roamsk
Active member
...from a Romanian-American-plus newly Skandinavisk guy !
I will start with presenting the city of my birth, Bucharest, the capital of Romania, just in case someone located around the Balkan region decides to ever visit !
The lucky ones located in the beautiful & prosperous Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, in the vicinity of [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTw8RNnM14k"]Venice[/ame] could actually use the legendary Orient Express train to visit !
The best cute boutique hotel in Bucharest is K+K Hotel Elisabeta, just around the corner from the [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFnr5E0CFN8"]University Square[/ame] & the pre-1989 Romanian nomenklatura patronized Intercontinental hotel, and not very far from the pre-1989VERY REAL international spy haunt Athenee Palace Hilton Bucharest hotel !
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I have also spent some time during my early formative educational school years in beautiful [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpafHvZVlus"]Helsinki[/ame], [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNMvsyqB0ME"]Finland[/ame]. Don't make too much fun of the Finnish guys though ! In reality it is their Border guard that is actually the expert watcher of the Entire Northern & North-Eastern European territorial limit, with the [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkJf0md1kG8"]Norwegians[/ame] taking care of the North-Western waters, and the Swedes just lazing around I guess, smoking the grass imported by the SOUTHERN Scandinavs straight from Amsterdam and Denmark ! (I formally apologize now to the Kingdoms of [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIB4t_OdeB8"]Denmark[/ame], [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-QyQJa7vCM"]Sweden[/ame], and [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPkALhCdkJY"]Norway[/ame] for my admittedly severe yet quite realistic assessment of the porosity of their Southern and inter-country borders, and the laziness of their Southern guards which seem to be more preoccupied being either unwitting or damn' misguided alluring guides for various types of tourists than anything else, like GUARDS for example. Nevertheless, I haven't forgotten that the similarly alluring SIRENS from Greek mythology are DIFFERENT than the benign and beneficent [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZPK77FtahM&feature=related"]Ariel-like[/ame] mermaids from Norse mythology, so I am maintaining HIGH professional caution whenenever attempting to TRAFFICK anything illegal, like for example cheaper apricots ($ 1.50 a PIECE here, in Norway, at least the ones imported ALL the way from wintery South Africa when it is Summer in Europe !), bell peppers (up to $ 3.00-FIVE.00 a piece here !), tobacco ($ 12-15 a PACK !), or plain unprocessed meat ($ 25/lb !), across the Southern or intercountry borders of Scandinavia, PLUS I urge everyone to read first about the travails of Ulysses attempting to cross the straight between Scylla and Charybdis before attempting to do any trafficking of anything themselves !)
I shall continue to probably present news about Scandinavia, where I have recently returned after other personal journeys and adventures on the North American continent, in Eastern Europe, and in the (British) Antipodal regions, if I am not booted out of this forum too at some point due to the prolixity and length of some of my posts !
I cannot help but end my greeting to everyone from this forum with [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1EzreIsaVI"]Aleksander Rybak[/ame]'s [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0ergFjDggg"]Eurovision[/ame] winning "[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBFFlL58UTM"]Fairytale[/ame]" song, because at times it does seem to me that in contemporary Kingdom of Norway I feel as if I had stepped in some unrealistic "1001 Arabian Nights" realm, but maybe my slight derealisation feelings have more to do with the culture shock of my life, which I actually wish for myself to unfold as Stendhal syndome-like as possible, (at least in some of its more acute transition phases), with as little Stockholm or Lima syndromes alongside it as possible !
I will start with presenting the city of my birth, Bucharest, the capital of Romania, just in case someone located around the Balkan region decides to ever visit !
The lucky ones located in the beautiful & prosperous Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, in the vicinity of [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTw8RNnM14k"]Venice[/ame] could actually use the legendary Orient Express train to visit !
The best cute boutique hotel in Bucharest is K+K Hotel Elisabeta, just around the corner from the [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFnr5E0CFN8"]University Square[/ame] & the pre-1989 Romanian nomenklatura patronized Intercontinental hotel, and not very far from the pre-1989VERY REAL international spy haunt Athenee Palace Hilton Bucharest hotel !
================
I have also spent some time during my early formative educational school years in beautiful [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpafHvZVlus"]Helsinki[/ame], [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNMvsyqB0ME"]Finland[/ame]. Don't make too much fun of the Finnish guys though ! In reality it is their Border guard that is actually the expert watcher of the Entire Northern & North-Eastern European territorial limit, with the [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkJf0md1kG8"]Norwegians[/ame] taking care of the North-Western waters, and the Swedes just lazing around I guess, smoking the grass imported by the SOUTHERN Scandinavs straight from Amsterdam and Denmark ! (I formally apologize now to the Kingdoms of [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIB4t_OdeB8"]Denmark[/ame], [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-QyQJa7vCM"]Sweden[/ame], and [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPkALhCdkJY"]Norway[/ame] for my admittedly severe yet quite realistic assessment of the porosity of their Southern and inter-country borders, and the laziness of their Southern guards which seem to be more preoccupied being either unwitting or damn' misguided alluring guides for various types of tourists than anything else, like GUARDS for example. Nevertheless, I haven't forgotten that the similarly alluring SIRENS from Greek mythology are DIFFERENT than the benign and beneficent [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZPK77FtahM&feature=related"]Ariel-like[/ame] mermaids from Norse mythology, so I am maintaining HIGH professional caution whenenever attempting to TRAFFICK anything illegal, like for example cheaper apricots ($ 1.50 a PIECE here, in Norway, at least the ones imported ALL the way from wintery South Africa when it is Summer in Europe !), bell peppers (up to $ 3.00-FIVE.00 a piece here !), tobacco ($ 12-15 a PACK !), or plain unprocessed meat ($ 25/lb !), across the Southern or intercountry borders of Scandinavia, PLUS I urge everyone to read first about the travails of Ulysses attempting to cross the straight between Scylla and Charybdis before attempting to do any trafficking of anything themselves !)
I shall continue to probably present news about Scandinavia, where I have recently returned after other personal journeys and adventures on the North American continent, in Eastern Europe, and in the (British) Antipodal regions, if I am not booted out of this forum too at some point due to the prolixity and length of some of my posts !
I cannot help but end my greeting to everyone from this forum with [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1EzreIsaVI"]Aleksander Rybak[/ame]'s [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0ergFjDggg"]Eurovision[/ame] winning "[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBFFlL58UTM"]Fairytale[/ame]" song, because at times it does seem to me that in contemporary Kingdom of Norway I feel as if I had stepped in some unrealistic "1001 Arabian Nights" realm, but maybe my slight derealisation feelings have more to do with the culture shock of my life, which I actually wish for myself to unfold as Stendhal syndome-like as possible, (at least in some of its more acute transition phases), with as little Stockholm or Lima syndromes alongside it as possible !
