Travel checklist

I travel often lately, and from time to time I remember my first trips. I can recall how I always used to forget something at home, then realize in the middle of an unknown city that I'd forgotten something as little as a hair comb, phone charger or nail clippers.

Therefore, long time ago I started a checklist, and now I always run through it before leaving on a trip. It also saves me from worrying if I haven't forgotten something, and this list never failed. I'll share it, maybe others will find it useful. I won't include the common stuff such as "clothes" or "underwear" as that's what most people never forget at home. :)

Important:

• travel documents
• passport
• proof of medical insurance
• vaccination records if needed
• printed plane / bus / train tickets
• work permit if needed
• credit cards, discount cards
• laptop
• mobile phone, smart-phone (best if it has GPS & maps)
• charger(s) for phone, laptop, camera, mp3 player
• travel adapter(s)
• printed map(s)
• sunglasses
• sun hat, wind buff
• digital camera
• network cable
• headphones / earphones
• book(s)
• printed travel guide (I usually check for known scams and other warnings on Wikitravel)
• driving license
• napkins
• hair comb
• shampoo
• shaving kit (machine, cream, after shave)
• toothbrush kit (brush, floss, tooth paste)
• umbrella
• small deodorant, perfume

Less important:

• agenda and a pen
• data cables (phone, camera)
• small towel
• cold pills, stomach pills (you might not find exact matches in the country you visit)
• antiseptic cream / liquid
• nail clippers, small scissors
• bathing suit
• flip-flops
• towel
• back-up shoes, shirt & trousers
• souvenirs
• plastic cutlery, cups
• game cards

As an additional travel precaution, I also scan my travel documents in case I loose them or they get stolen. This can save lots of headache if needed to produce a proof of identity.

Please comment / +1 this article if you forgot one of the items above on your last trip. ;)

Skydiving

It's my birthday again. 28 years and counting... Many things happened during the last year: getting up to speed with a new awesome job, traveling to two new continents, meeting very interesting people and trying fabulous experiences along the way. Although I'm not over excited about the fact that I'm getting older and supposedly more responsible, I'm very happy that my "bucket list" is continuously shrinking.

This year I finally crossed one top item off the list: experience human flight by skydiving. The plan was to only do one tandem jump too see how it is, but this turned into a full free fall course which I really enjoy doing now. My next plan is to get an 'A license' which certifies that I can jump out of a perfectly working airplane anywhere in the world.



Every sky dive so far was different and exciting. When the door of the plane opens and the engine slows down, there's a blast of cold oxygen, burned gas and lower pressure that turns everyone into slightly different beings. The sudden realization of the fact that in just a split second everyone will take a deep breath and disappear from the plane - singing, cheering, shouting, petrified or screaming - is priceless. And then it's your turn to jump too. It all happens so quickly, and many different emotions compete to take your mind away from the dance that you'll have to perform after leaving the plane.

Once you do that step out it's all beautiful and natural. After about 50 seconds of free fall which feels nothing like falling but more like floating somewhere above the clouds - there comes the second beautiful part: a slow canopy descent. This is the most realistic sensation of flying I had so far. I really enjoy gliding above the clouds, especially at dusk. Compare it with that landscape that you get when taking off with a commercial plane on a slightly cloudy day. In an instant you're taken to a sunny world above the sea of clouds. While in a plane you can only enjoy that through a palm sized round window in the cockpit, imagine getting that view when slowly gliding above the clouds, being able to look around you before sliding through, back to earth.

I'll post my first solo sky dive if I can get the recording and wish that there will be no malfunctions till then.

News

Half of an year is already gone away, and looking back I realized that I haven't been keeping my blog up to date. Since I shouldn't waste your time with too many details, here's a quick list with what I've been up to:
- after sleepless nights and intense work, finally finished my master's program in Germany
- got a new job and met very friendly people. For the new job, I've changed cities one more time - moved from Bonn to Dublin which is a delightful city by the way
- took Yoga and some gliding classes, started to enjoy golf and playing piano. Also tried surfing, but couldn't get used with the idea of being wrapped in a wet & cold rubber costume
- got a phone line, this is a big achievement when you have to deal with Eircom's technical support. It took me almost 3 months
- traveled and explored a bit of: Ireland, Germany, Tenerife, Israel, UK.

Bureaucracy

I just went to the Police to renew my passport. Last year, you had the option of doing that in "emergency mode", after paying an extra fee. They would release a new passport in 2 hours.
Now, that is not possible anymore. They removed the extra fee, and now people have to wait 30 days for a new passport. Furthermore, you cannot apply for a Romanian passport in a different country.

Now, why would you take something which is simple and beautiful and make it more complicated?

Munich going green

On one of the evenings spent in Munich, I took the tram from Willibaldplatz towards Marienplatz. It's a 20 minutes boring ride, and besides staring at the different people around you, there's not much to do.
Hanging in front of me, there's one of those free brochures from Munich Transport Company. I tell myself that practicing a little bit my German can't hurt, so I start reading. Here's what I've managed to translate:

The SWM started the "Renewable Energy" campaign. Until 2015, the facilities should produce enough eco-energy to support about 800 000 private houses in Munich. By 2025, Stadtwerke Munich are to produce enough green energy to support the whole energy requirements of 7.5 billion kWh per year. [...]

For this purpose, SWM invests until 2025 nine billion Euro. [...] Together with the current projects, SWM rises the eco-energy production with 160%. With this, around 370 000 instead of currently 140 000 houses in Munich will be supported. [...]

After reading their annual report, i've also found out this:
M-Natur
M-Natur is SWM‘s green electricity product allowing customers to make an active contribution to climate protection. M-Natur green electricity is generated exclusively by SWM‘s hydroelectric power plants. M-Natur customers voluntarily pay a charge that is higher than that for M-Strom customers. SWM invests all the proceeds from this additional charge in the further expansion of renewable-energy-based power generation in Munich.

I'd like to see this sort of initiatives more often.

Decameronul lui Boccaccio

Incredibil, Boccaccio descrie perfect pitzipoanca zilelor noastre înca din anul 1350.

Căci tot ce-a fost virtute, cu sfiiciune tăinuită în sufletul doamnelor de odinioară, azi se preface la noi în găteală și podoabă; iar cea care-și atârnă pe ea veșminte mai bălțate și mai înzorzonate se socotește mai vrednică de prețuirea și cinstirea semenilor ei, fără a cumpăni că și un măgar, de s-ar găsi cine să-l împopoțoneze, ar răbda pe el mai multe găteli decât oricare femeie și că, deci, nu-s nici ele mai vrednice de cinste decât e urecheatul.
Mi-e și rușine a spune, căci tot ce-i împotriva lor se întoarce și împotriva mea; înzorzonate precum sunt, boite și pestrițe, ori stau țepene ca niste stane de piatră, mute și nesimțitoare, ori, de răspund când le-întrebi, îți dai cu socoteala c-ar fi fost mai bine să tacă.
Și încă umblă a-ți dovedi că numai nevinovăția e pricina care le face să nu știe a lega o vorbă cu semenele lor sau cu barbații cumsecade, și sărăcia-n duh au botezat-o cinste, ca și cum n-ar mai fi pe lume alte femei cinstite decât acelea care nu știu să șadă de povești decât cu slujnica, cu spălătoreasa sau cu brutărița. Dacă firea ar fi rânduit cum lasa ele a crede, de bună seama într-un alt chip ar fi găsit cu cale să le scurteze ciripitul.

Fragmentul de mai sus e extras din Decameronul lui Boccaccio scris între 1350 și 1353 (ziua 1, povestea 10).

Translate the above in English

Why French?

I wonder why is French the first language printed on all Romanian ID cards (upper part, title area). Is this a joke? Why is the first word on our ID cards a French word? Why not first Romanian then other languages?

Then is it really necessary to translate the Romanian "Carte de Identitate" to "Carte D'Identite"? To my knowledge, Romanian is a Latin language, same as French and Italian. We are likely to understand each other, and words like the ones above are easily understandable by French, Belgian or Italian people (in case you need to show your ID when travelling within EU countries).

I would rather use Romanian as a first language, simply because the ID card is to be used by Romanian people before others. I would use German as a second language, since the words are very different (Carte de Identitate - Ausweis, Loc nastere - Geburtsort), and definitely need translation for people who travel to Austria, Germany or Switzerland without a passport.

I've always wanted to blog about this, but I just couldn't find this amazing image.

In german Inter-City Express trains, there are special wagons where it is forbidden to make noise. You are not allowed to speak, you have to mute your mobile phone and be as quiet as possible. Due to the perfect isolation from the outside, these wagons are really quiet although the trains reaches speeds of over 300 km/h.
These special wagons allow you to work like magic.
My friend Kevin actually used to say that he worked better on train than in the office, during his remote visits. I agree, they are really nice :)

Rhein in Flammen 2009

Yesterday was a great day! We went out in Rheinaue Park - Bonn, to have a barbecue and watch the fireworks. If you ever come around Bonn in May, look out for "Rhein in Flammen". It is one of the things you must see before you die.
450 000 people attended this year, as Radio Bonn reported today. What a splendid day!

Please share your opinion

Hi guys! I need your quick help on this one. It only takes a minute, and it's fun: I'm trying to participate into a photo competition, and I need your opinion on which photo looks better on a specific area.
Please leave a short comment, by choosing the BEST for each of the categories. You can also vote for each section using the links.
I need your votes until Monday evening, 30th of March!

Diying nature:
Photo 1:

Photo 2:

Photo 3:

Photo 4:

Quickly vote here for this section.


Rich vegetation:
Photo 1:

Photo 2:

Quickly vote here for this section.


Formerly desert area, not anymore
Photo 1:

Photo 2:

Quickly vote here for this section.

Thanks a lot for your help!

Carnival in Cologne

Just a little after the Cologne carnival, I thought I should share some pictures.




I wonder a carnival like this would be seen in eastern European cities. Are the citizens of Bucharest for example ready to have a 3-day marathon with costumed people everywhere singing and dancing on famous Romanian hits?

Chocolate fondue

 

Today was the first time I've heard of chocolate fondue, and was really curious to try it.
How to you eat it: pick one fruit piece at a time, with a little fork, and dip it into a mixture of warm black and white chocolate. Then watch the small chocolate drops falling along your fruit, let it get a little cold, and then enjoy its taste.
Damn delicious!

German Punctuality

The purpose of this post is not to offend Deutsche Bahn in any way - I am sure they do a great job coordinating all those trains, but rather to inform anyone reading this how to actually plan their time when traveling in Germany.

5:30 AM - It's Monday again, and the alarm clock buzzes the beginning of a new week. I wake up ready to face it, happy that I live in a German country, where everything and everybody is Punctual. I know... that here, no matter where I am, German Punctuality applies. So, I want to also be Punctual. I want to arrive at 9:00 AM in Aachen, to get my student card from the Secretary, and afterwards, at 10 - to attend my lecture. Normally, this is a 90 km track, 2 hours time. I can do it.
With help from German Punctuality, I will catch the train at 7:01 AM, and will be in Aachen at precisely 08:48 AM.
6:00 AM - Shower, breakfast. German Punctuality works.
6:30 AM - Outside, air is fresh. It's still dark, in a cloudy cold and rainy Punctual day.
6:48 AM - I am at the train station, I buy the ticket. Train is announced to be 10 minutes late. I think I am still able to make it in time to catch the connection train - Koeln - Aachen. Few people wait silently on the platform.
7:01 AM - The billboard changes. 10 minutes suddenly change to 15 minutes. Hmm, no problem.. I am lucky to be young and can run to catch the connection in Köln. I'll do my best to be Punctual.
7:10 AM - 15 minutes become 20. OK, my connection in Köln is lost. I'll have to catch the next one, which will arrive half an hour later in Aachen. As of now I am no longer Punctual for my appointment.
7:20 AM - Billboard announces 25 minutes delay now. One employee of the Deutsche Bahn mumbles some bored excuses on a microphone. One old guy near me starts to dance something like a chicken dance.
7:25 AM - Train is still not in Bonn. You can barely move around the station, as now, the station is full of people which waited the train and 7:01, and also the ones who came for the 7:30 train.
7:30 AM - Train arrives, fully packed with people and with a delay of 30 minutes. The employee announces on the speaker that this train, although Regional EXPRESS, will have to stop in every stop on the way to Köln. That's 2 times more stops than usual.
7:40 AM - Still not at the first stop. The train advances a few kilometers, than stops for a pause. Probably this is what it takes to be Punctual.
08:10 AM - I am in Köln. Yeah!!!
Now where's the train? I look on the display on the train station. I find out that my next train which was supposed to be there at 8:20 AM will be 20 minutes late. All trains on the billboard were at least 15 minutes late. Ok, that adds up another 20 minutes to my wasted time.
8:40 AM - I step into the train from Köln to Aachen.
9:50 AM - I am finally in Aachen, almost 4 hours after leaving my house. Bummer, I won't be Punctual today. I quickly WALK to the secretary office, pick up my ID, and finally arrive at school at 11:00 AM. I enjoy the remaining half an hour left of the lecture. Wow, that's a deal: 4 hours travel for half an hour lecture.

It would be OK if this was an one-time case, but it happens 4 times out of 5 when traveling to Aachen and back. One good friend also had this happening to him, but in his case he didn't miss one lecture, but a whole flight. In return, he didn't receive at least one excuse, but had to buy a brand new plane ticket. That was at least 5 times more expensive than the one for the flight he lost.

Bungee jumping

A weekend or two ago I finally did something I wanted to try out for a lot of time. Together with Bianca and Cristi, we went to Stockhorn, near Interlaken to see how falling 135 meters really feels like. It's an interesting experience, filled with lots of existential questions and adrenaline rush.
They call it "bungy" here. Funny :)

Below, it's me in the picture, doing my bungee jump.
And here are some impressions from other people too:

Rheinfal and Rapperswil

Last weekend I got to see yet another amazing places in Switzerland. One was Rheinfall, a nice waterfall on Rhine river, and the other was Rapperswil, in the South of Lake Zurich. Like always, I took some photos.


More pictures here

Zürich mountains

Last week I got to do a little bit of hitch-hiking through the Swiss Alps. It takes around two hours to get there from Zürich (we went to Gimmelwald, a nice place near Interlaaken), but the road is really scenic, with many beautiful landscapes (lakes and green alpine plains surrounded by high mountains and many waterfalls). I should maybe let the pictures speak.





More pics here: Swiss Mountains

Zürich - Cultural milkshake

I've decided to call Zürich "cultural milkshake". It represents best the diversity of the people you see in the street, or in the bus/tram.
In the last post, I was complaining of how hard it is to find a place to live. I didn't mention the nice things that impressed me here, and it would be unfair leave it so.
I also made some photos, sorry for the bad quality. I'll get a proper camera soon.

Cool things in Zürich:
- "green" and clean city;
- relaxing walk from Central to Bellevue during twilight;
- scenic landscape of Alps at horizon;
- tall hills surrounding the city;
- many old beautiful buildings by the main river;
- smaller rivers cutting their way through the city.

Renting a room in Zürich

It is very difficult to find a room to rent in Zürich:
- because most adds are in German, and you need to switch to German;
- because you only get mails from persons who might accept you (which might be scam attempts);
- because you need to send around 10 mails to get an answer;
- because you don't know your way around the city;
- because there's lots of paperwork to be done;
- because you haven't seen the city yet and instead of doing so, you need to search for rooms.

Luckily for me, Emi and Matthias were nice enough to help me with all these. Thank you guys!

Moved to Zürich

Written on Tuesday, 1st of July:
I just finished my second semester in Media Informatics, and now I am heading towards Switzerland. New thing ahead: I will be doing now an internship in Zürich for the next couple of months.
I'm now in the train, somewhere near Basel and I already feel the difference between the two countries. Swiss language is like a weird mix of German and French, spoken with strong Italian accent. Probably because of the 3 official languages spoken in Switzerland.
Two policemen just passed by me without asking for my passport. Damn... no control! I could have taken two bottles of Jägermeister with me.

My favourite place in Romania

The video was taken last year, in Bucegi Mountains, Romania. This is one of the most amazing places in Romania. What you see is just one of the breathtaking landscapes along the pathway to the top of the Omu Peak. If you decide to spend the night on top at Omu Cabin, take a glimpse of the sky at midnight. You will see millions of shiny stars that punch an infinite immaculate black curtain. An exclusive nature show only for you.
Sometimes in the morning, you find near the two thousand meters plateau a sea of clouds, and give you the impression you really are in an isolated, heavenly place.

I go there at least once per year. Unfortunately, this year I'll be far away. :(

Credits for video and pictures goes to Ionut and his cool Canon S5. :D