Sibiu- the City Where The Houses Have Eyes

 

A few years ago I was walking through the old town of the stunningly beautiful Transylvanian city of Sibiu when I noticed several houses whose rooftops had some truly unique features: the windows in the attics looked like eyes. The first house I observed, which had five eye-shaped windows appeared particularly creepy to me, and for a while I kept having an odd feeling whenever I looked at the pictures I made on that summer day.

However, this is not an uncommon sight in the historical center of Sibiu. Many of the houses you can admire there contain such weird and wonderful windows which are known as the “city’s eyes.” The strange feeling I experienced when I first saw the house with five eyes, which was the first one that drew my attention, was that it was alive and watching me!

In a way, those eyes can be viewed as the guardians of the old city. They are located in a public square and some of those houses were built as early as the 15th century, so they witnessed a lot of important events in the history of Sibiu! If I were a writer of horror stories I think the “city’s eyes” would represent a source of inspiration for a scary tale that I would entitle “The Houses Have Eyes.” Anyway, people who visit the old center of Sibiu should keep in mind that the city’s eyes are always watching them!

Of course, those eye-shaped windows are not necessarily creepy, it depends on how each person perceives them after taking a closer look at these weird, but wonderful architectural elements. Nowadays when I look at those pictures again those eyes seem to be looking at me in a much friendlier manner than the one I had in mind when I first saw them. I see them as a gateway to the past of the splendid city of Sibiu, as they seem to encapsulate the rich cultural heritage of this fabulous Transylvanian citadel.

The more I look at those eyes, the more I feel that they are more than simple windows, as they also have the more important purpose of communicating with those who visit the narrow streets and lovely squares of the old citadel, and the message they try to convey is simple, yet extremely powerful: "We are the eyes of the city and we're watching all of you. If you come with good intentions and you want to experience the treasures of this wonderful Transylvanian citadel, you are truly welcome!"

A Look at My Spotify Stats for 2020

 

2020 has been an awful year for me, not necessarily because of the Coronavirus pandemic, but mostly because I lost someone very dear to me, so in these times the moral support and boost I got from listening to my favorite types of music, hard rock and metal, has been essential in helping me cope with the huge sadness and grief I went through. Heavy metal was here for me in my darkest moments of 2020 and will undoubtedly stay with me for as long as I live!

As for my listening stats for 2020, I have to say that the mail sent to me by Spotify in early December, which presents a short review of my listening habits for this cursed year, does not reflect the whole picture, because I also use Youtube Music for my auditions, therefore I can have an accurate picture of my 2020 year in music by consulting my stats on Last.fm, which I'm going to do in a future post, so for this article, I will only take a brief look at my Spotify 2020 wrapped and draw a few conclusions based on it.

1. MY TOP BAND- OVERKILL

Last year they were in second place, but thanks to their fabulous 2019 release 'The Wings of War' which also made me feel like listening to some of their older and great stuff more frequently in 2020,  the thrash metal veterans from New Jersey took the top spot. They fully deserve to be in this position because they're one of those few bands which sound better as they advance in age. To me Overkill sounds as fresh as energetic as they were 3 decades ago, and their latest album is absolutely stunning. As you can see, 'Where Few Dare to Walk' is my favourite songs from 'The Wings of War', but really all the songs from this album are at least very good, if not great. I think that, out of all the bands which put thrash metal on the map in the 80s, Overkill is the most enduring and consistent, as they have a remarkable catalog of 19 studio albums, some of them being truly fantastic, such as their latest one!

2. MY TOP 5 BANDS- ONLY CLASSICS HERE

Spotify is not very detailed in terms of stats, so it only offered me a top 5 of my favorite bands from 2020, just like it did last year. The first thing I can say about this Top 5 is that thrash metal heavyweights took the lead this year, replacing traditional heavy metal classics like Judas Priest(last year's winners) and Iron Maiden, which are probably still in my top 10, but Spotify doesn't bother showing us too much, as unfortunately, it doesn't show our top albums either. Anyway, the presence of symphonic metal veterans Therion in this chart shows that there is some variety in the metal I usually listen to, but nothing can beat thrash in my musical world for the time being. 

3. MY TOP 5 GENRES- PRETTY AMBIGUOUS HERE

Speaking of less accurate stats, this is where Spotify really is at its worst. I mean, of course, metal and rock are my favorite types of music, but what kind of metal and what kind of rock? I suppose thrash metal and traditional heavy metal, maybe hard rock would replace metal and rock if Spotify did a better job. Anyway, no surprises here as I love power metal and thrash metal is mentioned here in the form of the new wave,thanks to bands like Havok and Warbringer which in my opinion are at least as good as the old boys of thrash, and they will keep on growing in quality!

4. MY TOP 5 SONGS- WARBRINGER TAKES THE GOLD MEDAL

Speaking of Warbringer, they are the winners of my Top Songs category, not with a track from their latest release, which is truly great, but with fabulous songs from their previous album, 'Voe to the Vanquished.' The track 'Remain Violent' is one of the tunes I found repeatedly on the daily mixes made by Spotify based on my preferences, and I found it so damn catchy that I played it on repeat several times, which I don't do with many songs. Anyway, two more thunderous thrashers from Kreator and Overkill, a power metal tune full of hooks and an unbelievably catchy chorus from German band Orden Organ and a more melancholic track, a semi-ballad from the one and only Motorhead made me my top 5, but of course, this was a close call, and these are not necessarily my favorite tunes at the moments, they're just the ones I played most frequently.

 5. MY TOP DECADE- THE 90S

I cannot put an end to this article without mentioning that my favorite decade of 2020 was the 90s according to Spotify, and the aforementioned "Love Me Forever" by Motorhead was my top song from that decade. This doesn't mean that I like the music of the 90s more than other decades, but those were the years in which I discovered hard rock and metal and it isn't a surprise that I have some feelings of nostalgia about that decade, and that is probably why I listen to the music of that decade quite often. 

6. MY TOP PODCAST- THE HEAVY METAL HANGOVER

2020 was the year in this I started listening to podcasts on Spotify and, even if I tried to listen to shows related to a variety of topics, heavy metal was my first choice, and after trying several podcasts, I found one which I truly love- The Heavy Metal Hangover. I was captivated by the discussions between the two hosts, Chris and Jay, as soon as I started listening to the first episode in that series, and I kept on listening to them for several months as the podcast started in 2018 and I had many episodes to discover. It's highly entertaining and truly interesting to the hosts analyzing metal in its multiple aspects, and I can never get bored listening to them, so this is by far my favorite podcast on Spotify for the time being.

                                  

💀💀💀

That was my short analysis of my Spotify year wrapped. 2020 was full of sadness and misfortunes for me, as it was probably for a lot of people, but listening to heavy metal helped me a lot and I know that it is here to stay and make life more exciting and more pleasant for years to come. Long live heavy metal!

At the Brașov Zoo

Autumn- the Season of Melancholical Beauty

As the autumn progresses and the days get shorter, wetter and colder, the combination between the dark, misty, often gloomy atmosphere which is characteristic for this season and the exquisite beauty of its natural landscapes generate contrasting states in my mind and soul.

I cannot deny it: whenever the sunny, often annoyingly hot, but also joyful summer days are over and the first signs of the fall appear I feel slightly uncomfortable as I have to come to terms with the fact that once again the sunshine will be replaced for the next half a year by rain, cold, darkness, and eventually the unforgiving frost of the winter. Although I have to go through this transition every year, as I have done ever since I was born, and I know that it's the natural thing that happens in a country with a temperate climate, I still can't avoid the feelings of sadness associated with this yearly passage from summer to fall.

The feeling of melancholy is almost inevitable during this period of the year and I'm convinced that a huge number of people who live in countries whose climate can be generally characterized as temperate are affected by it, and they have to make serious efforts to fight these negative moods which can certainly lead to depression and other serious mental and physical health issues.

One of the ways in which I try to keep this state of sadness under control and prevent it from taking over my mind is to go beyond the dark, the cold and the rain associated with this season, and see the outstanding beauty of nature in the autumn. If the weather allows me to get out of town and make some short trips in the surrounding areas and I have to admit that the first part of this autumn has been unbelievably hot, with temperatures soaring way above the normal the average for this time of the year(which is definitely not a good sign, but more than likely an indication of the fact that the effects of global warming are getting stronger and stronger in my country), I take full advantage of this unexpected opportunity during the weekend days, but even if a walk in the park is enough to change my mood as I immerse myself, even for a short while, in the beauty of the autumn landscape.

The exquisite symphony of colors which gives the impression that the hills around my town are in fact giant paintings with an incredible variety of nuances and tones, the distinctive sound made by the carpet of fallen leaves as I step on the alleys of the park or the hilltops shrouded in mist after the rain create a remarkable variety of images and sounds that have a healing effect on my sound as the inevitable melancholy associated with fall mixes with wonder and admiration at the splendors I discover all around me. It is enough to open my eyes and see how lovely nature is even during a season I generally dislike to realize that all we need to do it is see beyond the appearances to discover the beauty of the autumn, just as we have to explore our souls and go beyond its surface to discover the true beauty which lies deep within ourselves!

A Hike in the Forest near Slănic Moldova

Huayna Picchu- a Priority on My Bucket List

 

I haven’t compiled a definitive bucket list on paper yet, but if anyone asks me to name one place in the world I want to visit above all the others, my answer will be, without any hesitation, Machu Picchu, the best-preserved city of the Incas which, thanks to its strategic positioning in the heart of the Andes has fortunately escaped the destructive wrath of the conquistadores.

However, after watching many videos about Machu Picchu and its unique location, I realized that the mountain peak which rises right next to this fabulous wonder of the world, Huayna or Wayna Pichu, is no less fascinating than the Inca city itself, as it also features spectacular temples and Inca ruins. Therefore, when I think about the magical moment of finally reaching this fabulous stronghold of the mighty Inca Empire, I already imagine myself facing a dilemma: Shall I climb the stairs to the top of Huayna Picchu as well or shall I avoid such an adventurous hike?

It is obvious from the Youtube videos I have watched so far that the trail to the summit of Huayna Pichu is not recommended for people who fear heights. It is a journey made on steep, sometimes very narrow steps on which tourists have to be extremely focused to avoid a tragedy. There are also steel cables which help them in the most difficult portions of the trail, which indicate how dangerous this trek really is, and from what I have seen the descent is even scarier as there are segments in which the stairs are so steep that tourists actually have to crawl their way down until they return to the foothills of Huayna Pichu!

It is also true, however, that those who choose the entire package and include Huayna Picchu in their itinerary are rewarded with some truly exhilarating views once they reach the top; to see Machu Picchu and the entire area surrounding it from above must be a unique experience, which I would like to live one day. I am convinced that all the people who were there didn’t regret their choice of climbing Huayna Picchu for a single second. It is a hike which might also occupy a high position in my bucket list, but for now, all I can do is watch how people who visited those fabulous places lived some truly extraordinary moments in the Peruvian Andes.

The Wolf Seems to Be My Animal Spirit Guide

 

One of the activities I do when I want to chill out is to solve quizzes . I discovered that some of those quizzes are quite interesting as they can help me find out new things about the world and maybe even about myself.

For example, earlier today I made a quiz which would reveal my animal spirit guide or totem. Although I did it just for fun because I can’t say that I truly believe in such stuff yet, I have to admit that I liked the result when I found out that my animal spirit guide is the wolf.

As soon as I read the description of the meanings which this animal spirit can offer, I could identify myself with the main characteristics of the wolf, both positive and negative. Thus, I think intelligence and a strong appetite for freedom are features which characterize me, but at the same I can also relate to a rather negative characteristic such as lack of trust in people or even in myself.

Of course, doing a quiz on an entertaining site isn’t enough to convince me of the existence of these animal spirits, in which many populations truly believe, but it certainly raised my curiosity about this topic. Will I be able to connect with my animal spirit if it really exists? Will it appear in my dreams and offer me guidance? Will it help me overcome the obstacles of real life? These are still unanswered questions, but that’s exactly what makes this discovery so exciting for me.

Anyway, I’m glad my spirit animal is a wolf and not a snake, as I can see that other people got after doing the quiz. Of course, the snake is a symbol of wisdom and spiritual guidance, but I really prefer wolves to appear in my dreams instead of snakes! Should I believe in the power of such existence? I have no idea, but I’m confident that one day I will find an answer. Until then, I will try to find out if the sharp instincts and deep intelligence of my wolf spirit can really guide me on the rough path of life!

Mountain Roads- Often Scary, Always Fascinating

 

Last year, as part of a summer trip to some of the natural and cultural landmarks of Romania, I had the chance, among other great exploits, to travel on some truly unforgettable mountain roads, such as the one from Curtea de Arges to Vidraru Dam, a journey full of extraordinary sights and discoveries which left me with great memories that will be never be deleted from my mind.

As the trip was made at a relaxed pace, there were several stops along the way until we reached the dam, so there were plenty of opportunities to take pictures. However, the almost indescribable beauty of the mountain landscape was also scary. As the road was going higher and higher it was more difficult to look down at the canyons under it., and going close to the edge of the road was obviously dangerous, as the view of the deep ravines below was a warning to everyone to be extremely cautious. Definitely, it wasn’t a trip recommended for those who suffer from vertigo.

This combination of feelings and mental states which ranged from wonder at the incredible natural beauty of the mountain to fear of the frightening ravines below is a truly remarkable experience. It can also be your last adventure too, if you feel too cocky and ignore the danger by going too close to the margin on the road. That’s why I preferred to keep a little distance from the guard rails, and even so I can’t deny that I was feeling a little anxious, and now when I look back at the photos made on that occasion, I almost relive those stunning moments. Mountain roads are truly splendid, but they can also, be highly dangerous, so we must always be very cautious when we are there.

The Light Will Always Shine at the End of the Tunnel

 

Whenever we travel across a mountain road the chances of passing through tunnels carved into the rock are quite significant. For me, they are symbolic of the obstacles we encounter in our existence because life can also be seen as a long journey in which happy moments alternate with dark passages. There are short tunnels which can be crossed by car within a few seconds; they represent in my view the minor obstacles we have to deal with daily. They cause us a little discomfort, but we usually have enough strength to overcome them and continue our journey into the unknown.

However, from time to time we also come across extremely long and dark tunnels. Once we enter them, we're not sure how long it will take before we reach the light again, and thus we are in danger of becoming overwhelmed by fear, anxiety, and even depression. It is during those dark moments of our lives that we have to remember that there is a way out of every tunnel and if we are strong enough, the dark and frightening tunnels can't stand in our way.
As we sink deeper and deeper into the obscurity there comes a moment when we see a point of light which grows bigger and bigger as we're heading to the tunnel exit. All we have to do is always go forward until we're back into the light; if we believe in ourselves and we keep our mental strength and determination we are unlikely to get lost in the tunnel.

The feelings of joy and relief we have once we find the light again are symbolic for those truly special moments in our lives when we realize we managed to overcome the obstacles, but of course, the long journey through life continues and there will be many other tunnels, some smaller and others long and scary, to cross before we reach the end of the road. It's an often difficult, but always fascinating trip in which we learn a lot of things about ourselves and everything that we encounter in our path!

Unforgettable Football Matches: Deportivo's Miraculous Comeback

 

Some time ago, while searching for the latest soccer news on the FIFA  site, I stumbled upon a photo gallery which took me eleven years back into the past and made me relive one of the most incredible Champions Leagues match ever: the second leg of the quarter-final between Deportivo La Coruna and AC Milan which took place on April 7, 2004.

After the first leg, things were more than clear: Milan had obtained a convincing 4-1 win and they were already making plans for the semi-finals. After all, they were the title holders and they were also undoubtedly the team of the moment in Europe. Therefore, I considered that the second leg would be a formality for them and I preferred to stay out later that night and miss the first half of the game.

Imagine my surprise when I entered home and found out that Depor were leading 3-0 at halftime thanks to the goals scored by Pandiani, Valeron, and Luque! It was simply unthinkable for an Italian club, and especially a giant like AC Milan, to receive three goals in one half! But on the other hand, Super Depor had earned the reputation of a giant killer in both Spain and the Champions League. It seemed that nothing was impossible for that fantastic team which had earned so many fans exactly for its fearless, unique offensive style used against the powerhouses of European soccer.

I watched the second half nervously, hoping that the miracle would continue until the end. After all, one goal from Milan would have saved the Italians from disaster, but it didn’t happen. Depor was in complete control of the match and when the captain Fran scored the 4-0 goal, I knew it: The miracle has been completed!

It rarely happens to me to watch the replay of a soccer match if I know its results, in the case of the legendary Depor vs. Milan clash I made an exception and watched the entire game again the next day. What an amazing team that SuperDepor! They were bound for glory, they were definitely the most entertaining team in Europe.

Sadly, Tristan, Pandiani, Valeron and all the other legendary players stopped in the semi-finals, when Jose Mourinho and its extremely pragmatic FC Porto side found the antidote for SuperDepor’s enchanting style of play, and even more sadly from that moment on the decline started and the Galician team fell into obscurity and it has recently reached a truly low point when it was relegated to the Spanish third division in the summer of 2020!

However, the legend of Javier Irureta's Superdepor and its stunning thrashing of AC Milan will remain forever embedded in football history as the greatest achievement of a small team that made its fans dream of European glory.