Procrastination

Have lots of stuff to do, don't feel like doing it, finished writing on my main blog & commenting on all my friends' blogs
so I thought I should update this blog as well
procrastination is my middle name

fact is i have to sort a ton of papers and extract exercises for a test and i really don't feel like it

i won't be sad when this course is over, though it was fun and a nice experience

gotta go, livia will be here in no time and i haven't even started

cheers

Spring is coming

today was a very warm day and I went to a book fair where I bought lots of stuff, as usual.
i'm happy when it's sunny.
nothing else to write; I'll go watch House... missed him...

It´s a big Universe

today i got a really nice movie from the Animaniacs, about the Universe:

it's a great, big universe and we're all really puny

i loved it!

long time no write on this blog... I use my wordpress blog... when I have time :)

Chris, the Blogger

This is an interview with yours truly about the blogging experience, published in my company's internal newsletter.

Reporter: When did you start your blog?

Chris: I started blogging back in March 2004, when there were practically no blogging platforms and my first blog was more in the form of a forum. Then I moved to Yahoo 360 and now I have a Wordpress blog. The next step will be, obviously, to get my own domain :-)

Reporter: What motivated you or how did you come to the idea of having one?

Chris: I've always kept diaries, and when Internet came into fashion it was only natural that I should use this new medium to share my thoughts. Then I discovered the beauty of live interaction with other bloggers, via comments and e-mails... this is the best part of a blog, in my opinion.

Reporter: Why should anybody visit your page?

Chris: Well, I guess my blog will help you get to know me better. For Romanian speakers I have my primary Wordpress blog: http://chrismilla.wordpress.com and I also have one in English, for my friends who don't speak Romanian: http://smilla-smilla.blogspot.com.

Reporter: Which is your favorite blog (apart from your own, of course)?

Chris: I have lots of favorite blogs that I read frequently. I read Suzi and Ina's girlie blogs, they are lots of fun. I read the Book Lover's (although she might say otherwise) blog to find out about new books and what to read. The list is very long, I tell you. But you can browse it all on my blog, right-hand side blogroll.

Reporter: If your intention was to make some money with your blog, what would you write about?

Chris: There are various ways to make money from your blog. You can attract a lot of traffic and the make money from advertisement. However, I blog for pleasure, not traffic, and I hate commercials on web pages. So I would not think about this, but I must confess I have in mind another method to make money from my blog: writing a book. :-) And I'm now taking part in a blogging contest where I'm also going to win some stuff for my blog. You can read my article and vote for me if you like it! :p [commercial moment over ;))]

Holiday Target: Lisbon, Portugal

The capital of Portugal, Lisbon is famous all over the world for its narrow streets crossed by yellow trams, being one of the few European cities to still use trams as public transport means. Being a city built on 7 hills, don’t be surprised if the tram seems at times more like a rollercoaster!

If you only have 3 days in Lisbon, like I did, here are some things you must absolutely do:

• Take a walk around the old center, starting in Praça do Comércio, and continuing on to Rúa Augusta, a pedestrian street with a lot of shops and nice terraces to sip a coffee and enjoy the buzz of the city around you. • Take the Santa Justa elevator, the only vertical elevator in Lisbon up to the Carmo Convent. This Gothic masterpiece was ruined by a major earthquake in 1755 and is today preserved as an Archaeology Museum.


• Take a deep breath and climb the Castle hill for spectacular views from the Saint George Castle, located on the highest spot of the city. Every now and then take a detour off the main road and enjoy the view (or, indeed, the beer) from one of the small terrace bars scattered along the way.


• Head down to the Tagus river to visit the Cathedral and the Alfama neighborhood, the oldest neighborhood of the city and one that has survived two major earthquakes in the course of the centuries. Lose yourself on the small streets, where locals hang their clothes to dry just above your head or take a tram to enjoy the views without getting tired.


• Visit the neighboring towns of Sintra, Estoril and Cascais, to admire old architecture monuments, have a typical seafood meal or go to the beach. The last two are beach resorts where the sun shines all day round, although the ocean is still somewhat cold.


• On your third day, explore the western part of the city, and go to see the Belem tower, a UNESCO heritage site that will stick to your soul immediately. Seems to be made of sand and will definitely have you thinking of childhood stories of knights and ladies…
  Take your time to explore this 16th century fortress with its romantic loggias and impressive views (that is if you manage to climb five floors on the narrowest spiral staircase!)


• Not far from the Tower, you can visit the Jeronimos Monastery, a magnificent Manueline Gothic monument that preserves the earthly remains of Vasco da Gama and Luis Camoes. The impressive building also hosts an Archaeological Museum, and the Lisbon Maritime Museum.


• Eat in the numerous restaurants scattered along the way, and don’t leave Lisbon without trying the delicious cream tarts known as Pasteis de Belem.
  

Boa viagem!

(Have a nice trip!)

*See my pics from Lisbon on Picasa!

This is NOT an abandoned blog :-)

Despite the weird blogger.com interface in Romanian, I'm still interested in this blog, just didn't have time to update it. It's a bit time-consuming to write the same things (basically) in two languages, but I've decided I'll put here more about the places I travel, and the books I read and this kind of stuff, and leave other musings for my Romanian blog.

It's nice to be able to say Budapest was not the last European capital I visited this year. Just a few weeks ago I went to Lisbon, in Portugal, an interesting and picturesque place by the river Tagus.

I'll write more about this experience very soon.

Budapest

I went on a "shopping trip" to Budapest at the end of March. I must confess I didn't think we would really go, although we had the plane tickets (Wizz Air) and Diana kept sending us hotel links to check out :-)

The idea came up one day in the office. It was the end of February I think, and Diana was about to go to (or had just come back from?) Rome. We were talking about clothes, and designer's stores and shoes and stuff, and wondering what the closest shopper's paradise was - to Bucharest, of course. So Diana suggested Budapest, and Mih said she wanted to go, seriously now, she really did want to see Budapest and let's do it! Diana immediately opened a browser and found low cost plane tickets, so low cost in fact that a return plane ticket to Budapest cost less than one-way trip to most places in Romania by car/train. So we booked the tickets, Raluca announced she also wanted to go, we decided at some point that boys were to stay out of this "fashionista trip" and on March 30th, at 4:30 in the morning, we were on the Baneasa airport sipping coffee in plastic cups, all 4 of us sleepy and excited at the same time, playing with our IKEA finger-toys and waiting to get to Budapest!

The photos can speak for the rest:

1. sewer lids from the Austro-Hungarian Empire period
2. doors
3. urban furniture
4. others