Radio România Internațional

Tag: holiday

  • June 19, 2016

    June 19, 2016

    WEATHER — The heavy rainfalls and thunderstorms caused problems last night in eastern and southern Romania. Houses were flooded, trees fell on the roads blocking traffic, and hailstorms destroyed crops and homes. Tens of people have been evacuated. After the extreme heat of the past few days, a code-yellow warning against heavy rains and hailstorms was issued for the west, south-west and centre of the country. Code-orange flood alerts are also in place for rivers in 11 counties, most of them in eastern Romania.




    VISIT — The President of Germany, Joachim Gauck, with be on an official three-day visit to Romania as of Monday. In Bucharest, he will have a meeting with President Klaus Iohannis and PM Dacian Cioloş and will give an address at the National Library. On Tuesday, the two presidents will travel to Sibiu, in central Romania, a city founded by Saxon colonists in the 14th Century. Sibiu is also the home town of President Klaus Iohannis, a German ethnic himself, who was the mayor there for 14 years. On Wednesday the Romanian and German heads of state will attend a meeting with Romanian and German business people.




    HOLIDAYS — More than 22,000 Interior Ministry employees are to ensure public order in Romania during the Pentecost holiday which ends on Monday night. Some 40,000 tourists are already in Romanian seaside resorts, where most accommodation facilities are fully booked. A growing number of hotels have added spa and treatment facilities to their offers. Other Romanians took advantage of the three-day holiday to go to mountain resorts.



    DIASPORA — The Minister Delegate for relations with the Romanian diaspora, Dan Stoenescu, had a meeting yesterday with members of the Romanian community in the Netherlands. According to the Foreign Ministry, the Romanian official encouraged the involvement of Romanian associations, jointly with the Dutch and Romanian authorities, in awareness raising campaigns focusing on the rights and obligations of the Romanian citizens residing in the Netherlands. Stoenescu also emphasised the importance of the Romanian-Dutch cooperation in organising joint events to promote inter-cultural dialogue. Minister Dan Stoenescu had previously had a meeting with members of the Romanian community in Brussels.




    LA BLOUSE ROUMAINE — The Mayor of the US capital city, Washington, Ms Muriel Bowser, proclaimed June 24th as the Universal Day of the Romanian Blouse in Washington, in response to an initiative of the Romanian Embassy in the USA. The Romanian blouse has been acknowledged as an international symbol of Romanian culture and a source of inspiration for major designers. Initiated and coordinated by the online community called “La Blouse Roumaine,” the International Day of the Romanian Blouse is aimed at promoting a Romanian tradition and at creating a country brand recognised around the world. The Romanian blouse is a white shirt, part of the traditional folk costume of Romanian women, and is richly embroidered with folk motifs.




    PENTECOST – Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Christians in Romania and across the world continue to celebrate the three-day feast of the Pentecost, marking 50 days from Easter and the foundation of the Christian Church. This feast day refers to the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the 12 Apostles of Jesus Christ, who could thus spread the gospels in languages they could not speak before. On the same day, with St. Peter’s fervent proclamation, some 3,000 people converted to Christianity, making up the first Christian community in Jerusalem, the core of the future Christian Church.



    NAMASTE INDIA — The Romanian Peasant Museum in Bucharest hosted, between June 17 and 19, the NAMASTE INDIA Festival, celebrating Indian culture in Romania. the Festival included a variety of events, from introductory language courses to henna painting workshops, and from yoga classes to documentary film screenings. On Sunday, the closing day, a sari parade was followed by traditional music and dance performances.




    FOOTBALL — Romania plays tonight in Lyon against Albania, in its last match in Group A of the European football championship in France, concurrently with the match between the host country’s team and Switzerland. The two matches will decide the teams that qualify into the eighth-finals of the competition. With 6 points in 2 games, France is the group leader and has already secured its qualification. Switzerland has 4 points, Romania 1, and Albania none. This is the first time in the European championship when 24 teams take part, and qualifying in the next rounds are not only the first two teams in each group, but also four teams ranking third in their respective groups.




    RUGBY — Romania’s national rugby team defeated Argentina B, 20-8, in Bucharest on Saturday night, in the final match of the last stage of the World Rugby Nations Cup. In the previous games, the Romanians had outplayed Namibia, 20-8, and Uruguay, 40-0. Romania thus won the trophy of this competition for the fourth time. Ten of the 11 editions of World Rugby Nations Cup have been held in Romania so far.


    (translated by: Ana Maria Popescu)

  • May 28, 2016

    May 28, 2016

    The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, warned that Romania and Poland might be within the range of Russian missiles, in the context of their hosting elements of the American missile defence system, seen as a threat to Moscow, Reuters reports. Putin reiterated the warning concerning the anti-missile system in Romania, claiming that although Moscow had repeatedly said it would retaliate, Washington and its allies ignored the warnings. This month the American anti-missile system in Deveselu, southern Romania, became operational, and a similar operation is due in Poland. NATOs plans to place components of its missile defence system in Romania and Poland has generated tensions with Russia from the very beginning. Moscow views the military system as targeting its territory, although the Alliance has repeatedly explained it targeted the forces of countries like Iran and North Korea. The Deveselu military base is 180 km from Bucharest, and the shield is activated upon identification of hostile missiles by its fixed or mobile radars.



    The Romanian Cultural Institute, the “Eudoxiu Hurmuzachi Institute and the Romanian Foreign Ministrys Department for Policies concerning the Romanians abroad are this year putting together a joint programme to celebrate the Day of the Romanian diaspora. The events, which take place today and tomorrow in Bucharest, bring together representatives of Romanian communities in the Balkan region as well as notable personalities that promote Romanias image. The programme includes a conference on the national identity abroad and the role of Romanian education. A fair will also be organized to showcase the traditions of the Romanian communities, and folk ensembles from Ukraine, Serbia, the Republic of Moldova and Romania will stage music and dance shows. The day of Romanians living abroad will also be celebrated in Cernauti, through 2 folklore performances, and in Madrid, which will host a Romanian traditional music concert.



    The EU has extended by another year the sanctions against Syrias Bashar al Assad regime, until July 1, 2017. The measures include, among others, an oil embargo, investment restrictions, the freezing of the assets of the Syrian central bank in the EU, restrictions on technology and equipment exports that might be used for domestic repression. Also, some transactions, through which Bashar al Assads forces may intercept the opposition members calls and electronic communications are blocked. More than 200 individuals and 70 companies and institutions are subject to travel bans and account freeze measures, in response to the violent repression of civilians in Syria. Brussels also maintains its commitment to identifying a long-term solution for the Syrian conflict, and intends to help organize new peace talks between the parties.




    Nearly 3,000 people attended on Friday in Cluj-Napoca the opening gala of the Transylvania International Film Festival, held in the citys central square. Todays agenda includes special events organized both in the city and at the Banffy Castle in the village of Bonţida, dubbed the Transylvania Versailles. The public will be able to watch some of the best Lithuanian productions, while at the Students Cultural Centre the Romanian astronaut Dumitru Prunariu will talk to those interested in films on that topic. Until June 5, more than 248 films will be screened, of which 216 feature films and 32 shorts. This years festival will include the Romanian premiere of Dogs, the winner of the Critics Award in Cannes. The special guest of the current edition of TIFF is actress Sophia Loren, who travels to Romania for the first time, to pick up a lifetime achievement award.



    Two Romanian players have qualified for the eighth-finals of the Roland Garros tournament, the second Grand Slam of the year. Simona Halep, no 6 in the world, will take on the Australian Samantha Stosur (24 WTA), while Irina Begu (28 WTA) will be competing against the American Shelby Rogers (108 WTA) for a place in the quarter-finals. Halep and Stosur have so far played 7 times against each other, with the Romanian player winning four times. For Irina Begu on the other hand, this is the first eighth-final qualification, and she has never played against Rogers before. In the mens doubles, the Romanian/Indian pair Florin Mergea and Rohan Bopanna have also reached the eighth-final stage.

  • Holidays in Bistrita-Nasaud

    Holidays in Bistrita-Nasaud




    Dear friends, we invite you to
    participate in a new prize-winning contest here on RRI, entitled Holidays in
    Bistrita-Nasaud. The contest is devoted to Bistrita-Nasaud county in northern
    Romania, which has a rich tourist potential and boasts numerous cultural,
    historical and natural points of interest.


    Between 106-271 AD, most of today’s
    county of Bistrita – Nasaud was part of the Roman province of Dacia. Proof of
    that stand the Romanian castra in Orheiu Bistritei, Ilisua and Livezile. The
    town of Bistrita, the current capital town of the county, was first documented
    in 1264. In 1409, Sigismund of Luxembourg granted the locals the right to erect
    defense walls around the town, and documents of 1440 speak for the first time
    of a settlement called Nasaud. Besides a rich history and breathtaking
    landscapes, the county has many other tourist attractions.

    Among them the
    Silversmith’s House and the Coopers’ Tower, both in Bistrita, the ruins of the
    Rodna fortress, the ruins of the Roman Castrum Orheiu Bistritei, Bistrita
    Valley and Gorges, the Arboretum in Arcalia, the Evangelical Church, the
    Synagogue, the Bistrita-Nasaud County Museum, the Compared Art Museum in
    Sangeorz Bai, the memorial houses of poets Andrei Muresanu and George Cosbuc
    and of the prose-writer Liviu Rebreanu, the ‘Izvorul Tausoarelor’ Cave (the
    deepest cave in Romania), the ‘Grota Zanelor’ Cave (Fairies’ Cave), many nature
    and botanical reserves (including daffodil meadows and muddy volcanoes). Also,
    we should not forget about the famous Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The bust of the
    Irish writer can be seen right in front of the ‘Dracula Castle’ Hotel, in
    Piatra Fantanele, Tihuta Pass, where the winners of our contest will spend two
    nights.




    We invite you to follow RRI’s broadcasts,
    the website www.rri.ro and our Facebook,
    Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn profiles and give correct answers, in writing, to
    the contest questions. The contest will end on July 15th 2016,
    mailing date.




    Two Grand Prizes will be offered to two
    RRI listeners, consisting of an 8-day (7-night) trip, full-board, between the
    15th and the 30th of September, 2016, to the town of
    Bistrita, to Piatra Fantanele (‘Castel Dracula’ Hotel) and Colibita, on the
    shore of the artificial storage lake with the same name.




    The sponsors of this contest are the
    ‘Castel Dracula’ Hotel in Piatra Fantanele, the ‘Coroana de Aur’ (Golden Crown)
    Hotel in Bistrita and Fishermen’s Resort in Colibita. Also, the contest enjoys
    the support of the Bistrita-Nasaud County Council, the Bistrita Town Hall, the
    Nasaud Orthodox Archpriestship, the Bistrita branch of the Union of Fine
    Artists in Romania, the Bistrita – Nasaud County Centre for Culture, the
    Compared Art Museum in Sangeorz Bai and the ‘Concert Society’ Cultural
    Foundation in Bistrita.




    As usual, the winners will have to
    provide for their own international transport to and from Romania, and get a
    visa, if applicable.




    And now, here are the questions:



    -Which is the capital city of Bistrita
    – Nasaud county?

    -What is the name of the storage lake
    on the shores of which the guesthouse that will host the winners of the contest
    is located?


    -The name of whose famous novel and
    film character is linked to the name of Bistrita – Nasaud?




    Please tell us what prompted you to
    participate in the contest and why you are listening to RRI’s broadcasts and
    following RRI’s content online.




    Our address is: Radio Romania
    International, 60-64 G-ral Berthelot Street, District 1, Bucharest, PO Box 111,
    zip code 010165, fax 00.40.21.319.05.62, e-mail: engl@rri.ro.
    Please send your answers by July 15th 2016, mailing date. The
    winners of the Grand Prize will be announced soon after that date.

    Good luck!





  • Holiday Planner

    Holiday Planner

    If you plan to get to the US Open, or maybe to the Venice Biennale, if you’re interested in the Negara buffalo races in Indonesia or in a tango festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina, now you have a solution. An application made by a Romanian offers travellers in search of holiday ideas a database with thousands of festivals and events around the world, arranged in a calendar. Cristian Munteanu, founder and CEO of Qalendra, tells us how he got the idea and how the project developed in the last two years:



    “Qalendra was an idea rooted in my needs as a traveller. I am an active traveller, I like to do all sorts of things, to see places, to have experiences. I like skydiving, car racing, I am a special kind of traveller. So first I tried to put together a calendar of things I would have liked to see, like Tomatina, the world’s biggest tomato fight. Because I kept forgetting about it, I would find myself in September again, and that Thursday in August when the festival takes place had been and gone. Every time I would tell myself, never mind, I’ll do it next year. So I started this as an Excel file, with every month of the year and all major events in the world. Then, one day, I realized this file would not just automatically update, the third Thursday in August is on a different date every year, so I thought I could turn it into an application or a website, so that other people may have access to information. Everything started from a calendar of festivals and events, but we later started to identify more pressing needs the travellers may have. Qalendra is a travel company catering to active travellers from all over the world, and what we do is develop some algorithms able to identify the region offering the best conditions for one activity and another.”



    We spend almost one thousand days on holiday during our lifetime and how we spend these days depends on us. Qalendra gleans information for specific travel demands. Here is Cristian Munteanu with more.



    “Let’s say I would like to go skiing in Chile between 1st and 8th of June. We identify the ski resorts in Chile that offer the best conditions for winter sports in that period, taking into account the snow layer, visibility, the length of ski tracks, the facilities they offer, like ski and chairlifts, etc. We are concerned about one thing only, the tourists, who must have the most pleasant holiday experience. That’s why we take into consideration all the parameters that could affect their holiday. We contact weather forecast services, for instance, we have detailed information on the last 50 years, we have data on ski slopes, maps of the slopes and so on. The Internet has expanded a lot as a structure in recent years. There are all sorts of sites covering all sorts of fields, which basically feed information to you. What we do is provide facts to people: it’s here you should go, because here you have 8.3 % higher chances to find a snow layer over 28 centimetres at this time of the year.”



    Perhaps one of the most impressive options Qalendra makes available to prospective travellers is the Travel Wishlist. Every one of us can introduce in their personal list the festivals and events they want to take part in. Qalendra will then send notifications and alerts, when the start date for the festivals is drawing near, when discounts and promotions are on, when the date and venue of an event changes, when other interesting things happen nearby or when cheaper plane tickets are available. We asked Cristian Munteanu if we could make use of Qalendra to find out more about the Tango Festival in Argentina.



    “It’s quite simple. You have to search Qalendra using key words like ‘festival’ or ‘tango’ and you can have access to all the information you need quite easily. If we want the user’s experience to be as pleasant as possible, we recommend a hotel close to the venue of the event, then we recommend a suitable flight in terms of price; in the initial package we also propose a hotel shuttle service to and from the airport, plus other things which the traveller wants to add, for instance a traditional Argentine dinner, or a sightseeing tour of the city. So, you can have a full package just with 4-5 clicks and we give you the reasons for our recommendations; the traveller makes just one payment and we distribute the money to all the providers”.



    A team of editors select the information, do research on various themes and then write articles about each and every festival. For instance, they work for a week to pick up all the information on the most important cultural events in Argentina. First, they identify the events, then they write the texts, giving all kinds of details, plus pictures. The database is permanently updated. Qalendra provides information about some 2000 festivals across the world, but it focuses on festivals and events in Europe.