Hongi is the traditional Māori greeting in which two people gently bring their foreheads together and touch noses, in a calm and solemn gesture. The act symbolises the exchange of ha—the breath of life—an essential concept in Māori culture, closely linked to existence, spirit, and continuity. Through the hongi, a guest ceases to be a manuhiri (stranger) and becomes, if only for a moment, part of the community (tangata whenua). The gesture conveys respect, equality, and peaceful intentions,...

On July 21, 2012, we set off on an incredible adventure: to traverse some of the most beautiful and challenging mountain trails in Romania, in the Piatra Craiului massif. “We” meant Radu, my eldest son (in the white T-shirt), Cătălin, his childhood friend, and me, Angelo. The Piatra Craiului massif is a living legend, a mythical land for us mountaineers and mountain lovers. For us, it is “Craiul,” our Lord. We honor it in countless mountain songs, and it even has its own anthem—the Anthem of...

In the 1980's, Romania, ten-story apartment blocks were lifted from their foundations and carried away like urban ships sailing on an ocean of steel rails. It seemed like magic, but it was only the brilliant lucidity of an engineer’s mind: Romania was accomplishing what other countries wouldn’t even dare to dream. The operation of moving entire buildings—these “vertical migrations” of concrete giants—became a technical spectacle unlike any other. No other nation had relocated so many massive...