In Greece!

I left Constanta Wednesday afternoon around 1pm, watched the sun rise in Bulgaria on Thursday and watched the sun set in Thessaloniki last night; what a trek! The trip was not without its challenges but so worth it - I'm visiting friends here in Salonica who had their first baby seven weeks ago (Chris and Carla - and Layne!) and it's great to see them! On Monday I'll make my way (more bus) to Patra, the biggest city on the Peloponnese, to see some friends, and then from there I'll continue south to Kavasila where I'll stay with the Mixalopoulos family for a few days before heading home to Romania. SO... (sigh) ... what were the challenges, highlights and observations of taking a bus across Bulgaria in the middle of the night? Well...

The first leg of the trip was Constanta to Bucharest, one usually made in a smaller bus, but seeing as how I was the only passenger, a newish Dacia - sans backseat seatbelts - was my ride. When I asked the driver and his front seat pal if there was a belt for me in the back, he said, "No. No problem, only driver must wear." I started to dig and, well, insist, but all this seemed to do was suggest that his driving skills were subpar at best, because clearly the back seat passenger only needs a belt of the driver is no good... right? Hm. Not that this was the first time I'd encountered this attitude/insistence on backseat non-safety law obeisance. (Portugal: one car, two seatbelts, three Canadians.) Romania is home to some crrrrazy drivers (Romanians) so I made the trip with fingers crossed. The Constanta-Bucharest trip (and presumably the rest of Romania) is full of contrasting scenes of old and new, decay and vitality, and of tradition living side by side with modernity. With techno blasting in the Dacia, outside landscapes whizzed by: dilapidated and poorly cared for fields (spotted with horses and carts, donkeys, shepherds, flocks of chicken, sheep, cattle) and small towns (a man pushing a cart mountained with cabbage, bent, scarved octogenarians) were bisected by a two-lane road and rail tracks that led from the capital to the coast and back. After three hours we arrived in Bucharest, the land of gargantuan concrete apartment blocks. The scale is this: if we're (humans) about the size of miniature tiny lego people, these apartment blocks are super-sized cinder blocks, sometimes two or three or four of them in one - glued together with zero-character concrete (that's untrue: they are foreboding, ugly and heavy with gloom). We drove by Ceaucescu's Palace (also heavy with gloom) - the second largest building in the world (after the Pentagon), and in the late afternoon, gray-winter light it was no more impressive than any of the concrete blocks - it was just sculpted. Maybe in the sunlight it would be more attractive - ? (It was built by Ceaucescu as a Palace for himself - 1/9 of Bucharest (according to Wikipedia) had to be rebuilt - it has 12 stories, 3100 rooms and is over 330,000 square meters; now it's a government building.) So anyways, I was dropped off at the bus station (in a dark, sketchy corner of the city) where I waited (inside) for two hours for the next bus-leg of my trip: Bucharest to Thessaloniki.

When I bought my ticket the other day I was told that the bus would only be about 50% full - so imagine my surprise when a full busload of eyes met me when I stepped aboard. The bus was crammed! But I lucked out - I sat in one of the only free seats at the very back of the bus where beside me, was another free seat! Relief! It was so full and cramped, and thankfully I had a little extra space from the bulky (and non-bulky) Romanian men - there were a few women on board but by enlarge it was full of Romanian dudes bound for Greece. So the trip across Bulgaria was fairly non-eventful; we stopped at a few gas stations, there were movies on... and then around 2:00 when movie time was over MUSIC time started. Traditional Romanian music played throughout the night and not at a shy volume. SO! Sleep was a challenge - which it would have been anyways - the roads were bumpy, windy and slow, and there was a lot of late-night (middle-of-the-night) bus lurching. I know I managed to sleep for a few hours but was awake from sunrise on.

So the two stops we made in Bulgaria were 10 minute-long "pausas" where we had time to get out of the bus - at a gas station - stretch our legs, and visit the ick squatter toilets. HOWEVER! When we pulled into the city of Thessaloniki, the bus driver barked something in Romanian, and we stopped on a busy road. Doors opened and nobody moved... so here I am in the very back thinking, ummm... is this the stop? On this busy road? Why isn't anyone getting off? It couldn't only be me... And then the doors shut and the bus started moving. And then we were leaving the city. Anxiety on the rise, I asked the guy next to me who didn't speak any English if that was the stop... So he went and talked to the bus driver - came back and sign-languaged that the driver would stop and I would get out... Um. What. Okay. So 10 minutes or so later, we arrived at a toll booth where he made an announcement that made everyone on the bus turn and look at me and made me grab my bags and hurdle down the aisle where he (I think) scolded me (in Romanian) for not getting off the bus in Thessaloniki. Right. I gave him the Italian fingers-together hand-bob motion and thought what the hell, you're dropping me off here at the side of the road in the middle of nowhere at a toll booth? What am I supposed to DO?! Whatever. I got off and thought, fine, I'll figure it out. I crossed hmm... about 16 empty lanes of traffic and headed for the police car parked nearby. The guys were super nice and directed me to the other side of the toll booth where I talked with another super nice police officer who flagged down a bus for me 10 minutes later to take me back into the city. Argh... BUT! In the end, it all worked out. This bus took me right to the bus station where I caught a bus to the airport - Chris and Carla live way closer to the airport than they do the city center SO... whatever. I paid my 50 euro cents and made it safe, sound and sane to the airport. Of course I had one of my favourite Greek pastries for breakfast - bougatsa - and a coffee and this helped me maintain my cool. Plus, after travelling for close to 20 hours I was just happy to be nearing the end of my trip.

SO it's great to be here - I love 'lil Layne (he's such a sweetie, so so so cute), it's great to see Chris and Carla, and I love being back in Greece. I went for a walk this morning and the local once-a-week market has more broccoli and lettuce than all of Romania - YUM! I told the guy that I wanted to buy all of it and take it home. The Wolfendens live right by the water in a town called Nea Epivates about half an hour oustide of Salonica, and there's a long stretching seawalk not a block away from their place - with beach, beach and more beach. It's a great spot. SO! I have lots planned for the week - lots of visiting and eating - and I am looking forward to it like crazy!!

A weekend full of food!

Wow, what a weekend full of food and drink! It's Monday afternoon and I'm almost (almost) still full... but not so full that I can't eat or anything crazy like that. Friday afternoon (or was it Thursday?) the president actually showed up, watched practice and waited to meet with me. That's as good as the news gets - there's no money to pay me to train at all... so that's that. He was optimistic about next year but that doesn't really do me any good right now. Disappointing, but expected I guess. So I think I'll go every once in a while or a couple times a week... depending on who knows what. BUT! I won't go this week or next week because I'm hoping to get myself to Greece to visit some friends SO! I hope that works out - we'll see.



So the weekend! Steve didn't travel because of the sorry state of his back - it is getting better, but not all that quickly - and what's better back medicine than German beer? German sausages and German beer! Hehehe... We found an authentic German Beerhaus that serves up nice big steins of yumminess, has a wide variety of sausages on the menu, and even boasts German music and decor! You'd think that this would be a given but it's not - techno, house or Top 40 music is the norm no matter where you go, and decor - pshaw! What's that? (Example: The Irish Pub - besides some dark mahogany wood panelling and tables and chairs, there's nothing Irish about the place.) Anyways, so we tested the waters (the beer more like it) on Friday night and headed back again Saturday with Tammy and Sherisa for some more. YUM! And then... drum roooooollll.... on Sunday morning/afternoon we made the most amazing AMAZING brunch - french toast (and maple syrup) and lots of it, and bacon and eggs (and lots of that too)... it was unreal. Oh, and it doesn't stop there. We took a break from eating and went for a drive and a chilly walk on the beach and then... back to the trough. Jim invited us over to watch some football, eat wings and drink beer. Um, okay! I'm not a big wings fan so gulp, I just drank beer. And ate celery - they balance each other out completely... n'est pas? I'm just now realizing that my caloric intake over the weekend was sky-rocket high - eek.

Us girls in action - cooking with can't-wait-to-eat anticipation!! (wait, is there any other kind of cooking?)


Ready to attack...

Speaking of sky-rocket high calories, the McDonald's near our place is always busy, and when we drove by yesterday it made me wonder where the busiest McD's is in the world - I'm googling but not finding. Another thing I wonder is the time frame between the burger being made (with what, I'm not asking) and the burger being eaten - how long are those little pellets frozen for? I admit that I'm not asking any of these questions when I'm in need of a good (bad) grease hit BUT... still. It would be interesting to know.

AND! The countdown has begun - in less than one month we'll be home in Canada, with Steve's family in Bowmanville... yay! I'm so excited. We bought little advent calendars but can't start opening those little magical chocolate doors until the 27th... yum. OH! And it snowed here this weekend! When I went in to the mall on Saturday it was wet-snowing (the peasant-boheme and plaid styles are infesting all of the stores here - I hate it - so ended up just buying groceries), and when I came out, the Tomis car was covered in a little blanket of snow! Crazy! Nothing stayed overnight, and Steve heard that it's supposed to be 17 degrees tomorrow so ? Who knows what's going on. I just can't wait for Christmas!!

Some good (interesting) days and some ... tough ones

Well, I'm sorry to say that I missed yesterday's International Men's Day WHICH just so happens to fall on the same day as... wait for it wait for it... World Toilet Day. There is, of course, no reason that these two days should fall on the same calendar day, it's just a day to celebrate Men (okay!) and, er, toilets. And sanitation. I believe that's the focus - sanitation - but who knows? I'll just have to look into it, say with the World Toilet Organization or the World Toilet Summit. Question: WTO = World Trade Organization or World Toilet Organization? Pah! Question #2: Which of these programs would you take at the World Toilet College?

WTC offers the following programmes:

• Restroom Specialist Training Course (RSTC)

• National Skills Recognition System Course (NSRS)

• Sustainable Sanitation Course (SusSan)

• Restroom Design Course (RDC)

• School Sanitation and Hygiene Education Course (SSHEC)

• Disaster and Emergency Sanitation Course (DESC)

Interesting career path that would inevitably invite non-stop toilet jokes and potty humour. Funny. I must say that I'd rather look into International Men's Day - even though it could just be a "we want a day too!" deal, seeing as how it didn't spring up until 90 years after women established a day for the celebration of the achievements of women. Hmmm... but I like it - we should acknowledge the men (and women) in our lives and all that they do for us and others.

The past few days have been a little... tough. Steve has been having major back issues and is constantly uncomfortable which is horrible - he's having trouble sleeping and practising is out of the question - so hopefully things start getting better for him and his back pronto. Yesterday I finally met with the president - he is such a buffoon! So, he tells me to come by his office after practice - and I do. I get there, and who joins me in the office but EIGHT other people, most with cigarettes a'blazin' - all (I assume) waiting to see and meet with him also. After sitting extremely patiently for 25 minutes (25!) the guy finally saunters (waddles) in, munching on an oversized pretzel, pieces and crumbs flying everywhere - stuck in his beard, lodged in his neck-fat and hanging out on his expensive sweater. He doesn't acknowledge me at all, does some work on the computer, talks with people coming in and out of the room, and answers his phone (several times) before he deals with a teammate who is also in the office. At this point, a manager offered me a cigarette - when I declined he asked, "Oh, you smoke only at night?" No. The president had just lit a fresh one and okay okay he's finished with the others and now it's my turn? YES! He addresses me, telling me that it's expensive to get all of the documents required for me to play, from the Canadian federation, the Romanian federation and the European federa... And then he was beckoned out of the room by a secretary and left for 15 minutes, at which point I was late to pick up Steve and take him to therapy. ARGH! So long story short - I went back to the office later where we came to the conclusion that there's a possibility that they'll be able to pay me to train. Right. He's supposed to meet with me after practice tonight to let me know what the management has decided. However, seeing as how he didn't show up last time, I'm not counting on him being there.... but you never know.

Some good, some bad...

The bad news: Despite a handshake and a promise, the president didn't show up last night to meet with me. While I'm aware that it was a bit naive of me to think that he actually would come... I'm still annoyed! Tammy and I called him to see what the deal was, and he told us to call him today at 2pm. Okay. Two o'clock rolled around and did anyone answer when I called? Nope. When I called around four he did answer, but only to tell me to call again later tonight. Is there something lost in translation here or is this just the proverbial European run-around? Harumph. It's frustrating because I would totally love to play on this team, but I can't do it without being paid (even if it's just a little bit) and the situation (dishonest zero-integrity president, negative management and an already full team roster) isn't really remotely optimistic. All I can really do is persevere and try and get an answer from this guy... and then go from there.

The good news: we have heat! Our apartment is warm and toasty-cozy. And we're going out to dinner - to the Irish Pub where we'll eat yummy calamari and who knows what else. I also just had a great workout. So, there you go - three pieces of good news to one BIG president-piece of bad news - I'll focus on the good! (I'm thinking of the calamari!!)

Dacias line the sidewalk - note the no horse and cart sign on the pole...

This part of the road is in pretty good condition, minus the large hole that takes up an entire lane!

As you can see from these pics, the roads aren't exactly in fabulous condition over here - they're splotched with small holes, big holes and potholes, and uneven and/or protruding cement. The cars that drive on them, for the most part, aren't that nice either. I did see a Lamborghini the other day, and Range Rovers, BMWs and Mercedes are pretty common BUT the lunker Dacia and the klunker Matiz are definitely the common breed. There is also a horse and cart in our neighborhood, but I've never seen it when I've had my camera on me - this mode of transportation is restricted to specific streets, and there's signage letting all know where their horse and cart is welcome. Or not. Also, parking your car on the sidewalk is perfectly acceptable, if not the preferred location (as opposed to the street). Not that the sidewalks are that great to begin with either, but at least they exist - better than nothing!

So the garbage situation here - there are a few big garbage bins behind our apartment that get emptied every day or two, and a few times a week a garbage truck backs down our narrow street to pick up trash from smaller bins in front of our building. There's no recycling which I hate... because at least half of our garbage could be recycled. We have to buy all of our water, so every day we're going through at least a bottle or two - and in the trash. Meh. Littering is also pretty common, and so is the more substantial littering of pitching-whatever-you-want-off-your-balcony into the bushes. This includes construction waste and garbage of any sort. There's none of this around our building but at Jim's place - there's a medium sized pile of garbage on one side (or two or three) of his building.

Last thing - some friends of ours (one of Steve's teammates from the National Team), Mike Munday and his wife Penny, are in Dubai for the year, where he's playing volleyball. She sent me some pics of their team getting ready to play the other night, and get this: the team plays OUTSIDE. And, on Saturday, it just so happened to rain torrentially just before the match was set to start. No problem! They had some minions squeegee and mop and towel off the court so the game could go on - wow. If this doesn't give you a sense of appreciation for gymnasiums, I don't know what will!

Wall-E!!

We watched the most adorable movie EVER last night - or at least one of them (the most adorable robot movie for sure) - Wall-e. Despite being a bit ominous for humankind, the robots (those with personality and good intentions) were so sweet. Wall-E was such a cute little worker, with his home full of trinkets and collectibles, his little bug friend and his dated audio-video system that played movies and music of people dancing and making connections and falling in love. When Eve showed up she was a little hard to win over, but even though it wasn't programmed into her robotic heart (/motherboard) love and a robotic connection found its way in and, well, saved her and all of the fat blobbo-humans on board the gargantuan space ship. The animation was incredible, and the vision of the future was... scary? Weak-boned blobbos that whiz around on predetermined paths, cared for and monitored by computers? Humans that have forgotten how to walk (or exercise? did anyone exercise in that world?) and even, it seemed, to forge human connections? Eeeeeee-yuk. Spewing garbage off into the universe... double eee-yuk. It was awesome I loved it and I'll watch it again. Yay.


SO! We had a great weekend. Tammy's team won 3-0 against a good team from Bucharest and everyone was SUPER happy about it - the president, who is usually negative and bossy, showered hugs and kisses on all of the girls and as a reward, their curfew was lifted and they were allowed to go out until 3. Yes, you heard me right. After they WON a few weeks ago, they were told that they weren't allowed to go out to the clubs because it made him look bad. It tarnished his reputation. Right... So anyways, the men's game followed and it was so boring - okay wait - the other team was so bad that, to entertain ourselves (me, Tammy and Sherisa), we made made up stories and assigned occupations and hobbies for the players on the other team, the home team, and all of the refs and linespeople. The camera guy was into martians, one of the linespeople dreamed of being a police officer but was destined to life as a second-rate security guard with Save-Self-Security, and among the players there was a garbage man, a car salesman, an accountant, an office coffee-fetcher, and a teacher. It was a fun game... and it made the 3-0 win a bit more exciting. And here's a piece of news for you - if you, reader, are ever interested in watching the men's or women's team playing here yes you can watch Romanian volleyball! I know, dream come true. Neptun, the local TV station that airs all of the games streams everything online to their website, so if you ever want to watch Steve or Tammy play (or just watch Romanian TV) - it usually happens on Saturday and I'll give you a heads up.

After the double-header double-win we met up at Jim's place to watch CFL playoffs.... wooot woot! I'm not that in to football BUT it was fun getting together to eat, drink and ooookay, watch some sports on TV. We watched the Edmonton-Montreal game and then the girls headed out to the club to dance dance dance. The die-hard sports fan men stayed to watch more football and some late-night hockey... and then Steve joined us for a few rounds on the dance floor before we called it a night in the wee hours of the morning. Yesterday we lazed around, went for a walk and watched movies... a solid, lazy Sunday.

Last thing. I'm reading (and loving) Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian - a story about vampires and the legend of Dracula and Romania and Istanbul - and came to a part in the story that talked about a talisman against the Evil Eye. We've got one of these above our front door, and I've seen them on gates in front of homes. Though garlic might offer more potent protection, it's also supposed to ward of vampires and the threat and curse of the undead. Something to blog about tomorrow - Vampires - but we're protected... right?

SUSHI!

So the weekday Euro cup game wasn't such a huge success for the Constanta team - they lost 3-1 in Innsbruck, but continue on with more European Challenge Cup games against teams yet to be determined. Wouldn't that be nice if they played in Tenerife? Or umm.. hm. Tenerife? I would hide in Steve's suitcase for SURE! Even though I admit (I am forcing myself to admit) that there were challenges that came with living in the Canary Islands... we had it good there. An honest and caring president (Steve's - definitely not mine), two paychecks, good food, SUNSHINE all year round, great friends, great language, ocean and beach not five minutes from our door... and, it was warm! Hot even. All the time. Not that it's horrible here (it's not horrible at all) BUT winter is on it's way... if not here already. It's dark early and grey and a bit chilly (9 degrees today) and apparently this affects traffic (there's much more of it) and our water supply. Or something is affecting it because while at least there was some eau chaud dribbling out of our taps today, it was nothing more than a weak and consistent drip. The joys of living in Europe. Oh well!

Okay so the guys didn't win on Wednesday but Tammy and I and our dinner did! Tammy bought a little sushi kit and we made SUSHI and it rocked! Complete with rice, roller, NORI (sounds way cooler than seaweed) and some pastey wasabi and soy sauce, the kit supplied some of the basics (and directions) and we added some smoked salmon (SO GOOD), cream cheese and cucumber. It was easier than we thought BUT the rolls were a little large - too much rice... but still, super delish and a complete and total success! We don't need a Romanian sushi restaurant (not that there is one) - we've got our own! Too bad kimonos and little kneely mats didn't magically pop out of the box with some traditional Japanese tunes - that would have been funny.

taking turns with the roller-mat


in action - roll 'em UP!

the spread - how professional does THAT look?!! YUM!

So I finally spoke to the president yesterday; he came to the gym to give the team their winter coats and to offer some encouragement for tomorrow's big game (in a deep slow monotone voice complete with intimidator-eyes): "Tomorrow, you must win." Right. They're playing one of the top teams (I think) tomorrow night, Dinamo Bucharest - it should be a good game as long as people bring a bit more energy and focus than last time. Practice has been super frustrating - we, on the second side, can barely get the ball back over the net - people are SO lazy and so blah... it drives me crazy! Crazy I tell you! Anyways, we're supposed to meet on Monday after training, so hopefully El Presidento shows up - I made him promise and shake on it, not that that means anything to him. He seems like kind of a sneako-not-true-to-your-word dude. Pas bien. But it's not an anomaly either - someone trustworthy and honest in club management over here? Pas possible! Well, except for Tenerife's Eulogio who was the most generous guy we've encountered over here... period. So, two things: fingers crossed that the women's team president shows up on Monday (with good news - is that asking too much?) and... that Constanta will go to Tenerife. I may be dreaming on both accounts, but ... we shall see!

The workout gym: www.fitnessconstanta.ro - complete with website! wow!

The rest of these pics were taken last week - on a beautiful sunny day. Above - some buildings behind ours

Some nice-ish street flowers

On the main street by our house - a dog all curled up in a box - sweet... and sad.

Looking down the street away from our building... such a nice day!

p.s. the dribble that was our water supply quit just after I rinsed the soap off my body, and didn't come back on until oooh um, 9ish? 10? Yup. That left a big pile of late-night dishes, fun!!!

a grey day...

It's a grey, cold, rainy day here and all I really feel like doing is curling up under a blanket with a coffee and a good book. I reluctantly went to the gym this morning, and after walking there and back in the rain, I arrived home cold and sweaty to an apartment sans hot water. How annoying. The women had a game early this afternoon, so I put on a hat and five layers of clothing and headed over to the gym where the parking lot was full and crazy, but the gym was practically devoid of people. The girls won 3-1 against a horrible team, but didn't play that well - it's a bit frustrating to watch a team of paid players play with such indifference... indifference (it seems) to performance, effort, result... Anyways, so I just got home and still... no hot water. The alternative to not showering at all is going back to the gym, but I'd kind of feel obliged to work out again (can I go there just to shower without feeling lazy?)... and that is as far away from reading a book with a hot drink under a blanket as you can get. Meh. I finished The Known World last night and am so-so about it. It was good... don't get me wrong - but long. Team Tomis has a big game tonight in Innsbruck - it will be a tough one but ?? we'll see! Anyways... time to make that hot drink and crack open a new book...

Lest We Forget...

It was seven years ago that Steve and I lived in Belgium; it was my first year in Europe and Steve's second, and everything about the town we lived in in West Flanders (Roeselare) was great (waffles, the people, beer, volleyball - the list goes on). Some of the most significant, lasting and profound memories I (we) have of living there is the time we spent visiting war memorials and towns: Ypres and Menin Gate, Tyne Cot, and Vimy Ridge are the first to come to mind. Vimy Ridge is huge, impressive and beautiful; an amazing monument to Canadian troops and to what might have been the turning point in WW1... at a cost of more than 20,000 Canadian casualties. Tyne Cot was also beautiful (a very sad, peaceful beauty), but Menin Gate and the Last Post ceremony was, for me, the most memorable of them all. The structure, while not as big or, I don't know, intimidating (?) as Vimy Ridge... in a sort of muted and understated way, it conveyed the overwhelming heaviness of war. The names of 54,896 British and Commonwealth soldiers that have no known grave cover the walls of the arch - an entirely beautiful and enormously sad thing. The most moving part of our visit there (and of our visit to any war and all memorials) was the daily 8:00 Last Post ceremony, in which traffic through the arch was brought to stop, and local buglers sounded the last post. I have to say that in all of our travels in Europe, it was one of the most memorable experiences - so real and full of meaning... a must see/must do if ever in the area (or if not... in the area). A few years ago I happened to be at home in West Vancouver for the Remembrance Day ceremony there, and it was just as moving as that day in Ypres... the memories and meaning carry so much and, as we pass from one generation to another to another, I sincerely hope that we never forget.

FOOD!

Besides mentioning The Bakery a million times, I've said nothing really about supermarkets. This year we hit the jackpot as far as grocery stores go (well, with the food situation in general) - there are two within walking distance (across the street from the bakery), and a Mega Image (known as Del Haize in Belgium), a Metro (the Costco) and a Carrefour that the Tomis car takes us to in no time at all. There are tons of fruit and veggie stands manned (and wo-manned) by friendly people that usually speak English, and if not... smile and try to teach me Romanian vegetable words. The food situation in all of the stores is pretty much the same, except that Carrefour and Metro just have more of everything. The hard-to-find things include fresh broccoli (again), good lettuce (again), avocados (no surprise) and lentils. (I can't believe I can't find any lentils - they must be there, I just have to look harder.) Easy to find things include sausages (too easy) and pastries and cakes. So really, we're not missing much/anything. The food block is also home to a butcher shop (scary) and a fresh cheese place (I think); people line up almost every day in front of this small shop that houses a fridge with bins and buckets of soft cheese (again, I think), a desk, a calculator and a woman. I haven't asked anyone about it but I should. Another thing that I haven't asked anyone about (but I should) is this: What is the deal with all of the ladies dressed in housecoats wandering around?! Steve thinks they're gypsies, but some of these women look like they might have had their hair done the day before or are wearing makeup and jeans.... it is weird. It is especially weird because last year in Russia the women didn't go outside looking like less than a million bucks and here, ladies wander around in bathrobes like it's no big deal. They're not just wearing bathrobes mind you (clothes underneath) but still... it's so odd. Anyways, I have to cut this short because... we are having a mini football party. Wait, no, the guys are having a party and it's at our place so okay, I'll eat pizza and drink beer and maybe watch football...

an early morning post...

On Wednesday night Team Tomis had a huge game and a HUGE win in a European Cup (European League) game against Innsbruck. After losing the first two sets (and really looooosing - it wasn't pretty) I thought they were done for BUT they staged an amazing comeback despite a fourth set match point for the other team (Steve had a huge block in the middle to save their skins) and being down four points in the fifth, and gave the crowd more than their money's worth with a 21-19 win in OT. It was a great match - well, the last three sets anyways... and some dudes came in off of the bench and did a great job, so hurray. There was a team dinner afterwards (first course: cheese, fried cheese, fried thick bacon and half a tomato; second: breaded fried chicken, flat steak-hunk and lukewarm potato wedges; third: pastry plate and dessert-y sugar buns) that could have been a lot more morose and uncomfortable if they'd lost in three; not that anyone seemed that happy though - the smoke was gross and despite a few handshakes the president in his stripey sweater stayed in the smoke box in the front and cavorted with other management cronies over bottles of wine. But anyways, the game was great and the fourth and fifth sets were total thrillers... PLUS the fans were great, so it was good. Good good good.

OOh! I finally took a picture of the beloved bakery down the street; the Laborator! I willingly subject myself to any testing or experiments as long as there is no Hansel and Gretel take-a-closer-look-at-the-oven business; pastry cakes breads rolls baguettes yup I can eat 'em and tell you how fantastic they are. AND! Across the street there's a smaller grocery store that ALSO has a small cabinet of fantastic looking delicacies... it's temptation central! I told myself that I have all year to sample the yummy goodies and that I should take my time. The good thing is that these laborators in all of their goodness are on my way to and from the gym - SO! After a good workout I can feel only a small pinch (or bulge) of guilt by buying and eating. Or bringing home to share. I must say that these bakeries are second to only to France - Romania! Who knew!?

the bakery!

Yesterday afternoon we went to one of Europe's smaller Costco type stores, Metro, where they sell everything from tires to kitchen appliances to exotic fruit to fresh fish. Their cheese selection was amazing - we spent a good 10 minutes oggling over the selection; the yogurt aisle was also fantastic and we stocked up on that too - yogurt, for some reason, is way better in Europe; we think that it has something to do with the cream? Overall there's a higher fat content - people aren't as concerned about it I guess, but you don't see many 0% fat slim your trim low fat products which is fine by me! But maybe not fine by my pants. Anyways, we made Halibut Florentine last night which is a SUPER delicious fish-dish (it's THE BEST!), liked by even those "if it's from the sea it's not for me"-crazy people. I also made the chocolate brownie pudding dessert... which is absolutely amazing, especially with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. They were both super delicious and the three of us (Steve, Tammy and I) polished off ALL of the goods... all of 'em. Super super super yummy.


Happy Birthday Tams!

Last thing: I finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao a few days ago (Junot Diaz) and loved the first half but was so-so on the second. It was good, but not great great - good story (a sort of modern, Dominican-American One Hundred Years of Solitude without the class and minus a few hundred pages) but blah ending and too much unnecessary swearing. But this is just my opinion... Next up is Edward P. Jones' The Known World which - so far so good! Time to get ready for practice!

winners!

I am overwhelmed by the internet. We had a late late night last night and today has been a bit of a sloth-day, so I've been cruising Time's Top 50 Websites articles from 2005- 2007... and there's almost too much. No, there's not, but in my slow and slothful shtate, it's overwhelming. A site with a list of sites with a list of links to other sites... I've bookmarked 25 or so, including National Geographic, Open Secrets, PBS, History Link, Lala, Fact Check, How Stuff Works, Indeed (job search engine), New York Public Library Digital Gallery, Last FM, Artists Gallery and Favorite Website Awards. LOTS to check out...

Okay, more importantly, last night's big double-header was a double success! Tammy's squad won easily against a team that is (obviously) struggling in their first year in the first division, and Steve's CVM Tomis team also won 3-0, beating the team that they met in the finals last year. So, everyone was happy... yay! We went out for dinner afterwards to The Irish Pub, a restaurant that is not pub-ish or Ir-ish... but did serve up some good eats. We had calamari to start (which was fresh and YUMMY) and I had chicken stuffed with cheese on a bed (oooh) of spinach and topped with a mushroom sauce - SO GOOD! The table shared a few bottles of wine and after a few hours of eating and drinking we called it quits and headed for the bar. Wish (not "Waste" as Stelio called it today - "How was Waste last night?" - ha!) was classy, and way nicer than any bar you'd find in Vancouver (or Winnipeg) - no surprise there. The decor was great, layout, lighting... it was all good. The music was decent too, except for the live techno singer - not a hit. There were quite a few foreigners there; a small percentage of the American Navy, a group of Japanese men that stuck close to each other and to the bar, and a New Zealander, here playing rugby for one of the two Constanta teams. There were also scantily-clad dancers (as in Yaroslavl) and, when we got there, there was a bride getting lots of attention (several photographers, videographers) up on stage in a frilly, poof-poof ugly dress... it was odd. Anyways, it was a good group of people - a super fun night of good food, drinks and dancing! Woot woooooot!

Tammy and Steve, in between games


Bisons at the bar (they're all U of Manitoba volleyball alum)

The bride in the spotlight.... complete with assistant - it was vraiment strange...

Ha. So today has been slothy, but we made it down to the port to get some fresh air and check things out. The weather was great and we had a nice (short) walk down by the water close to the port - not too much to see but it's nice. And it was warm and sunny. This week Steve has a European Cup game on Wednesday, and pooooor Tammy has to make an eight-hour bus ride with her team... on her birthday! To play an away game on Wednesday. Blech. Anyways, I better get off this computer before my eyes turn into screen-rectangles. Adios!

The old casino - the building isn't used for anything now, but apparently there are plans to restore it (?)


Right on the sea, it sort of stands alone...