Winners of the Contest “From the ‘Wine Route’ to the ‘Princes’ Route’”

Dear friends, Radio Romania International invited you to participate, until March 15, 2014, in a prize-wining contest called “From the ‘Wine Route to the ‘Princes Route. The contest was devoted to the Prahova Valley, in southern Romania.

Eugen Cojocariu, 10.04.2014, 13:00

We were happy to see that so many of you took part in the contest and that 606 RRI listeners sent in correct answers to our questions! Thank you for participating in RRI’s contest devoted to the Prahova Valley and we kindly invite you to participate in other contests RRI will organize in the future.

The Grand Prize is a 9-day (8-night) trip for two, with full board between September 1st and 9th, 2014 in Prahova County. The winners will have the chance to cover the tourist routes that inspired this contest and to visit the cultural, tourist and historical attractions of the area.

The contest was sponsored by Hotel Cautis, from Azuga, and by SC Elena Cabana Varful Ciucas SRL. The contest partners were the Prahova County Council and the Prahova Country Center for the Preservation and Promotion of Traditional Culture.

By tuning in to RRI and by visiting our website www.rri.ro and RRI’s Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Flickr profiles, you found the answers to our new contest.

The contest came to an end on March 15th 2014, mailing date. Before announcing the winners, we remind you the questions:

· What tourist promotion programs are being run in Prahova County?

· What is the seat of Prahova County?

· Which famous winegrowing area in Europe is likened to the Dealu Mare Vineyard?

· What are the main natural resources of Prahova County?

Now time to announce the winners.

We have 25 honorable mentions for the listeners of RRI’s programs and Internet users, some of which will go to the following listeners: Grant Skinner, from the UK, Henk Poortvliet of the Netherlands, Sunil Dhungana of Nepal, Nasir Aziz from Pakistan, Mogire Machuki from Kenya, Amela Omerspahic from Bosnia and Hertzegovina, Syed Mohib Ali Shah and Syeda Mahnoor Khizar from Pakistan, Yuri Savrilov of Tajikistan, Alexei Gatzura of Belarus, Abdel Karim Ahmad Ali Al-Mabrouk of Libya, Abdelilah Boubchir of Algeria, Mohamad Taher Amri of Tunisia, Adrian Micallef, Luigi Arianiello, Silvia Spacciante, Alessandra Bedendo and Antonella Zappalà of Italy, Shan Jinhai, He Xige, Li Xue and Wu Xuan of China, Alexis Rocas Ramírez, Venezuela, José Luis Corcuera of Spain, Iván Alain Quispe Vargas of Bolivia.

There are 20 3rd prizes, which will go to the following listeners: Keith A. Simmonds, from the UK, Mustapha Oluwatoyin Hassan from Nigeria, Mike Caden and John Rutledge, both from the United States, Rana Dewan Rafiqul Islam of Bangladesh and also Rajendra Kumar and Mitul Kansal, both from India. Naghmouchi Nouari, and Boumechaal Farid of Algeria, Kharifi Abdelhamid of Morocco, Hubert Smykalla, of Germany, Svetlana Shpakovskaya of Belarus, Ben Amer Laid of Algeria, Mohamed Sayyed Abderahim of Egypt, Daniela Verdelli and Mario Chiesa of Italy, Fred Lu and Kang Wenxuan of China, Vicent Marí Mauricio of Spain, Roberto Carlos Álvarez Galloso of the US.

We also have 20 2nd prizes. The lucky winners of them are: Mick Edwards and Roger Tidy, both from the UK, Andrew Naylor and Harold Woering, both from the US, Thein Soe of Malaysia and Hamad Kiani of Pakistan, Ivana Mihailovic of Serbia, Rodica Iancu of Bucharest-Romania, Volodimir Gudzenko of Russia, Bekkai Jamila of Morocco, Bezazel Ferhat of Algeria, Nicolai Prigodici of Belarus, Tarek Laidi of Algeria, Abdel Kader Hasan Abdel Kader of Egypt, Fabio Mazzucchelli and Raffaele Ponticelli of Italy, Liu Xiaofeng and Cui Shaozheng of China, Miguel Ramón Bauset of Spain, Adervall Lima Gómez of Brasil.

Here is what Mick Edwards wrote: “My family and I visited Romania 4 years ago. On the first part of our holiday, we travelled from Bucharest to Brasov, via Ploiesti, Câmpina and Sinaia, and the memories still resonate. Your country captivated and enthralled me. The scenery and small villages excited me, and the people and welcome we received was second to none. We want to come back to explore more of your customs and culture. I have listened to RRI for many years, and now that I have retired, I can listen to your broadcasts nearly every day, sometimes, more than once a day. Not only are your programmes informative and interesting, they also entertain, and an excellent way to promote tourism.”

Mr Hamad Kiani, from Pakistan, wrote the following: “I have always had a fascination for Eastern European countries and especially Romania. Romania reminds me of rich cultural and social history since I was a child collecting stamps of various countries. I have those stamps still with me with the Romanian Post inscribed on it. I really want to visit this amazing and beautiful country.”

We have 8 1st Prizes for the RRI listeners: Muralidhar M. of India, a faithful listener to the English Section’s programmes, Zoran Vrucinic of Bosnia and Hertzegovina, Romanian Marin Gherman of Cernauti/Chernivtsi, Ukraine, Christian Canoen of France, Klaus Karusseit of Sweden, Anna Mahjar–Barducci of Italy, Zhou Fei of China, David Iurescia of Argentina.

Mr. Muralidhar M. wrote: “In Azuga I would like to get ski lessons from some of the best ski instructors. I would also like to visit the Rhein wine cellar, see the entire process of making sparkling wine, stage by stage, and have the possibility to take part in wine tasting sessions! Another thing I would like to do is go skiing in the best-known ski resorts on the Prahova Valley namely Sinaia, Busteni, Azuga and Predeal. Rejuvenating the body, mind and soul at the spa resort in Breaza and get the benefit of psychotherapy, acupuncture, electrotherapy, treatments with medicinal herbs and plant-based supplements is something I would enjoy very much. On the The Fruit Route I would learn about the tradition of fruit growing in Prahova while in Valenii de Munte I would savour homemade fruit brandy and preserves made from fresh and tasty plums and apples. Taking The Princes Route would help me learn more about the rulers Vlad the Impaler, Michael the Brave and Matthew Basarab. “

There are 10 Special Prizes for the following RRI listeners and Internet users: Ivana Janjic and Volodimir Koval from Ukraine, Jean-Michel Lacroix of France, Philippe Sonnet from Belgium, Marcel Goerke from Germany, Aleksandr Abramov of Russia, Idriss Bououdina of Marocco, Li Ming of China, Aylton Jose Cordeiro Gama of Brazil, and Tim Watson from the United Sates.

We thank all those who answered the questions and who took the time to motivate their decision to participate in our contest.

Now it’s time to announce the winner of the Grand Prize.

He took part in the contest, gave the correct answers and won a 9-day trip for 2 with full board between September 1st and 9th, 2014 in Prahova County: Juan Antonio Casillas Ascencio from Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico.

He will come to Romania accompanied by his sister, Alejandra del Carmen Casillas Ascencio. Congratulations Juan! See you in September!

Here is how Juan Antonio Casillas Ascencio motivated his participation in the contest, we quote: “I love listening to the radio on the SW, it’s something I’ve been doing ever since I was a child. I took this wonderful hobby from my father, as a great way of getting to learn new things. I’m 24 now and I’ve noticed, with a lot of regret, that many radio stations suspended their broadcast on short-wave. This is the reason why I’m such a faithful listener to Radio Romania International. Signal is very strong and your programmes in Spanish are fabulous. Although I could listen to the radio online, I continue to use my short-wave radio. I enjoy listening to the programmes of interesting countries, such as Romania, that address Latin American countries and want to diffuse their culture through the means of the Spanish language. I wanted to participate in this contest in order to fulfil my dream of visiting the country where my favourite radio station is located, getting to know it better and express my gratitude for the programmes that RRI broadcasts for us, Mexicans, and which help us learn so much about Romania.”

The prizes will be sent by post in the next few weeks. Please confirm reception of the prize and its content by mail, fax or e-mail. Thank you once again for participating in RRI’s contest devoted to the Prahova County and we kindly invite you to participate in other contests run by RRI in the future.