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Here are some shots of the fishermen village I have spent a few days in. It is a remote place in the Danube Delta, one famous among tourists who are looking for a non-mainstream and peaceful seaside vacation, amateur fishers and photographers. An electronic music festival and an independent film festival take place there each year during summer and have made it more popular for tourists.

There is no other place I can think of, that can get me to living so presently every moment than Sf. Gheorghe in the Danube Delta. It has been three years since I have last been here. It's incredibly peaceful and I manage to forget about anything else when I am there. I actually feel separated from the rest of the world, which is why the nickname of the village, "the end of the world" seems more than appropriate to me. There may be phones and TVs now, but to buy a magazine, one would have to head over to the post office and the boats coming from the big town (There is no other way of getting there) would not even ship bread daily, let alone newspapers. I noticed more cars this year (maybe less than 10 in the whole village, though), which is a bit annoying, but I could still see people riding their horses.

We usually live with a local family, and enjoy local home cooked meals. It initially took me some time to get used to not having a proper bathroom inside the house and showering with sun heaten water from a tank. The schedule was pretty much identical every day: During breakfast I would watch 'Meercat Manor' on Animal Planet or Discovery Channel's 'How It's Made', then we would spend some hours in the morning at the beach, I would have a couple of hours of sleep in the afternoon, a late afternoon walk or boat trip on some river channels (I'm done with fishing :) and finally, after dinner, we would all watch a movie at the open air theater that was established for the film festival. By 22:30 I would be in bed. I actually had the luxury of being able to turn off my cell phone (I would not be able to do that if there would be the possibility of any relevant emergency).

I would honestly have no objection to doing this throughout the year. I would not miss work, loud music, busy streets, people I have to interact with that are not my friends, my cell phone, I could even get used to not having internet. I was an incerdibly free person for 9 days and I hope I can hold on to that feeling to fuel me for the next months. Knowing I've got my place there and I can always choose to go back there, sure is a comforting thought.

time to recharge

A small village on finest sand. A sunny place drowned in reed and purple fields. A place of millions of birds in motion. A place of wild horses with a sad fate and cattle that like to bathe in the Black Sea. A place of warm greetings from strangers. A place of occasional silent boats in an architecture of river channels that local fishermen know like the back of their palms. A place of the most dramatic cloud formations, sunrises and sunsets. A place so far from the rest of the world that it can only be reached on a ship on certain days of the week.

I'll be heading home, to the place that has been holding my heart for years: Sf. Gheorghe in the Danube Delta.

james pan's jellyfish series

Do check out the amazing jellyfish photography series by James Giovanni Pan:

via das kfmw

2011

photograph by Luka Yang

2011 is my opportunity to finally advance by choosing either left or right instead of insisting on walking straight when this is not possible.

It is a big puzzle to me how different my perspective at the end of 2009 was, compared to this year. Because, objectively, nothing much happened in 2010 to justify such a big difference. At the end of 2009 I was extremely tired, had few future perspectives and even less energy to implement any measures to change anything. I could even barely come up with a sane resolution for 2010. The end of this year is confusing as ever but at least now I am looking towards 2011 with positive energy and faith in change and finding long lost balance.

But with all my positive attitude towards change this year, one of the biggest of 2011 has imposed itself on me without me having anything to say about it. A certain family issue will force me to go through a major transition in terms of becoming more tolerant, selfless and responsible. It is a huge challenge for someone who has a reputation for being none of the above. But I have a strong feeling that if I don't get it right this time, I might not get another chance. Maybe it'll be my final graduation.

With respect to another issue that has been burdening me, 2011 seems less promising. The battle between old and new has yet to be settled.

snow

photograph by Eden Lee

I have arrived home a few days ago. Finally, it is snowing heavily around here. I am anticipating the sound of a shovel being scraped across the pavement in the morning and that makes me happy. I've heard it other places, but the echo is never quite the same as in the interior yard of our apartment block.

memories

photograph by Angus柒

I miss the mixed smell of leather impregnated with Lucky Strike smoke and intoxicating tusche. I miss the orange lemonade and the white cherry and green nut sweets. I miss listening to Willie Nelson and drinking coke from a coffee mug.

point and shoot

illustration by Luz de Luciernaga

re-formatting

photograph by changer

Strong winds make my steps hesitant, the fog renders my way uncertain. For the first time, I feel tempted to give in to a reasonable (what an awful word!) offer. A strong set of old-fashioned values and ideals is threatened, now (finally?).

Reason says go the new way. But my old way is of a brilliance and purity that few will ever have the privilege of knowing. Not one argument against the new way. But my old way is frail and weeping anticipating betrayal. Which way will I turn? Convert? Reformat?

Either way, a storm is ahead.

berlin in winter by night

Below I am sharing some (few) pictures of Berlin by night. It was about the same time in November two years ago, that I visited the city for the first time. And although at that point I had no time to explore the city, I tried to make up for that this year. Unfortunatelly, I had the nastiest cold, was running around with the dizziest and heaviest head I could imagine and was not really in the mood to take pictures, which is why I don't have a big selection and not even enough to show all of Berlin's faces I've seen.

If I were to describe Berlin with three words it would be: relaxed, young, international. And it would still not describe it entirely. It is artsy, modern, funny, alive. Personally, I also recognized some familiar cues, like wide open spaces and boulevards, old-school tall buildings, the subway interior, all of which made me feel comfortable. Last but not least, I love Berlin in winter, in lights, in snow (a little bit) and in the sweet scent of mulled wine and caramelized nuts.