Looking back at 2025
2025 felt like one of the longest and shortest years at the same time. I would like to take the time to reflect on a few things I’m proud of myself for doing this year.
Archaeology
This year was full of archaeological adventures. I was part of a committee organising an event on experimental archaeology. I participated in two field excavations at Oss (Netherlands) and Glina (Romania), and in June I finished my first year of my bachelor’s. At the end of the summer, I took a peek behind the walls of museums while learning about ceramic restoration at the National Museum of Romanian History.
Experimental Days
As part of the archaeological study association in Leiden (L.A.S. Terra), we organised two days of experimental archaeology: one for lectures, the other for workshops. Here, I hosted a cave painting workshop with authentic materials such as bamboo straws, ochre, and water.
The initial idea was to use the negative stencil technique to paint on a ‘cave wall’ (which, in reality, was a large piece of paper), but it proved to be quite difficult to efficiently blow paint (surprisingly, a few people managed to do it). So we resorted to simply painting our hands so that it was easier to leave a mark on the Experimental Days ‘cave wall’.
(Source: Instagram L.A.S. Terra )
Besides cave painting, there were many other workshops, such as flint knapping, wool felting or spinning, and many more. You can find pictures from the event here.
Excavating at Oss
In April of 2025, I went to field school, from which I have very fond memories. You can read about my experience at Oss here. Two weeks of cleaning profiles and surfaces for technical drawing, coring sediments, and ceramic sorting. Although finds were scarce, I enjoyed working outside, and by the end, I knew I had made the right choice to study archaeology. Shortly after field school, I completed my first year of my bachelor’s : )
Excavating at Glina
Just outside of Bucharest, you can find Tell Glina, one of the best-preserved Neolithic tells in Southern Romania. It was previously excavated a few times in the 20th century, but due to many reasons, a new series of campaigns began again in 2025. I was really happy to be part of this campaign.
What particularly made me excited was that I was in charge of excavating a real feature (unlike Oss, where they had to create false features for us to practise on). What I didn’t know at the time was that that feature would be the bane of me. From the surface, it looked like a small feature, but as I slowly dug through it, I discovered that it was filled with hardened clay. The problem was that it was also deep (the lowest point reached around 120 cm). It took a lot of time to excavate the inside of the feature without leaving its outline. When I thought I had fully finished excavating it, I realised that I was in fact not done. At the time, I purposefully avoided digging on one side of the feature because I thought it was an animal burrow. It turned out to actually be a continuation of the same feature. Eventually, after 5-6 days of working on it, it was fully defined. It turned out to be a trench with two post holes, which were filled with adobe to make sure that the poles would stay in place. I bet those poles did their job… Nevertheless I am proud of myself of not giving up and staying determined to get to the bottom of it (literally).
Here, I also got the chance to assist in a Magentometric Survey. Our goal was to investigate a nearby area of the tell for next year’s campaign. Although there was some activity detected, it was not as concentrated as on the tell. Tell Glina holds a special place in my heart, and I wish to return in 2026 : )
Ceramic restoration
During my excavation campaign at Glina, I was offered the opportunity to work on a short internship in ceramic restoration. I happily agreed, and for a few weeks, I went through all the restoration steps with two Neolithic vases. One from the Hamangia Culture (the vase on the left in the picture below) and the other from the Gumelnița Culture (the vase on the right in the picture below).
By the end, I gained a deeper appreciation for archaeological ceramic restoration, which seeks to preserve and present the pot through its full story: from its creation out of clay, to use in daily life, and finally, discard and deposition in the earth.
avoid adding/chan without personal influences or artistic purposes. An archaeological object should not look squeaky clean, but it should tell a story from creation to deposition. And deposition in the ground is essential to the object’s story. We must not erase part of its history.
I also had the chance to see how an exhibition is organised, and helped however I could. This brought me a deeper understanding of how museums work behind the scenes and the the process in which objects get restored, stored and placed on exhibition. I enjoyed my time working at the museum, and I am very thankful to have had this opportunity : )
A trip to Andalucia
After finishing my first bachelor’s year in June, I went on an 8-day trip to the south of Spain. We spent 3 days in Málaga, 1 day trip to Córdoba and 4 more days in Sevilla. Each day, my friends and I would visit 1 or 2 cultural or archaeological points of interest. Afterwards, we’d take a quick break to eat grated tomatoes with olive oil on bread (for breakfast, lunch, and dinner; it was delicious and what we survived off for the whole trip) before wandering the streets for the rest of the day. It was truly one of the best experiences I had this year, and I would dare to say that it changed me as a person.
Throughout the whole trip, I was stunned by the detailed and colourful architecture. It felt lively everywhere we went. Music was played on the street, and you could see culture and human passion in literally every nook and cranny. I was also happy that I finally had the chance to brush up on the Spanish I had learned in high school.
Pictures from Málaga
Pictures from Córdoba
Sevilla
Málaga and Córdoba were wonderful, but Sevilla was by far my favourite. As we were slowly discovering the streets near our rented apartment, we bumped into a religious procession. We shortly found out that it was the tradition of Romería del Rocío, a pilgrimage which honours the Virgen del Rocío. After the festivities, many brotherhoods take traditional routes which often pass through Sevilla’s city centre, where they would stop at churches and give thanks before ending at their local parish.
It was truly wonderful to stumble into this procession which was beautiful to admire. But the surprises didn’t end for that day. After a little stop at our rented apartment, where we ate slices of bread with grated tomatoes, we continued exploring the streets of Sevilla. We hadn’t been walking for long before we heard music echoing through the streets. Following the drum beats, led us to a church. I was in absolute awe, it felt like we were in a movie. (Below is a video recording of one of the songs from that night.)
These songs evoked intense feelings of happiness. All the beautiful memories that I had so far in the trip, from the wonderful architecture, to laughing with my friends and eating tomatoes on bread was now encapsulated in these songs. Even now, when I listen, I instantly smile. I find it hard to put it into words, but it made me fall in love with Andalucia. It’s such a wonderful part of Spain where I was constantly surprised by human passion, care and love. Everything from the architecture to the streets, gardens, paintings, and music felt like it was made with passion and I really admire that.
My favourite archaeological attraction from this trip was Italica. An ancient Roman city, close to Sevilla, hometown of the emperors Hadrian and Trajan.
Continuing our string of lucky events in Sevilla, we visited Italica just as the local university was finishing excavation. Thus, we arrived at the perfect window of time where we could get a tour of the Roman villa from the professor leading the campaign. It was an incredible oportunity to hear his interpretation of the villa. He mentioned little details that brought Italica to life, such as showing us a roman handprint left hidden for ages.
It was a wonderful trip, which by the end it had a big impact on me. I would love to visit Andalucia again.
Pictures from Sevilla
Bouldering
I have been bouldering for 2 years now, but with some breaks of a few months in between. At the beginning of the year I set out to make bouldering a habit and improve my ability to send higher difficulty routes. I’m happy that I was consistent in bouldering in 2025, particularly in the last months of the year, when I went at least once a week.
Beest Boulders hosts friendly competitions every month at their gyms throughout the Netherlands and Belgium. Thus, my friend and I decided together to go to as many Beest Open competitions. We visited and bouldered twice in Den Haag (HS and Centrum) and once in Antwerp and Rotterdam. I had a lot of fun, and I also improved in the process, being able to send a 6b+ difficulty route.
Nature & Photography
I went hiking more often, climbing the Carpathians and Măcin Mountains (near the Black Sea). Most notably, I reached Gropșoarele and Omu Peak, which was a surreal experience.
Bird Watching. I started doing bird photography on my trip to the Danube Delta. Once I returned to the Netherlands for my second year of studying, I continued photographing birds in Leiden (Polderpark Cronesteyn).
Photography. This year, besides taking pictures with my Canon EOS 700D, I also became interested in drone photography. You can read more about my first impressions and the little projects I made using the DJI Mini 4K drone here, or you can check out some of my best photos here : )
A few other little things I’m proud of
- Moving away from my university dorm. I had a 1-year contract that would expire in August, so in the spring I began searching for a new home. It was stressful, as expected, but I eventually found a place after 2 months of searching! In a nice and green area : )
- I got better at cooking and learned more tasty vegan recipes (one of my favourite discoveries has been condimented tofu dumplings with rice). I find it easier to have a vegetarian/vegan diet in the Netherlands in comparison with Romania.
- I learned to hand-sew. From trimming a few shirts to making a wonderful laptop sleeve.
- I found a part-time job! In which I work outside delivering door-to-door newspapers and different kinds of paper for different Dutch municipalities. It’s been fun to discover different Dutch cities this way.
- I began writing on this blog as a way to document and engage more deeply with subjects that I find fascinating.
- I’m halfway done with getting my driver’s licence. Despite my love of public transport, few archaeological sites and hiking trails are entirely accessible without a car.
My Goals for 2026
My goal for 2026 is to pursue my passions and hobbies while striving to find a healthy balance between studying, work and personal time. Other things I wish for are to:
- Purposely reserve more time for bird watching
- Write more on this blog
- Be frequently active (either through bouldering or other sports)
- Learn to speak better Dutch/Spanish
- Continue to follow my curiosities and passions
