A first in the Romanian soccer

Well, for the first time in history Romanian soccer fans have something to be excited about. Having two teams in the world's most important competition in football (the Champions League) doesn't come easy. Today, Steaua qualified in the group phase by beating Galatasaray Istambul at home 1-0 after drawing in Turkey (2-2). CFR Cluj the champion en-titre are automatically qualified and now both can hope for mercifull groups in the League. Why mercyfull? Well, CFR is in a bad shape now (10th place in the ROM league)while in general Romanian teams fail to actually "bite" the oponents, usually affraid by their fame. Hopefully, things will change to better.

Same ol' Troy

Getting back here is a bit tough after my extended European experience. No doubt, going to Ocean City first, has helped a lot. Now, slowly but surely, I am getting accquinted to everything.

My first Parasail experience

Quite nice but expensive as well, my first parasailing experience was quite short (aren't they all) of about 15 minutes of actual flight and a bit weird. The guys were also supposed to take our photos with a SLR camera and give us the film. Minor problem: they didn't have good batteries (that many pics they do) so the plan felt to pieces. The only proof I have are the few shots I took with a camera while floating above the Bay. Still..pretty cool and I definetely enjoyed a lot the view from above and the "floating in the wind" feeling

08.08.08 - How lucky can you get at the Chinese Olympics?

Superstition is quite a deal in China. Thus, the programming of the opening ceremony for the OG in Beijing. 08/08/08 08:08 pm was no surprise for those familiar with the significance of number 8 in Chinese culture.

OC getaway

OC has always been fun. The beach, boardwalk and private pool are something that easily can get you hooked. But the most appealing thing is the relaxation, something that I always find it to be synonym with OC.

Northern Germany, again

After acquiting myself with Kiel, Hamburg, Lubeck and other northern German cities..I had the chance to go back and experience it again. This time was the beautiful city of Bremen. A rather small but enchanting place, with a rich history and friendly people. Not to mention the beer gardens and all that other stuff...It's going to be touch to re-adjust to USA.

Back in the US with some emotions

Partly my personal fault, partly thanks to the improper website of allcheapfares.com, that hasn't allowed me to select the month from the usual combo boxes, I ended up stranded in the Hamburg airport. Besides the monetary loss, which is quite significant, one loses a lot more. I was very disappointed and mad on how this could have happened to me. But I guess after all the travel I have been doing, at same point something bad will occur. So yes, it was back in Kiel, in March, around 1-2am when I purchased the ticket online. Being in EU and having to enter manually the date, I naturally typed 04/08/08. But little did I suspect that instead of August the 4th, I actually purchased a ticket for April. Until now...:( well, not much one can do in this situation. Thus, I just made the obvious choice of buying another ticket ($1300) instead of returning to RO. The British Airways flight was quite lousy, the seating one of the worse I had, a plenty of crying babies to go around. PLus, at landing I had the privilege to experience how a roller coaster feels like, as a bonus. AT least I flew directly to DC. Here some carriages pick you up from the plain and take you to the actual terminal and the lines to enter the USA. This time wasn't to bad either. 45 minutes later after grabbing my bags I was exiting Dulles to experience the wonderful 90F. Back again..

Travel, fluddings & the global link

It seems like the weather is becoming more and more unstable each year. Still, not many think we should do something about it. Who, me..? Even if I want to, it wouldn't make a difference anyways.. that goes the usual saying. In the same week in which some French people experience for the first time a tornado, the north and north eastern part of Romania was confronted with massive rains and fluddings. I just left this region, thus, was able to escape most of it..but the question still remains: when it will all be sufficient to say "enough"? Just by looking at the gloomy Beijing Olympic skies one can definitely see there is something terribly wrong the way we threat the environment. Free riding is obviously not a good solution ..yet still, here we are.

Simian Mobile Disco - I believe

I wanted to have and post this video for a long time now. Both of which I've achieved right now. A great clip and song (too bad that the album doesn't live up to this standard), I believe gives (again, after Borat) the sour version of rural ROmania (close to Bucharest) where people drives Dacias with horses, do (some) agriculture and mainly survive from one day to the other. However, at the end of the day this is a better and more melodic version of the truth than the "manele"s present in their hit singles. the HI-Q version is worth the money.

Back home :(

A bit frustrating after reaching Bucharest, and so close to go to Greece but give up since it was too close to my planned hiking trip, which was canceled late and in a dissapointing manner only when I reached Cluj Napoca (no news on it until then). So, at the end of the day, I missed them all: Black Sea, mountains, Greece. I guess things aren't going always one wants, but this time they really did their best not to.:))... till next time...