Our world is still full of marvellous things. I'm sharing  just a few of my favourites here - don't hesitate to ask me for additional tips or to send me your own!

CITIES

Iași, my quiet hometown and host of the excellent FILIT international festival in Literature & Translation. It has its charms, like the 17th century tavern Bolta Rece where you can experience more or less the same kind of music, food and setting as enjoyed by our national writers Creangă and Eminescu in the 1880s, the Palace of Culture series of museums with their gardens, the Turkish Bath now converted into a contemporary arts centre... and some delightful secrets I hope to reveal to you in person:)

Nancy -the light & music show the city puts on in the summer has become less Art Nouveau and more simplistic each year, unfortunately, but the baroque Place Stanislas built by the exiled King Stanislas of Poland remains extraordinary.

Sinaia -the royal and possibly the most beautiful city of Romania, with its gorgeously eccentric German castle, the smaller Art Nouveau Pelișor and its beautiful historic buildings, many overlooking the mountains. The best restaurant near the castle is currently Carol Bistro (limited hours). Sinaia Palace with its beautiful terrace overlooking Ghica park does decent, reasonably priced food. It's worth visiting both castles, the Casino and the Enescu house. Royal Residence 1901 is a historic villa converted into beautiful, if not entirely tiptop, good-value flats. You can also have coffee & cake or even stay at Castelul Stirbey, also a moderately interesting museum. The historic Hotel Regal in Ghica Park is also charming.

Favourite blog on Vienna, where I spent much of the last two years viewing as much art and eating as many beautiful cakes as possible. DM for recommendations.

Art Nouveau network 

COUNTRIES

Romania - Enescu's music gives an introduction to Romania's deepest spirit, at its most beautiful,  perhaps especially in Rapsodia română and Poeme roumain ,composed around the age of 16. You can also find a small selection of Romanian poems in multiple languages here.

CULTURE

Internet Archive- probably the best present-day resource for open-access materials in different languages and media. You can also create your own collections on the website

Open Culture - a library of free audiobooks, films & high-quality youtube channels, art collections etc. -mostly in English

Europeana - platform for the sharing of mainly visual collections from the EU's cultural institutions

OPEN-ACCESS JOURNALISM & MAGAZINES

Arts & Letters Daily - digest of the most interesting articles on art, literature and culture from a variety of journals and newspapers

Press Display -countless magazines and newspapers in multiple languages, including some excellent ones, available through individual or library subscription

European Correspondent - daily, relatively broad coverage of EU culture & politics

Eurozine -articles translated from the cultural magazines of different EU countries, with a focus on politics

OPEN ACCESS LITERATURE

Asymptote - the truly international literary magazine featuring literary and nonfiction translations from numerous languages

The Oscholars- the ultimate (not recently updated) online resource on Oscar Wilde's writings and afterlives 

Liternet   - Romanian cultural agenda, portal to book, film and theatre reviews, etc.

Swedish Book Review -contemporary Swedish fiction in English translation