best of unposted 2016

hi!!! it's already been 2017 for so long, it seems! or i'm just tired of january. so this post is my attempt at looking back and trying to fill some of the gaps in my blogging over the last year. mostly in summer, during my holiday and more relaxed schedule, when i was actually doing things/taking pictures, but just didn't have the time to post.

my first batch is from romania, because at some point i just gave up blogging about my holiday there, so two or three whole posts just fell by the wayside. part of my problem, as i remember, is that i didn't have enough pictures of cluj (i.e. postable-to-public pics; this means with no people in them, as most of my friends in cluj at this time are the kind who don't like to see themselves or their kids on a blog) and i had TONS of pictures of my parents in the weird resort we went to. both "not enough" and "too much" will make me feel sad and run for the hills eventually. anyway.

cluj, being a guest in giulia's living room is always something like from the Arabian Nights: you don't know where to look first, or what small objects to pick up and play with; also when visiting every 2 years there's a bunch of tiny surprises to take away, and of course there's treats. here, my new TIFF cup, set off by giulia's amazing rug and a collection of turkish delight(s)

...and, in the same vein, dinner spread at giulia's on her (Pantone 2014 color-of-the-year?!?) kitchen table. cheese is the queen of this castle. (also, indian snacks:))

cluj, walking downtown: "what's left?" says the big graffiti

Mum and i, in the pool at the resort we spent a few days at; this was our only entertainment - a pool of thermal salty water all to ourselves; Mum doesn't swim, and i was trying hard to convince her that the water would hold her on the surface with minimal effort on her part

i took lots of pics at this resort - it was basically a village in the middle of nowhere, with a forlorn air that appealed to me. a long long time ago, a few salt water lakes used to be the specific touristic attraction of the area, with a hotel and outdoor pool  catering to people with minor health complaints that this salt water is supposed to make better. now the former focal point of the...thing is in relative ruin, but all sort of cheap/noisy/colorful other accomodations have sprouted around it. i found all this very very romanian. i will say that it was a very...restful stay. 

Barsana Monastery, on a Sunday. I singled out these girls for wearing the folk costume of the area, in the traditional shoe and modern shoe iteration. 

Barsana is one of my favourite and most-visited monasteries, I've probably been there 5-6 times by now. It's a complex of smallish wooden churches and living quarters, all full of flowers. the nuns there must be taking care of flowers all day long.

this is from bucharest, from my friend matt's balcony on the morning of my flight back - great view of Casa Poporului and some downtown architecture

Montreal again. the next batch is mostly portraits taken on walks around the city. there was never a point in posting them, other than that i liked them, so here's one picture per photo session:)

rosemont sandwich counter

rosemont lights and a very involved outfit

hipsters

definitely not a hipster

at st viateur bagel place; i was wearing my "team obama" t-shirt and the guy selling us bagels thought we were americans and was trying to talk politics to us!!

tina and friend: a nightly meaowing fit; she wants to get out, i think b. is barring the door, or most likely just laughing at her

then in the fall, after the whole "colours" thing in october, i took some more pictures of the latter stages, just before trees are left bare; beginning to mid-november can be good photos too.

early morning at some school i was substituting at, on the south shore

and morning in my neighbourhood; the kind of picture i always want as a seasonal wallpaper/fb background.

tina doing what she does best, on the ouija board, because why not?