Photo of the Day (12/25/06)

by Iva Skoch on

Here is one to Romania! It’s hard to believe they will be a part of the EU in no time…

I have never been but the mountains (Piatra Craiului) are supposed to be great. A few of my friends have gone there to hike and ski and loved it. Here is a photo of the countryside from Marek Wagner for the Czech travel mag Koktejl.

Romania and Bulgaria are the new hot places to travel in Europe. Adventure travelers fear that the EU membership will make them lose their edge. Real estate agents are buying property there like crazy because it’s still cheap but they know when those budget airlines start offloading (first students, bachelor party types, then families from Western Europe) by the thousands, it is officially over.

Word for the Travel Wise (11/11/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Say goodbye to your loved ones before heading to the land of Dracula as you may never see them again. (Insert wicked laughter.) Okay, sorry… Am I going to bring up another Dracula reference every time I give you a Romanian word? Gee, I hope not. I’m short on creative energy and brain cells today, but just be sure to use this easy word one or two time sin passing or on your way out from your fabulous Romanian vacation.

Today’s word is a Romanian word used in Romania:

la revedere – goodbye

If you’d like to know some real practical basics visit this Easy Romanian site. They offer proverbs, months, numbers, and days of the week. As usual Pimsluer offers great audio methods and Lonely Planet has a pocket sized phrasebook for Eastern European langs. BBC has the quick fix holiday downloads with the very, very, basics of the language worth looking into.

Past Romanian words: ciocan, no roc, multumesc, buna, ajutor

MSN’s 10 Places to Get Spooked

by Adrienne Wilson on

BOO! Halloween is now only a week away and it is time for some real trip planning if you have yet to begin. If you’re too embarrassed to go cruise your home digs in costume with a begging bag in hand consider some of these ghostly destinations provided by MSN. Start with a trip down to the legendary Bermuda Triangle known for making many a vessel disappear while sailing the sea span between Miami, Bermuda and San Juan, P.R. If taking to the seas on one of the creepiest nights of the year doesn’t give you goose-pimples try a visit to the city of Salem, Mass., where the famous witch trials took place in 1692. All month long Salem makes the most of its utterly gruesome past by hosting several ghost tours, street fairs and costume balls. In all honesty Salem looks like one of the best places to head too if you’re really wrapped into this stuff. Other stops include Roswell, London’s Ghost Walk and Transylvania of course. Having been to Transylvania before, I say skip the expensive plane ride over and again, head to Salem.

See MSN for the spooky rest.

Word for the Travel Wise (09/24/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

I’m as beat as beat comes so let’s just hop right into the word for the night. Hope this oen helps someone out there!

Today’s word is a Romanian word used in Romania:

ajutor – help

If you’d like to know some real practical basics visit this Easy Romanian site. They offer proverbs, months, numbers, and days of the week. As usual Pimsluer offers great audio methods and Lonely Planet has a pocket sized phrasebook for Eastern European langs. BBC has the quick fix holiday downloads with the very, very, basics of the language worth looking into.

Past Romanian words: ciocan, no roc, multumesc, buna

Word for the Travel Wise (07/24/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

The best thing about traveling sometimes is the return home after you’ve made incredible lifelong friends across the globe. From time to time they’ll only be other backpackers exploring the same terrain, but if you’ve made a good effort to meet more locals than tourists you’ll always have a connection, contact and place to go back to on your return one day. Such is the case with one of my dear old pals in Romania who I try to touch base with whenever I have a free moment. With that being said I’m off for the night and to shoot her an email! La reverede.

Today’s word is a Romanian word used in Romania:

buna – hi

If you’d like to know some real practical basics visit this Easy Romanian site. They offer proverbs, months, numbers, and days of the week. As usual Pimsluer offers great audio methods and Lonely Planet has a pocket sized phrasebook for Eastern European langs. BBC has the quick fix holiday downloads with the very, very, basics of the language worth looking into.

Past Romanian words: ciocan, no roc, multumesc