Highlights and pictures from my trip to Romania as the first official Arts Envoy IPR delegate appointed by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Division and Office of Intellectual Property Enforcement.
In Romania, over 90% of the people are Christians, and Christmas is celebrated everywhere you go.
In my homeland of East Tennessee the same is true, so it was really special for me to visit three cities in Romania during December.
The first Christmas Market I visited was in Bucharest. It was one of two Christmas Markets in the city, and the one I saw was the smaller of them.
I had the chance to see it at night, and in the day. Here are a few pics:
The next city I visited was called Sibiu, in the Transylvania region.
Their Christmas market was beautifully lit, and even though it was closed for the night when I was there, they had the most gorgeous, full sized, hand carved wooden Nativity I have ever seen still on view.
These carved figures are life sized. Romania is known for its masterful wood carvings. This Nativity shows the care and skill that goes into this art form.
Even though it's not part of the Christmas Market, I thought I would show you this Christmas tree in the Lucian Blaga University Law School we visited in Sibiu.
It's decorated red, blue and yellow in the colors of the Romanian flag in celebration of their 100 years unification.
Being in Romania talking to students about the importance of respecting intellectual property including songs, software, movies and other arts was a beautiful way to start the holiday season.
The final city I visited on this Arts Envoy IPR trip was Cluj Napoca. It was a nice city located in the northern part of Romania, and I was able to visit their Christmas market in the day and at night.
Here are some of my favorite pictures:
One of the most special Christmas Trees I saw during my visit to Romania was in the Double Tree Hilton hotel lobby.
This tree was filled with hand written cards from foster kids and orphans. You could pick one of the cards, and buy a present for one of these kids.
I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and continue to have a wonderful holiday season with your family and friends.
Sometimes the best family we have are ones we choose ourselves.
I came away from Romania feeling like I had some new family members in the lovely people I met during my arts diplomacy trip, and I look forward to sharing more of their beautiful history and culture in the coming weeks.
#Romania #USDepartmentofState #USEmbassyinRomania #culture #StateDepartment #ArtsEnvoy #ArtsEnvoyIPR #Christmas #ChristmasMarket #BureauofEducationalandCulturalAffairs #Christian #EastTennessee #Tennessee #AmandaColleenWilliams #ClujNapoca #Sibiu #Bucharest #Transylvania #woodcarving #Nativity #LucianBlagaUniversityLawSchool #intellectualproperty #OfficeofIntellectualPropertyEnforcement #songs #software #movies #holiday #churches #MathiasRex #fostercare #orphans #DoubleTreeHilton #family #songwriter
