You saw her in HBO’s hit series “Umbre” (“Shadows”), or in Tudor Giurgiu’s movie “De ce eu?” (“Why me?”). Or, maybe, performing in one of the numerous theater plays she did. During this period, you can see her at Metropolis, in “Jake si femeile lui” (Jake and his women). We’re surely talking about Andreea Vasile, one of the most talented actresses of the moment. We wanted to find out from Andreea where she likes to go on vacations, and what were those special places that stayed close to her heart. Read the interview below and you’ll end up, with and by Andreea’s side, in a tiny, unforgettably charming city in Mallorca.
When I asked you about a place you’ve visited, a place you’d like to talk about, you said Santanyi.
Yes, I have in mind a tiny city in Mallorca, Santanyi, located somewhere on the east coast of the island. It’s a city with very few inhabitants, where time seems to have stood still. You can walk for hours and hours on the narrow streets – they, amazingly, seem as if still in time. Discover the best restaurants or stores with the most remarkable local products. Every street, every alley has its own smell, palms and lemon trees are the guardians of this amazing town. Every street leads somewhere inviting, just as on every small corner a hidden coffee shop – otherwise known only to the locals–, reveals itself to the tourists. The terraces are packed with people for whom time has, somehow, seized another dimension. Every street leads someplace, as in every corner you can discover a mysterious cafe, known best by the locals, far from the tourists’ eyes. A place where the salty scent of the sea goes perfectly with the fresh roasted coffee.
What did you know about Mallorca before going there?
I knew it was a resort like any other, packed with tourists, running from one all inclusive to another, somehow desperately eager to spend their well deserved vacation.
Did you make any plans before going in Mallorca?
I wanted to see as much I could of the island. To explore, even briefly, places, cities – well, to check them out, and ace as many places I possibly could. Though, reality is totally different once you get here: the magic of the place gets you, grabs, somehow, all of your prior plans, blows your mind and overturns all of that you have thought before.
What were the places you liked the most and you’d recommend to your friends planning a trip to Mallorca?
I’m drawn more and more by the less touristic places, places you discover by yourself, by foot, without having to face the flocks of tourists. The tiny, unvisited villages, those who wear the proof of time, the ones who wear their age with grace and nobility –, the old houses (the so called finca) turned, now, into hotels, resting in the middle of a hill with nothing else around. I like the places you can’t discover on Trip Advisor, or on any other touristic site: the places that you are drawn to, by only your own curiosity.
How about the places you didn’t quite like?
Obviously, the opposite of those described above. The far too visited places, where tourists are, literally, fighting for a chaise long or run, at sunrise, to get a place closer to the sea.
Would you return to Santanyi?
I’d go back anytime – to live and spend my elderly years in Santanyi. In a house, with a small balcony and a tiny opening to the sea, where the wind would mildly blow in the morning, where I would smell the salt and the sea, and every once in a while, I would feel the aroma of the lemon trees behind the house. I would roam around the narrow streets by foot, eager to find daily bargains, or buy fresh bread made at that corner bistro, and not miss any of the yearly fiestas ;).
How about the people in Santanyi?
People are quiet, happy and they seem worriless. And, yes, they are serene, very elegant when they go out to dinner (everyone gets dinner in city), smiling all the time. It seems that they have a time known only by themselves, offering them an invisible, incredible energy.
How was the food?
Restaurants are plentiful and extremely elegant, they have the best paella, in fact, well – what I’m even talking about? –, everything you eat here is spectacular. Restaurants compete in elegance and offer exquisite culinary fiestas, although, most of the times, concealed, hidden on some small, quirky streets.
If you were to pack tomorrow for Santanyi, what would you put in it?
I’d have many books, a sunscreen cream, a wide-brimmed hat, some white, lengthy, vaporous dresses.
What did you buy from Santanyi?
I bought two night lamps.
Is there a place you traveled to, while filming, and that stayed in your soul?
Dealu Frumos in Sibiu County. There’s a town located straight in the middle of the country, with people that still keep the old traditions – a city surrounded by a lot of green and joy.
How about a movie that unfolds in a certain place that – after seeing the film – you wanted to explore and visit?
Woody Allen’s, “To Rome with Love”.
