Welcome to Ialomița, Romania

Sometimes you need to go back. To run (!) when you’re tired. Run where is quiet and simple, from what is overwhelming and complicated.

Once in a while you need to stay a little. In old places making you forget yourself, like you’re not there anymore.

So, where do you run, to stay?

I have a few spots where it’s easy to run to during weekend days. Short trips making big difference.

Are you sure you want to log off from the big city mode? Yes, I am.

I left Bucharest alone yesterday for a few hours and headed east to Hagiesti, Ialomita County, to visit Marghiloman Mansion. The first thing that hit me when I arrived is a huge pagoda tree close to the residence. I don’t know how many years a pagoda tree lives and when it was planted, but I kinda had the feeling it is determined to stand as long as the house stands. The house is just a form without content, a shadow of what it used to be. Built in the second half of nineteenth century, the best kept is the cellar. The authorities are making a poor job of preserving and renovating it, they should learn something from the guard I’ve met there talking so proud of the house as if it was his own. Who knows, maybe the house is determined to stand as long as there are people coming here to visit it.

At the end of the visit, a heavy rain started. The next stop was Urziceni town where I’ve eaten the best mititei (traditional dish) in town at a tavern near the train station.

The final destination of this one-day trip was Amara lake. It is a natural lake formed in the old creek of Ialomita river. The water and the mud are well known for therapeutically properties.

A beautiful end for this beautiful day was the meeting with this baby snake. Thank you for joining me.