Romania can be surprising in many ways, and sometimes we're around to see and capture it.  Here are four bits of an alternative Romania, as we happened to see it.

This is a loom that still works, and perhaps one of the few remaining in Romania, where the tradition of creating hand made products, the old fashion way, is slowly disappearing. The old lady from Suceava who owns this loom still creates rugs using the same style as her grand parents.

This metal shark can be seen downtown Bucharest, on George Enescu street, 'parked' alongside cars.

Romania's woods are filled with places like this one, small areas, usually to the margins of the woods, for people to eat, rest and... smoke (the rough translation of the message is 'place for resting and smoking'). The initiall aim of the message, placed during communist times, was to prevent people from getting lost in the woods and from setting fire to the trees.

This church almost came our of nowhere on the side of the People's Palace (Casa Poporului), where Romania's future Cathedral will be built. A quiet church, mixing modern building materials and traditional ones, set against the People's Palace and active cranes background.

(photos by Corina Saceanu/Romania-Insider.com)