Romania --- Mid-Trip Post

Well, here I sit in a QUIET hotel room in Bucharest, Romania, a city near and dear to my heart. I was here 16 years ago, long before I could have ever imagined that life might one day bring me back to this place under very different circumstances. We have had an unbelievably eventful few days -- seems like weeks since we left Belgrade on Saturday. Suffice it to say, however, that driving anywhere in Romania takes at least twice a long as you expect it to, and that doing other things (like crossing the border when there are no other cars waiting to cross, stopping for gas, or simply finding your way to your hotel in Bucharest, all seem to require more patience than most of us have). Nevertheless, I've been here for a few days, and already am feeling my love affair with Romania resurface, and hoping (to myself, only) that life might bring us here to live someday (just kidding, Mom!!). In all seriousness, this is an amazing place, and I must say that Bucharest has changed tremendously since I last was here. It seems to be a thriving metropolis, with lots to do and see, and it is just much cleaner and, shall we say, more functional, than it was in the 1990s.


Mikayla, Virginia, Wes and Graham waiting for the cows to come home -- literally!!

Enough about Bucharest, though. What about the amazing, lovely Transylvanian village we stayed in for two nights? I will write more later, and will post more pics as well, but can I just say that from about 6:45 until about 7:30 last night, we were sitting on the main street of the village, right in front of the place we were staying, waiting for the cows to come home. I am not kidding -- the cows live with families in the villages, but go out to pasture every day to graze, and then come home in a kind of ceremonial parade through town at the end of each day. Darn these cows, but they know just where to turn to get to their houses, and the owners of the cows wait out in front of their homes for their cows. The lady across the street from the place we were staying had three cows that turned off the road and walked into her courtyard. She then closed the door, and, I suppose, went about her business. Unbelievable.


The Miklosvar (the name of the village) cows -- coming home.

The kids, Lori, Mikayla and I also spent the day yesterday on the most amazing horse and cart ride out into the country and into the Transylvanian forest. The trip lasted about five hours, two of which were spent out of the cart, waiting for our hosts and guides to grill the most delicious pork I've ever eaten. Along the way, we saw cows, sheep, goats, gypsy kids and their parents, and all kinds of other amazing sights -- it was a dream come true for Graham -- he loved every minute of it!

Maybe all of this over-stimulation explains why I am so very exhausted right now. We finally made it to our hotel in Bucharest around 8 tonight, and Graham promptly crashed, so I sent the others down to the hotel restaurant to eat. I'm sitting in the room, sipping some Serbian wine, and just loving my life right now. About to dig into a caesar salad with salmon I just ordered from room service. Then, off to bed, and hoping tomorrow brings more wonderful adventures.

Erin