participanţi. România a primit puncte din partea Moldovei (12), Spaniei (7), R. Macedonia (5), Turcia (5), Azerbaijanului (3), Serbiei (2), Ciprului (2), Portugaliei (2), Irlandei (2).

Elena Gheorghe a declarat, înaintea finalei, pentru TVR, că îşi doreşte foarte mult să se claseze între primii cinci, sau, dacă nu, măcar între primii zece. Cântăreaţa a mai spus că ştie că anul acesta concursul este unul dintre cele mai grele, deoarece sunt foarte multe piese bune şi fiecare ţară a venit foarte bine pregătită.

Cea mai bună performanţă a României la Eurovision a fost locul al treilea, obţinut de Luminiţa Anghel & Sistem în anul 2005, cu piesa "Let me try".

Anna Lesko strigă în gura mare că miliardarul „e luat”!

2009-05-16T23:47:00.001-07:00

Se pare că scandalul cu Elena Hueanu, blonda care a fost surprinsă cu Elan la mare, a determinat-o pe Anna Lesko să pună piciorul în prag şi să vorbească deschis despre povestea ei de dragoste cu miliardarul.

Poate aşa află toate piţipoancele că Elan Schwartzenberg „e luat” şi stau la distanţă!

Cântăreaţa Anna Lesko este vedeta de pe coperta noului număr al revistei „Bolero”. Cu această ocazie, rusoaica care „arde-n flăcări” pentru Schwartzenberg ne povesteşte câte ceva despre legătura amoroasă cu omul de afaceri.

Moldavian and Bucovinian Cuisine

2009-05-13T01:13:00.000-07:00

This region lies in the north-eastern part of Romania and historically speaking it suffered few foreign influences from people who came to conquer these lands or to trade with natives. They managed to influence more or less the local culture. The Byzantine Empire and later on Greeks left some culinary marks in Moldavia – a large variety of sweets, some spicy dressing with various flavours or the Mediterranean habit of using dry wine to cook some dishes.

Turks (when the region came under their influence between the 16th and the very beginning of the 19th century) left one of the most powerful imprints on the local cuisine: the use of mutton on a large scale and dishes like musaca or hotchpotch (ghiveci). We should not forget the Russians: they left us something too - pickled vegetables and a lot of baked dishes and baked cakes. Nowadays the Moldavian cuisine is considered as being one of the most subtle of our country. Because of some Mediterranean influences (from Greeks) it is much lighter than for instance the Transylvanian one and it is also very tasty.
People in this part of the country eat a lot of soups; chicken soup is at high esteem among these (like it is the use of white meat – chicken and fish) and borsch (a homemade fermentation liquid obtained from bran and water) is largely used to get a slightly sour taste to soups. “Ciorba de potroace” (a kind of sour soup) is also particular in this area. It is made of chicken giblets boiled together with carrots, onion, rice, parsley and it is seasoned with borsch – people say this soup makes an excellent medicine for hangovers.
The traditional “sarmale” are to be found all over the regions but they have something specific every part of the country. They are very small in Moldavia as one can easily obtain 8 to 10 sarmale from one single leaf of cabbage and the meat used to fill the “sarmale” is usually a mixture of pork and beef. Some Moldavians would also use vine leaves apart from sauerkraut to prepare their sarmale. Bean soup, stewed cabbage or “iahnie” (particular dish made of dried beans) are among the favorite meals of these people.
We should mention Moldavian “tochitura” too (chopped pork meat – liver and kidneys – mixed with lard, garlic, pepper and of course a glass of wine; everything is fried and simmered) which is always served with polenta.
Pies are traditional as desserts and they have extremely diverse shapes and tastes. Some of the best known pies are filled with cheese (cheese, especially mutton cheese is very much used in the Moldavian cuisine), sauerkraut, pumpkin, apples or comfiture. Donughts, dumplings, some kind of panettone, mucenici, pasca and pancakes enrich the list of local sweets which is anyway very large. Another local figure are walnuts – these fruits are used for a lot of cookies in Moldavia.

Roaming around Romania

2009-05-09T00:51:00.000-07:00

Think of Romania and almost instantly your mind will wonder to Transylvania and visions of Dracula. Or, you might envision gypsy fortunetellers scrying into their smoked-filled crystal balls. Bucharest or “Little Paris” as it was once called also awaits the wondering tourist with tree-lined boulevards and outdoor cafes just calling to be discovered. Of course there is also the call of the wild because the wolf (my favorite creature) is still a popular and well-liked animal in this county. What else? Not to be outdone by Hollywood, films such as “Cold Mountain” have also been made here in which Romania was substituted for the Appalachians.

But I didn’t really know any of this when I arrived other than the sundry legends, the jokes my friends had made about garlic, crucifixes and Vlad the Impaler, and a vague memory of gypsy caravans being pulled by worn out horses - but more on that later.
More about the little lost lamb and the Ukraine border patrol yielding some mighty strong brass as well, but okay, I promise all that will come soon enough because you see I discovered a lot more than I expected on my first trip to Romania.
Romania actually has 25 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and quite a few medieval cities that are still intact. Transylvania is said to sit on one of the earth’s most powerful magnetic fields and vampires are believed to hang out at crossroads here on St. George’s Day (April 23) and the eve of St. Andrew (November 29).

However, before I could learn any of this I had to arrive and arrive I certainly did. I’d come in with my colleague from Budapest, Hungary on a train in the Eurail system. Not too bad, but it wasn’t the Orient Express (especially when you can see the ground swishing by from the toilet in the restroom, it’s a bit unsettling, but at least there is a toilet.)
Arriving in Oradea we found our guide, who turned out to be a retired teacher, thus my constant questioning about “the Communist times” did not put him off one bit and it certainly gave me a better understanding of the country.
It really is important to know a little history of Romania before visiting, especially the more modern history such as the fact that post WWII Romania was a communist-block country whose dictator was a real tyrant by the name of Nicolae Ceausescu. In 1989 the national uprising led to his overthrow and death and now Romania has freedom of speech, religion and private ownership.
It was raining in Oradea (a border town next to Hungary) when we arrived so it was decided that we would head straight away to our bed and breakfast for the night. It took a few hours and it was at this time that I really began to see Romania. It didn’t take me long to realize that cars were not necessarily the number one means of transportation here, nope there were just nearly as many horse and carts on the road traveling at a rate of speed I didn’t think possibly and of course, this was the day that I got my first look at a real gypsy caravan. As it turned out there were many gypsy caravans on the road, but if you stop and look at them or try and take a picture they will demand money so beware.
There was also the incident at the Ukraine border. I figured we were all friends now so there should be no problem going over the border just to touch my toe and say I’d been there. “No can do” was what my guide adamantly insisted and I believed him when I saw those handy little machine guns the Ukrainian Border guards were wielding, not even a smile could change their minds, and you can’t take pictures either. Something about being an international spy and all that, but anyway it was nice to see the land on the other side of Romania – just a hop, skip and a jump, but oh so far away.
After this little adventure we made our way to Brasov by way of Dracula’s lair, or better known as Sighisoara. Sighisoara is an amazingly well-preserved medieval city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was built by the Saxons between the 12th and 17th centuries. If you climb to the clock tower you can easily see the roofs of buildings that were built in the 16th century by the Saxons and there are lovely cobblestone streets to set the mood as well.
However, as beautiful as Sighisoara is with the many historic attractions such as the scholar’s staircase consisting of 175 stairs, all enclosed and leading up to the Church on the Hill with a Romanesque crypt and 500-year old frescoes, it is the Dracula legend that really pulls visitors to this town.
In the 15th century Vlad Dracula better known as Vlad the Impaler was born in Sighisoara and it is Vlad who most people associate with the modern day Dracula legends created by Bram Stoker. In fact, Vlad was ruler of the Wallachia area and during his lifetime he took to impaling criminals and enemies in the town square as a punishment for anything from killing, stealing to lying. Sighisoara has all sorts of little shops to buy Dracula souvenirs and in a town nearby there is even a Dracula hotel.
The following morning we were on yet another drive through Romania when our guide suggested we might want to see the location where the film “Cold Mountain” was shot. My colleague being in the film industry was all for it so we went cruising down a little dirt road only to end up finding a lost little lamb. We immediately stopped to investigate and I don’t know about you, but it just so happens that I have never seen a lamb up close and personal and certainly not a three-week old lamb (give or take) alone in the middle of the woods a virtual appetizer at best for the hungry wolves in the forest. The lamb ran as best “she” could to get away from us, but we caught her and not seeing her mother around anywhere (or any other lamb or sheep for that matter) it was decided that we would find a shepherd and unload the injured lamb on him because indeed the lamb was injured with a hurt front leg.
Of course we had been seeing shepherds everywhere before we started looking for one, but in this case there were no shepherds to be found. Okay, so my next question was do we take the lamb to Bucharest or do you, dear guide, happen to know a stray shepherd? He did in fact know a shepherd woman in the small town over here and there and just about one hour off the beating path so off we went to deposit our lamb to her new home.
When we met the shepherd woman she immediately warmed a bottle of milk and fed the little lamb, I was amazed at how easy it all happened. It also just so happened that her son lived on the block over, had a bed and breakfast and a couple of wolves about 30 minutes down the road.
Our original destination that morning had been to Peles Castle to see yet another “Dracula” inspired destination and it was worth it when we finally made it there. From there we stopped in Brasov for the night. Brasov is another medieval city with Bran Castle (home to the legendary Dracula legend) nearby. The city also boasts the Black Church, St. Nicholas Church, the Brasov Fortress and a Franciscan Monastery, all must sees on your trip.
Our last day and night was in the capital city of Bucharest. Bucharest is an amazing city with a French feel and it was only interrupted in its growth because of the unfortunate Communist rule, which really stunted the growth of just about everything.

Nowadays, it seems that Bucharest is moving into the future at an unbelievable speed and on my first night there I attended a concert at the Opera House. It turned out that my guide’s uncle was giving a piano recital and the music was amazing, old and timeless. The atmosphere in the Opera House was divine and even as I sat in the velvet upholstery chairs with years of wear I realized that I was just one of thousands who had sat in this exact same place enjoying the same sort of satisfaction.The Palace of the Parliament is about as unbelievable a place as any that one will find in a European city on the continent. It speaks of the Communist rule in the worst sort of way even though it was called “The House of the People,” by those in charge at that time. It is, amazingly, the world’s second largest building after the United States Pentagon and it daily serves to remind the people of the Communist rule in Romania. The building was actually commenced during that time period, however, amazing art graces the walls, balconies look toward the city and 1000 rooms inside reflect the work of Romania’s best artisans and architects.
Over at the National Art Museum I found there were over 70,000 works both in the national gallery that exhibits Romanian artists and a world gallery exhibiting western masters such as Rembrandt and Renoir.
Bucharest was said to have be named after a shepherd named Bucur who could apparently play a mean flute, thus dazzling locals way back when so much that the city was named after him. In the 19th century the city was remodeled by French architects, and thus, this is where it gets its “French feel.” In fact, you can even find the Triumphal Arch on Soseaua Kiseleff, which is a boulevard in Bucharest that is even longer than the Champs-Elysees.
My final stop before going to bed that evening was at a Gypsy’s house where I told my guide I wanted to spend no more than $20 on my fortune. However, it doesn’t work that way in Romania and before I knew it I was out of the car and we were sitting in this woman’s parlor where she was telling me it would cost $100 for a reading. After I stopped laughing I told her I was out of there and then she countered her offer and made it, surprise, $20. However, my guide got ill (from the evil eye he presumed) and we had to leave anyway and me without much of a reading. I did learn that my love life was in shambles and a curse had been put on me by a bad person who did not like me. I decided to take my chances instead of pay her the $200 she requested to turn my love life around. I figured I could do my own spells and expect a better outcome.
The Gypsy fortunetelling is a gas, but buyer beware. Of course, that’s another thing I love about Romania - the Eastern European feel, the fact that Gypsy’s really do still drive down the road in horse-drawn caravans and people really are still nice and genuine and always willing to help.
Bucharest alone has 37 museums, 22 theaters, opera houses and concert halls, 18 art galleries and an innumerable number of main attractions for the visitor. So believe me when I say that Romania is well worth the trip and the best way I know to really enjoy an eastern European country before it is teeming with western tourists and touting the new currency of the Euro, which will happen too soon in the future when the country enters the European Union.
www.examiner.com

Ion Tiriac

2009-05-08T01:16:00.000-07:00

Ion Tiriac was born on May 9, 1939 in Brasov, Romania. He is a Romanian former tennis player, businessman and one of Romania's wealthiest people.

He attended the Physics Culture Institute in Bucharest and received the Order of Work class I.Between 1964 and 1972 he was an ice hockey player and a tennis player. After that he was a coach, manager and promoter. He was coach and manager of Ilie Nastase, Guillermo Villas, Henri Lecomte, Boris Becker, Mary Joe Fernandez, Anke Huber and Goran Ivanisevici.He is the manager and promoter of opens like Eurocard Open, Austrian Open, Italian Open, Faber Grand Prix and Open Romania.As a business man he has lots of important businesses all over the world. The investments he had done in Romania are bigger than 50 million dollars. He is a president at Tiriac Holdings Ltd which is formed of many Romanian independent societies.He is also the founder of Child’s House in Brasov, a house where are over 100 abandoned children.As a tennis man he played in over 150 games in Davis Cup, won over 40 international titles, 9 titles as Romanian champion and as a ice hockey player he participated at the Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck 1964.In 1970 he won the men's doubles at the French Open his mate was Ilie Nastase, another famous Romanian tennis player.

Trivia :

- He has houses in Monte Carlo and Bucharest and spends most of his time there.

- He speaks fluently English, French, Italian, German and Spanish.

- Since 1996 he got the license of the BCR Open Romania.

- His profession is one of a teacher.

- His fortune is estimated at over 900 million $.

Self Filmography :- Nacht der Stars, Die (1996) (TV)- "Wetten, dass..?" (1 episode, 1989)- The French (1982)- Players (1979).

Ion Creanga

2009-05-08T01:11:00.000-07:00

Ion Creanga was born on March 1, 1837 (according to him) or June 10, 1839 (according to some writings from the Humulesti maternity) in HUmulesti, Neamt, Romania and died on December 31, 1889. He was a talented and one of the most famous writers in Romania.

His parents' names were Stefan and Smaranda Creanga. He is one of the 8 children of his parents.Between 1846 and 1853 he attended school in his birth-town. After that he continued studying at Princely School in Targu Neamt.One year later his mother wanted to see him a priest so he went to the Catechetical School in Falticeni.Unfortunately the school in Falticeni was abolished and he went to Iasi where he became student of the theological seminary "Veniamin Costachi" in Socola.In 1859 his father died and in the same year hemarried Ileana, priest Ioan Grigoriu's daughter. He is ordained deacon at the Sfanta Treime Church.Titu Maiorescu appreciated and chose him to be teacher at the Primary School number 1 in Iasi.In 1860 his son, Constantin, was born and five years later his mother died of epilepsy.Between 1859 and 1872 he served the church as teacher and deacon in different churches in Iasi.On October 10, 1872 he is expelled from the clergy because his wife abandoned him and he used a gun to shoot the crows.For 25 years he was a great teacher and wrote with other teachers four handbooks.In 1873 the court took a decision in his action for divorce and gave him the child.He lived in Ticau and chose Tinca Vartic as housekeeper. He also chose her as a woman and lived with her until his death, even though they didn't get married.He met Mihai Eminescu in 1875 and they soon became friends. With his help Creanga became a writer.For six years between 1883 and 1889 he had suffered of epilepsy and found out from the newspapers that his friend Eminescu was ill and then that he died. Finally he died in December 1889.

Most Important Writings :- Soacra cu trei nurori- Punguta cu doi bani- Danila Prepeleac- Povestea porcului- Mos Nechifor Cotcariul- Povestea lui Harap-Alb- Fata babei si fata mosneagului- Ivan Turbinca- Povestea unui om lenes- Amintiri din copilarie- Popa Duhu- Cinci pâni- Mos Ion Roata- Mos Ion Roata si Voda Cuza.

Mircea Badea

2009-05-08T01:08:00.000-07:00

Mircea Badea was born on February 24, 1974 in Bucharest, Romania. He is a famous Romanian actor and tv presenter.

Biography and Career :

After finishing "Liceul de Informatica" from Bucharest he attended the Faculty of Cybernetics.
Mircea Badea started his career with a collaboration with Tele 7 abc and after that he got a lot of proposals from a lot of televisions. In his career he worked for : Antena 1, Realitatea TV, Pro TV, Prima TV and finally he returned to Antena 1 for a TV Show named "In gura presei".
He returned to Antena 1 because he likes very much reading newspaper and commenting them and that's why he owns the show "In gura presei".
In the movie "Milionari de weekend", Mircea Badea's role is a TV Star with a lot of indebtedness to dangerous people. His girlfriend role is no one else than Kitty Cepraga. Another important role is played by Oreste who is Mircea's best friend and in the past they both had a TV Show on Antena 1. Oreste's role in the movie is Fane Satar - a local mob. The soundtrack of the movie is played by Parazitii - a Romanian hip-hop band.

Trivia :

- He is a very humoristic person.

- He can't stand foolishness.

Quotes :
- You fight the samurai style with a samurai opponent and you fight evil with the evil ones.
- I have a lot of shortcomings but I don't recognize them all
- I can't stand alcohol.

Filmography :

1. Milionari de weekend (2004) - his role was a TV Star
2. Oglinda (1993) .... Foot amputee
.. aka Inceputul adevarului (Romania)
... aka The Mirror (International: English title: literal title)

The Girl Fair of Mount Gaina

2009-05-07T00:17:00.000-07:00

Near Mount Gaina you’ll witness one of the most interesting traditions of Romania: the Gaina Girl Fair, taking place each year in the Sunday closest to July 20. Known as "targul de fete", this is the greatest outdoor holiday of the country and it hosts the greatest traditional song and dance groups from Romania.

The history of this celebration was lost in the mist of time, but Mount Gaina was mentioned by Strabon, "the father of geography", who claimed that Dacians had a "cogaiom" mountain near their capital, Sarmisegetuza, where they made their sacrifices. Gaina is probably the peak where Dacians invoked their Gods and offered them such sacrifices. The girl fair is first mentioned officially in 1816 with people from all over Romania taking part in it, specially those from the Bihor, Aries and dwelling near the river Crisul Alb. They’ll exchange traditional products, like food or clothing and have a good time singing old songs and taking part in dances. This place is not only a symbol of Dacian traditions, but also one of the landmarks of the local "gold rush", as the precious metal seemed to have been widespread in this area. Christian tradition placed this holiday in the second decade of July, so it'll be close to the celebration of Saint Ilie. The girl fair of Mount Gaina also has economical reasons, like the need of buying or selling various products, including girls, but only symbolically. The festivities of the girl fair take place in a beautiful local forest, surrounded by fir trees and situated at 1467 metres altitude. There's also a romantic and ethnic motivation of the fair, as young people who live in very remote regions get together in this celebration, meet each other and sometimes fall in love and get married. In the past, girls would arrive at the fair with their dowry on their horses and the marriage was done on the spot by priests who came to mount Gaina for this purpose alone.

Today, the Mount Gaina fair is just a great local celebration, which takes a couple of days of preparation. It starts with the "tulnicarese" group of Avram Iancu, followed by various artistic programmes, which last till night kicks in. Among the dances on Mount Gaina there are the passionate "tropotite" played by mocani or "tarina", a dance for pairs and the most famous of locals, also known as "moti". There are variations of this dance, as, for example, the Abrud tarina is played elegantly and slowly with wide arm movements, lots of walking around and spinning the girl underneath the man's hand. For tourists, the fair is the perfect place to buy unique local products, like musical instruments, wooden vases, ceramic ornaments, wooden tools or clothing items and culinary products.

Romania Church Starts Bribery Probe

2009-05-06T10:32:00.000-07:00

BalkanInsight.com

The Archbishop of Tomis, in eastern Romania, has launched an internal investigation following media reports that high-ranking officials from the Orthodox Church allegedly asked for money in order to illegally facilitate the enrollment of a journalist at a church school.

The daily newspaper Romania Libera on Tuesday published an undercover investigation, documenting how Archbishop Teodosie allegedly asked for money and other material advantages in exchange for his help. A journalist from the newspaper apparently bribed the Archbishop in order to be enrolled at the Teology University in Constanta, eastern Romania, not having the necessary studies required to attend the university.

"We have started an internal inquiry to check out if media allegations are true", a church spokesperson said.

Around 85 per cent of the population in Romania belong to the Orthodox Church and the Church remains the most trusted public institutions, according to polls.

But the Orthodox Church has often been marred by allegations of corruption and nepotism. After the fall of communism, the Church has never admitted that it cooperated with the regime, though some bishops have admitted to collaborating.

Alarm at EU passports for Moldova

2009-05-06T10:31:00.000-07:00

The EU will this week launch talks with six Eastern European neighbours on closer relations - including Moldova, which only last month was rocked by violence following a disputed election.
Moldova is Europe's most impoverished country and its 4.1 million people can only travel to the EU if they have a special visa. But Romania has offered passports to up to one million Moldovans - alarming both Moldova and some in the EU, says the BBC's Oana Lungescu.
Step into the ornate building of the central post office in the Moldovan capital, Chisinau, and you see small crowds of people huddling around a big marble-topped table.Each one is filling out an application for Romanian citizenship. Dozens more queue up to get the forms; others wait in line to post them to the Romanian embassy.
"It's because we haven't got work here," one woman says. "We want to look for work in Romania or Europe. With a Romanian passport it's going to be easier."A young man in the queue says a Romanian passport is "a chance to see the world".
"I want to raise my family in Moldova, but I also want to travel, meet new people," he adds. "This is my future."

Law changes

Around 1,000 people a day have come to the post office in the past few weeks, since Romania changed its citizenship law to speed up procedures for Moldovans, following the violent anti-government riots that erupted in the former Soviet republic last month after a disputed election.
The change was initiated by President Traian Basescu in an unusual tit-for-tat move after his Moldovan counterpart, Vladimir Voronin, accused Romania of backing the protesters, expelled its ambassador and re-introduced visa requirements for Romanians.
Mr Basescu said he could not allow "a new Iron Curtain" to descend on the border with Moldova, most of which was part of Romania until it was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940.
The decision may be political bluster ahead of Romania's presidential election later this year, but some commentators said Mr Basescu was trying to leave Mr Voronin "without people".
The changes are clear enough.
The language test has been scrapped, as Moldovan is practically the same as Romanian anyway. Anyone with a great-grandparent who was once a Romanian national can apply and expect an answer within five months.
Until now, only a few thousand requests were approved every year - so envelopes have been piling up at the Romanian embassy in Chisinau.
Speaking on Romanian TV, President Basescu said there were 650,000 envelopes, but some enclosed several applications.
He estimated the number of those who wanted to become Romanian citizens at up to one million, a quarter of Moldova's population.
'Common history'
Outside the embassy, there is hope, uncertainty - more people waiting in line.
Nadia Codreanu, an accountant, sent her request in 2002.
"I really hope it will be easier, and that in half a year I will get the Romanian passport," she says.
"Moldovans feel Romanian because you can't just forget many centuries of common history and say we have nothing in common with Romania".What she does with her passport will depend on what happens in Moldova.If the authorities increase pressure on the pro-Western opposition, Nadia explains, she may leave the country.
More than 100,000 Moldovans hold Romanian passports, but even more are believed to have Russian citizenship, especially in Moldova's breakaway region of Trans-Dniester, which enjoys Moscow's backing.Despite almost two decades of independence, Moldovans still appear divided about who they are and whether their country should get closer to Russia or the West as it grapples with a deepening economic and social crisis.
For Vladimir Turcanu, an MP from the ruling Communist Party, it is not a question of identity, but of outside intervention.
"This mass granting of the Romanian citizenship is a way to assimilate the Republic of Moldova," he says.
"We see it a threat to the statehood, a threat to the integrity and sovereignty of our country."

'Destabilising'

Under EU laws, Romania is entitled to give citizenship to anybody it likes, just as Spain granted legal papers a few years ago to 600,000 irregular migrants.
Spain also allowed citizenship applications for up to 500,000 descendents of people who went into exile after its civil war.
But it is Romania's move that has triggered most concern.
Senior EU diplomats call it unwise, risky and destabilising.
Amid fears that up to a million impoverished migrants could enter Europe through the back door, Romanian Foreign Minister Cristian Diaconescu reassured other EU members on Friday that decisions would be taken on a case-by-case basis and that many people would not qualify.
Romanian diplomats say only 20,000 cases are in the pipeline, because many Moldovans have failed to complete the complex application procedures.
Whatever the figures turn out to be, there is a clear risk that Moldova, already weakened by the conflict in Trans-Dniester and an economy on the brink, could become a chronic source of instability on Europe's eastern border.

Unparalleled exodus

The EU envoy for Moldova, Kalman Mizsei, thinks the real answer would be to allow all Moldovans to travel to the EU without a visa.
"Moldova's situation," he says, "differs from any other and therefore we, the European Union, also need to have bold initiatives here that would give the perspective of a visa-free situation for the Moldovans.""That's an issue of core importance for Moldova as a state."
It is not a call that EU interior ministers want to hear.
Germany and others say Moldova has little prospect of visa-free travel for the next three to five years.
But one million Moldovans have already left, often without legal papers, in search of work and a better future. It is an unparalleled exodus.In Chisinau's bustling market, an old woman selling a few bunches of parsley told me that all seven of her children had left to work in Romania, Italy and Russia.
It is a story you hear across the country. For with or without Romanian passports, Moldovans are choosing to vote with their feet.

Story from BBC NEWS

Romanian Mititei (Mici)

2009-05-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

These little yummies are THE smell encountered at any Romanian Piatsa (outdoor market). They are the closest thing you find to Romanian street food. They are very flavorful and smell incredibly good while grilling.
Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 cup beef bouillon granules
1 lb ground pork
1/2 lb ground lamb
1 teaspoon thyme
4 garlic cloves minced
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup soda water plain
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Mix all ingredients except soda water and baking soda until well blended.
Blend in baking soda.
Slowly add soda water a little at a time until well combined. Mixture should be moist but not so much that it cannot hold a shape.
Form meat into cylindrical shapes about 2-3 inches long and 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter.
Grill (or fry but they won't be as tasty) turning every few minutes until cooked through, about 10 minutes depending on your grill).
Serve with a light mustard.

Catrinel Menghia

2009-05-05T01:45:00.000-07:00

Catrinel Menghia (born October 1 1985)is a Romanian model.

She was discovered at the age of 16 on the street by a local agent who took her to Bucharest to meet Liviu Ionescu of the MRA Agency. Six months later, her parents allowed Menghia to move to Bucharest and start her modeling career.She participated in the Ford Supermodel of the World Romania contest in November 2001, where she won the second runner-up prize.Menghia now lives in Milan. She has done campaigns for major fashion houses and is the face of Giorgio Armani worldwide. She was also one of the new faces in the 2006 South African Sports Illustrated. Swimsuit Edition and has appeared in FHM and Maxim. She has been the face of the French lingerie brand Lise Charmel since 2005.

Corvinilor Castle

2009-05-05T01:42:00.000-07:00

Built in the 14th century, Corvinilor Castle represents one of the most amazing and well-preserved medieval buildings, being in fact the most famous property of Iancu de Hunedoara, building that even today dominates the city of Hunedoara.
Iancu de Hunedoara was the one who stopped the Turkish army at Belgrad in their rise towards Europe, after conquering the Constantinople in 1456. Only a few know that even today the bells of the Catholic Churches still toll in the middle of the day for this victory, as a decision of the Vatican Church.
The Corvinilor Castle is one piece of a kind because of the special styles in which it was built and because of the presence of some military innovations. It is also known that people led a very impetuous life there at the castle for more than 400 years. This building suffered along the years various changes and during Iancu de Hunedoara’s reign, the castle became also a luxurious home, not only a strategic point.
The castle has 42 chambers, 2 platforms, 2 bridges and is built on an area of 7000 square m.

The access to the castle is made on a wooden bridge which is sustained by 4 massive stony piers that are placed in the riverbed of Zlasti, leaving behind the Hussan’s Court and the niche that shelters the statue of St. John de Nepomuk, the protector of bridges. From there you can see the new rectangular-shaped stony tower (Turnul nou de poarta) which is impressive by its great size. You can also visit the prison of the castle where Vlad Tepes was supposed to have been kept as prisoner. On the left side, just as you get out of the stony tower, you can see Loggia Matia at whose floor one can see the only secular fresco dating the Renaissance and also The Golden Chamber where one can see “Items of the collection of the museum from the Corvinilor Castle”. At first, the museum exhibitions focused only on the Middle Ages items, but in short time, these approached other fields, such as archaeology, ethnography, decorative art and ancient books.
At the first level of the New Gate Tower, you can find the “Princesses’ Living Room” (Camera Domnitelor) where you can see pieces of furniture belonging to the 19th century: a table, a sideboard and a cupboard. Across the spiral staircase, one reaches the Council Hall (Sala Dietei), which is built in late gothic style. At the exit, the staircase leads to the floor where the Capistrano Tower is situated. To the right there is another staircase that leads to the second level of the Southern Palace, to the rooms that were used in the 18th century as offices for the iron mines Administration of Poiana Rusca Mountains.

In the yard, near the well, one can also visit the artillery platform, which was neatly rearranged in the 19th century. From there you have a pleasant view over the Bears’ Pit, the Northern Palace, the chapel and the courtyard of fountain.

The last sight, the Knights Hall (Sala Cavalerilor), one of the most interesting laic spaces in 15th century Transylvania, is situated in the Western side of the castle, at the ground floor of the Great Palace. It is divided into two sectors by a row of octagonal columns. This hall served as dinning room for festive occasions or as judgment and council room for noblemen, after the German model.

“You have water, but you have no soul”

In the vicinity of the entrance of the church, there is a fountain which was dug in stone by three Turkish prisoners. The legend says that when these three prisoners were captured by Iancu de Hunedoara from his battles against the Turkish army, they were told that if they dug in stone and reached for water, they would be released. For ten years the Turkish prisoners dug nearly 20-25 meters into stone and they finally reached for water, but instead of being released, they were beheaded. This is just a legend and it’s not specific only to Corvinilor Castle. Before being executed, it is said that one of the prisoners had carved into stone the following words: “You have water, but you have no soul”. The truth is that one of the prisoners, which was in fact the son of a vizier, carved on one of the stones from the wall near the well that he built that well together with two other prisoners while they were prisoners to these giaours.

The most “precious” museum of Romania

2009-05-02T23:13:00.000-07:00

At the end of the 19th century, few engineers and miners that were working at the mines around Brad (in the Apuseni Mountains) have gathered some interesting mine rocks in order to display them the beauties of the hidden depths of the land.
This was how the Gold Museum came into existence, more than one century ago. At the beginning, the museum hosted only gold exhibits from the surrounding area. Since then due to donations and exchanges, the patrimony of the museum has gained pieces from other parts of the country and the entire world.
Now, the museum exhibits over 2500 samples of minerals, 1000 of which are gold. From the special specimens the light green fluorite octahedron of Cavnic, diamonds from South Africa, pyrite cubic crystals are quite remarkable. However, the main attraction consists in the native gold samples, of different forms and shapes.
At the same time, the museum has a nice mineral collection, ranging from diamond to amber, jasper and agate, sapphire, topaz, emeralds. Here you will also see minerals as they were discovered in Romania for the first time: sylvinite, tellurium, andorit, monsemit. An interesting section of the museum presents the mining history of the area. There are stone hammers over 5000 years old, and a miner hat dating from the 19th century made of cloth impregnated with animal fat. Here you can see the “saidroc”, the tool used in the past to separate gold-bearing sand from water. At Stănija – a nearby village – even today there are peasants gathering gold with the “saidroc”, ( just for fun).
It is worth mentioning that there are only two gold museums in the world, on nearly opposite sides of the globe, united by their fascination of this noble metal: one is in Bogota, the capital of Columbia, and the other is here, in Romania.

Women’s Cave

2009-05-02T22:59:00.000-07:00

Among the thousands of caves in the Carpathians Mountains, only a few had such a rich past in events as the Woman Cave (Pestera Muierii) from Baia de Fier had. Situated in a wild place, having more than just one entrance, the Woman Cave was a natural fortress, a resistance point for the inhabitants of the neighboring settlements over their struggling history. One of the entrances offers an excellent observation point over the field from the South and another entrance opens the view to the dense forests of the Parang Mountains.

The electrification established between 1963 and 1978 changed the cave in the most popular and visited speleological objective from Romania. Even if, what the dimension, the beauty and the quality of the arrangement are concerned nowadays, the Woman Cave, with an aggregate length of galleries of over 3,500 m, was surpassed long time ago, it continues to be the headline of the Romanian speleotourism, being visited by thousands of visitors every year. Situated nearby, but at higher levels of karsti-fication, are also other caves of smaller dimensions, such as the Corbului Cave, Parcalabului Cave and Iedului Cave known under the name of the Baia de Fier Caverns.

It seems that the first written record about the Woman Cave dates back to 1870, when the archaeological Al. Odobescu mentioned it in an archaeological questionnaire. Since then, in over 100 years of researches, an important and varied scientific and documentary material has been collected , attesting to valuable archaeological, paleonthological, geomorphologic, as well as biospelaeological and mineralogical finds. These form together over 95 % of the 3,566 m aggregate length of the cave galleries. For practical reason and because of the superposed location of the galleries, we call them the upper and lower storey. The general north-south orientation of the whole system of galleries runs along the fissure which allowed the waters of the Galbenul River stream to dig them in the rocks. You may enter the cave through three different points, a northern, eastern and southern mouth. The last two entrances are the places of resurgence of the waters of the former underground stream which once flowed through the northern slope. Nowadays the Galbenul stream has abandoned its underground course and the karstification process is continued only by the percolation waters provided by rainfalls or snow melts.

On entering the cave through its northern gate, at about 130 m within you find yourself in front of the Small Dome-shaped stalagmite from which widens on your left the Altar Chamber, rich in concretions with a ceiling ending in a 17 m high swallow hole. Walking in the same direction, a gallery with numerous boulders lying on the floor leads to the eastern mouth, called the Altar Gate, which opens into the abrupt slope of the Galbenul Gorge. The main gallery, known as the Electrically-lit Gallery, continues southwards and gets more and more spectacular because of its numerous ceiling concretions and basins, sometimes filled with water, in the portions, called the Small Basins and the Large Basins. Two hundred and seventy meters farther you enter the Turk’s Chamber, one of the most beautiful parts of the upper floor. Huge stalagmites, domes, wall and ceiling concretions taking the strangest shapes are known as Father Christmas, the Turk, the Turk’s wife, etc.

Passing through a narrow corridor and over a threshold by climbing a metal ladder, you enter the so-called Chamber of Wonders, because of its numerous microbasins and candle-shaped stalactites and stalagmites, which adorn it. On coming back to the main gallery you will walk on through the Small Gate, a portion where the walls and ceiling draw very near, leaving only a small passage and you will enter the Guano Chamber. On the eastern wall make out a whole network of galleries, a real place of refuge for the cave fauna, since it is less accessible to visitors, and not yet electrified. From the Guano Chamber on there is only a 40 m’ s distance to daylight, passing through the southern gate, which opens, into the slope facing the largely terraced meadow. The lower floor, divided into two sectors by alluvial silting, is of particular scientific interest. For this reason it was declared Speleological Reserve in 1955 and the Woman Cave, aMonument of Natural Reserve.

The northern sector, made up of a network of labyrinthine galleries totals a length of 1,650 m. you may enter it through a narrow connecting gallery, opened in the western slope of the upper floor at about 30 m within from the northern entrance. After crawling along a short portion and going down a 2 m deep step you reach a small chamber from whose north-western corner an 18 m deep swallow-hole takes you to the Electrician’s Gallery. It is rather difficult to describe this sector of the cave owing to the cross-connexions of its galleries. Nevertheless you may make out a western system with the Electrician’s Gallery as a main chamber, and an eastern system with the Excentric’s and Basin Galleries as principal rooms. They are characterized by a high degree of alluvial silting and the presence of potholes of different depths varying between 10 and 15 m, as well as an exceptional variety of concretions. They reach a climax in the Red Chamber of daylight, a rare mineral species found in caves, made up of calcium phosphocarbonate and taking all the known shapes in calcite: stalagmites, stalactites, curtains, wall and floor concretions, rimstone pools, etc.

The Bears’ Gallery was named thus because of its numerous skeleton remains of the Quaternary fossils of mamalia, belonging mostly to cave bears. Its great variety and numerous calcite concretions make it quite remarkable. Its walls are also adorned with corrosion hieroglyphs, leopard skins, wall plates and spoons. The Pearl Chamber has a low ceiling, in some places under I’m, and displays a lovely folded curtain right at its entrance, known as the Bride’s Veil. The floor looks mosaic-shaped on account of its many crystals and contains numerous cave pearls. If, instead of going down the first metal ladder towards the southern sector, you would go left and climb a 2.5 m-high step, you would reach the so-called Mousterian Gallery. It is the place where archaeologists found evidence that the cave was inhabited by man in Middle and Higher Paleolithic times.

Legend

There are two legends related to the name of the Woman Cave:
The first one says that, long time ago, when men used to dominate everything and to go defend the land against the invaders, women used to take in haste the children and old people into the cave , which was know at that time only them (women). There they used to stay until the battles were over. The second version says that this name-the Woman Cave would derive from the fact that in the days dominated by draught in summer, the women used to sit in front of the mouth of the cave and spin the wool. The air that came out of the cave used to facilitate the work of spinning the thread. Others affirm that the women used to even go inside the cave, where they used to melt the flax and the hemp.

Romanian Zacusca

2009-04-30T05:24:00.000-07:00

A traditional vegetable spread found in Romania (probably in other neighboring countries as well). It is delicious on crust bread or even as a topping on rice for a quickie vegetarian meal. It is also excellent as a sandwich spread. This recipe is for a large batch intended for canning. You can cut it back if you want a smaller batch for immediate consumption.
Ingredients:
8 lbs fresh eggplants
6 lbs red peppers
2 lbs onions
2 teaspoons salt (to taste)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups tomato paste
2 cups olive oil
Over an open flame (gas stove or grill) completely blacken the skins of the eggplants and peppers.
Peel skins off immediately. Easiest way to get the last bits off is to do it under a slow running faucet.
Puree each of the three vegetables separately in a food processor. And place each in a separate bowl when you are finished.
Place oil and onion in a large pot.
Saute onions for about 4 minutes over medium-low heat.
Add eggplant, onion, salt and pepper.
Cook until a thin layer of oil remains on top and when a spoonful of zacusca is removed, only the oil should run off the spoon, not the zacusca.
Taste and adjust salt and pepper to meet your tastes.
Spoon mixture into sterilized jars of your choosing. It is easiest if they are all the same size.
Wipe rims clean and place clean lids and rings on jars.
Place into a single layer in large pot (water bath canner if you have one).
Fill pot with water up to the necks of the jars. Bring to a boil and boil for 20 minutes.
Remove from heat and allow to cool in water bath.
When cool remove from water and you are ready to go. If oil separates just mix it back in when ready to serve.
NOTE: My original Romanian recipe calls for a full Liter of oil but results in a much heavier and oilier zacusca. I cut mine back substantially from the original.

Laura Cosoi

2009-04-30T05:15:00.000-07:00

Laura Cosoi was born on January 2, 1982 in Romania. She is a famous Romanian actress.

Biography and Career :

Laura Cosoi started her acting career having a role in the La Bloc Tv Series on Pro Tv. Her role in the movie is Adina - a simple-minded and naive blonde girl. She is a beautiful and passionable girl but unfortunately she believes all the stupid things she hears. Her friends trick her easily so that she always takes care of all the things in house.

Quotes :
- When I was a kid, I used to have a small boutique just in front of my house. I used to sell the sweets my father brought me, my clothes, my cousin's clothes and many other things.

- I feel sexy, I dress sexy, I'm a sportive woman, I dress sport and I pay attention the way I look.

- I don't like to stay 2 hours in front of the mirror like other women. I like to combine different styles of fashion like classic and elegant. I like to feel confortable and I love quality clothes, they make me smile.

- I love shopping. I have a huge shoes collection. I usually do shopping when I leave country because I want to have were to choose from.

- I try to dress different from others around.

- I guide myself after new fashion trends when choosing the right clothes.

- When I'm wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, I want them to be quality and to have a message. Even if I dress simple clothes I want to be fancy in them.

Trivia :
- In March 2006 she appeared in Playboy

- Her boyfriend is Smiley (romanian singer)

Filmography :

- Fete cu lipici (Serial TV) (2005) - Adina

- La bloc (Serial TV) (2002) - Adina

Adrian Nastase

2009-04-30T02:10:00.000-07:00

Adrian Nastase was born on June 22, 1950 in Bucharest Romania. He is a famous Romanian politician.

Biography and Career :

Nastase graduated the Law Faculty and the History-Philosophy Faculty in Bucharest. He taught international public law in different schools in Bucharest (1990-1992).Between 1976 and 1989 he was a member of PCR (the Romanian Communist Party). He was also a FSN member. From June 1990 till October 1992 he was Romania's external affairs minister. He becomes president of the Chamber of Deputys and the president of the Parliamentary Group of Friendship with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1992- 1996). In 1996 he is named president of PDSR (the Romanian Social Democrat Party) and member of the Romanian Parliamentary Mission at the Europe's Council Parliamentary Meeting. He becomes vice-president of the Chamber of Deputies and a member of the Permanent Bureau (he assures the connection between the following commissions: the Discipline and Immunity Juridical Commission, the External Affaires Commission, the Culture, Arts and Mass-media Commission). He is also a member of the sub- commission for the human rights.In 1997 he becomes prim-vice-president of PDSR and in December 2000- temporary president of PDSR and Romania's prime-minister (he leads the Government with the biggest economical increase since after 1989, but also with many corruption accusations). In June 2001 he is named president of PSD.In November- December 2004 he runs for Romania's presidency as a candidate of PSD but he is defeated by Traian Basescu on the second tour.In April 2005 he looses the presidency of PSD, remaining the executive president of the party.He got married on 31 July 1985 with Dana Nastase, the daughter of the ex communist leader – Angelo Miculescu. They have two sons- Andrei and Mihnea.

In 2005 and in 2006 he faces corruption accusations and is forced to resign from the Chamber of Deputies presidency function and from the party's executive- presidency function.

Adrian Nastase was the prime-minister of Romania between 2000 and 2004 and from 2005 till 2006 was the president of the Chamber of Deputys and executive president of PSD (Social Democrat Party).

He published many books, such as:

- "The political idea of change"

- "International economic law II"

- "Parliamentary humor".

Trivia :

- He likes Classical music.

- His hobbies : tennis, fishing and hunting.

- He speaks fluently English and French.

Leonard Doroftei

2009-04-30T01:25:00.000-07:00

Leonard Doroftei (full name Leonard Dorin Doroftei) was born on April 10, 1970 in Ploiesti, Romania. He is a famous Romanian boxer.

Biography and Career :

Discovered by the emeritus coach Titi "Towel" Tudor, Doroftei began boxing in 1884, aged 14 for the club Prahova from his hometown.

His career continued at Steaua Boxing Club then at Freedom Star Club Constanta. Throughout shi career he has been coached by great names like Emil Popa, Ilie Dascalu, Relu Auras.

Doroftei scored his first successes in the junior league thanks to his powerful left hand strike. He became national champion in 1986 and 1987.

The successes in the junior league were followed by five titles in the senior league in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1997.

His most notorious winnings were in the int ernational tournaments. He won the world Champion title in Berlin 1995. After the second place at the European Championship in Bursa 1993, he obtained the title of European champion in 1996 at Vejle.

His performances at the Olympic games in Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996, where he obtained the bronze medals , where among the best ever in Romanian boxing history.

In 1998, after 13 years and over 250 amateur boxing, Leonard "The Lion" Doroftei goes into the pro league.

In 6 years of professional boxing he boxed for the Canadian club Interbox from Montreal, coached by Stephane Larouche.

He disputed 24 matches, winning 22 of them, 8 of whom by K.O , loosing one game and one draw.

His most important fights were held stating from 2002. In that year, on the 5th of January in San Antonio USA, he claims the World Title Light Weight WBA version from Raul Balbi. On the 31st of may he thrilled an audience of more than 8.000 in Bucharest’s boxing hall "Ioan Knust Ghemanescu" by winning the rematch against Raul Balbi.

On the 17th of May 2003 he boxes in Pittsburg USA for the unification of the WBA and IBF titles against the American Paul Spadafora, the match ending in a draw. Leonard remains in the possession of the WBA belt.

On October 23rd 2003 in Bucharest he looses the world title without throwing a single punch because he didn't make the weight limit. He was 4¼ lb (1.9 kg) over the 135 lb (61.2 kg) weight limit, so he lost his WBA title in favor of Miguel Calist.

On July 25, 2004 he tried to win the interim WBC title but Arthuro Gatti knocks him out in two rounds.

Trivia :

- He is married and lives in Romania with his wife and two sons.
- He works as a trainer for boxing prospects.

Awards :

- Champion WBA version.
- 239 winnings in the amateurs league.
- European Champion Vejle 1996.
- World Champion in Berlin 1995.
- Bronze medals at the Olympic games in Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996.

Baile Herculane

2009-04-29T00:11:00.000-07:00

Situated in the South-Western part of the country, on both sides the Cerna river, reaching till the foot of the Dormogled Mountain Mass, Baile Herculane is a natural reservation famous for its variety and riches of its flora. The resort is the oldest one in Romania among all resorts and it was founded almost 2000 years ago. (1825 years since its foundation were celebrated in 1978).

Baile Herculane lie at 160 m altitude and because of some relief particularities, the climate is mild, having Mediterranean influences. The annual average temperature is +9,3 C degrees. The winds are weak, the rainfall is reduced. The place is also dominated by mild winters, short, early springs and cool summers. The cloudiness is less present, and therefore the clear days start in March and end in October.
Because of the increased thermal and mineral effects, the physiological agency of the waters in Herculane is very complex and their therapeutic value is high. The temperature of the thermal waters alternates between 41 C degrees and 60 C degrees. The waters are sulphurous, calcic, magnestic.
The multifold landscape, the amazing flora and fauna, the pleasant climate, the picturesque surroundings, all of these make Baile Herculane to be a favourite place for holydays, relaxation and active rest.
In modern times, the spa town has been visited for its natural healing properties: hot springs with sulfur, chlorine, sodium, calcium, magnesium and other minerals, as well as negatively ionized air. Before World War II, it remained a popular destination with Western Europeans, who lent the town a refined elegance. During the Communist rule, mass tourism facilities were built, such as the tall concrete hotels which dominate the skyline. It was especially popular with retirees, who would spend their state-allotted vacation vouchers there, hoping to improve their health. Today, they share the town with a younger crowd, attracted by its beautiful mountain setting. Although very beautiful, may of the Austro-Hungarian buildings are now derelict including many of the baths.

Mamaia

2009-04-29T00:09:00.000-07:00

Mamaia is the biggest resort on the Romanian Black Sea shore. It is situated immediately north-east of Constanţa, Romania. Mamaia has almost no full time residents, being populated mostly during the summer.

Mamaia is 8 km (5 miles) in length and only 300 m (328 yards) in width, being a strip of land between the Black Sea and Lake Siutghiol.

Through major developments throughout the past couple of years, Mamaia has transformed itself into a major summer destinations of Europe.

The beach season is at its best between mid-May and late September, when average daytime temperatures are 25 to 30 degrees Celsius (78 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit). The water is warm until late autumn.

Hotels range from mid-end to exclusive 4 and 5 stars hotels and private clubs.

The 11th reunion of the Central European heads of state took place in Mamaia on May 27–May 28, 2004.

Nicolae TONITZA

2009-04-28T04:08:00.000-07:00

Romanian painter, etcher and art critic.

He entered the Academy of Fine Arts in Jassy at a time when the Academy was in its heyday, studying at the same time as Stefan Dimitrescu did (later Tonitza, Dimitrescu, Sirato and O. Han were to form the "Group of the Four"). Professors were Gheorghe Popovici and Emanoil Bardasare. If in 1908 he would be in Munich for attending courses at the Bavarian Royal Academy of Fine Arts, the next three years would be spent in Paris for studio visits and realisation of sketches after famous painters. Although the young artist's creation would initially conform to the manner of painting of the time, his endowment as a colourist and the "fraîcheur" of his feelings would take him irreversibly to the realm of originality. The painter's aesthetics would stem from the Impressionism specificity, the findings of the representatives of Post-impressionism, and by all means from the embellishing practice in doing a composition and the Belle Epoque splendour of the 1900 art (see the 1900 Style). Equilibrium, hedonism- the unrepressed joy for the enchanting appearances of reality-, and a calm sensuality all concurred in rendering his pictures full of light, in exalting and matching colours, and in ideally matching the form (given by a gracefully imagined drawing) with colour. His commitment to his time events is best perceivable in his graphic work, malitious and sometimes dramatical (he sketched for many of the time magazines: "Rampa", "Flacara", "Clopotul", "Hiena", etc.), and in his articles, which mainly discussed cultural and social events. Although he could not be spared the restlessness of every day life, and could not escape the contemporary life determination, the serenity of his painting was a datum. It proposed a classical aesthetical ideal, worshipped the beautiful, and viewed the art as a treasurer of spiritual values in eternity. His art is certainly there in the Dobrogea landscapes, in the portraits of clowns and children, in the portraits of young women, in still life, with its touch of mildness and vast canvas, where lights smoothly play on objects, with shining colours.

Cotnari Winery

2009-04-28T04:04:00.000-07:00

The village of Cotnari is 54km northwest of Iasi. Its nearby vineyards, dating from 1448, are among the most famed in Romania, producing four to six million bottles of sweet white wine a year and exporting to the US, Canada, England, Italy, Spain and Japan, among others. Legend says Stefan cel Mare, someone who undoubtedly knew his wine, described it as ‘wine given by God’.
In the 15th century, French monks arrived in the area, bringing grape stocks, which they planted in the village and by the end of the 19th century Cotnari wine had scooped up prizes at international exhibitions. A half completed and abandoned royal palace, odered by King Michael I in 1947, was restored in 1966 and today houses Cotnari Winery’s administration.
The winery’s most popular wines include white table wines such as frâncusa (dry), catalina (semisweet), and the sweet, golden grasa and tamâioasa dessert wines.
The cotnary Winery hosts wine-tasting sessions and tours of its cellars and factory (by appointment only). Every year on 14 September, wine connoisseurs converge on Cotnari to get ripped in celebration of the harvest.
From the Cotnari shop in the village, continue on the road towards Botosani and Hârlau. The factory is 200m farther on the left.

DISCOVER ROMANIA AS A TRAVEL DESTINATION

2009-04-28T04:00:00.000-07:00

Romania, a name which in many minds is synonymous with many bad things. This, because nobody told you the good things about Romania. Nobody told you for exemple, that Romania is a country inhabitated by 600.000 years, and the ancestors of the romanians, had a blossom and high civilization the same at least, as the greeks and romans, and some ancient gods, for exemple Orfeus was tooked by the greeks from here, the same with Herodot which borrowed from the dacian doctors-priests the otah which today is named after him. Just a few people known that the jet engine, the fountain pen or the insulin was romanian inventions, or that the old writing from the world was discovered on the valley of the river Mures from Romania from where the Summerian civilizations just barrow it. These are things which can be learn from the magazines or internet, but nobody and nothing will offer you the sensation that you will live coming in these country blessed by God. Here you will find all the relief forms existing in nature: plain, hill, plateau, mountains and sea. All the tourists which are coming in Romania, and visit this country, are surprised by the diversity of the relief and its alternancy because here the hills are plaiting harmonious and naturally with the plain and the mountains. Here, the fall on the valleys of the Carpathians Mountains, the colours of the forrest made a charming immage that never will erase from your mind. Do not forget the faboulous Danube Delta, natural reserve of biosfera and a paradise of birds and fishes. The hay stacks, nature allways green, herds of cattle and especial the flock of sheeps, which sometime cross over the roads,giving to the tourists the ocasion to see the ancient tradition of transhumance will enjoy your eyes and feelings help you to remember the period of your childhood or will make you to see alive the stories of your grandparents. If you will climb on the pick of the mountains you will find there as in to the plains or in to the hills region, beautiful landscapes, glacial lakes cleans and clears as some eyes used by the planet to watch the sky. You will be impressed by the silence and the fresh and unpolutted air, and in the winter season you will be able to skiing in to the ski resort which are spread in all Romania. All this form the nature of the country but are not the only one things which can be seeing here. The tracks of the past are present at every step that we make in this country. The fortifications situated on the picks of the hills as some vultures nests, the palaces of the nobiles, the summer residence of the romanian royal family from Peles, the fortified churches from Transylvania which are the romanian equivalent of the castles from Loira valley (France), the painted churches from Moldova(Bucovina), the faimous constructions and wooden churches from Maramures, the medieval towns-citadells Brasov, Sighisoara, Sibiu, Cluj-Napoca, Alba Iulia, Hunedoara, are so many living proofs of the existence on these lands to a lineage which not just defended the european civilisation alone, but had time between to invasions of the empires from neighbourhood to create and let to its progenys and to humanity real treasures of architecture and art. As a proof of their value and apreciations many of this vestiges was included in to the UNESCO heritage. You will be glad to discover the romanian traditions very well preserved yet in some regions and the numerous legends of the place the most well known beiing the one of the Count Dracula. And when you are tired to visit all the places that I've described to you above, you will be able to stop to clean and peaceful hotels or in guest houses which preserved and unchanged the way of life of the Romanian peasant. You will be able to feast from our traditional dishes which are so tasty then I can't find the right word to describe it and you will drink from our wine or plum brandy which will fill the taste of food. Which is very important ot know is that, in Romania over 80% from the traditional food is prepared using natural ingredients, obtained from bio traditional methods. Because of that the taste of our dishes and liquers or wines is different by the one from the rest of Europe and you will find in it the flavour and the savour of the earth which was help to grow the vegetals, the fruits, the grass, the flowers or the cereals which feed the animals from whose meet, milk or honey you eat. At the end of the day you will walk trough our cities or villages without the fear to be robbed or killed. Romania is a safe country and the criminality from our localities is below that the one from the biggest citys of the world. In the night time you will have a sweet sleep, without worries as in your childhood, in the silence of the romanian nights, because the next day to go again on your way trough that wonderfull country, discovering its treasures and pray the Lord that your trip never ends.
This is the real Romania.

SPAS

2009-04-28T03:56:00.000-07:00

This section is courtesy of Romanian National Tourism Office for North America.
Started by Romans, unique in Europe, today Romania's 70 natural spas provide relief for many medical disorders and illnesses including rheumatism, endocrine, kidney, liver, respiratory, heart, stomach and nervous diseases as well as nutrition, metabolism and gynecological malfunctions.
Romania is home to more than one third of Europe's mineral and thermal springs. Natural factors are complemented — under attentive medical care — by physiotherapy, acupuncture, electrotherapy and medicines produced from plants.
Romania's main spas include: Mangalia, Neptun, Eforie Nord, Covasna, Slanic Moldova, Vatra Dornei, Borsec, Sovata, Tusnad, Calimanesti, Govora, Herculane, Buzias and Baile Felix.

PAINTED MONASTERIES

2009-04-28T03:52:00.000-07:00

This section is courtesy of Travel Lady Magazine
"More religious frescoes?" Yes and no. Frescoes, surely, and unquestionably religious, but in northeastern Romania's Bucovina region, the "big five" painted monasteries greatest treasures aren't hidden behind closed doors. Instead, they cover the exterior walls, eaves to ground, ready to overwhelm viewers at first glimpse. They've been doing just that for some 500 years.Easily accessible from bases in Campulung Moldovenesc or Suceava, these UNESCO World Heritage Monuments can be viewed in one frustratingly rushed day, but are better savored in two or three. Most packaged tours of Romania include at least three of the monasteries. Joining a locally based tour or hiring a taxi for the day are other options. Those not intimidated by narrow, winding, often pot-holed mountain roads will find a rental car the best way to explore both scenery and sights.A sample circuit could begin from Campulung Moldovenesc's comfortable Hotel Zimbrul. The hotel is right on the main street, as is the turn-off for the first monastery and the return from the last. A 30-minute drive through mountains thick with fir trees leads to Moldovita, founded in 1532. Hundreds of tableaux bring childhood Sunday school lessons to life, but there is also the chance to learn a little history. One of Moldovita's most valuable compositions recreates, in vibrant reds and blues, the siege of Constantinople. For centuries, Romania suffered Turkish invasions and many of the country's 2,000-plus monasteries were built in gratitude for various victories.Although the monasteries builders could hardly have anticipated 20th Century driving times, the fact remains that a 30-minute drive separates one from another. A wooded stretch brings travelers to Sucevita whose powerful stone fortification walls and towers seem more likely to enclose a bleak medieval castle than wall after wall of glorious paintings. Dating to the late 16th Century, Sucevita boasts the greatest number of images — thousands — painted against a green background often compared to the color of a lawn just after the rain.At the town of Marginea, noted for black pottery, drivers should turn south to Solca where a short detour leads to the monastery of Arbore. If time demands skipping something, Arbore would be the choice as its exterior frescoes have faded considerably. However, the interior offers a chance to observe the Romanian Orthodox custom of hanging embroidered scarves around icons and from chandeliers. In all the monasteries, interior paintings have not fared too well, proving that incense and candle smoke can be more destructive than wind and rain.To reach the next monastery, return to Solca, continue south to the town of Gura Humorului, then follow signs for Humor monastery. You'll know you've arrived when a roadside display of painted eggs, hand-embroidered vests and cloth comes into view. Prices are low, the quality of workmanship high. In the 15th Century, calligraphers and painters of miniatures practiced their craft at Humor, whose walls have been described as "pages of a manuscript covered with miniatures, left lying on a lawn." Here, the devil is portrayed as a woman, humorous to today's viewers, but true to ancient peasant belief, while a "hora" (traditional dance) danced in celebration of the Biblical prodigal son's return could have been modeled after a 20th century Moldavian village gathering.Doing the circuit in reverse, starting rather than ending at Voronet monastery, would detract from the sense of perfection and completion that strikes almost all who view this gem. Chronicles state that Stephen the Great, Romania's most renowned ruler, erected the monastery in only three months, back in 1488, to fulfill a pledge after defeating the Turks. Its gentle, yet vivid, blues (popularly known as "Voronet blue") plus the quality of the frescoes have led to Voronet's billing as the "Sistine Chapel of the East." A magnificent Last Judgment covers an entire wall. Animals, including elephants and whales, join people in procession toward the open gates of heaven. First, though, they must pass the seat of judgment. Here, Byzantine-style figures have the soft faces of Moldavian women while angels blow the traditional shepherd's long horn, the "bucium," and the paradise-bound are covered with embroidered cloths.These monasteries remain active, so visitors might chance on a service where the high voices of nuns sing in response to the chanting of the priest. If a clacking sound is heard, it signals a nun circling the church repeatedly striking a long wooden board, or "toaca," with small mallets to announce the start of services.

Romanian Coliva

2009-04-28T03:46:00.000-07:00

Coliva is the Romanian translation of the Greek κόλλυβα (kólliva) and it describes a sweet pudding made of boiled wheat.

Ingredients: 1 kg wheat kernel, 250 g sugar, 150 g honey, water to cover the kernels, 240 g crushed walnuts, crunched graham crackers as needed, powdered sugar as needed, vanilla, fine zest from 1 lemon, fine zest from 1 orange, colored candy, 100 g milk chocolate grinded fine or cocoa powder.
Since coliva is a ritual dish, its preparation follows a ritual too. The day before the liturgy prepare the wheat as follows:
Wash the wheat kernel with nine waters (one for each of the 9 angel squads in heaven) then boil in a Teflon pot for 2-3 hours at medium heat. Stir thoughtfully with a wooden spoon to prevent the wheat from sticking to the bottom of the pot. When boiled, put content into an enameled pot and covered with a wet towel, so that the composition won’t form a “crust.”

Sweeten the composition with 250 g sugar and 150 g honey. Flavor with zest from one lemon and one orange and with 1 TBS vanilla.Add 200 g of the crushed walnuts and stir till all these extra ingredients incorporate in the wheat composition evenly. Your coliva is now almost ready – all it needs is the décor that will make it fit for the liturgy.

Place the composition on a large platter and form the coliva with your hands, respecting its shape – make sure you even the coliva to look like a cake. Coliva can take any form: rectangular, oval or round, and sometimes even “cross.” With the rest of the crushed walnuts and crushed graham crackers cover the coliva on the top and the sides. Add powder sugar and then make your ornaments out of chocolate and candy. You can even use half walnuts to form a cross or to ornate the sides of the coliva.

Coji de portocala

2009-04-28T03:36:00.000-07:00

Cristi Nistor & Simona Nae

Gigi Becali

2009-04-27T09:28:00.000-07:00

George Becali (commonly known in Romania as Gigi Becali, born 25 June, 1958) is a controversial Romanian politician and businessman, mostly known for his involvement in the Steaua football club.

He was born in Zagna, Vadeni, Braila County , as his family was deported to the Baragan by the Communist

authorities because of their associations with the pre-WWII fascist Iron Guard .

His cousins, Victor Becali and Ioan Becali, are also involved in Romanian football. In 1994, he married Luminita, 11 years his junior; the couple have three daughters: Teodora (b. 1996), Alexandra (b. 1997) and Cristina (b. 2001).

After the 2005 floods , he funded with $4 million the rebuilding of about 200 houses in the Vulturu village that was destroyed by the overflow of the Siret river. Subsequently the villagers wanted to rename it Vulturu Becali in his honor.

Real estate business

Becali became a millionaire through an exchange of land with the Romanian Army, dubbed by the Romanian press as suspicious, as the Army did not need the land it received and the land he received was worth much more. The deal consisted in Becali giving the army a 21.5 ha plot in Ştefăneştii de Jos (about 15 km from Bucharest) in exchange for a 20.9 ha plot in Băneasa-Pipera, in Northern Bucharest.As the real estate prices skyrocketed in the capital, he sold the land to some companies which built residential areas.

In 2007, it was revealed that in 1998, when Becali sent the offer to the Romanian Army, he was not the owner of the property in Ştefăneştii de Jos, buying it only after it was clear that the deal would be signed. Also, the Army was not legally allowed to give away the Pipera plot, because it was claimed by former owners.The affair was investigated in 2006 by the National Anticorruption Directorate (NAD). In July 2007, the NAD started to investigate a transaction between Becali and the daughter of Defence Minister Victor Babiuc, involving land in Pipera which was sold for $300/sqm.

Ownership of Steaua

Becali joined the General Shareholders' Council of the FC Steaua Bucharest football team at the end of the 1990s, during the presidency of businessman Viorel Păunescu. Step by step, he tried to eliminate other possible candidates and gather all the Club's shares. He obtained 51% of the shares on 6 February 2003 and he bought another 15% toward the end of the year 2003.

On October 17, 2005, his entire fortune was impounded by the National Fiscal Authority (ANAF) for debts totaling US$ 11,000,000. However, Becali sued the ANAF and won the trial, and subsequently the order of seizure was lifted.He was however able to avoid paying the taxes by transferring the assets of Steaua to a newly-formed company, AFC Steaua Bucureşti, allowing the old association to go bankrupt.As of 2007, Becali detains no official link to the club, as he gradually renounced his shares in favour of his nephews.

In 2005, the papers wrote that he commissioned a painting inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, in which he holds the place of Jesus, while the eleven players and the coach hold the place of the disciples. Becali denied the story, claiming that he received the painting from an admirer.

Other business activities

Becali announced in 2008 that he intends to open his own bank, named "Becali Bank", intended to be used "only by millionaires", with an initial investment of 30 million euro. Nevertheless, the Administration Council of the National Bank of Romania rejected the plan of creation without giving a public reason.Cotidianul notes that the National Bank can reject the creation of a new bank if they suspect that the new bank would not respect the laws or that they won't have solid and prudent investment policies.

In reply to this decision, Becali named Mugur Isărescu, the governor of the National Bank, "a buffoon, a frustrated and envious person" and announced that he intends to sue him.

Political career

In the 2000 Romanian legislative election, Gigi Becali has been a candidate of the "League of Italian Communities in Romania" for the seat in the Chamber of Deputies reserved to the Italian minority. He received 16,266 votes (0.15%) countrywide, of which 7,677 in Ilfov County. Nevertheless, he lost to Ileana Stana-Ionescu, who got only 2,943 votes in one constituency. Becali contested the results, but according to Romanian election law, for national minorities, it doesn't matter the total number of votes, but only the person who gains the largest percentage in one constituency gets the seat reserved for that national minority.

He has led the New Generation – Christian Democrat Party (PNG-CD) since January 2004, being its candidate in the 2004 presidential elections, receiving 1.77% of the votes cast (184,560 votes).

In his 2004 electoral campaign, Becali used clips of the "Mihai Viteazul" movie (directed by Sergiu Nicolaescu), whose main character was played by Amza Pellea. Amza's daughter, Oana Pellea, sued Becali for using Amza Pellea's image without permission and won 35,000 RON (about $12,000) in damages.

He often had disputes with Corneliu Vadim Tudor, another extremist politician. These disputes, usually consisted of exchanges of insults between the two.] He had another dispute with Prime Minister Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu whom he named a "cockroach-politician" and a "Very Important Papagal" (papagal means "parrot" in Romanian and is regarded as an insult).

In December 2006, he promised that his party would generate a "Cultural revolution" in Romania.

At the elections for the European Parliament, held in November 2007, his party (PNG-CD) obtained 4,86% of the popular vote, little under the 5% needed for admission in the EU governing body. Same happened at the elections from December 2008, as a surprise to many people.

Views on homosexuality

In line with his conservative Orthodox Christian views, Becali has often made inflammatory remarks in the press regarding LGBT people. During his 2004 presidential campaign one of the main themes of his rhetoric was opposition to sexual minorities, which he voiced over and over in interviews and TV appearances.

On May 26, 2006, Becali's personal foundation, the "George Becali Christian Foundation", along with the Romanian Orthodox Church and 22 NGOs, signed a protest letter calling on the government and the courts to ban the Bucharest GayFest 2006 parade, focussed that year on the theme of same-sex unions. A few days later, the Bucharest Court of Appeals ruled, however, that the parade was legal, and it was ensured significant police protection. Becali justified his opposition to the pride parade by stating that he "doesn't discriminate against homosexuals" but that, "They abuse their rights. This is proselytism. They can do what they want in their homes, but not on the streets. I call on the Romanian Orthodox Church to defend the Christian faith and morals. Becali declared that he intended to pay for a referendum on same-sex marriage, which he believed 99% of people would vote against. He was also widely criticized in the media for asking, "Why [are there] so many homosexuals? I'll give two or five million dollars [for a referendum], so we can finish off all homosexuals in the country."

The media commentator Dan Tapalagă, in an editorial at the Cotidianul newspaper, criticized the Romanian Orthodox Church for its coalition with Becali, and its opposition to the gay pride parade, which he sarcastically termed as "the sin of the Becalised Church".
In an opinion piece written after Becali's inflammatory declaration, journalist Radu Călin Cristea quoted Cristian Pârvulescu, a Romanian political analyst, who described Becali as a "populist who practices a superficial form of legionarism", referring to the fascist Iron Guard movement which took place in 1930s Romania and whose members were named "legionnaires" (legionari). Cristea also warned that society and the political class should stop regarding Becali as an "inoffensive and amusing clown".

In October 2006, Gigi Becali was awarded the LGBT community's "black ball" for the most homophobic personality in Romania, as part of the 2006 Gay Awards Gala which took place during the Gay Film Nights Festival of Cluj-Napoca.

During Bucharest's annual GayFest in June 2007, Becali seemed to have tempered his homophobic stance. He declared in an interview that "I love them [homosexuals] in the same way that I love all other people. They can marry at the City Hall, every day, 10 of them if they want to. But in church, they don't have a place."When questioned about homosexuality in another interview conducted during the 2007 GayFest, he stated, "They can do what they want... marry... I don't have anything against that". On the question of whether he would accept a gay person in the New Generation Party of which he is president, Becali replied "But why would I have a problem with that? Who knows how many there already are?"

In September 2007, he resumed his homophobic speech, stating that if he becomes president of Romania, he will "get rid of all homosexual and lesbian clubs" and create special neighbourhoods for homosexuals and lesbians, so that "they can stay there and leave us [alone]". He also referred to gays as "sinners" and said that "they should go to the priest if they have problems in their head". The secretary-general of the New Generation Party, Cătălin Dâncu, later appeared to distance himself from Becali's comments, declaring that, "As long as EU principles clearly state that minority rights must be respected, Romania as a member-state must respect them". Romania's National Council for Combating Discrimination is investigating whether Becali's comments breach anti-discrimination and hate speech laws, stating that he could be fined up to 8000 lei (~€2500).

Violence

In February 2002, Becali cursed and threatened Cristian Tudor Popescu, a well-known journalist, in a café, after the latter had written the article "O statuie pentru Puiu Paşcu" ("A Statue for Puiu Paşcu" - a former Minister of Defense in the Social Democratic Party cabinet of Adrian Năstase) in Adevărul about the controversial land swap with the Army and the assault on Malonga Parfait. Becali told Popescu that he should have been shot and that the journalists destroyed Romania.

In 2005, Becali provoked controversy by using extremely vulgar language in an interview, insulting the reporter and the channel he worked for (Antena 1).

In July 2005, in a restaurant, Becali cursed, spat and spilled a glass of wine on Şerban Huidu, the creator of the satirical TV show "Cronica Cârcotaşilor". Becali got the nickname "Ioan Botezătorul" (John the Baptist) after this incident.

Following a match of FC Steaua in April 2006, his bodyguards used violence against a female reporter of Realitatea TV after Becali asked them to "take her away from that place".

He currently is one of the favorite subjects of the Romanian media, due to his frequent slips of the tongue and inflammatory remarks. For example, in July 2005, a reporter called Becali to ask him some questions related to the Steaua football club. Becali used this opportunity to unleash a flurry of curses addressed to Antena 1 and Dan Voiculescu. He himself said in the dialogue that "he is not a civilized man".

In 2008, he admited that when he lost money in a casino, he lost his temper and began throwing chairs toward the windows, breaking them.

In 3.04.2009 Romanian football club Steaua owner Gigi Becali was placed under 29-day preventive arrest Friday morning in the case regarding the alleged kidnapping of three people who stole Becali’s car in January this year.

After a trial that lasted more than five hours, the judges of the Bucharest District 1 Court decided to uphold prosecutors’ request to place Becali and other four people under preventive arrest.

Soon after the court pronounced its verdict, Becali's lawyer Gheorghe Mateut, as well as the defendants of Catalin Zmarandescu, Stefan Dediu, Nicolae Dumitrascu and Dumitru Beciu, appealed the ruling, while one of the culprits started to curse and air threats.

Mateut deemed the court’s ruling abusive and stressed that prosecutors presented irrelevant evidence to incriminate Becali, namely, phone conversations which, according to Mateut, fail to prove Becali’s involvement in the kidnapping.

Soon after the court’s ruling, Becali’s cronies started to encourage him and said all Romanians are on his side. Six people were heard Thursday in connection with this case and Becali’s properties were thoroughly searched by police officers.

According to police officers investigating the case, in January this year, three people were dashed into the trunk of a car in the middle of the night, taken to a residence in Pipera, near Bucharest, and detained for nearly three hours for allegedly stealing Becali’s car, which he had left open and with keys in the ignition outside a bar.

Ionut Iftimoaie

2009-04-27T00:14:00.000-07:00

Ionut Iftimoaie is a Romanian fighter. He is the only Romanian who fights in K-1. He was a boxer, but he preferred kickboxing and began fighting in the Romanian K-1 circuit(Lokal Kombat). He had his first fight at Lokal Kombat 7, in August 2004 and he beat Ivica Perkovic. He fought in K-1 Italy 2005 and he became the first Romanian to fight in K-1. He reached the semi-finals, but his leg was injured and he failed to finish the fight against Freddy Kemayo. He fought many big names of K-1, including: Alexander Ustinov (draw), Josip Bodrozic (win by decision), Sergei Gur (win by decision), Petar Majstorovic (win by decision), Freddy Kemayo(lost by TKO in first fight and win by decision in second fight).Ionut Iftimoaie vs Ivica Perkovic(CRO)- Ionut by decision(Lokal Kombat 7, 11 August 2004) Ionut Iftimoaie vs Stephane Reveillon(FRA)- Ionut by TKO, round 1(Lokal Kombat 9, 11 September 2004) Ionut IFtimoaie vs Josip Bodrozic(CRO)- Ionut by decision(Lokal Kombat 11, 10 December 2004) Ionut IFtimoaie vs Andre Tete(BEL)- Ionut by decision(Lokal Kombat 12, 11 February 2005) Ionut IFtimoaie vs ALexander Ustinov(RUS)- draw(Lokal Kombat 16, 16 September 2005) Ionut IFtimoaie vs Freddy Kemayo(FRA)- Ionut by decision(Lokal Kombat 18, 16 December 2005) Ionut IFtimoaie vs Wojciech Jastrzebski(POL)- Ionut by KO, round 1(Lokal Kombat 19, 10 March 2006) Ionut IFtimoaie vs Sergei Gur(BLR)- Ionut by decision(Lokal Kombat 21, 2 August 2006)

Bistriţa

2009-04-26T23:44:00.000-07:00

Bistriţa (German: Bistritz, archaic Nösen; Hungarian: Beszterce) is the capital City of Bistrita-Nasaud County , Transylvania, Romania. It is situated on the Bistrita River. The city has a population of approximately 80,000 inhabitants.
The earliest indication of settlement in the area of Bistriţa is from Neolithic remains. Pechenegs settled the area in 12th century due to attack from Cumans and were given name of Beszterce's district as Besenyő (Hungarian of them) which was centered by Beszterce. Transylvanian Saxons settled the area in 1206 and dubbed the region "Nosnerland". The destruction of Markt Nosa ("Market Nösen") by M0ngols heading toward Central Europe was described by a document from 1241. Being situated on several Trade routes, Bistriţa became a flourishing Medieval trading post. The town was named after the Bistriţa River, whose name comes from the Slavic word, bystrica meaning "the limpid water".
Bistriţa became a Free royal town in 1330. In 1353 it gained the right to organize an annual 15-day fair, as well as a seal containing the coat of arms of an ostrich with a horseshoe in its beak. In 1465, the city's fortifications had 18 defensive towers and bastions defended by the local guilds. It was also defended by a Kirchenburg, or fortified church.
It became part of Romania after 1919, except during its reversion to Hungary between 1940 and 1944.

The main attraction of Bistriţa's central square is the Lutheran church, which was built by the Transylvanian Saxons and originally constructed in the 14 th century in Gothic style but later remodeled between 1559–1563 by Petrus Italus with Renaissance features. It was re-renovated in 1998.

On June 11, 2008, the tower and roof of the church caught fire for reasons that are yet unknown. The main part of the church suffered just a little damage and is not in much danger, the interior being intact. It is speculated that both bells residing in the tower (one dating from the 15th century,the other from the 17th) might have melted. The church suffered from fire in 1857, when the tower's roof and the bells were destroyed. The roof was rebuilt after several years.
The Bistriţa-Năsăud County Museum, located in a former barracks, contains Thracian, Celtic, and German artifacts. 19th century fires destroyed much of the city's medieval citadel.

In Bram Stocker`s novel Dracula , the character Jonathan Harker visits Bistriţa and stays at the Golden Krone Hotel (Romanian: Coroana de Aur). Although no such hotel existed when the novel was written, a hotel of the same name has since been constructed for tourists.

Andreea Marin

2009-04-26T23:36:00.001-07:00

Andreea Marin was born on December 22, 1974 in Roman, Romania.
Biography and Career :
Andreea Marin attended the local High-School from Roman and after that she continued her studies at Iasi University from Romania. She got specialized in journalism and public relations at "Thompson Dundation" and in United States at The University from South Carolina.Andreea Marin gathered a huge professional experience during her colaboration with TVR 1 so that she was included in the Top 50 of the most successful women in Romania made by Capital Magazine.Andreea Marin is also the programme director for "The Prime Time World Broadcast", an international company from Madrid, Spain.Andreea Marin is famous due to her TV Show named "Surprize, Surprize" started in 1998.
Andreea Marin made several documentaries and took interviews to a lot of famous international personalities including : Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson, Mike Meyers, Erik Roberts, Martin Landau, Larry Hangman, Richard Clayderman, Martin Lawrence, Beyonce, Liza Minnelli and many more.Andreea Marin was the presenter for many musical awards like: - Eurovision, Mamaia, Cerbul de Aur.
She represents the Romanian Image for : - Garnier - L'Oreal;- BMW Automobiles;- Procter and Gamble - Head & Shoulders;- Cartier (jewels and stuff).Statistics reports show that more than 879,000 romanians are watching "Surprize, Surprize" weekly, having the highest rate of audience.
Quotes :- I can change the way I look, the way I live and my career because I am extremly flexible and I have a strong motivation;- If I fall, I rise up again on my knees and start building all the things better.
Trivia :-
In 2006 she married Stefan Banica Jr. ;
- She is the first Romanian journalist who climbed Kilimanjaro;
- Her TV Show "Surprize, Surprize" has been nominated for "The Best Social TV Show", every 5 years.
Filmography :
1. The Eurovision Song Contest (2004) (TV) .... Romanian vote presenter
2. The Eurovision Song Contest (2000) (TV) .... Romanian vote presenter

Monica Columbeanu

2009-04-26T23:12:00.000-07:00

Monica Gabor was born on January 8, 1988 in Bacau, Romania. She is a famous Romanian model of young age. Monica Gabor Height : 5'8''/178 cm.

Biography and Career :Since she was a little child she has dreamt to become a famous model, but she never thought she would conquer Romania with her beauty at only 18 years old.Monica Gabor has been in the fashion industry since she was 16 and she casted from the beginning for the most important fashion designers in the country.Monica Gabor’s beauty was early discovered and recognized, she was considered since she was 16 one of the Romanian models with huge potential by the local designers.

Monica Gabor really became famous after the media had found out about her relationship with Irinel Columbeanu, a Romanian businessman, wel l known for his relationships with much younger women (he is 30 years older than Monica ).

Monica Gabor was voted the sexiest woman from Romania, in the FHM top and she became Top Model Romania in 2005. Even though the media considered that this title was bought by the wealthy businessman the facts have remained unchanged.Monica Gabor graduated high school in Bacau and the couple decided to get married.Not only because she is young and beautiful, but also due to her special relationship with Irinel Columbeanu, Monica Gabor's success has increased fast lately.Monica Gabor has her own Tv show on B1 TV and it brings her exactly the promotion she needs.

- Monica Gabor moved out from Bacau to Bucharest to share her life with Irinel Columbeanu.- Monica Gabor passed the French oral bac exam with maximum mark.

- Even though Monica Gabor neglected school she handled pretty well the graduation exams.- After she met Irinel Columbeanu she had a silicone implant done.

- In January 2007 she gave birth to her first child Irina.

Mircea Eliade (1907-1986)

2009-04-26T07:10:00.000-07:00

Eliade was educated as a philosopher. He published extensively in the history of religions and acted as editor-in-chief of Macmillan's Encyclopedia of Religion. The influence of his thought, through these works and through thirty years as director of History of Religions department at the University of Chicago, is considerable.
Eliade's analysis of religion assumes the existence of "the sacred" as the object of worship of religious humanity. It appears as the source of power, significance, and value. Humanity apprehends "hierophanies"--physical manifestations or revelations of the sacred--often, but not only, in the form of symbols, myths, and ritual. Any phenomenal entity is a potential hierophany and can give access to non-historical time: what Eliade calls illud tempus (Latin for 'that time,' I tend to think of it as 'yon time'). The apprehension of this sacred time is a constitutive feature of the religious aspect of humanity.

Mircea Eliade was born in Bucharest, Romania on 13 March 1907. Although Romanian records give his date of birth as 28 February, this is according to the Julian calendar, since the Gregorian calendar was not adopted in Romania until 1924. Eliade’s Orthodox Christian family celebrated his birthday on the Day of the Forty Martyrs, which is 9 March by the Julian calendar, and Eliade himself gave that date as his birthday. Despite a childhood interest in entomology and botany (which doubtless first attracted his attention to Goethe, a lifelong role model and inspiration), he developed an interest in world literature and was led from there to philology, philosophy, and comparative religion. As a youth he read extensively in Romanian, French, and German, and around 1924-25 he learned Italian and English to read Raffaele Pettazzoni and James George Frazer in the original.

In 1925 Eliade enrolled at the University of Bucharest where he studied in the department of philosophy. The influence of Nae Ionescu (b.1890), then an assistant professor of logic and metaphysics and an active journalist, was keenly felt by the young Eliade and the shadow which fell on the older scholar because of his involvement with the extreme right in inter-war Romania has darkened Eliade's reputation.

Eliade's Master's thesis examined Italian Renaissance Philosophers from Marcilio Ficino to Giordano Bruno, and Renaissance Humanism was one of his major influences when he turned to India in order to "universalize" the "provincial" philosophy he had inherited from his European education. Finding that the Maharaja of Kassimbazar sponsored European scholars to study in India Eliade applied and was granted an allowance for four years. In 1928 he sailed for Calcutta to study Sanskrit and philosophy under Surendranath Dasgupta (1885-1952), a Cambridge educated Bengali, professor at the University of Calcutta, and author of a 5 volume, History of Indian Philosophy (Motilal Banarsidass 1922-55).

He returned to Bucharest in 1932 and successfully submitted his analysis of Yoga as his doctoral thesis at the Philosophy department in 1933. Published in French as Yoga: Essai sur les origines de la mystique Indienne this was extensively revised and republished as Yoga, Immortality, and Freedom. As Ionescu's assistant Eliade lectured on, among other things, Aristotle's Metaphysics and Nicholas of Cusa's Docta Ignorantia. From 1933 to 1939 he was active with the Criterion group who gave public seminars on wide-ranging topics. They were strongly influenced by the philosophy of "trairism," the search for the "authentic" in and through lived experience (Romanian, traire) seen as the only source of "authenticity."

After the Second World War, during which he served with the Romanian Legation in the UK and Portugal, Eliade was unable to return to the newly communist Romania because of his connection with the right-wing Ionescu. In 1945 he moved to Paris where his acquaintance with George Dumézil, an important scholar of comparative mythology, secured a part-time post for him at the École des Hautes Études at the Sorbonne teaching comparative religion. From this time on almost all of Eliade's scholarly works were written in French.

At the prompting of Joachim Wach, Eliade's predecessor at the University of Chicago, a comparativist and hermeneuticist, Eliade was invited to give the 1956 Haskell Lectures on "Patterns of Initiation" at the University of Chicago. These were later published as Birth and Rebirth. In 1958 he was invited to assume the chair of the History of Religions department in Chicago. There he stayed until his death on 22 April 1986, publishing extensively and writing largely unpublished fiction. He also launched the journals History of Religions and The Journal of Religion and acted as editor-in-chief for Macmillan's Encyclopedia of Religion.
Despite his focus on the history of religions, Eliade never relinquished his philosophical agenda. That said, he never fully clarified his philosophy. There has been radical disagreement over his thought, some seeing it as a crucial contribution to the study of religion, and some seeing him as an obscurantist whose normative assumptions are unacceptable.

In Cosmos and History:The Myth of the Eternal Return (1954), a book which he was tempted to subtitle Introduction to a Philosophy of History, Eliade distinguishes between religious and non-religious humanity on the basis of the perception of time as heterogenous and homogenous respectively. This distinction will be immediately familiar to students of Henri Bergson as an element of that philosopher's analysis of time and space. Eliade contends that the perception of time as an homogenous, linear, and unrepeatable medium is a peculiarity of modern and non-religious humanity. Archaic or religious humanity (homo religiosus), in comparison, perceives time as heterogenous; that is, as divided between profane time (linear), and sacred time (cyclical and reactualizable). By means of myths and rituals which give access to this sacred time religious humanity protects itself against the 'terror of history', a condition of helplessness before the absolute data of historical time, a form of existential anxiety.

In the very process of establishing this distinction, however, Eliade undermines it, insisting that non-religious humanity in any pure sense is a very rare phenomenon. Myth and illud tempus are still operative, albeit concealed, in the world of modern humanity and Eliade clearly regards the attempt to restrict real time to linear historical time as finally self-contradictory. He squarely sets himself against the historicism of Hegel.

"The sacred" has also been the subject of considerable contention. Some have seen Eliade's "sacred" as simply corresponding to a conventional concept of deity, or to Rudolf Otto's ganz andere (the "wholly other"), whereas others have seen a closer resemblance to Emile Durkheim's socially influenced sacred. Eliade himself repeatedly identifies the sacred as the real, yet he states clearly that "the sacred is a structure of human consciousness" (1969 i; 1978, xiii). This would argue more for the latter interpretation: a social construction of both the sacred and of reality. Yet the sacred is identified as the source of significance, meaning, power and being, and its manifestations as hierophanies, cratophanies, or ontophanies accordingly (appearances of the holy, of power, or of being). Corresponding to the suggested ambiguity of the sacred itself is the ambiguity of its manifestations.

Eliade does state that believers for whom the hierophany is a revelation of the sacred must be prepared by their experience, including their traditional religious background, before they can apprehend it. To others the sacred tree, for example, remains simply a tree. It is an indispensable element of Eliade's analysis that any phenomenal entity could be apprehended as an hierophany with the appropriate preparation. The conclusion must be that all beings reveal, and at the same time conceal, the nature of Being. A reprise of Nicholas of Cusa's Coincidentia Oppositorum is evident here, as is a possible explanation of the systematic ambiguity of Eliade's writings.

Finally religion, systematically understood as the apprehension of relative worth conferred through non-historical realities (including all abstract and imaginary entities) but revealed and confirmed through historical phenomena is seen as a unifying human universal. It is characteristic of Eliade's style of writing, both in his fictional and in his academic work, that this conclusion is nowhere clearly stated. Leading assertions are scattered throughout his publications on the history of religions, alchemy, symbolism, initiation, myth, etc. inviting his readers either to make an immediate interpretation or to pursue the question further into the thicket of his oeuvre.

Sighisoara Festival

2009-04-26T06:48:00.000-07:00

Each year Sighisoara holds a medieval festival in perfect harmony with the town's profile. I have been attending it for 2 years now and can say it's one of the most beautiful moments for me in the summer. In the citadel you can always see people dressed in medieval costumes, wearing clothes with the dust of time upon them, acting as if they have just left their house, 500 years ago. During the 3 days festival you may attend the plays with medieval profile in the most important squares and also can be a part of Sighisoara at night when movies -Dracula related mostly- are projected in the citadel. You can stroll in the citadel and at sudden you may hear some jester's screams or the citadel's representant communicating any important news for the different branches of workers in which the population was divided at those times.(ironsmiths, tins, tanners, tailors or goldsmiths). Actually in the citadel there are towers for each branch of workers. At first the clock tower was the symbol of justice in the municipal hall of the town and once served as jail. (usually those with death sentences were carried there). It suffered also an arson but was rebuilt in the same medieval spirit. The covered wooden stairs that lead to the gothic church and the german graveyard consist of around 121 steps (if I remember it well). So you see it was rather difficult to carry the dead to be buried, but also that graveyard was for the rich people in the citadel. I have seen it and it's a real beauty. I also took a nap there, in an afternoon, beside a cold gravestone and I woke up rather fresh. It's a rather strange cemetery since it's on a hill and it's more like a park with graves...and you really have a feeling of warmth and you may also feel you belong there...Just like it happened to me when I woke up :) . Concerts are always present during the festival, concerts with specific music that deals with the same cultural heritage. Every year an ammount of foreign tourists come here especially during the festival along with thousands (around 20000-30000) romanian teenagers, to express freely their feelings , to play the guitar in open air and to breath the air of history and its unwrapped mysteries.

Romanian forest 'could be voted one of the Seven Wonders of Nature'

2009-04-24T05:04:00.000-07:00

An ancient European forest is among the contenders for accreditation as one of the world's most amazing spectacles, those looking at the Romanian forestry industry may be interested to discover.The Retezat National Park in Romania has reached the second phase of voting in New7Wonders New Seven Wonders of Nature contest.It is competing in the forests, national parks and nature reserves category and the public will determine which of the contenders is named the most amazing site of its type.The other categories, which may interest those involved in the Romanian forestry industry, are landscapes and ice formations, islands and mountains and volcanoes.In addition, the most spectacular instances of caves, rock formations and valleys, lakes, rivers and waterfalls and seascapes will be democratically selected in an online vote.The Retezat National Park's website reveals that there are 1,190 species of plants in its confines, more than a third of those found in Romania.Of these, 90 are endemic plants which can only be found within the forest.

http://www.kms.ee/

In Romania, bribery is a health problem

2009-04-24T04:58:00.000-07:00

Alina Lungu, 30, says she did everything necessary to ensure a healthy pregnancy in Romania: She ate organic food, swam daily and bribed her gynecologist with an extra €200 in cash, paid in monthly increments of €25 handed over discreetly in white envelopes.
Another bribe of €25, or about $32, went to a nurse to guarantee an epidural. Even the orderly reaped an extra €10 to make sure he didn't drop her from the stretcher.
But on the day of her delivery, she says, her gynecologist never arrived. Twelve hours into labor, she was left alone in her room for an hour. When a doctor appeared, the umbilical cord was wrapped twice around her baby's head and had nearly suffocated him. He was blind and deaf and had suffered severe brain damage.
Now, Alina and her husband, Ionut, despair that if they had paid a larger bribe to the doctor, then Sebastian would perhaps be a healthy baby. "Doctors are so used to getting bribes in Romania that you now have to pay more in order to even get their attention," she said.
Romania, a poor Balkan country of 22 million that joined the European Union two years ago, is struggling to shed a culture of corruption honed during decades of communism - and stretching back beyond that. The European Commission, the EU's executive body, published a damning report Thursday criticizing Romania for backtracking on key judicial changes necessary to fight corruption. Sanctions could follow, including losing some of the €32 billion in EU aid it is due to receive between 2007 and 2013.
Transparency International, the Berlin-based anti-corruption watchdog, last year ranked Romania as the second most corrupt country in the 27-member bloc behind neighboring Bulgaria. Those who have faced corruption allegations have included a former prime minister, more than 1,100 doctors and teachers, 170 police officers and 3 generals, according to Romanian anti-corruption investigators.
While alarm grows in Brussels that the EU's newest entrants are undermining the bloc's rule of law, Romanians complain that everyday graft and bribery blight their lives. One patient here recently offered his doctor a free shopping trip to Dubai. The doctor politely declined.
Dr. Vasile Astarastoae, a biomedical ethicist who is president of the Romanian College of Physicians, representing 47,000 doctors, blamed the black healthcare economy on a pitifully low average monthly wage of €400 for doctors, which he said was forcing them to rely on supplementary income.
"Patients don't want to go to a doctor who is distracted thinking, 'How will I feed my kids or pay the rent?"' Astarastoae said. "So there is a conspiracy between the doctor and the patient to pay a bribe."
"If salaries were higher, then the practice would disappear," he said.
A study conducted by the World Bank for the Romanian Ministry of Health concluded that so-called informal payments amounted to $360 million annually. When an illness requires hospitalization, the Romanian patient typically pays three or four bribes equivalent to three-quarters of a family's monthly income, the study showed.
The Ministry of Health is trying to root out the practice, and recently set up a free phone line for patients to report abuses. Within an hour, it was jammed. Hospital here are plastered with anti-bribery posters. One shows a man hiding a gift behind his back, with the words "You Shouldn't Have" above his head.
The issue gained national attention last month when a 63-year-old man, Mihai Constantinescu, died of a massive heart attack in the waiting room of a hospital in Slatina, in southern Romania, after doctors refused to treat him. Mihaela Ionita, the nurse who wheeled him fruitlessly from room to room, said in an interview she believed he had been refused care "because he appeared poor and could not afford a bribe." The hospital said Constantinescu did not appear to have been an emergency case.
Victor Alistar, director of Transparency International's Romanian branch, said the culture of bribery was a hangover from communism, when Romanians endured long lines just to get basics like eggs and milk and used bribes to acquire scarce products and services.
Physicians lament that bribery is so endemic in the healthcare system that if a doctor refuses a bribe, patients typically become anxious and distraught, believing this to be a sign that their illness is incurable and death is imminent. Doctors then take the bribe to try to allay their anxiety.
Doctors and patients say bribery in the health-care system follows a set of unwritten rules. The cost of bribes depends on the treatment, ranging from €100 for a straightforward appendix-removal operation to up to €5,000 for brain surgery. The suggested bribery prices are passed on by word of mouth, and are publicized on blogs and Internet sites. Alistar said public hospitals routinely exchanged "supplementary payment" lists to ensure they had the same rates.
Dr. Adela Salceanu, a psychiatrist and anti-bribery advocate, said doctors used different and sometimes subtle methods to make it clear they expected a money-laden envelope.
She recalled that one friend, a 42-year-old lawyer, recently broke two legs in a basketball game and was taken to hospital for surgery. When he did not offer money to the orthopedic surgeon on duty, his procedure was postponed for a week; he was finally operated on, but only after paying the doctor an extra €400.
Salceanu lamented that young doctors who refused to accept bribes were routinely chastised or threatened with dismissal by senior colleagues for subverting the black market.
Mugur Ciumageanu, a psychiatrist who has practiced in public hospitals in Bucharest, recalled that when he was a young doctor, he was shocked when the senior physician on the ward took him aside and forbade him to talk with patients for three months. Her explanation, he recalled, was that he was spending more time with patients than she was and, by appearing more caring, was denting her bribery earnings.
Marilena Tiron, 26, a recent graduate of medical school in Bucharest, said the bribery culture among doctors started early because residents were also poorly paid - about €200 a month. She said the issue of bribery did not come up in her optional medical ethics class at the University of Bucharest's Medical School "since the teachers were taking bribes themselves."
Astarastoae, of the Romanian College of Physicians, acknowledged that bribery needed to be rooted out, but he argued that the media exaggerated the practice.
While doctors are god-like figures in most Western countries, respected and handsomely rewarded for years of hard study, Astarastoae said that in Romania, the medical profession was denigrated because workers in factories had been made heroes under communism, while doctors and intellectuals were treated as unproductive "parasites."
Astarastoae, who helped write Romania's code of medical ethics, said that under the code, it was considered unethical to take money or a gift before treatment; after treatment, however, it was at the discretion of the patient if he or she wanted to show appreciation.
He said the college had the power to sanction bribery by revoking the licenses of doctors implicated in a bribe. Few patients, however, are willing to name and shame their doctors for fear they could be shunned by other physicians.
Liviu Manaila, Romania's secretary of state for health, said in an interview that the system of informal payments was depriving doctors of their dignity and needed to be stamped out. While the government's budget is too strained to raise doctor's wages, he proposed revamping Romania's socialized medical system so that patients took on a greater burden of the costs, which could then be translated into higher fees for doctors.
But such proposals are cold comfort for Alina Lungu and 18-month-old Sebastian, who will probably spend his life in a vegetative state.
"The problem is that all this black money absolves doctors of their moral responsibility toward their patients," she said. "It has got to be stopped."

Romanian Fashion

2009-04-24T04:51:00.000-07:00

Never mind what the poll numbers say (our survey ranked Bucharest among the least stylish cities in Europe ). In fact, Bucharest has its own thriving fashion scene. Romania has a long design tradition dating to the interwar period, though much of it was destroyed under communism. Now, with the country's economy growing rapidly as a result of European Union membership and more of its citizens able to afford the latest styles, a small group of young designers, many trained abroad, are trying to put Bucharest back on the fashion map. Despite Bucharest's poor fashion reputation, Romanian women can take their fashion seriously. "Romanian women have an obsession for 'trendy,' for brands," says Alin Galatescu, fashion analyst, instructor and director of Avanpremiere Concept, one of the city's big annual fashion events. The same can't be said of Romanian men. Outside of the standard-issue suits worn by bankers and lawyers, most men on the street prefer the "bodyguard" style: jeans, T-shirts, buzz haircuts, sneakers, mobile phones and sunglasses (day or night).

The Romanian Film Festival in London

2009-04-24T04:46:00.000-07:00

It’s once again that time of the year, and we’re not talking about the spring. It’s time for the Romanian Film Festival in London! As with our previous film events, we are bringing you the ‘creme de la creme’ of Romanian cinema. Special guests from Romania will be attending selected screenings: actor and director Horatiu Malaele, screen legend Victor Rebengiuc, veteran director Stere Gulea, charismatic star Andi Vasluianu, and documentary film director Andrei Dascalescu. In the programme: SILENT WEDDING by Horatiu Malaele, HOOKED and WAVES by Adrian Sitaru, THE OTHER IRENE by Andrei Gruzsniczki, CONSTANTIN & ELENA by Andrei Dascalescu, EXCHANGE by Nicolae Margineanu, MOROMETII and WEEKEND WITH MY MOTHER by Stere Gulea, ELEVATOR by George Dorobantu, TIGER DANNY by Radu Potcoava, YELLOW SMILEY FACE by Constantin Popescu, ALEXANDRA by Radu Jude For those of you who use internet social networks, our Festival’s curator, Verena von Stackelberg, created a special Facebook page. Join the group, spread the news, become our friends!

Elena Udrea

2009-04-23T05:18:00.000-07:00

Elena Gabriela Udrea (born December 26, 1973) is a Romanian lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Liberal Party (PD-L), she has been a member of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies for Bucharest since 2008. In the Emil Boc cabinet, she has served as Tourism Minister, also since 2008.

The businessman Dorin Cocoş has been her husband since the couple married on Udrea's 30th birthday in 2003, at the Romanian Consulate in New York City.

She was born in Buzău and completed secondary studies at the city's Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu National College. She then attended the faculty of Law and Public Administration at Bucharest's Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University, graduating in 1996. Since 2005 Udrea has pursued studies at the Carol I National Defence University, receiving a master's degree in Military Science in 2007 and continuing to work on a doctorate in the same field. Udrea worked as a lawyer in Bucharest from 1997 to February 2005, resuming the practice of law that December. At Dimitrie Cantemir, she began teaching political systems in autumn 2007, and she has authored or co-authored five works on geopolitics and globalisation. Some of her activities as a lawyer have drawn criticism from the non-governmental Political Investigation Group: for instance, it has questioned the fact that while an opposition city councillor in 2004, she represented the government-run Department for State Heritage Administration (RA-APPS), at one point receiving public contracts worth 710 million lei during a single week.
Udrea began her political activity in 2002 as a legal adviser to the Social Democratic Party (PSD). She joined the National Liberal Party (PNL) that year, becoming a Bucharest city councillor in June 2004, during the period of the Justice and Truth Alliance. She held that office until the following February, and during that time was president of the council's committee on law and discipline. In October 2005 she resigned from the PNL, joining the Democratic Party (PD; precursor to today's PD-L) in February 2006. That December, she was elected the party's executive secretary, becoming a vice-president of the PD-L a year later. In these capacities, she promoted the party and spoke approvingly of the president, for instance ahead of the 2008 local election.

From February to November 2005, while away from her law practice, Udrea was a state counsellor and head of the Presidential Chancellery under President Traian Băsescu. Among her roles were summarizing secret documents addressed to the Presidency, approving lists of invitees to Cotroceni Palace and representing the Presidency at various events. During this period, she launched a series of attacks on Prime Minister Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, who had fallen out of favour with Băsescu; these centred on Tăriceanu's opposition to having early elections. She also drew notice for speaking during a televised interview about a "President of Norway" (which is a monarchy) and of that country as a member of the European Union (which it is not). Udrea resigned her post after eight months, citing the "profoundly unjust" attacks on her and others involved in Băsescu's anti-corruption drive, and her desire not to become a liability for her boss. These controversies centred around the RA-APPS affair and alleged links she and her husband had to the parking firm Dalli, headed by what Băsescu had termed the "personal mafia" of his 2004 election rival Adrian Năstase. Moreover, she was characterised as "the blonde from Golden Blitz"—a Cotroceni restaurant once frequented by Băsescu and the owners of which had business ties to Udrea's husband—having been photographed there with President-elect Băsescu in 2004. (Despite rumours to the contrary, she stated in an interview that her relationship with the President was "strictly professional".)Following her resignation, Udrea continued to act as a presidential surrogate, soon afterwards accusing the prime minister of placing a call to a prosecutor on behalf of his friend and business partner Dinu Patriciu on the day of Patriciu's arrest. She returned to this theme in 2007, when she alleged that Tăriceanu had written the president a note soliciting the latter's intervention in the case.

At the 2008 legislative election, Udrea won 43.4% of the vote in her district, enough to gain a seat in Parliament once redistribution took place. Three days after the legislative session opened, she was sworn in to the new office of Tourism Minister. All government employees on two floors of the Victoria Palace were evicted in order to make room for the new ministry. As minister, her goals include raising tourism's share of Romania's GDP from 3.5% in 2008 to 10% by 2012, and a renewed focus on the country's spa towns.

THE GETO-DACIANS

2009-04-23T05:13:00.000-07:00

It was when the Greeks settled on the Western shore of the Black Sea (Pontus Euxinus), where they set up the colonies of Tomis, Histria, Callatis, Olbia and Appolonia, that the local Thracians came into contact with the Greek world. The Greek historian Herodotus was the first to mention the population North of the Danube as Getae (Getians).

In the 6th century B.C., there are records of the Geto-Dacians, an ethno-historical entity branched out from the great Thracian trunk. The first archaeological findings relate to the Basarabi culture in Dobrudja materialized in an exquisite kind of pottery. The Geto-Dacians inhabited the vast area that stretched between the Northern Carpathian chain and the Balkan mountains.

Geto-Dacian society flourished under king Burebista (ca 82-44 B.C.), a contemporary and opponent of Caesar, and a friend of Pompey. Around the year 70 B.C., external conditions being propitious and Burebista's political and military actions successful, the Geto-Dacian people had a unique and firm rule, and a strong organization.

Burebista's country, rooted in the former social and political tradition, was strengthened by the king's conquest of Greek cities, like Tomis, Histria and Callatis on the Black Sea shore, and by eliminating the threat of Celtic invasion. In this way, Burebista came to rule over the whole Thracian-Geto-Dacian world, from the Haemus Mountains (the Balkans) to the Wooded Carpathians, from Tyras (the Dnestr) to the Tisza.

Controlling both sides of the Danube, Burebista was "the first and the greatest of the Thracian kings", as he is referred to in writing by Acornion of Dyonisopolis. The unifying centre of the Geto-Dacian state lay in the Orastie mountain zone (Sureanu) - a natural Transylvanian stronghold; there, Burebista developed a whole system of fortifications, which was to be continued by his followers Dicomes, Scoryllo, Cotiso.

His successful unifying endeavour, which led to the unity of the Geto-Dacian people, language and civilisation, made the king feel stronger, a fact which led him into believing that he was capable of measuring his military strength with that of the Romans. He was supported by the great priest Daecaeneus. Intent upon taking advantage of the civil war between Caesar and Pompey, he lent his support to the latter. Unfortunately, Caesar, emerging victorious, planned to take revenge on the Dacians in war. But his murder in the year 44 B.C. delayed an armed confrontation by some one hundred and twenty years. Shortly after Caesar's death, Burebista himself was overthrown by a plot of the aristocracy discontented with the king's absolute power. After his fall, the state weakened and lost part of its territory.

The Geto-Dacians were to witness a new period of cultural and political prosperity when Decebal (A.D. 87-106) acceded to the throne. Geto-Dacian civilisation was by then at its climax. In the 1st century B.C., as the Roman Empire was expanding, the Danube became the border between the Roman Empire and the Geto-Dacians. Dobrudja was already under Roman rule beginning with the reign of Augustus.

Eventually, the Romans did declare war on the Dacians, after a first confrontation (A.D. 87-89), and they waged two bloody wars (A.D. 101-102 and 105-106). The Geto-Dacians were defeated, the Empire led by Trajan extended its bounds over the Danube and turned part of Dacia into a Roman imperial province. Two monuments commemorate the events one is Trajan's Column, in Rome, the work of Apollodorus of Damascus (A.D. 113), and the other is Trophaeum Traiani, at Adamclisi (A.D. 109).

Mihai Eminescu

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Mihail Eminescu (January 15, 1850 - June 15, 1889), late Romantic poet, probably the single best-known Romanian poet. Famous works include "Luceafărul" ("Evening star"), "Mai am un singur dor" ("I Have a Single Desire Left"), and the 5 "Scrisori" ("Epistles").

Eminescu was active in the Junimea literary society, and was a prominent member of the Conservative Party and a journalist at Timpul.

A note on his name
"Mihail" is a more archaic form of "Mihai". Both were in use during Eminescu's lifetime, and he personally made use of both forms. However, he is generally referred to in Romania today as Mihai Eminescu.

His life in brief
Early years
Born in Ipoteşti, Botoşani County, Romania. Eminescu was the son of tax collector Gheorghe Eminovici and his wife Raluca Eminovici (maiden name Iurăscu). He spent his early childhood in Botoşani and Ipoteşti, in his parents' family home. From 1858 to 1866 he attended school in Cernăuţi. He finished grade 4th grade as the 5th of 82 students, after which he attended two years of gymnasium.

The first evidence of Eminescu as a writer is in 1866. In January of that year Romanian-teacher Aron Pumnul died and his students published a pamphlet, Lăcrămioarele invăţăceilor gimnazişti (Tears of the Gymnasium Students) in which appears a poem entitled "La mormântul lui Aron Pumnul" ("The Grave of Aron Pumnul") signed "M. Eminoviciu". Shortly thereafter, he began signing as "Mihai Eminescu". On February 25 his poem "De-aş avea" was published in the magazine Familia from Pest signed as "Iosif Vulcan". This began a steady series of published poems (and the occasional translation from German).

In 1867 he joined the troupe of Iorgu Caragiale as clerk and prompter; the next year he transferred to the troupe of Mihai Pascaly. Both of these were among the leading Romanian theatrical troupes of their day, the latter including Matei Millo and Fanny Tardini-Vladicescu. He soon settled in Bucharest, where at the end of November he became a clerk and copyist for the National Theater. Through this period, he continued to write and publish poems. He also paid his rent by translating hundreds of pages of a book by Enric Theodor Rotscher, although this never resulted in a completed work. Also at this time he began his novel Geniu pustiu ("Wasted Genius").

On April 1 1869 he was a co-founder of the "Orient" literary circle, whose interests included the gathering of fairy tales, popular poetry, and documents relating to Romanian literary history. On June 29, various members of the "Orient" group were commissioned to go to different provinces. Eminescu was assigned Moldova. That summer, he randomly ran into his brother Iorgu, a military officer, in Cişmigiu Gardens, but firmly rebuffed Iorgu's attempt to get him to renew ties to his family.

Still in summer 1869, he left Pascaly's troupe and traveled to Cernăuţi and Iaşi. He renewed ties to his family; his father promised him a regular allowance to pursue studies in Vienna in the fall. As always, he continued to write and publish poetry; notably, on the occasion of the death of the former ruler of Muntenia, Barbu Dimitrie Ştirbey, he published a leaflet, La moartea principelui Ştirbey.

Junimea
From October 1869 to 1872 he studied in Vienna. He was counted as an "extraordinary auditor" at the Faculty of Philosophy and Law. He was active in student life, befriended Ioan Slavici, and came to know Vienna through Veronica Micle; he became a contributor to Convorbiri literare (Literary Talk), edited by Junimea (from Romanian june -"young"). The leaders of this cultural organisation, Petre P. Carp, Vasile Pogor, Teodor Rosetti, Iacob Negruzzi and Titu Maiorescu, exercised their political and cultural influence over Eminescu, for the rest of his life.

He became a journalist at the newspaper Albina in Pest. From 1872 to 1874 he continued as a student in Berlin.

From 1874 to 1877 he worked as director of the Central Library in Iaşi, substitute teacher, school inspector for the counties of Iaşi and Vaslui, and editor of the newspaper Curierul de Iaşi (The Courier of Iaşi). He continued to publish in Convorbiri literare. He became a good friend of Ion Creangă, whom he convinced to become a writer and introduced him to the Junimea literary club.

In 1877 he moved to Bucharest, where until 1883 he was first editor, then (1880) editor-in-chief of the newspaper Timpul (Time). During this time he wrote most of his poems Scrisorile, Luceafărul etc.) However, his overwork during this period was very bad for his health.

In June 1883, the poet fell seriously ill, and was interned in the hospital of Dr. Şuţu. In December 1883, his volume Poezii appeared, with selection of poems and with a preface by Titu Maiorescu.

Ilness years
In his last years, he suffered from manic-depressive psychosis. In 1883, in Romania, he was diagnosed with syphilis and G. Calinescu wrote in the poet's biography that he had the illness since he was 20; however, a separate diagnosis done in Vienna, also from 1883, mentioned his depression but did not mention syphilis. In 1884, he returned to Romania and appeared generally healthy. Starting in 1886, he received a few injections with mercury, which was at that time the usual treatment for syphilis.

Eminescu died in hospital June 15, 1889. His autopsy was poorly conducted, so the matter of his precise cause of death is unlikely to be definitively settled. He is buried in Bucharest at Bellu Cemetery.

Works
Poems and Prose of Mihai Eminescu (editor: Kurt W. Treptow, publisher: The Center for Romanian Studies, Iaşi, Oxford, and Portland, 2000, ISBN 9739432107) contains a selection of English-language renditions Eminescu's poems and prose, including "Doina" (the name is a traditional type of Romanian song), "Lacul" ("The Lake"), "Si dacă" ("Whenever"), "Luceafărul" (variously translated as "Lucifer" or "The Morning Star"), "Odă (în metru antic)" ("Ode (in Ancient Meter)"), "Mai am un singur dor" ("I Have Yet One Desire"), among others. It also includes translations of four important prose writings: "Făt-Frumos din lacrimi" ("Prince Charming, The Tear-Begotten"), "Sărmanul Dionis" {"Poor Dionis"), "Geniu pustiu" ("Wasted Genius"), and "Cezara" ("Caesara").