I know, I know, I say this everytime, but I really cannot believe how quickly time is going by. It already has been almost two weeks since my trip to Turin and Paris. Unfortunately for all of you out there, I can give some updates but I do not really have any pictures to add. My apologies for the boring looking post.
So, as you all know, I was stricken with food poisoning (still in shock over the fact that this happened at a nice restaurant...in Paris!!!!). That happened Saturday night of May 1st, and I wasn't back to 100% until that Thursday or Friday (May 6-7). During that time, I had a make-up class with my MA students in public history. We met on Monday evening (May 3rd) and surprisingly all four of the students showed up. No classrooms were available so we went to a nearby coffee shop for class. We did oral history, and I think it was a fairly fun class - discussed things, did practice interviews, and listened to examples on the computer. On Wednesday, I had my regularly scheduled class with them, and this time only two showed up. It is so frustrating to prepare for class and have only 2 of the 4 there, but this is the norm here. This was an important class, too, because we discussed their final project, which is not in insignificant part of their final grade. So far everyone has been very good about turning in assignments, but I am curious to see how things will turn out when with the internship presentations in two weeks and the final projects in three.
On Thursday, May 6th I decided to go to Romanian class. It is starting to seem pointless because I am leaving so soon and I doubt I will ever have a chance to use this language again, but for some reason I really want to learn more Romanian and be able to communicate with people here. Maybe I just like going to school! So, off to class I went. And, it was incredibly frustrating. We spent most of the three hours discussing the genitive and dative, which I had never even heard of! I just know the grammar rules in English - I definitely do not know the names for things. Let's just say that if I thought singular/plural and masculine/feminine/neuter for nouns was confusing, I had no concept of what confusion could mean. Welcome to the world of the possessive: Jim's car, Jim's dad's car. Trust me, in Romanian, you definitely DO NOT just add an apostrophe 's'. Can we talk about how infinitely easier Spanish is than Romanian? Needless to say, I left class with a clouded and aching brain and have vowed not to return, if for anything else than my own sanity. Since I am leaving soon, further attendance would be nother more than self-inflicted torture! My hat is off to anyone who learns all of these intricate rules because I am baffled!!!!
Friday (May 7th) was a lot of fun and pretty busy. I had a CIWC meeting in the morning, and we listened to a presentation by the director of a non-profit that runs after-school centers for children. A local travel agency came and talked about travel options in Romania and throughout Europe. Maybe I will have to use them to organize my trip this summer! Later that day, I got to meet my friend Zsuzsa for pizza. She moved away from Cluj around a month ago to continue her research in other archives, so it was nice to see her and catch up. After eating, we tried to go to the mall and see a movie, but they were all ending too late. Darius Brubeck (one of Dave Brubeck's sons and one of the Fulbrighters in town) was giving a concert at the Hungarian Opera, and I needed to be back in time for that. It was a really great concert and lasted two hours. His quartet performed with a Romanian singer who had this really amazing low voice (though at times she looked and sounded a little bit like a bird in distress).
Article in the local paper (in Romanian - translate with google translator):
http://www.adevarul.ro/locale/cluj-napoca/Teodora_Enache_si_Darius_Brubeck-dublu_concert_la_Cluj_0_257374312.html
I can't find anything of the Darius Brubeck Quartet performing with Teodora Enache, so here are a few videos so that you can get a sense of her alone:
And, if you do not know who Dave Brubeck is, then I am just sad for you. Immediately go to your computer and look up "Take Five" and listen closely. The concert ended with this piece (because it was Darius' dad's most well-known composition), and it was awesome!
The next day, I went to April's house so that we could practice some. We finally are doing a small concert for the CIWC, so that should be a lot of fun. We are doing 3 or 4 pieces together and one each on our own. It should be interesting.... Sunday I think I just hung around the house, but that night I went to a concert of Baroque music from Venice, performed by a group from Trieste, Italy. There is nothing like hearing classical European music in a neat old church...in Europe!
This past week hasn't been very interesting. I guess I am used to trips every now and then, so I got bored just hanging around town. I was hoping to go to Bucovina to see the painted monastaries this Thursday to Sunday, but no one was available to travel with me. I just don't think I would enjoy it much on my own, so I stayed put here in Cluj. There seems to be enough happening in town, so I think it will work out. On Monday I had yoga (finally I made it again) and then worked at Starbucks all afternoon grading drafts for my class that night. Unfortunately, one was completely plagiarized even though we spent an entire class session discussing plagiarism and citations (and, yes, the person in question was there). Sigh. The next day, I practiced again with April, and I went to someone's son's birthday party. It was a lot of fun - and delicious because they have all of the stuff to make burritos, including cilantro. And, trust me when I say that cilantro does not exist in this country, so everyone was very excited (it came from someone's garden)!
On Wednesday my MA class was cancelled AGAIN because not enough people were coming. Only 1 of the four was able to make it, and that is just not worth it for anyone, either me or the students. I clearly have not completely adapted to the system, but I this still makes me frustrated and ready to get back to American classes where attendance is actually required and expected!
Right now, I am typing all of this up at Starbucks (yet again). We had knitting here this morning, and I am starting to lose hope that my scarf will ever be free of the knitting needles (aka finished!). Apparently, knitting is just one of those things that can be added to the list of things I do not like.
Plans for the next few days:
- Concert ('opera gala') tonight at the Protestant Theological Seminary. Guest singers from both of the opera houses in town will come, in addition to performances by some choirs.
- Friday: Basketball game in the early evening. One of the professional teams in Cluj has made the Romanian finals, so some of the games are happening this weekend. I know someone on the team, and I haven't made it to a game yet, so I think this is my last chance.
Saturday: Night of Museums (no, no, not the movie "night at the museum"). This is an even all across Europe where museums are open late for visitors. Maybe I will finally make it to the Ethnographic Museum.
Sunday: Perhaps an ikebana flower arranging class at the Japanese Cultural Centre if they still have room, though I doubt they do. Not exactly a passion of mine, but it could be interesting to learn. And, let's be honest, who would have thought that I would learn the fine art of Japanese flower arranging while in Romania?!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
Overview of What I am Doing in Romania!
I have been teaching in the American Studies department at Babes Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca for the 2009-2010 academic year. In the fall I taught a BA-level course in American oral history course. The students in the class were third years (the last year in university here), and I wanted this course to introduce the students to the theoretical and practical sides of oral history, which we focused on for the first half of the semester. In addition, the students had to incorporate at least one oral history interview that they conducted in a 15 page research paper. Since the students had never written a paper before, the second half of the semester was focused on how to do that.
In the spring, I have been teaching two courses and working more informally with a small group of 3rd year students on their thesis papers (a 60 page paper they have to write in order to graduate). For the 2nd year MA students, I am teaching an introduction to public history where we discuss a different topic each week (museums, archives and collections, popular history, etc). We have been able to have a tour of the BBU museum and learn more about how it works, and we also were able to have someone who works in historic preservation at the Ministry of Culture come to class and discuss the state of preservation in Romania. The other course is for 1st year students in the BA program. This class is an introduction to research and writing. This is a very different approach to teaching and coursework here because most courses rely solely on an end of year exam for the entire grade. In this course, I have been working with another faculty member to teach students how to take notes on a book, use the library, choose a research topic, understand the difference between a topic and thesis, and finally write their own 10 page research paper (going through the process of topic, sources, thesis and outline, draft, and final paper). The department plans to continue teaching this course after I leave, and I hope that through my work with them that other faculty members also will begin to require papers of part of their assignments.
As you can tell, most of my work here has focused on my own teaching. Instead of conducting a separate research project, I have been working more with the students and faculty to discover their concerns about the program and to try to encourage change when possible. It will be a long process that must continue after I leave, but I hope that this new course and some of the discussion that I have started will be able to instigate that change!
In the spring, I have been teaching two courses and working more informally with a small group of 3rd year students on their thesis papers (a 60 page paper they have to write in order to graduate). For the 2nd year MA students, I am teaching an introduction to public history where we discuss a different topic each week (museums, archives and collections, popular history, etc). We have been able to have a tour of the BBU museum and learn more about how it works, and we also were able to have someone who works in historic preservation at the Ministry of Culture come to class and discuss the state of preservation in Romania. The other course is for 1st year students in the BA program. This class is an introduction to research and writing. This is a very different approach to teaching and coursework here because most courses rely solely on an end of year exam for the entire grade. In this course, I have been working with another faculty member to teach students how to take notes on a book, use the library, choose a research topic, understand the difference between a topic and thesis, and finally write their own 10 page research paper (going through the process of topic, sources, thesis and outline, draft, and final paper). The department plans to continue teaching this course after I leave, and I hope that through my work with them that other faculty members also will begin to require papers of part of their assignments.
As you can tell, most of my work here has focused on my own teaching. Instead of conducting a separate research project, I have been working more with the students and faculty to discover their concerns about the program and to try to encourage change when possible. It will be a long process that must continue after I leave, but I hope that this new course and some of the discussion that I have started will be able to instigate that change!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Other Spring Activities in Romania
Time to update you on the other things I have been up to here in Romania. I have been having class as usual and even have had to schedule some make-up classes since there were several times when only 1 of the 4 students was able to come to class. I also have had lots of Romanian class, though many of those have been rescheduled as well due to issues that the instructor is having. Outside of all the classes, it really has turned into a beautiful spring here in Cluj. What a beautiful place! Fun things I have been doing....
#1 Sushi Making Class (Wed., April 14, 2010)
Much to my surprise, there is a Japanese Cultural Center in Cluj (http://www.nipon.ro/web/guest/acasa), and they offer a variety of classes, including sushi making and ikebana (Japanese floral arranging). One of the women in the CIWC lived in Japan for a couple of years and is married to someone from there, and she organized a time for 12 people from the group to learn how to make sushi. For just 25 lei (around $8) we got to attend the workshop, make 2 sushi rolls, and we got to take the rolls and eat them. Mine weren't perfect looking, but talk about delicious!
#2 First BBQ of the Spring (Sun., April 25, 2010)
The weekend between Budapest and Turin-Paris was absolutely beautiful (and practically hot!). That Saturday I went to April's house to practice some of our flute-piano pieces. We also picked out a couple of them to play at a CIWC music concert that we decided to organize. That will be a lot of fun because I haven't gotten to play much since leaving Arizona and the wind symphony, and I really haven't gotten to do much solo stuff since college. I think this will be a fun, low-key opportunity to do a performance.
The next day (Sunday) I FINALLY made it to the art museum in Cluj. It was pretty good, but nothing too different in the permanent collection. Just your basic religious and impressionist art, but by Romanian artists. They did have a very interesting temporary exhibit - all modern art by local artists from the Cluj area and many of whom still live and work here, at least part time. Perhaps the best part was to see an exhibit like this (ex: glass ear of corn sitting on a cardboard box) in an old palace. Definitely not the usual setting for modern art and kind of a fun for a change!
That afternoon Shari (one of the other Fulbrighters here in Cluj) invited me to a bbq at someone else's house. It was a bit of a meat-fest involving all kinds of things I couldn't even identify. My sister definitely would have been in heaven. They even had some of the mici, which are these Romanian sausage things, and they smelled delicious!!!! But, I stuck to the delicious spinach salad and potato salad.
#3 Trip to the Botanical Gardens (Tues., April 27, 2010)
Since it has been so beautiful, Shari and I decided to go to the botanical gardens and see all the spring flowers. We had perfect timing because all the tulips were out in full bloom and it was a beautiful sunny day. I am so glad we picked that morning because by the afternoon it started to pour rain, and I bet it ruined all the flowers. I have heard that it is one of the best botanical gardens in all of Europe, and I think I would be willing to believe it. For more info: http://www.cjnet.ro/t/gradinabotanica.html
#1 Sushi Making Class (Wed., April 14, 2010)
Much to my surprise, there is a Japanese Cultural Center in Cluj (http://www.nipon.ro/web/guest/acasa), and they offer a variety of classes, including sushi making and ikebana (Japanese floral arranging). One of the women in the CIWC lived in Japan for a couple of years and is married to someone from there, and she organized a time for 12 people from the group to learn how to make sushi. For just 25 lei (around $8) we got to attend the workshop, make 2 sushi rolls, and we got to take the rolls and eat them. Mine weren't perfect looking, but talk about delicious!
Everyone working away with the instructor in the background.
Ta-da - the finished product!
#2 First BBQ of the Spring (Sun., April 25, 2010)
The weekend between Budapest and Turin-Paris was absolutely beautiful (and practically hot!). That Saturday I went to April's house to practice some of our flute-piano pieces. We also picked out a couple of them to play at a CIWC music concert that we decided to organize. That will be a lot of fun because I haven't gotten to play much since leaving Arizona and the wind symphony, and I really haven't gotten to do much solo stuff since college. I think this will be a fun, low-key opportunity to do a performance.
The next day (Sunday) I FINALLY made it to the art museum in Cluj. It was pretty good, but nothing too different in the permanent collection. Just your basic religious and impressionist art, but by Romanian artists. They did have a very interesting temporary exhibit - all modern art by local artists from the Cluj area and many of whom still live and work here, at least part time. Perhaps the best part was to see an exhibit like this (ex: glass ear of corn sitting on a cardboard box) in an old palace. Definitely not the usual setting for modern art and kind of a fun for a change!
That afternoon Shari (one of the other Fulbrighters here in Cluj) invited me to a bbq at someone else's house. It was a bit of a meat-fest involving all kinds of things I couldn't even identify. My sister definitely would have been in heaven. They even had some of the mici, which are these Romanian sausage things, and they smelled delicious!!!! But, I stuck to the delicious spinach salad and potato salad.
I love potato salad like this that isn't covered in mayo.
Everyone eating away.
Beautiful magnolia tree in the yard. We definitely don't have these in Texas or Arizona.
#3 Trip to the Botanical Gardens (Tues., April 27, 2010)
Since it has been so beautiful, Shari and I decided to go to the botanical gardens and see all the spring flowers. We had perfect timing because all the tulips were out in full bloom and it was a beautiful sunny day. I am so glad we picked that morning because by the afternoon it started to pour rain, and I bet it ruined all the flowers. I have heard that it is one of the best botanical gardens in all of Europe, and I think I would be willing to believe it. For more info: http://www.cjnet.ro/t/gradinabotanica.html
Just some of the pretty tulips in the garden.
What kind of crazy tulips are these? It is like some petal-y hybrid!
Just smelling the...tulips?!
Friday, April 23, 2010
How I Know I am not in the U.S.
Groceries I just bought:
2 bananas
1 avocado
2 zucchini
the equivalent of 2 or 3 containers of cherry tomatoes
med size jar on olive and caper pasta sauce
bag of pasta
2 fresh pastries
2 fancy yogurts
1 small sour cream
1 small cottage cheese
chefir
fairly small amount of smoked cheese
exotic dried fruit mix
3 small-med chocolate bars
Now, let's play guess the price..... Around $14...can you believe it?!
2 bananas
1 avocado
2 zucchini
the equivalent of 2 or 3 containers of cherry tomatoes
med size jar on olive and caper pasta sauce
bag of pasta
2 fresh pastries
2 fancy yogurts
1 small sour cream
1 small cottage cheese
chefir
fairly small amount of smoked cheese
exotic dried fruit mix
3 small-med chocolate bars
Now, let's play guess the price..... Around $14...can you believe it?!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Trip to Budapest
Guess what I am doing right now? Nope, you are wrong (I just know it). I am drinking a Dr. Pepper and watching the Biggest Loser. Where am I? In the U.S.? No, I am still in Romania, if you can believe it! Even though there supposedly are a few places here in Cluj where you can by Dr. Pepper, this one was imported from a little market across the street from our hostel in Budapest. Delicious!
With that introduction, let me tell you about my awesome trip to Budapest.....
Thursday, April 15th
Yay, it is the day that I left for my trip to Budapest. The plan is to take the train to Timisoara and meet Silvia (someone on the Fulbright out there) there. I stay at her house tonight, and then we go together on Friday to Budapest, also on the train - stay there all day Saturday and part of the day Sunday - and then both take the train back to our respective cities in Romania.
So, I skipped knitting this morning because I was too busy doing last minute packing and having a headache (joy of joys). Still, I went to a yarn store in Central, and it does in fact have the best supply of yarn by far in Cluj. Now, if only I liked knitting and was any good at it! So, I got a crochet hook and some thread because I want to learn how to make this traditional Romanian cord. Here is an instructional video, if you are interested: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunshinescreations/2653581610/ and here is an example of what you can do with it: http://blog.craftzine.com/romanianlacecord.jpg
I went to April's for lunch, and then we looked up the Romanian cord so that she could help me figure it out. However since I have never crocheted before and barely have knitting under control, it definitely was beyond my ability. So, she started me out with a basic chain stitch and sent me away with a book of directions. She even picked me up at home and dropped me off at the ttrain station - awwww!
I made it ono the train just fine and settled in for my 6.5 hour ride. Of course, by hour 2 I already needed to use the bathroom. I think it probably was just because I knew that the bathroom was off limits (for the potential 'ick' factor). Just had to keep those legs crossed because I refuse to see what the bathroom was like. In my compartment (class 2 on accelerat train), I was with 4 other women, and one of them helped me with the crocheting a little bit even with she did make me nervous everytime she looked over my shoulder! She also totally did not understand that being left handed was a little different. Definitely from the era when being left handed was not allowed! After the got off the train in Oradea (by the way, the area between Cluj and Oradea is SUPER pretty!!! - I think in the Apuseni Mountains), I read and worked on my computer a little bit. And, for some reason the heat started blasting like crazy, but only in that one compartment. It was ridiculously hot, and I had to go stand in the aisle with the open window a few times. Anyway, I finally made it to Timisoara and met up with Silvia.
Friday, April 16th
In the morning we had to wake up at 5:45 in order to catch the train an hour later. Way too early! And, it meant that it was dark the whole time I was in Timisoara (where the revolution in 1989 began), so I didn't get to see anything. Even though I didn't really get a feel for it, I am really glad I am in Cluj instead. It was so early that nothing was really open, so I had the 5 hour trip ahead of me with just bagel chips. Despite the food shortage, the train was just fine. We spent most of the time trying to figure out what our plan of action was going to be in Budapest.
Since I couldn't get a one-way ticket in Cluj back from Budapest, I had to get one at the train station. The line was crazy long (probably because of the volcano action and lack of flights), so we decided to try to ticket office in town instead. We tried to go straight to the metro and find the hostel, but couldn't even find the entrance to the metro! So, we headed back inside and went to the tourist office for a map (and directions to the metro). In the metro, we got a 3 day pass, but don't be fooled by the little booth that only takes cash right when you enter. You also can pay with a credit card at a real office if you go down the escalator!
We finally made it to the hostel - the gallery single hostel (or something like it). It was pretty cute. In a complex with a nice courtyard, but be prepared to haul your bags up 4 flights to stairs. Whew! It looked like an apartment that had been converted to a hostel and just had 4 double rooms, plus 2 full bathrooms, a common kitchen, and a common room with a laptop. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting! After checking in, we went to a little Hungarian cafeteria nearby. It served local food and reminded me of the agape cafeteria here in Cluj - ridiculous amounts of food that was okay quality and pretty inexpensive. I had a cabbage soup, and Silvia had a meat thing with dumplings and the most enormous serving of sour cherry bread pudding that I have ever seen. Check it out for yourself....
From there we tried to find the train ticket office, but apparently my guide book was a few years out of date. The ticket office apparently has since been turned into a shoe store or something like that, so I guess we would have to go back to the train station at some point. From the rumored and non-longer existing ticket office, we went to the House of Parliament to get tickets for a tour, but they were sold out for the day, and we refused to pay $25 (double!!!) to go with a tour company. We decided to come back the next morning and try to get tickets for that day.
Since our plans so far that day had fallen through, we went to St. Stephen's Basilica, which was nearby. But, just as our luck was going, it was closed for a funeral! We went to get a coffee and to a nearby shop (where I got some fun stuff like two wooden, painted eggs and thought about getting a doll in traditional clothes but I guess I don't really need one from Hungary - they were super cute though), and afterwards it was open. It was pretty neat inside, but the section with Saint Stephen's mummified hand (creepy! but the holiest object in Hungry, so says my guidebook) was closed, so we missed that.
From there, we went to eh ethnographic museum but only made it to the section on traditional Hungarian life and the museum shop before everything closed. It looks like we just missed the exhibit on "what do we think about the finns" which I think I am okay missing. Better to learn about Hungarians not Finnish people when in Hungary. At the museum store I bought a few painted eggs and a neat necklace (I am such a sucker for them). I love museum gift stores!!
By then it was around 6pm, and we went back to the hostel and got ready to go to the Szechenyi Baths. It was soooo awesome! I am so glad that I was there with Silvia because I doubt that I would have done that on my own. Anyway, we brought our bathing suits and miniature towels from the hostel and then rented a cabin to change in. We were able to leave our stuff in the cabin, and we could even rent big towels downstairs (despite what people said online - they definitely were wrong!). There were two outdoor pools, one warmer than the other, and then some thermal pools, hot tubs, and saunas inside. We only had about 1 and a half hours there, so we kind of hopped around to try out everything. Even went in a sauna that was 80 to 100 degrees celsius. You got ice before you went in to rub on yourself while you were inside. We lasted about 2 minutes, and we were totally burning!
We didn't leave the baths until after 10pm at night and found this aweseom Turkish cafeteria near our hostel. It was awesome (other than the lemonade which was really gross and fake). They even had the pides (Turkish pizzas) that Anna and I had in Istanbul. I had a spinach pide-type thing, something with tomatoes and eggplant, and the sour cherry soup, which is a traditional Hungarian dessert. It was delicious! The place was pretty interesting because it was about 11pm when we got there, and the place was packed. It was kind of neat because it wasn't full of drunk people trying to sober up or getting ready to go out. Everyone was just out eating and hanging out. I sooo want to open a delicious Turkish-Hungarian cafeteria in the U.S.!!! Wow, did we do a lot in one day considering we didn't get into town until 11:30 in the morning!
Saturday, April 17th
This morning we got up early to go to Parliament and get tickets for a tour, but we were foiled yet again. The office was closed because they were having a memorial service for the Polish president. We decided to come back later in the day in hopes of a ticket.
So, we grabbed some pastries for breakfast and headed back to the train station for my ticket. I had a delicious one with chocolate and marzipan! Dang, these European pastries will be the end of me. No wonder I gained weight here surrounded by them and not in Cambodia when I subsisted on a diet of rice and veggies (and I soooo do not like the desserts there nearly as much). We made it to the train station, and the line was not all that bad considering the volcano was still keeping flights on the ground. The guy behind us in line had moved from Hungary to Canada in the 50s (after the failed revolution) and was trying to get a train to Scotland - I can't imagine who long that would be! Anyway, we got my ticket without a problem and were on our way. I was able to get a train that left not too long before Silvia's, so we would be able to go to the station together on Sunday.
From there we went to the Terror House Museum. It was a good museum that had long English translations available in each room. I still am a little confused about everything that happened in Hungary during the two world wars and then with communism. Basically, it sounded like a horrible time. I am curious about how the Hungarian experience compared to the Romanian experience.
We went back to the house of parliament for tickets, but they were already out. I wonder if we are just not meant to see the place? By then it was 1pm, and we were starving, but there was nowhere to eat! We decided to go over to the Castle District on the Buda side of Budapest and hoped for some food there. We walked over the famous Chain Bridge, the first bridge to connect to the two sides of the city (Buda and Pest - now known as Budapest). The Castle District is on a hill on the Buda side and has the royal palace and houses the art museum and I think the history museum. We FINALLY found a place to eat - thank goodness!
After lunch, we went to the National Gallery, and it was huge! The art was only okay, but I think it is because after a while that all art museums start to look the same. The building was strange because it is old and beautiful on the outside, but really ugly and smelled like old cigarette smoke inside. Apparently it was bombed during WWII (I think....) and was rebuilt in the 1950s or 60s. What a period of bad style.
We skipped the history museum because we were just too tired and wanted to see St. Matthew's Church before it closed. The church was not all that my guidebook cracked it up to be, and I am not sure it was worth the entry price.
We drug ourselves back to the hostel to take a nap before we made our evening plans. We were thinking about going to a traditional Hungarian dance show, which would have been neat, but rested a little more instead. We just went to dinner and found this awesome Hungarian-French restaurant called the Borsso Bistro. It was nice a really cute neighborhood, and the restaurant was really cute - with way friendly waiters than anywhere I have been in Romania! We both ordered wine and chared a cream of carrot soup with five spices and parsley foam. The waitress accidentally brought us the special cream of asparagus soup with grilled salman (apparently the words for carrot and asparagus are very similar in Hungaian), so we got to eat it for free, too. It was delicious! Then, Silvia got fettucine with shrimp, and I got the special with grilled salmon and kaffir lime risotto with mushrooms. I loved it! I totally am going to have to make it when I get home - anything with citrus is good in my book. Now, guess how much that meal was? We paid a little less than $20 each for all of that. Sounds like a good deal to me!
From there, we went back to the hostel and collapsed into the bed. What an exhausting day!
Sunday, April 18th
On Sunday, we got up early agian and went to Parliament for tickets. And, we finally got some if you can believe it. We went to a nearby cafe for a sandwich and coffee while we waited for the 10am tour slot. The tour was nice but it seemed a little pricey for what it was. Also, it was strange because the guide wasn't really all that accurate. She said that it was the 3rd largest parliament building in the world, only after London and Buenos Aires, but the parliament building in Bucharest is the 2nd largest building in the world (only after the Pentagon), which definitely would make it the largest parliament building. Hmmmmm. Little did she know that her tour was filled with Romanians and historians :)
After that, we had just enough time to make a quick visit to the Jewish Quarter and to the big synagogue and museum there. The museum mostly included Jewish temple and prayer objects but also had a nice section on WWII and the treatment of Hungarian Jews. Not much of that section was in English, but it was interesting.
Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to walk around the Jewish Quarter and Ghetto itself because we had to get ready to leave. In fact, we had just enough time to get back to the hostel, finish packing, leave the keys, and get to the train station. I looked around, mostly without success, for some food for the train - definitely no veggie sandwiches available in that train station. And, I got on the train with 10 minutes to spare. Perfect timing! And, I had the whole cabin to myself for most of the trip, so I was able to stretch out and read. What a great trip!!!
An important note: My guidebook said that most of the museums were free, and that was SO not true. Everything cost money, and most were not exactly cheap. Just good to know, especially if you are travelling with someone from the European Union, because they get really cheap tickets or go free. Kind of frustrating if you are cheap like me or start to get grumpy after all the walking (admittedly, this also was me...sigh). But, Budapest was still awesome and worth it! Just try to take some breaks to relax if you have more time. We were only there for less then 48 hours total and had to pack a lot into that short amount of time.
It was also an interesting trip because Budapest just felt different in some unexplicable way from Romania. It was kind of cleaner and brighter and people somehow seemed freer than Romania. Just a hard feeling to explain. It was nice to come back to Cluj, but I can tell you right now that it would be really easy to stay in Budapest for a year!
With that introduction, let me tell you about my awesome trip to Budapest.....
Thursday, April 15th
Yay, it is the day that I left for my trip to Budapest. The plan is to take the train to Timisoara and meet Silvia (someone on the Fulbright out there) there. I stay at her house tonight, and then we go together on Friday to Budapest, also on the train - stay there all day Saturday and part of the day Sunday - and then both take the train back to our respective cities in Romania.
So, I skipped knitting this morning because I was too busy doing last minute packing and having a headache (joy of joys). Still, I went to a yarn store in Central, and it does in fact have the best supply of yarn by far in Cluj. Now, if only I liked knitting and was any good at it! So, I got a crochet hook and some thread because I want to learn how to make this traditional Romanian cord. Here is an instructional video, if you are interested: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunshinescreations/2653581610/ and here is an example of what you can do with it: http://blog.craftzine.com/romanianlacecord.jpg
I went to April's for lunch, and then we looked up the Romanian cord so that she could help me figure it out. However since I have never crocheted before and barely have knitting under control, it definitely was beyond my ability. So, she started me out with a basic chain stitch and sent me away with a book of directions. She even picked me up at home and dropped me off at the ttrain station - awwww!
I made it ono the train just fine and settled in for my 6.5 hour ride. Of course, by hour 2 I already needed to use the bathroom. I think it probably was just because I knew that the bathroom was off limits (for the potential 'ick' factor). Just had to keep those legs crossed because I refuse to see what the bathroom was like. In my compartment (class 2 on accelerat train), I was with 4 other women, and one of them helped me with the crocheting a little bit even with she did make me nervous everytime she looked over my shoulder! She also totally did not understand that being left handed was a little different. Definitely from the era when being left handed was not allowed! After the got off the train in Oradea (by the way, the area between Cluj and Oradea is SUPER pretty!!! - I think in the Apuseni Mountains), I read and worked on my computer a little bit. And, for some reason the heat started blasting like crazy, but only in that one compartment. It was ridiculously hot, and I had to go stand in the aisle with the open window a few times. Anyway, I finally made it to Timisoara and met up with Silvia.
Friday, April 16th
In the morning we had to wake up at 5:45 in order to catch the train an hour later. Way too early! And, it meant that it was dark the whole time I was in Timisoara (where the revolution in 1989 began), so I didn't get to see anything. Even though I didn't really get a feel for it, I am really glad I am in Cluj instead. It was so early that nothing was really open, so I had the 5 hour trip ahead of me with just bagel chips. Despite the food shortage, the train was just fine. We spent most of the time trying to figure out what our plan of action was going to be in Budapest.
Since I couldn't get a one-way ticket in Cluj back from Budapest, I had to get one at the train station. The line was crazy long (probably because of the volcano action and lack of flights), so we decided to try to ticket office in town instead. We tried to go straight to the metro and find the hostel, but couldn't even find the entrance to the metro! So, we headed back inside and went to the tourist office for a map (and directions to the metro). In the metro, we got a 3 day pass, but don't be fooled by the little booth that only takes cash right when you enter. You also can pay with a credit card at a real office if you go down the escalator!
Keleti train station. Where we arrived.
A little produce stand outside the train station. Can you see the strands of dried paprika? That's how you know you are in Hungary!
We finally made it to the hostel - the gallery single hostel (or something like it). It was pretty cute. In a complex with a nice courtyard, but be prepared to haul your bags up 4 flights to stairs. Whew! It looked like an apartment that had been converted to a hostel and just had 4 double rooms, plus 2 full bathrooms, a common kitchen, and a common room with a laptop. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting! After checking in, we went to a little Hungarian cafeteria nearby. It served local food and reminded me of the agape cafeteria here in Cluj - ridiculous amounts of food that was okay quality and pretty inexpensive. I had a cabbage soup, and Silvia had a meat thing with dumplings and the most enormous serving of sour cherry bread pudding that I have ever seen. Check it out for yourself....
Silvia and our ridiculous amount of food. Wow.
The super cute building where our hostel was.
A small opera house right next to our hostel.
From there we tried to find the train ticket office, but apparently my guide book was a few years out of date. The ticket office apparently has since been turned into a shoe store or something like that, so I guess we would have to go back to the train station at some point. From the rumored and non-longer existing ticket office, we went to the House of Parliament to get tickets for a tour, but they were sold out for the day, and we refused to pay $25 (double!!!) to go with a tour company. We decided to come back the next morning and try to get tickets for that day.
Just a neat building in town.
A nice area with huge buildings, including the U.S. Embassy.
The biggest and fanciest building there.
What?! It is MTV?? Nah, this time it stands for Magyar TV (or something like that - basically, it is the national TV station in Hungary).
The main opera house, on Andrassy Street (or utca in hungarian).
Since our plans so far that day had fallen through, we went to St. Stephen's Basilica, which was nearby. But, just as our luck was going, it was closed for a funeral! We went to get a coffee and to a nearby shop (where I got some fun stuff like two wooden, painted eggs and thought about getting a doll in traditional clothes but I guess I don't really need one from Hungary - they were super cute though), and afterwards it was open. It was pretty neat inside, but the section with Saint Stephen's mummified hand (creepy! but the holiest object in Hungry, so says my guidebook) was closed, so we missed that.
St. Stephen's Basilica.
View from the top of the church.
Because no trip is complete without the awesome self portrait!
View of the street.
Inside the church.
This church took many years to make, and you can tell from the interior that it definitely was finished in the early 1900s.
From there, we went to eh ethnographic museum but only made it to the section on traditional Hungarian life and the museum shop before everything closed. It looks like we just missed the exhibit on "what do we think about the finns" which I think I am okay missing. Better to learn about Hungarians not Finnish people when in Hungary. At the museum store I bought a few painted eggs and a neat necklace (I am such a sucker for them). I love museum gift stores!!
In front of the mannequin wearing traditional Romanian clothes.
Sample interior of a traditional home, probably 100 years ago.
Examples of all different kinds of traiditonal needlework. I love it!
What a great example of how they designed their exhibits without hurting (or even touching) the original and very old building. It looks obvious and ugly in this picture, but you don't even notice the fake walls when you are actually in the exhibit itself.
By then it was around 6pm, and we went back to the hostel and got ready to go to the Szechenyi Baths. It was soooo awesome! I am so glad that I was there with Silvia because I doubt that I would have done that on my own. Anyway, we brought our bathing suits and miniature towels from the hostel and then rented a cabin to change in. We were able to leave our stuff in the cabin, and we could even rent big towels downstairs (despite what people said online - they definitely were wrong!). There were two outdoor pools, one warmer than the other, and then some thermal pools, hot tubs, and saunas inside. We only had about 1 and a half hours there, so we kind of hopped around to try out everything. Even went in a sauna that was 80 to 100 degrees celsius. You got ice before you went in to rub on yourself while you were inside. We lasted about 2 minutes, and we were totally burning!
I am sorry these are so tiny. No clue what is going on....
Not that you can see me, but I am there.
We didn't leave the baths until after 10pm at night and found this aweseom Turkish cafeteria near our hostel. It was awesome (other than the lemonade which was really gross and fake). They even had the pides (Turkish pizzas) that Anna and I had in Istanbul. I had a spinach pide-type thing, something with tomatoes and eggplant, and the sour cherry soup, which is a traditional Hungarian dessert. It was delicious! The place was pretty interesting because it was about 11pm when we got there, and the place was packed. It was kind of neat because it wasn't full of drunk people trying to sober up or getting ready to go out. Everyone was just out eating and hanging out. I sooo want to open a delicious Turkish-Hungarian cafeteria in the U.S.!!! Wow, did we do a lot in one day considering we didn't get into town until 11:30 in the morning!
Just a nice picture, across from the opera house on Andrassy St.
Saturday, April 17th
This morning we got up early to go to Parliament and get tickets for a tour, but we were foiled yet again. The office was closed because they were having a memorial service for the Polish president. We decided to come back later in the day in hopes of a ticket.
The ceremony at the House of Parliament.
Memorial site for the Polish president and others who died in the plane crash.
So, we grabbed some pastries for breakfast and headed back to the train station for my ticket. I had a delicious one with chocolate and marzipan! Dang, these European pastries will be the end of me. No wonder I gained weight here surrounded by them and not in Cambodia when I subsisted on a diet of rice and veggies (and I soooo do not like the desserts there nearly as much). We made it to the train station, and the line was not all that bad considering the volcano was still keeping flights on the ground. The guy behind us in line had moved from Hungary to Canada in the 50s (after the failed revolution) and was trying to get a train to Scotland - I can't imagine who long that would be! Anyway, we got my ticket without a problem and were on our way. I was able to get a train that left not too long before Silvia's, so we would be able to go to the station together on Sunday.
From there we went to the Terror House Museum. It was a good museum that had long English translations available in each room. I still am a little confused about everything that happened in Hungary during the two world wars and then with communism. Basically, it sounded like a horrible time. I am curious about how the Hungarian experience compared to the Romanian experience.
The great (and controversial) exterior of the building. It is the former headquarters of the secret police.
A photo of one of the exhibits, mere moments before I was caught with my camera. It is a miracle the guard isn't actual in this picture!
This was quite interesting and effective. They had enclosed this courtyard, put a tank in the middle, and covered the walls from top to bottom with photos of all the people killed by the secret police.
We went back to the house of parliament for tickets, but they were already out. I wonder if we are just not meant to see the place? By then it was 1pm, and we were starving, but there was nowhere to eat! We decided to go over to the Castle District on the Buda side of Budapest and hoped for some food there. We walked over the famous Chain Bridge, the first bridge to connect to the two sides of the city (Buda and Pest - now known as Budapest). The Castle District is on a hill on the Buda side and has the royal palace and houses the art museum and I think the history museum. We FINALLY found a place to eat - thank goodness!
Going across the bridge.
There is the Buda side; that is the Royal Palace.
View back to the Pest side. That is the House of Parliament on the left.
After lunch, we went to the National Gallery, and it was huge! The art was only okay, but I think it is because after a while that all art museums start to look the same. The building was strange because it is old and beautiful on the outside, but really ugly and smelled like old cigarette smoke inside. Apparently it was bombed during WWII (I think....) and was rebuilt in the 1950s or 60s. What a period of bad style.
The Royal Palace from the other side.
We skipped the history museum because we were just too tired and wanted to see St. Matthew's Church before it closed. The church was not all that my guidebook cracked it up to be, and I am not sure it was worth the entry price.
The church fromn the outside. Unfortunately, it was under reonvation when we visited.
The altar. It was pretty interesting.
Part of the ceiling. Quite a difference from St. Stephen's Basilica.
We drug ourselves back to the hostel to take a nap before we made our evening plans. We were thinking about going to a traditional Hungarian dance show, which would have been neat, but rested a little more instead. We just went to dinner and found this awesome Hungarian-French restaurant called the Borsso Bistro. It was nice a really cute neighborhood, and the restaurant was really cute - with way friendly waiters than anywhere I have been in Romania! We both ordered wine and chared a cream of carrot soup with five spices and parsley foam. The waitress accidentally brought us the special cream of asparagus soup with grilled salman (apparently the words for carrot and asparagus are very similar in Hungaian), so we got to eat it for free, too. It was delicious! Then, Silvia got fettucine with shrimp, and I got the special with grilled salmon and kaffir lime risotto with mushrooms. I loved it! I totally am going to have to make it when I get home - anything with citrus is good in my book. Now, guess how much that meal was? We paid a little less than $20 each for all of that. Sounds like a good deal to me!
From there, we went back to the hostel and collapsed into the bed. What an exhausting day!
Sunday, April 18th
On Sunday, we got up early agian and went to Parliament for tickets. And, we finally got some if you can believe it. We went to a nearby cafe for a sandwich and coffee while we waited for the 10am tour slot. The tour was nice but it seemed a little pricey for what it was. Also, it was strange because the guide wasn't really all that accurate. She said that it was the 3rd largest parliament building in the world, only after London and Buenos Aires, but the parliament building in Bucharest is the 2nd largest building in the world (only after the Pentagon), which definitely would make it the largest parliament building. Hmmmmm. Little did she know that her tour was filled with Romanians and historians :)
After that, we had just enough time to make a quick visit to the Jewish Quarter and to the big synagogue and museum there. The museum mostly included Jewish temple and prayer objects but also had a nice section on WWII and the treatment of Hungarian Jews. Not much of that section was in English, but it was interesting.
The synagogue.
Interior of the synagogue, looking towards the altar area (I am sure that is not the right word).
Looking back into the church, at the pews.
The weeping willow memorial behind the synagogue, to those who were killed during WWII.
Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to walk around the Jewish Quarter and Ghetto itself because we had to get ready to leave. In fact, we had just enough time to get back to the hostel, finish packing, leave the keys, and get to the train station. I looked around, mostly without success, for some food for the train - definitely no veggie sandwiches available in that train station. And, I got on the train with 10 minutes to spare. Perfect timing! And, I had the whole cabin to myself for most of the trip, so I was able to stretch out and read. What a great trip!!!
Not a great picture of either of us, but the only other one I have of us both. So long from Budapest!
An important note: My guidebook said that most of the museums were free, and that was SO not true. Everything cost money, and most were not exactly cheap. Just good to know, especially if you are travelling with someone from the European Union, because they get really cheap tickets or go free. Kind of frustrating if you are cheap like me or start to get grumpy after all the walking (admittedly, this also was me...sigh). But, Budapest was still awesome and worth it! Just try to take some breaks to relax if you have more time. We were only there for less then 48 hours total and had to pack a lot into that short amount of time.
It was also an interesting trip because Budapest just felt different in some unexplicable way from Romania. It was kind of cleaner and brighter and people somehow seemed freer than Romania. Just a hard feeling to explain. It was nice to come back to Cluj, but I can tell you right now that it would be really easy to stay in Budapest for a year!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Trip to Sighisoara
It seems like all of my posts lately have been titled "Trip to...." and I love it! It finally means that I am getting to see some of Romania and the surrounding area, which is important to me and is a significant focus of the Fulbright program in general. This time, I was off to Sighisoara, which is in Transylvania and close to Sibiu. Like many cities here, it at one time had a walled city. Unlike most cities today, it still has its old wall and 9 of the 14 original bastions (or towers). That entire walled part of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and certainly is a great place to visit if you are in the area!
This was a really quick trip. I went with Terri from the women's group and her husband and son over the Easter/spring break. We took the train out on Thursday morning and came back Friday evening. While that might seem too short, it actually was the perfect amount of time for Sighisoara. This was my first train experience in Romania, and it was just fine - ordering the tickets, finding the right train, and the trip itself. We took first class both ways and had an accelerat train the way there and an inter-city the way back. I have no idea what the actual difference was, but here is a little info. Accelerat definitely is not accerlated! It was perhaps 15 minutes faster than the inter-city one, and the inter-city one actually was nicer. In fact, I dare say it was the nicest train I have ever been on, if you can believe it!
So, we took the train, leaving Cluj around 9:30am and arriving in Sighisoara around 12:30pm. It arrived right on time, and we decided to walk from the train station to the old part of town. It was perhaps a 15-20 minute walk and took us near the big orthodox cathedral in town (unfortunately, locked) and across the river (the world's ugliest, I think!).
A note to parents of young children: this is NOT the trip to bring a big stroller. First, the train had NO room for a stroller that size and the cobblestones and many, many steps to get into the old part of town definitely are not conducive to a stroller.
The intial feel of Sighisoara was interesting. The main part of the city (outside the old walled section) felt a little more run-down than Cluj, and there definitely were not as many grand, old buildings. There also were many more people straight out begging. I haven't really seen very many people just begging in Cluj. Usually they are trying to sell something (like wooden spoons or a bag of sunflower seeds). The appearance of the gypsies also was quite different. In Cluj they often wear not exactly a traditional dress, but a very distinctive style of clothing. and they usually are just hanging out with their families or selling things. In Sighisoara, they looked much poorer and were begging a lot. It was a pretty marked difference, and I wonder if they are part of another group.
When we got to the old part of town, we first went to the hostel (Bed and Breakfast Coula - inexpensive and nice!) to drop off our bags. It was a pretty cute little place with just a few rooms and owned by a couple in their 50s or 60s. By the time we did all of that, it was 4pm, and the museums were all closed, so we just walked around town for a little bit and found a place for lunch. It was a place recommended by the Lonely Planet guidebook, but they were out of a lot of things (not sure if it is because we were so late in the day, though they are open for dinner too, or if it was because it wasn't the high tourist season yet).
After lunch, we walked up the covered staircase (lots and lots of steps!!) that was built in the 1600s to provide the children who went to school at the top of the hill a sheltered way to get there. And, yes, the school is still there and functioning. Talk about a workout on the way to school! There also is a big German, Lutheran church on the top, and we had just enough time to see it before it closed for the day. At some point in its history, these amazing murals/frescoes were covered up. In the 1930s, some were uncovered, and they now have all these little chips in them. Apparently that was done when they were plastered over so that the plaster would stick. After seeing things like this and the amazing mosaics covered up at the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul, it is just astonishing and sad that people would want to cover up or even destroy that kind of thing.
Behind the church was a great cemetery - very green and park-like. I wish this is what cemeteries in the U.S. felt like! Of course, in places like Texas it would be impossible because there just isn't enough or that kind of vegetation. While there, I found a couple of my family names like Shafer and Binder (instead of Bender). I wonder if my family has any German-Romanian connections??
By the time we finished up with that, it was starting to sprinkle and Terri's son was not feeling well, so we headed back to the hotel. Two of us headed back out to scrounge up some dinner (to eat and to bring back to the hotel for those there). And, boy was it hard finding a place to eat in this town! But, we eventually found a place that made pizza (they had other things on there menu but just made pizza - again, because it is the off-season??). Unlike most places in Romania, they gave us not one but two huge pizza boxes to take the leftovers, splitting the two kinds into separate boxes instead of grouping into one (strange bceause I purposefully had put all the leftover on just one plate!).
Friday morning we got up (having made it through the cold night - note: not really enough heat in the hotel when it is chilly out!!!!) and had breakfast with our hosts. It was 65 lei for the night and 15 lei for breakfast, but I am just realizing that I might have only given them 65 lei - ooopppps! After that, we headed out to catch the museums: history museum in the clock tower, weapons museum (2 rooms), and the torture museum (1 room in part of what once was the prison). They were all okay and didn't take too long to see (and were not very pricey). The weapons museum included one exhibit about Dracula (Vlad Dracul) who was born in the town in the 1400s. The picture below is of a place that claims to be Dracula's house. He was born in a house on this spot, but the existing structure is not the same one.
Something else that was really interesting is that we got to see work on several of the roads in town. Unlike many things in Romania that are done the easiest and quickest, but certainly not the best way, these roads were being done correctly and by hand. I am sure this is because there are very strict rules that come with it being a world heritage site.
In addition to visiting the museums in town and spying on the road workers, we went to a few little shops. I bought a wooden egg that won't break (I broke a real painted egg at the cafe in dracula's house - yikes) and that I definitely will be able to bring back to the U.S. (some issue with avian flu means that sometimes they are confiscated at customs). I also got these two really awesome dolls (sort of like vintage barbies) wearing traditional clothes. I had been wanting to get a doll in traditional dress, and these are definitely the neatest ones that I have seen! Before leaving town, we looked at another church (also Lutheran - this place is full of them because of the German heritage) that had some interesting murals on the sides. No pictures were allowed but I got a couple of postcards. Then, we got packed up and headed back to the train station. Our train was 1 hour late, but everything was fine when we got on. It was a fun trip, and I am just glad that I had company to go with me!!
Here are a few more pictures:
This was a really quick trip. I went with Terri from the women's group and her husband and son over the Easter/spring break. We took the train out on Thursday morning and came back Friday evening. While that might seem too short, it actually was the perfect amount of time for Sighisoara. This was my first train experience in Romania, and it was just fine - ordering the tickets, finding the right train, and the trip itself. We took first class both ways and had an accelerat train the way there and an inter-city the way back. I have no idea what the actual difference was, but here is a little info. Accelerat definitely is not accerlated! It was perhaps 15 minutes faster than the inter-city one, and the inter-city one actually was nicer. In fact, I dare say it was the nicest train I have ever been on, if you can believe it!
So, we took the train, leaving Cluj around 9:30am and arriving in Sighisoara around 12:30pm. It arrived right on time, and we decided to walk from the train station to the old part of town. It was perhaps a 15-20 minute walk and took us near the big orthodox cathedral in town (unfortunately, locked) and across the river (the world's ugliest, I think!).
The train station in Sighosoara. Very nice looking!
The cathedral.
Ugly river in foreground; UNESCO world heritage site in background. Go figure.
Steps.
And more steps....
Note the drain on the right side. The first I've seen anywhere in Romania. This town was soooo founded by Germans!
The intial feel of Sighisoara was interesting. The main part of the city (outside the old walled section) felt a little more run-down than Cluj, and there definitely were not as many grand, old buildings. There also were many more people straight out begging. I haven't really seen very many people just begging in Cluj. Usually they are trying to sell something (like wooden spoons or a bag of sunflower seeds). The appearance of the gypsies also was quite different. In Cluj they often wear not exactly a traditional dress, but a very distinctive style of clothing. and they usually are just hanging out with their families or selling things. In Sighisoara, they looked much poorer and were begging a lot. It was a pretty marked difference, and I wonder if they are part of another group.
When we got to the old part of town, we first went to the hostel (Bed and Breakfast Coula - inexpensive and nice!) to drop off our bags. It was a pretty cute little place with just a few rooms and owned by a couple in their 50s or 60s. By the time we did all of that, it was 4pm, and the museums were all closed, so we just walked around town for a little bit and found a place for lunch. It was a place recommended by the Lonely Planet guidebook, but they were out of a lot of things (not sure if it is because we were so late in the day, though they are open for dinner too, or if it was because it wasn't the high tourist season yet).
The International Cafe - posing with my lonely planet next to their lonely planet sign :)
One of the piatas in town.
A really cute street with brightly colored, slightly leaning buildings!
After lunch, we walked up the covered staircase (lots and lots of steps!!) that was built in the 1600s to provide the children who went to school at the top of the hill a sheltered way to get there. And, yes, the school is still there and functioning. Talk about a workout on the way to school! There also is a big German, Lutheran church on the top, and we had just enough time to see it before it closed for the day. At some point in its history, these amazing murals/frescoes were covered up. In the 1930s, some were uncovered, and they now have all these little chips in them. Apparently that was done when they were plastered over so that the plaster would stick. After seeing things like this and the amazing mosaics covered up at the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul, it is just astonishing and sad that people would want to cover up or even destroy that kind of thing.
Looking down at the covered stairway.
View from the top.
Behind the church was a great cemetery - very green and park-like. I wish this is what cemeteries in the U.S. felt like! Of course, in places like Texas it would be impossible because there just isn't enough or that kind of vegetation. While there, I found a couple of my family names like Shafer and Binder (instead of Bender). I wonder if my family has any German-Romanian connections??
Cemetery.
A very interesting "fence" made out of old gravestones.
Shafer - my great-grandmother's maiden name.
By the time we finished up with that, it was starting to sprinkle and Terri's son was not feeling well, so we headed back to the hotel. Two of us headed back out to scrounge up some dinner (to eat and to bring back to the hotel for those there). And, boy was it hard finding a place to eat in this town! But, we eventually found a place that made pizza (they had other things on there menu but just made pizza - again, because it is the off-season??). Unlike most places in Romania, they gave us not one but two huge pizza boxes to take the leftovers, splitting the two kinds into separate boxes instead of grouping into one (strange bceause I purposefully had put all the leftover on just one plate!).
Some other nice buildings in town.
Definitely the strangest building that I saw. A mural with a statue of a deer's head coming out of the corner. Strange!
Friday morning we got up (having made it through the cold night - note: not really enough heat in the hotel when it is chilly out!!!!) and had breakfast with our hosts. It was 65 lei for the night and 15 lei for breakfast, but I am just realizing that I might have only given them 65 lei - ooopppps! After that, we headed out to catch the museums: history museum in the clock tower, weapons museum (2 rooms), and the torture museum (1 room in part of what once was the prison). They were all okay and didn't take too long to see (and were not very pricey). The weapons museum included one exhibit about Dracula (Vlad Dracul) who was born in the town in the 1400s. The picture below is of a place that claims to be Dracula's house. He was born in a house on this spot, but the existing structure is not the same one.
Clock tower in the background and Dracula's "house" in the foreground.
Close-up of the figures on one side of the clock tower.
Inner workings of the figures on the other side of the clock tower. These represent the Greek gods and change each day.
View from the top of the tower.
Another view form the top. In the background you can see the hill that the covered stairway goes to - the school is on the left and the church on the right.
Something else that was really interesting is that we got to see work on several of the roads in town. Unlike many things in Romania that are done the easiest and quickest, but certainly not the best way, these roads were being done correctly and by hand. I am sure this is because there are very strict rules that come with it being a world heritage site.
Some of the workers waving at us.
Laying and hammering each stone in by hand. They then were covered with wet sand and pounded in some more and the sand swept off.
Quite a stretch of road to do.
This was just hilarious. There was a big show of 4 firemen coming in and hosing down part of the road (I guess it needed to water to set). I think this will be the most "gay-friendly" picture that you will ever find in Romania!
In addition to visiting the museums in town and spying on the road workers, we went to a few little shops. I bought a wooden egg that won't break (I broke a real painted egg at the cafe in dracula's house - yikes) and that I definitely will be able to bring back to the U.S. (some issue with avian flu means that sometimes they are confiscated at customs). I also got these two really awesome dolls (sort of like vintage barbies) wearing traditional clothes. I had been wanting to get a doll in traditional dress, and these are definitely the neatest ones that I have seen! Before leaving town, we looked at another church (also Lutheran - this place is full of them because of the German heritage) that had some interesting murals on the sides. No pictures were allowed but I got a couple of postcards. Then, we got packed up and headed back to the train station. Our train was 1 hour late, but everything was fine when we got on. It was a fun trip, and I am just glad that I had company to go with me!!
Here are a few more pictures:
Our hotel. In a building more than 400 years old!
And, because it is always important to have a mix of the old and new....
Those are cherry trees. The blossoms smell just like cherries!
More old buildings.
And, a crumbling building.
One of the towers that is still standing. They are pretty interesting because a different guild ran each one (hat makers, tailors, blacksmiths, etc). They sold their products from there and also were in charge of defending that tower and section of wall in case of outside attack. Who knew hat makers could also be soldiers?! Certainly not the mild-mannered trade of today!
And, finally, my lovely travelling companies - the Church family.
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