| QUICK UPDATE Where are they now? |
| Romania |
| We�re not here anymore! See the Spain page: 9/30-10/8/2002 Bucharest We came back a few days early from our road trip to spend more time with Monica's Aunt and to enjoy the relative comforts of life in Bucharest. 9/25-29/2002 tour of Romania Well we spent an interesting seven days on the road, visiting such interesting town as Bacau, Iasi (pronounced Yash), Brasov, Sibiu, and other vanpire haunts in the Carpathian mountains and Transylvanian Alps. On our budget, with the dismal quality of accommodation, and cold rainy weather, our tour was a bit challenging at times. We spent one night in a monestary with no heat or hot water to avoid the grim local hotels as a change of pace. Luckily, there are many rural towns which are largely undamaged by the Communist's attempts to "improve" them, and retain much European small town charm. There are not too many developed tourist attractions, except for the Vampire haunts of Transylvania. The locals tout lots of places as having connections to Vlad the Impaler (the historical figure on whome Bram Stoker based the Count Dracula character), though only a few really do. This doesn't make you feel any better when you're poking around a castle perched on a mountain top that sure looks like it belonged to a Vampire! I'll add more details when I can sit down with a map and tour book. The names are a bit tough. 9/19-24/2002 Bucharest, Romania Without too much fuss, we have arrived. Unfortunately, we flew almost right over Romania on our way from Bangkok to London. After six hours on the ground we back-tracked 3 hours to finally arrive in Bucharest. We were met by Monica's father at the airport. From there we went to meet her aunt, who is 84. After a few tears, we ate way too much. This appears to be a pattern when visiting relatives. It is definitely Fall here in Bucharest, and the weather is very pleasant. Not a hint of humidity! Our first two days we spent sitting out on a grape-vine covered patio, discussing our travels and eating. The watermelon here is fantastic, and were disappearing at a rate of about one a day. We got out to see the downtown area that the Communists "re-designed" in the late 80s - ruined is more like it. Though they are very run-down and dirty, the really old buildings of the city were designed by French-trained architects in the late 19th century, and are very elegant. One might even say.... opulent. Unfortunately, the Communist regime decided that tearing down 20 square blocks of these buildings and replacing them with concrete monuments to itself was a good idea. In this area were many small Orthodox churches, only a few of which were spared. They now stand among large grey apartment blocks, and in squares, surrounded by large municipal buildings. The streets, which were modeled after the tree- lined boulevards of Paris, are now worn out and the greenery not kept up. It is a sorry, though functional place now. We set off to tour the rest of the country on the 23rd. A few hours north of Bucharest we were well into the countryside. Out here we purchased loads of fresh vegetables right from the farmers at the roadside. They taste wonderful! We are also in the middle of grape harvest season, and that means wine! The growers make it in their sheds and sell it on the road side out of 5-gallon jugs. Stefan, (Monica's dad's niece's husband), who is driving us around, let me choose a white that I liked, and he produced 6 1.5L bottles for the guy to fill - all for $5. The wine is light, fruity and tasty. |
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