“As far as we are concerned, ties with the Orient are not new. Evidence dating from the 14^th century, as I already mentioned, speaks of Wallachian pilgrims to Mount Athos and to holy places. To Romanians, the world of exoticism, colorfulness, mystery and other temptations of the unknown discovered by enthralled romanticists coming from the Seine, Thames or Rhine banks meant a source of danger for centuries on end. A historical stress – but also a center of cultural irradiation, if we bear in mind folk books.”