Trip to Corund, Romania

The trip to Corund was so much fun, and I definitely could have spent more time (and money!) there.  I hope that I will be able to go back with my sister when she visits as it is a neat place and the perfect town to by "Romanian" gifts and memorbilia in.  This also was more of a Bechtel trip (for the wives of the people who work there) rather than a CIWC trip, so there were just 4 of us plus a driver.  This meant that we had a lot more flexibility and didn't feel as rushed.  I was able to tag along as a temporary Bechtel wife, which was very nice of them.

We got going at 7am!  That is definitely early for me and early for Romania.  Cluj is pretty dang dead before 7am (and really before 8am).  Nothing is open and there are no cars on the road.  With the winter fog, it is kind of eery but neat, too.  I walked over to a taxi stand near my apartment and went up to Jan's to leave.  This was just a little trip with Jan, Vera, and Maru.  I was pretty sleepy from the early "leave" time, so I was quiet for most of the 2 hour drive while they chattered away about all sorts of things.  I think we got to Corund around 9 or 10 am, just when things were opening up - perfect timing!

How neat is this sign?  No horse carts or tractors, but cars are fine :)

Getting some of the crafts set up for sale. 

Brooms - just like my family has in Texas.

Corund is in the part of Romania that has a lot of carved wooden doors.  Lots of shops and even homes had them for gates and doors.  It was pretty neat!  Here is one nice example:

We found an awesome pottery place in town.  I am not usually a big pottery fan, but I really loved a lot of the stuff in here.  I could have spent SO much money!  However, I forced myself to focus and just got 4 yellow plates and 4 green bowls.  Both have white designs piped on them, and each is just a little different.  They are so wonderful, and I am so excited to get to use them when I get home.  Of course, getting them home might be an issue since they are big and breakable!!! 

One of the big rooms - all pottery, all the time.  Organized by color/style.

The woman who works there, wrapping up all our stuff.  The stack of plates is mine!!!  This woman was so nice - through my limited Romanian and her English, we were able to communicate.

I really liked the little pitchers, especially the ones with the all-white designs.  It would be fun to have them all lined up on a shelf.  As I said, there was so much I could have bought....

All of us (L-R: Maru, Vera, Jan, me) with the pottery!

I just loved this.  What a neat way to display chipped or slightly broken pieces.

In addition to the pottery, I bought a few other things.  An awesome winter hat that is super warm and completely covers my ears!  A neat wooden calendar in Hungarian.  I am not sure how to use it, but it is just so neat looking.  I also got a woven belt and a really nice piece of hand-made emboroidery.  I am especially excited to have the pottery (even if it is not in the traditional style - I don't like that) and the embroidery because those really are the things to buy here.  An excellent trip!

After all the shopping, we drove to a tiny town called Borzont which was about 1 hour from Corund.  We went there for lunch at a traditional Romanian restaurant.  The drive was beautiful and I honed my picture taking skills from a moving vehicle.  Here are some of the results (I am pretty impressed!):

View from the road - some big homes in the mountains.

The winding road ahead.  This is kind of the area where the movie Cold Mountain was filmed.

A cute little farm area.

I just love this picture - the natural environment juxtaposed with the huge power lines.

What luck, two horse carts in one picture!

After the long and wind-y drive, we finally got to Borzont, but had a hard time finding the restaurant because we couldn't remember the name!  A phone call later, there we were.  Whew. And, we were starving because we left at 7am and didn't have lunch until around 2pm!!!  I had mamaligia (polenta) with a huge layor of cheese in it and sour cream on top (this actually was for everyone to share and was crazy rich - too much cheese) and some rice and veggies and sour cream all mixed together, whihc was very good. 

Just too funny.  They painted on stomach and chest hair!?

The restaurant's carved entry way (and me!).

The decor inside.  It was fun!

After dinner, we all got blueberry tea, which came with these little dishes of delicious honey - so, we are posing with our honey :)

Yes, I have been a student for too long.  Here I am pouring the honey into an empty water bottle to take home.  And, yes, I have been using it.

Close-up of the chilis hanging from the ceiling.

This is similar to the embroidery that I bought but mine is a table runner. 

Up-close on the embroidery.  It is neat, and I know that if I had enough patience I could totally do it.

It was sooooo foggy on the drive home. I have no idea how the driver could see the white line since I certainly could not. Apparently winter here is very foggy - so get home before dark (no lights or reflectors on roads)!  And, Cluj often is foggier than other areas because the city sits in a little bowl.  Almost every morning and evening there is some kind of fog.  Definitely different for me!

Across the street of the restaurant.  Not sure if it is a church or was part of some kind of commune.  Check out the hand well to the left of the building and the carved gate to the right.

The super fog on the way home.

All-in-all, it was a really nice trip.  I enjoyed it a lot - I think my favorite one out of town so far!  To end, here is a picture of me in my new hat.  I know, you are jealous about how warm my ears are!!!

I am getting so good at the self-portraits :)

I was hoping to get more posts up but we will see.  I am sick today and am just not feeling well.  Even though I got up at 11am, I am just super tired and think I will go to bed soon.  Hopefully this will be the worst that is gets!!!