Flowers here, flowers there, flowers everywhere!!!

I think this will describe the best my last weeks..I've been surrounded by flowers that came in different shapes and colours...

Irina has been home as well..A bit more info on this topic, Irina is my flatmate, a very good friend of mine who is moving back to Belgium to work for Inbev..


Meanwhile I am sharing the apartment with Ana, another friend of mine, while she is waiting for her papers in order to start the new job in Uk. And yes, both of them are Romanians:)



Going back to the flowers..2 weekends ago I experienced Keukenhof, the biggest flower garden in the world..It was just PERFECT!! Keukenhof is a small paradise where you really can get lost in the beauty of the surroundings..


"For a place that really is only open for about 8 weeks a year and especially if you love spring flowers, and more especially tulips, there's no place better than De Keukenhof not far from the village of Lisse, The Netherlands, southwest of Amsterdam.


This remarkable park is transformed every spring into a dazzling, ever-changing display of tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, crocuses, lilies, amaryllis, and many other flowers. There are also flowering shrubs, ancient trees and countless natural surprises, as well as themed gardens to explore and pavilions filled with displays, and of course, a windmill.


A number of sculptures and other objects d'art can be viewed on a sculpture trail among the flowers throughout the park. The park has somewhere near 10 miles of trails and walkways among its 70 acres for you to view this remarkable site of beautiful flowers and shrubs. "


Last weekend I've entered the world of flowers again, this time in Belgium, while visiting the Royal gardens. My friend Dana was the one with this great idea:)..As teh gardens are open in the evenings, you can imagine how beautiful can be to walk in the middle of nature and admire the perfection of each petal and leaves ..The Royal gardens are open only 2-3 weeks/year and they have lots of visitors..After being there, I can understand why.. Pictures to come soon, I promise!!


Actually the last weekend has been quite full as it was Easter as well for me..And although far from the pasca, lamb steak and cozonac, we've managed to bring a bit of the Easter spirit in Brussels as well..We started with a brunch in Norica's place on Sunday (Thank you Norica!) and me and Ana continued with the Easter event in Pl. St Catherine..There were mici and drob, cozonac and pasca.. I think I've never been so happy to hear so much romanian and to see our tarditional food...


A! And this year I made my first coloured eggs..I am challneging myself, no? Maybe next time I will make some drob as well :)

posted by Nico(leta) @ 09:23, ,

Rome- la vida e bella!

I am taking advantage of the fact that is w/d and Sunday morning to finally post about one amazing city I've visited last week...Rome!!!

After a flight of 2 hours I've finally reached my destination..The city of Michelangelo and of Pope, was waiting for me to discover it!..Of course, as nothing goes as planned, on Friday evening I couldn't see anything because of the horrible headache I had..Luckily my dear Georgi come from the city to take care of me:)...
A! I guess I forgot to tell you that one of the purpose of the trip was also to meet Georgi, one of my best friends from Romania, and Oana another dear friend of mine..

Anyway, by 23:00 I was feeling much better do to the care of Georgi, so we went for a drink and a short visit to Oana's friends who came for a reunion in Rome..

My first night in Rome ended around 1:30, without actually me seeing anything of the city...

A different story waits for Saturday and Sunday..Georgi became the guide ( my sense of orientation is very poor:)) and so with a plan already made, we started the journey!!

The Colosseum, The Roman Forum, Pantheon (from outside), The castle of the Angel, Piazza di Spagna, and of course, my favourite place : La fontana di Trevi..All this great places were on our list on Saturday..So , by the time we arrived in the camping (where we were staying) we were dead tired and hungry..A nice dinner in a Italian style with Pizza and Pasta, plus a good bottle of white wine was meant to recharge the batteries..

The desert was the cherry on the cake, as my mom sent me through Georgi the most amazing cheese cake ever (there is no secret that my mom is an amazing cook:))..and with this being said and done, our beds were waiting for us!!!

I know, we were a bit boring, no disco or clubbing, but to be honest, I didn't miss them at all!!! Has been a perfect day without them...

And Sunday came..my last day in Rome..Vatican was on the list and otherwise only sightseeing..The weather was not 100% on our side, as it was raining from time to time, but we survived..So, we managed to see "another country" as we realized after visiting the St Pieter's Church, Michelangelo's Pieta and after we climbed on the top of the church to see one of the most beautiful views of Rome..

Unfortunately some places we didn't see like the Sixteen Chapel, as it was closed, but this is only a reason to go back..because believe me Rome is definitely a city were you want to go back!!!

Forgot to mention thatI've spent my Sunday night in the airport beacuse I had an early flight, so I was full of energy when I reached the office after 2-3 hours of sleep!! (thanks to @ conferences, of course I didn't have such a big challenge:))

Now, the next 2-3 w/d i don't have anything planned, except sleep, sleep and sleep..Sounds like a great plan as well!!!

posted by Nico(leta) @ 10:02, ,

Easter in Paris - Paris, j’t’aime!!!

I know...I am a bad blogger, but I do have a good excuse. The last weeks I’ve been traveling a lot ,(because of work or pleasure :)) and the fact is that I just didn’t have time to seat down and write my thoughts..Well, now I am taking few minutes to put on paper (actually in word) some thoughts about Paris..

This Easter, the first one spent abroad, I had the chance to discover a wonderful place.. Paris…Everybody knows how famous it is, and it doesn’t make sense to write about the great buildings or places that I’ve seen ( and believe me they are a lot)…

What I can say is that the city represents a strange combination between a dirty and old city and a city with an amazing architecture, full of life…The result of this combination is just great!!!

Being in Paris, walking on Champs Elyse, having a picnic at Versailles, walking around Louvre, Notre Dame made me remember about the love stories I never wanted to end…stories and fairy tells I was reading as a young child , with kings and queens, with knights and prince charm..

Yes, I love the city ..it’s the place where I have to go back to really discover it and to take as much as I can from it’s charm. It is the place that I will truly recommend it for a visit of at least 2 days with the loved one…

The fact that my visit in Paris was strongly connected with a Romanian gathering, with seeing old friends and celebrating the Easter in a Romanian way with red eggs and lots of food, also made me fall for it…

Thank you Marina, Beb, Anca and of course my dear Cornelia!!!

posted by Nico(leta) @ 23:31, ,

One down..4 to go

One of my NY resolution: to visit 5 new countries this year..

Last weekend my first visit to Germany happened..Having Frankfurt as destination, we left Leuven on Friday evening, 7 people in a 7 sits car, ready for a drive of 4 hours...

Although the expectations I had for Frankfurt were not that high due to all the nice comments:"what will you see there?..there is nothing", I did enjoy the city...

True, maybe it's not as glamorous as Berlin or Munich, but it has it's charm..

Actually the purpose of the visit (except Serghei missing his wife;)) was to visit the museum "Dialog in the dark" or, to understand better, Blinds' Museum..

The visit there has been for sure a strong experience for me as I had the chance to put myself in the shoes of a blind persona and to pass through some experiences they are facing daily: crossing the street, going grocery shopping etc...

We take everything for granted..it's so easy to do this..but we never stop to say thank you for the "small" things that are so important...

Another highlight of my visit...THE FOOD!!!!..After 6 months in Belgium, eating food that has no taste, it was so good to eat a fat big dish of potatoes, sausages and salade..Yammiiii..and if you also take in consideration that it was only 10 euro..you are in paradise!!!

A! And I discovered a new beer that I like: Radler..sweet pills beer with lemon :)

Next to come..Paris!!! ticket bought...Easter, Coco, friends...I need this!!!

posted by Nico(leta) @ 07:23, ,