A walk through history

We were happy to see the sun again this morning, but it didn't last long. We were able to get out and enjoy it a bit before the rain set in again.

We went to an open air museum. It had lots of wind mills, water mills, oil presses, and other historical structures. I felt like the girls got a pretty good science lesson with all the gears, hammers, pulleys, etc.

The museum was similar to the one we had visited in the Maramures area, but there was more architectural variety in this one. The inside of the homes were pretty similar no matter what the architecture of the outside.

We got our exercise, as the park/museum is spread out over 42 hectares. There was a pond at the centre and some of the paths wound through the woods so we enjoyed not only the history, but the nature as well.

As we were about to leave, the rain set in again! I'm starting to feel like we're in Ireland again, minus the good company.

CM

Brukenthal Museum

A steady rain and cool temperatues sent us in search of a museum. The girls are no longer enthused by museums, but we wanted to get out and with such miserable weather we needed something with a roof over its head.

We ambled through the Brukenthal Museum which was once a palace. The rooms were a bit tired and after Versailles we're a bit difficult to please! There was a collection of rugs that were woven in the area and were about 400 years old. Amazingly, they were not faded and looked as if they could have been put down on a living room floor once more. They also had an art gallery and it was kind of relaxing to stand in front of various frames and enjoy the art work. The museum didn't allow us to take pictures and there were too many guards on duty to sneak a shot so we were law abiding Canadians and settled for a picture of the exterior of the building.

After we tired of the museum we stepped out to find that the rain had not abaited. We dashed across the square and into a covered passage way and then down the street to a grocery store. It was so wet that even dashing from shop to shop was no fun. It wasn't quite like Ireland with its gentle drizzle, so we called it quits and went home to let a pot of stew simmer for a few hours.

CM

The Park

It was a cool and somewhat drizzly day, perfect for staying in, doing laundry, and watching a movie, which is exactly what we did. Our new place is an apartment and even has a washing machine in the basement, yay!

The girls were happy to simply play and be kids, and we were all happy to take a day off from school work. The kitchen area of our apartment has many open shelves and a tall counter top. This was perfect for their imaginary restaurant and it worked well as an imaginary reception desk as well. Funny how our travel situations work their way into their play scenarios.

We did get out for an hour long walk in the park. The girls brought their skipping rope and did a little skipping, but also used it as a horse harness. You’ve got to love their creativity!

CM

Sighisoara

The citadel of Sighisoara is on the World Heritage list and it really takes you back in time. To enter the citadel we walked uphill along a cobblestone street, which goes underneath the clock tower.

The clock tower itself has been turned into a museum, with exhibits at different levels, so we were not huffing and puffing by the time we got to the top! We were rewarded with great views of the town and surrounding hills once we made it up. There were small plaques on the tower’s perimeter wall, showing the direction and distances to various world cities. Yasmin and Roya were excited to see that Beijing was 7007 km away! We have come a long way.

We climbed 162 steps (the girls counted them) to check out the church and original castle which has been turned into a high school. Imagine going to school in an old castle on top of the mountain! After all this climbing, we were ready for a rest, and had lunch in the medieval square where they had markets, fairs, public executions, etc. It felt surreal to sit in the old cobblestone square, surrounded by old buildings with window boxes and tiled roofs.

Nine of the original citadel towers remain, although not all are being used for the same purpose, as you can see from the picture below.

We got to Sibiu in the early afternoon and found our way to the big square. There was a crew setting up for the international theatre festival and they were playing Andrea Bocelli’s Romanza as we walked around the square. Nice!

We found a nice apartment for our extended stay in Sibiu and can now bring the suitcase in with us instead of just an overnight bag. And we can do some laundry!

NM

Transylvania

We headed down to Transylvania today, through amazing mountain views and winding, hairpin roads. We were very excited at one point to see a section of straight road, and I was able to hit 105 km/hr for about 5 seconds! Then I had to slow down for more horse carts and bends in the road.

We arrived in Sighisoara, the birth place of Vlad Tepes Dracul. This is really a pretty little town, centred around a 15th century citadel on a hill. We arrived in the late afernoon and did not have time to do much exploring today.

We did explore around the hill a little and wandered through the narrow cobblestone streets and the square where they used to have markets, craft fairs, public executions, witch trials, impalings, ... day-to-day stuff!

The house where Vlad was born is now a restaurant, so of course we had to have dinner there. Yasmin an Roya made tea for us when we got back to the hotel and even gave us a plate of cookies and chocolate to go with it.

NM

Painted Monasteries

We spent a large part of the day in the car. We were driving to the monasteries of Bucovina, which took us through a mountain pass. The views were spectacular. I was surprised to see so many homes of same styles that we had seen at the museum yesterday. Of course they were updated but the basic shape, and wood construction were the same. I guess if a particular design works, you stay with it for five hundred years or so!

The distance to the monasteries was only about 200 km, but we had to drive slowly. The roads are full of pot holes and you never know what you’ll meet around a bend in the road. We met some farmers herding their sheep along the road, another time we met a bunch of cows being herded along, there were many horses pulling carts, and once an old man pushing a wheel barrow of wood! I had a chuckle when we were stopped by police checking to see that we had paid the road tax.

We stopped along the Prislop mountain pass (1400m above sea level) for some lunch. We found a stream and a grassy area that made a perfect spot for our picnic. It was nice to take a little time for a walk and a stretch. Too bad the stream was so cold or we might have dipped our feet.

The area of Bucovina is famous for its painted churches. We made our way to two of them, Voronet and Humor. They are famous for their painted frescos. It’s amazing to think that the paint has stayed on for more than five hundred years!

The insides of the church were also painted. In both churches there were scenes of martyrs dying in all sorts of disgusting ways. There were also scenes of the judgement day with some people being led to heaven, others to hell, angels sitting in judgement, and other angels rolling up the signs of the zodiac, symbolizing the end of time.

CM

Sighetu

This afternoon we strolled through Sighetu. It isn't a very big town, but it has some pretty churches and wide sidewalks. We stumbled upon a market selling local goods so we wandered through it too. The girls saw little baby chicks so we we stopped to admire them for a bit.


We had read about the Muzeul Satului (village museum) which has many old, wooden houses, barns, etc. dating back a few hundred years. Our guide book said it was closed on Mondays, but we stopped by anyway and found that it was open!

We were the only tourists on site, and had a guided tour through the mock village. The houses were donated from different parts of Muramures, disassembled and transported to the museum and then reconstructed here. Our guide explained the houses which all had storage rooms along the north wall, and living quarters on the other side. He talked about how they would salt and smoke pork, how they stored corn, and even how a press worked to get oil from seeds.

The church was like none other I've seen. Our guide explained how it would have been situated in the centre of town and how the tower would be used to keep watch over the town.

After the explanations, we walked around and explored on our own a bit. Our guide came back to join us and we chatted a bit about the history of the region and politics. He seemed to like the idea of communism, if the ruler was a smart one. Then the people had food, jobs, and homes, but if the ruler wasn't good, it could be devastating. He explained how Romanians had been forced from their village homes and into apartment blocks that didn't even have the basics of modern bathrooms in the 1980's. Needless to say, he wasn't a fan of Ceausescu and his 'systemisation' of agriculture.

CM

Maramures

We had Jane totally confused today! She had no clue where we were or where we wanted to go. If you recall, Jane is the name we have given our GPS unit, which unfortunately only has major cities and roads for Romania. So we had to travel the old-fashioned way, with a map and reading road signs!

The Romanian landscape is amazing. We drove through rolling hills, green fields and little towns and villages, on very bumpy roads which we occasionally shared with horse carts! Some houses in the villages had tiles stuck to the outside, making colourful patterns.

We drove over a mountain in the Carpathian range and our ears were popping as we descended on the other side. At one hairpin bend we noticed shepherds herding their flock home, then the road took us through a dense forest. It was all very picturesque.

We stopped in Sapanta, which is a small village known for its “merry cemetery”. The crosses on the graves are painted with little scenes, and some give hints of the deceased’s occupation, such as horses for farmer or a saw for carpenter, or a woman at a stove for house wife, etc.

We walked through the cemetery for a while and tried to guess at the different occupations and figure out how old some of the people had been when they died. It was neat, in a morbid sort of way. We said a prayer for them all before we left.

It was very interesting to see in every village that many women were wearing their traditional skirts and blouses, with scarves covering their hair. And many men wore traditional vests and hats. The houses had gated front yards and people were sitting outside chatting, possibly gossiping, and enjoying the beautiful day. Every once in a while we saw an old man taking his cow for a walk along the road too! You definitely got the feel of rural communities and the farming life.

NM

Bridge Festival

We went to the bridge festival this morning. The street leading up to the bridge and the bridge itself was full of people browsing stalls. The vendors were selling anything from animal skins, to wooden toys, to sweets, to pottery and glass works.

We joined the crowds and sampled some of the goods. Nadim and I had bought some pottery mugs in Budapest, but somehow we managed to break the handle of one of them. But today, the same guy was selling his pottery on the bridge so we now have a pair again!

This afternoon we made our way to Oradea in Romania. Our dollar carries us a little further here, so we splurged on one of the nicer hotels. The drive here was beautiful and the roads were unexpectedly good. Romania is off to a great start!

CM

Szeged

We switched hotels today because there wasn't availability in the one we were staying in. By the time we settled into the new place and had some lunch we weren't feeling like going sight seeing.



Instead we took a walk, just to get some exercise, and found a park with some really cool play equipment and lots of kids. The girls had a blast on a turning swing and climbing a really tall rope structure. Nadim and I just took it easy in the shade - so much for the exercise!

Our new place has a kitchen so we're looking forward to making our own supper tonight. It's nice to have a few relaxed days before we get busy with a festival tomorrow, and with traveling again after that.

CM

The Opera

We had a pretty low key day. After school work we bought some rolls, sandwich meat and cheese and went to the park. We ate our lunch and then the kids played on the swings, and play structures and drew pictures in the sand.

This evening we went to the opera. The opera theatre was small, but very beautiful with its painted ceiling, gilded box seats, and carvings.

The performance was called “Adriana Lecouvreur”. It was about a man falling in love with Adriana, an actress, and the man’s scorned lover taking her revenge. The girls really enjoyed the performance. I was surprised with how well it kept their attention. Nadim and I also enjoyed the performance but whished the Hungarian subtitles, that were subtly projected onto the top of the stage curtain, were in English. None the less, it was beautiful.

CM

Horsing around

The girls were very happy to ride horses this afternoon. We started with riding in a ring area where the girls learned how to hold the reins and how to post (go up and down in the saddle)while trotting.

Then we went for a little ride around a nearby lake. The girls loved it. They both felt that it was better than elephant riding, so I guess that's quite a compliment.

We're now downtown where we've enjoyed an hour of folk dance performances. Hungarian dancing has lots of feet stamping, leg kicking, and jumping. The men did a performance with leg slapping, boot smacking, stamping, jumping, and shouting, and all this in unison - quite fun. More is to come so we'll be heading back to the stage shortly.

CM

Seeking Information

We had chosen to stay a few days in Szeged because we had heard about some festivals that were taking place. There is a Wine Festival going on right now, but that doesn’t interest us so much because we don’t drink. The next festival starts in a couple of days so we needed some activities to fill the gaps.

Our mission for the afternoon was to find information on Szeged and surrounding area. We found the tourist information centre but once we left with all our information in hand we looked up at the sky and it had turned a charcoal grey. We had some lunch and there were a few sprinkles which put us off from going horseback riding.

Instead we ducked in and out of cafes and shops and managed to miss the downpours. Szeged has a wide pedestrian street with a large square near the centre. There are often musicians playing as you walk along it. We enjoyed the stroll, but came back to our accommodations early to get a rest and time to play or hang out for a bit before we go back into town for supper. The restaurants are nice, but I do miss having a kitchen and the comfort of eating in.

CM

Hungarian Cowboys

We saw beautiful fields full of orange poppies on the way to Bugac. Bugac village is in the plains of Hunary, and it is famous for its cowboys.

We stopped for information on when the horse show was and as luck would have it, the show was about to begin. The show opened with one courageous cowboy standing on the backs of two horses while driving three more in the front, five in total!

They also had some cowboys in traditional Hungarian outfits, riding bareback (the horses that is) and doing various stunts. The whip cracking was pretty cool. Indiana Jones had nothing on these guys!

After the show, the girls got a ride on one of the horses. They were all smiles. I think we have to find a trail riding activity or something because a trip around the ring was not enough for them.

We are staying in Szeged for a few nights. There are some festivals that are starting in a couple of days so the city is really busy and we had a hard time findng a place, but in the end we've lucked out into a very clean and comfortable place where we can even park our car in their garage! We had to speak to the manager in a mixture of english, French, German, Italian, etc. but we got or points across. I should have tried Hindi or Farsi!

CM + NM

Pest City Park

City Park is just up the street from where we’ve been staying. It is a large green space with many shaded paths. In the centre of the park is a castle that seems to have stepped out of a fairy tale.


We entered the park and found a huge hour glass. The sand was trickling through, and we wondered how long it would take for it to empty – a month, a year? We strolled around a bit and found an area with strange structures that the kids could climb.

When the girls got bored with that, we found a quiet place outside the castle moat area to read our books. The sun was shining and it was very warm. It felt good to have such a warm sun again. It also felt surreal to look up from our books and see the castle behind the trees in front of us.

On our way home we stopped at the grocery store, but found that it was already closed for the day. So we ended up going out for supper this evening. We had great Hungarian food at a restaurant called Paprika (a spice that Hungary is famous for).

After dinner we walked to Heroes Square and admired the statues and monuments there. It is surrounded by two museums with tall pillars and the monuments and buildings were lit with flood lights. It was a great way to end our day and wrap up our visit to Budapest.

CM

Museum Festival

I think we redeemed ourselves with Yasmin and Roya today. They were pretty tired of “sight-seeing” in various cities. We almost had a rebellion when they were forced away from their Barbies and were told that we were going out again, and worse yet we were going to another dreadful museum. But... we had an awesome afternoon. It was a Museums Festival and they had all sorts of tents setup by various museums from Hungary.

Each tent had a history or cultural related display and many of them had a craft. The kids made a doll, and then a crown. We watched someone doing pottery. They decorated cookies, and ate them too. They did rubbings of a stone engraved with five hundred year old graffiti. They wrote using an ink bottle and quill. They dressed up. They coloured pictures of eggs after seeing real eggs being decorated using wax. They also painted Hungarian chillies and flowers.

We had intended to stay for only a couple of hours, but we were there all afternoon. The girls had such fun that they were even willing to let us go inside the museum and check out the history within.

By the end of the day the girls were delighted with all their creations and they hardly wanted to leave. Who knew that the Museums Festival could be so much fun!

CM

Castle Hill

The Danube river divides the city into the Buda side and the Pest side. We are staying in a small 2-bedroom apartment in an older building on the Pest side. It also has a living room and small kitchen, so we have been making our own food which is great.

We are thankful to have Jane with us during this trip. Jane is the name we chose for the GPS unit we bought in France and she has been very helpful in getting us to places, in spite of road blocks, construction, one-way streets, etc. The weather was great today so we just went in our T-shirts to visit the Castle Hill area with Jane as our navigator.

Most of the medieval buildings left in Budapest are on this hill and it was almost like going back in time. I say almost because there were also internet cafes, fancy stores and a 5-star hotel. We had a great view of the Pest side across the river, and the bridges.

The kids had fun pretending to be horses running along on the cobblestone streets and marching through the medieval archways. We walked along the promenade near the palace to take in the beautiful views of the castle-like parliament buildings, and we even fed some pigeons.

We tried to find the Baha’i national centre on the way back, but found ourselves getting stuck in construction areas, detours and one-way streets. Even Jane was confused, so we decided to just phone them to find out when and where the next meeting is.

NM

Szechenyi Baths

This afternoon we went to Szechenyi Baths which is one of the thermal baths that Budapest is famous for. It was only about 12 degrees, so the trip from the heated change rooms to the first pool was on tippy toes and we had to run across the patio stones to one of the three large pools. The first pool was warm, the middle pool luke warm, and the farthest pool was the warmest.

The girls liked the first pool as it had a circular area that would turn into a whirl pool with a strong current at times. Nadim and I liked the farthest pool because it had strong sprays of hot water falling into it and this was perfect for getting a neck and shoulder massage. The middle pool felt pretty cool after coming from one of the other two, but it was a nice way to cool down.

It felt decadent to enjoy the warm water while surrounded by historic buildings, fountains, and statues. By the end of a couple of hours we were wrinkled and pink and ready to go back to our apartment.

CM

Vienna

Vienna is among the most beautiful cities I’ve seen. It has gorgeous ornate buildings, wide sidewalks, and many trees and parks.

We started our day with a tram ride around the ring road that encircles the downtown area. We stopped at Staadt Park which is full of old trees, flowering bushes, and some statues and monuments too. The kids were happy to run around and let loose some of their seemingly endless supply of energy.

We walked through some of the streets, stopping to buy “Mozart” chocolates, until we reached another park. There we had some lunch before we were on our way to Budapest.

Vienna is such a beautiful city that I almost felt guilty for only spending a day there. It would have been nice to take in some of the museums and the opera, but Budapest also has a lot to offer so we’ll see.

CM

Salzburg

We started our day at Schloss Hellbrun. It has an expansive garden with mature trees, fountains, and pools of water. It’s also famous because of its gazebo which was used in the movie “The Sound of Music”.

After dancing about and singing, “I am Sixteen, Going on Seventeen...”, we took a walk through the gardens and from there got back in the car and made our way to Schloss Leopoldskron. The house is on private property, but we didn’t know. We asked the gardener, who answered in German and said it was private, but that we could take a few quick pictures!

The view of the mountain was beautiful and the house was too, but other pictures from across the lake turned out better. This was the house that was used in “The Sound of Music”, or at least for some shots.

We then went to the Abbey where “Maria” is first introduced in the movie, but it wasn’t much too interesting so we quickly moved on to the town.

Many streets in the old part of Salzburg are now pedestrian-only so it was a pleasure to stroll through and browse the shops. One shop had thousands of painted Easter eggs. It was really amazing, but I didn’t buy any because I didn’t think they’d make it back to Canada with without breaking.

We finished off our day in Salzburg with a visit to the Mirabell Gardens. They were still planting and many of the rose bushes and vines were not yet blooming. I would have liked to see it in another week or two.

We then drove a few hours to Vienna and found a place to spend the night. Looks like another busy day tomorrow!

CM