Little green dress

Summer well 2014

It feels like I've karated my way through a brick wall, that's how tired I am. And that new sofa bed I'm now sleeping on? Yeah, not that comfy. I've actually counted 20 hours of sleep in three days, which for me is just not enough to function on, especially after the week in Vama Veche.

Nonetheless, I had so much fun at Summer well, my first ever festival (no camping involved) that took place this year in around Bucharest. It was held on a private estate Palatul Stirbey, which is otherwise a kind of monument with a big park, a lake and a manor house all transformed into a fun park for the 10.000 people that turned up.

Easy summer recipe: Squid stir-fry

Only one week to go before the red and grey knitwear will take the place of flowy tops... so much sadness. That's why I keep clinging on to anything summerish until the time to let go of sunny moments by the beach or early morning jogging trips through vineyards (coming soon!) finally comes.

Cooking is one of the things I love about summer holidays because I have the time to put all creativity to work in the kitchen. One of the tastiest experiments this summer has been the low-fat squid stir-fry, inspired by a Waitrose recipe. 

It's very quick and easy, relatively no fuss and moreover, it has that light, crisp texture you want in fresh summer foods to enjoy al-fresco!

You'll need:

I used about 5 medium-sized squids, which I then washed and cut into 2 cm round strips. Place them somewhere to dry before frying.

I tossed them in a pan to cook until they got golden brown together with some lemongrass for flavour.

In the same pan I cooked the greens until they were more tender but still crunchy.

And over them, added all the ingredients: the beansprouts, the spring onion, the squid, the egg noodles, lime everything.

Put a lid on it, waited for it to brown a little and added some sweet chilli sauce and it was ready!

Bon appetit!

Book review: 'Mes departs' by Panait Istrati

Whilst I was in Bucharest a few weeks back and perusing through one of the best international bookshops 'Carturesti', I found this gem of a book. Since I am Romanian and looking to apply for modern languages (French and Italian) at uni, this book ticked all the right boxes:

• by a Romanian author
• written in French
• about travelling
• set at the end of the 19th century

It's a short 150 page extract from travel diaries of Istrati, who was born in Braila, a fishing town in Romania, into a poor family. He was of Greek descent from his father's side but he was killed for smuggling so he was mainly raised by his mother. 

The book starts with his somewhat blurred school days which are described both as inspirational and as horrendous, with him being beaten and all these other myths about what the education system used to be like. Personally, I thought they were just legends that get passed down by generations but apparently, it happened. Moving on, he describes loving literature and being even more enamoured with languages and words. Having dropped out of elementary school he gets a really bad job at a local bar/restaurant that we'd call 'bodega' in Romanian. Look it up if you're a linguist yourself . :)

It's there that he learns his first life lessons and then embarks on a sea voyage to Naples in Italy, France being his ultimate destination. He's very much the spontaneous character and finds his way in difficult situations but I thoroughly enjoyed the 'adventure' aspect of the book once he leaves Romania in search of...well, I don't think he knew very well either what that something was, but perhaps the desire itself for new and fresh and exciting is enough.

He also seems to have quite the obsession for the Danube, the river that springs in the Black Forrest in Germany and flows in Romania's Black Sea. I really think water characterises this book very well in a weird way. It's has it's moments of calm and those of rapid change. It can be 'shallow' in the sense of simple narrative but also very deep when thinking about God and destiny.

Off course the fact that the story is set in Romania and the writer and characters share a love of France and languages made this an enjoyable read, but there are definitely aspects that make it a universal book. I'd also recommend reading 'Kira Khiralina' by the same author since it's his best known piece. I might purchase it after I'm done with the stack I'm currently going through!

Ahoy sailor - Croatia days 4, 5 and 6

Continuing from the last post, we left Hvar and Palmezana marina to see the Natural Reservation of Lastovo. There, we stopped in a small gulf with warm water so we could cool off from the outside heat. A little goofing around in the sea and one of the best watermellons afterward made for the best break off sailing. 

Sailing out of the gulf, we were out in the open sea. The dead calm of the waters were so peaceful and since we were in the bit in between Croatia and Italy, there were relics of bunkers from the war in between the two countries. So strange seeing natural beauty that you'd associate with a relaxing holiday being tinted with memories of war and suffering.

For the night, we moored in Portorossa, a small deck with a local restaurant. The food they serve is authentic fisherman food and it's seriously tasty, especially the carpaccio and traditionally 'peka' cooked octopus, but you should book a table as soon as you can, even a day in advance. 

Next morning saw us bathing in the best waters we've seen so far in Croatia. It's a small secluded gulf in around Cesvinica (you'll see quite a few boats anchored there) and the water is very shallow, sandy and super clear. Not to mention a gazillion types of fish swimming in between your feet. It was so enjoyable we took 2 hours to leave, especially since we didn't need swimming shoes for once!

On our way to Vis island, I also got the opportunity to steer the boat. The most daunting thing ever, I literally winged at every little wave...

We spent the night in Komiza, the cutest little fisherman's port. It's very lively with lots of restaurants and also lots of places where to rent scooters. Now that sounded fun! We took 2 red scooters and toured the island in about 3 hours. The views were magnificent and it was one of the best memory of the entire holiday. It was only topped off by an amazing octopus stew with polenta...

On the last day, we went to explore the Blue Caves and hiked a little on the rocks. Pictures of that are to come soon :) 

The rest of the afternoon, after arriving at Kastel marina to check in our boat, was spent in Split where we got by the 37 and 17 buses. The old walled city was really lovely as the classical music from Verdi's Nabucco was heard on the narrow streets of the city. We only had a few hours to spare and were very hungry so food was on top of the list. Walking around, we found this cute oil bar called Uje, the first in Croatia apparently. It was one of the most special dining experiences ever. The waiters were so friendly and nice, the food was very tasty and had an authentic taste and so it was an overall win. I highly recommend the cheese boards and the fresh fish - it was absolutely amazing. 

The next day we woke up at 4 am to catch our flight to Zagreb from where we got to London after an interminable flight characterised by dinosaur sounds made by the 3 children in front of me. At 8 am with only 3 hours on board, I was not having it at all. The sunrise from the first day was there to bid me farewell too as stormy weather was predicted to arrive - best time to leave I think. 

Ahoy sailor - Croatia days 1, 2 and 3

I must admit, I make a pathetic sailor. Give me the opportunity to take a shower or sleep in a bed wider than a coffin and you've lost me. 

Having said that, sailing in Croatia's warm waters has been an interesting experience. More so as it complemented my sailing course whilst offering a different viewpoint to Croatia's natural beauty as well as our usual holidays too.

It's not necessarily that I prefer land to water (although the rocking effect of the water still lingers on 24 hours later) but it made me analyse my own habits when on holiday. On one hand, it's quite practical having your hotel with you at all times but at the same time, that's the only bit of 'solid' ground you can get. And let me say this, sailing for 4 hours at a speed of about 8 km/hour is less exciting the second, third and fourth time round. I'm definitely not a passive holiday-goer so it's quite hard for me to stay put in one place and not have the opportunity to sight see or just get in a car and go wherever it appeals to me. Being on a boat for 7 days (minus the occasional stops) made me realise how important it is to experiment and be out of your comfort zone from time to time. Sure, I'm scared of diving in water deeper than 3 meters but I did it and it turned out to be ok. And yes, maybe I am a bit of a control freak and panic if I feel I missed the opportunity to visit or see something but sometimes it's better to take a back seat and just go with the flow -no pun intended. That being said, I'm still undecided if I'll be on a boat again soon but I still got some time to decide.

I'll stop talking about generic things and get on with the essentials - sightseeing in Croatia!! Whilst I was there, some pretty cool things seemed to happen to us and overall, I think I've gotten a sense of this weird country. Is it Mediterranean, is it Balkan, I haven't made up my mind on the subject yet. 

We arrived on the 3rd of August to Split airport, the funniest little airport since Zante. It's literally so small that you can pass through all checks within 200 m. It would seem efficient, but baggages get lost all the time. Unfortunately, it happened to one of the friends we were going to sail with and it took a whole 3 days for her baggages to be transferred to Split. Regardless, we had to go to Kastel marina to check in our boat. It's (or her?) name was Kairos and I believe it was a Hanse400 model from Noa Yachting. It was quite stylish I have to say and the decks were perfect for sunbathing. We had 5 bedrooms which is incredible considering how tiny it looks and a kitchen/dining area.

We had to wait almost 2 hours for a marina assistant to give us clearing to leave and by the time we navigated out of this massive lot it was almost sundown. We therefore only had time to anchor in a small gulf on Ciovo island. Having went shopping before, we made a rustic dinner and called it a day.

Since I was a bit apprehensive about the whole sleeping arrangement, I woke up at 5.30 the next morning. Just because. I didn't regret it a bit because it was the first time I actually sat and watched the sun rise completely and it was beautiful. The dead calm of the sea, the cold air and the honey colored light just peeking over the mountains behind Split was the perfect start to a holiday. Not to mention, the cherry on the cake, seeing a family of dolphins swimming by - they've become very rare in the Adriatic sea so it was so lucky of us to have seen them.

After a quick dip in the sea, we set sail for Trogir marina. We got there around noon, took a shower - one of the nicest, cleanest marina's we've been to- and left for the city centre. Trogir is one of the 7 UNESCO heritage sites in Croatia and rightly so. It's a charming maze-like old city made of white stone and serpentine streets that lead into narrow piazzas and market places. It's also here that we had a really tasty meal at Konoba T.r.s. The traditional setting is entirely reflected in the flavoursome food such as the cauliflower soup and rosemary gnocchi with octopus that I had. I would definitely go again, right now if I could. 

On the third day, we left the marina for the so called Blue Lagoon. It's more of a shallow-er water that indeed has a pleasant blue color but I wouldn't say it was worth the trek really. 

After a refreshing swim there, we again left for the open seas to reach our next stop, Palmezana marina. From there, we took a speed taxi boat to the city of Hvar. I think this one may well be my favorite, but it's a close match. It's extremely charming with its paved streets and venetian-inspired buildings and again, it's here that we had a lovely dinner at Leporini restaurant which comprised of octopus salad (I see a pattern, what about you?), an assortment of fried seafood and the best dessert ever, listen to this: Semifreddo with figs and almonds in lavender sauce. The plate was almost spotless clean when the waiter came back. It was a well deserved dinner too since we had walked all the way up to the fortress where there are splendid views of the port and the city. We definitely ended the third day on a high, I think you'd agree...