Well, after owning a website named kingofromania dot com for seven long years, I couldn’t exactly ignore the passing of Romania’s fourth and final king, Mihai/Michael earlier this month. You can read a comprehensive obituary in English here and 96 facts about his life in Romanian aici, but I’ve been really hesitant to say anything at all. For a long time, I wondered where my … Continue reading The King Is Dead! Long Live the King!
When we last left the neverending saga of Rosia Montana back in July, it seemed like things had finally come to a peaceful end. The area was going through the process of becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and, well, the Romanian government was going to have to cough up around 4.4 billion dollars for its stupidity. As a wise man once said, when you … Continue reading Opening Up a Can of Gold Worms
The biggest non-Hungarian statue in Cluj-Napoca is of Mihai Viteazul, known as Mihai “Bravu” in the southern regions of Romania and “Michael the Brave” in English. Today, there are statues of Mihai all over Romania and several villages bear his name. His incredible claim to fame is that, in the year 1600, he united all three of the majority-Romanian lands – Transylvania, Moldova, and Wallachia … Continue reading The Ballad of Mihai Viteazul
You know, I don’t often write about Moldovan politics. There are a number of reasons for this, the biggest one being that I still don’t feel completely confident about exactly what’s going on. Moldova may be a small country, but it is… very different, and often what you see on the news is just the tip of the iceberg. Nonetheless, I couldn’t resist writing about … Continue reading A Cat Named Shura
You’ve got to love the variety of English-language news reports during the past 24 hours with titles like New prime minister appointed after ruling party ousted their own government. I mean, only in Romania could something like this be seen as “normal” business. But there are some vitally important facts missing from all the international coverage. To review, last week, PSD mafia chief Dragnea and … Continue reading Dirty and Dirtier
All Things Romania 