Wow, if I didn't know it was so hard to earn a living here, they last few days could almost convince me to move to Romania (the Cluj area at least). The weather has been BEAUTIFUL (upper 60s-lower 70s) every single day but 2 since I have been here, and life just seems to go on at a slightly slower pace. I just went to the big produce market - just like an indoors farmers market. What a great selection of fruits and vegetables! I've never seen cauliflower so big. It makes me so excited about moving into my apartment and the prospect of cooking finally (4 more days!). And, I will be super close to the market, which is very nice. While there, I bought a little bunch of white and red grapes, a few tiny plums, and a little bit of honeycomb to munch on. The honey is so good here - not as intense as most of what is available in the U.S. So many of the sellers were older women and it makes me wonder who is going to take all of the farming over in a few years. Sometime last spring I saw a video about a young British or Welsh couple who moved here to farm, and I hope there is a resurgence like that here (much like we've seen in the U.S. lately) instead of it all disappearing or turning into larger corporate farms.
After the market, I went to a nearby dairy store to get a little tube of what I hope is cream cheese, some kind of yogurt (nut flavored??), and a croissant - that along with the fruit will be my dinner. A little bizarre but certainly an improvement on the sunflower seed - cookie - potato chip dinner last week! I wish I had taken some pictures of the market and other things today, but I'm carrying around my computer and didn't feel like digging out my camera. I'll add this post to my blog on Tuesday since I won't have access for the rest of the day on Monday, and maybe I'll take pictures next time :)
Right now, I am taking a break on my walk home, sitting in Cluj's central park (I am writing this out on some paper so that I can type and post it on Tuesday). It is super nice and peaceful. And, completely safe. I think the most danger you are in is having a chesnut fall on your head. Not that I am trying to underestimate that danger - they fall fast and bounce hard and do so at an alarming rate!!!
Cluj's central park:
Addendum: I made it safely through the park - unscathed by chesnuts :) Once I got back to the hotel, I realized that there was a philharmonic concert at 5pm at the art museum. I called a taxi and rushed over. It was a concert of baroque music, mostly from Transylvania. One singer and three people mostly playing these old flute-recorder things. It was very neat! And, the concert made me feel like I was in one of the old music salons in Jane Austen books/movies because it was in the middle of a gallery in the museum. You could look out the window and see people's apartments across the courtyard, laundry hanging out to dry. Pretty neat!
Photo of the concert:
The courtyard at the art museum - I was a little surprised at the lack of up-keep!
No comments:
Post a Comment