E-mails from Ed
September 23, 2003
Note the date; when in Rome do as ... Took us 29 hours for
intransit
with layovers in Memphis (don't ask) and Amsterdam.
Typical Romanian hospitality; young couple on the plane into Bucharest insisted on taking
us to our hotel even though it was 12:15 AM! Friday morning met with the travel agent and the driver we will have for our tourist swing
starting 10/4. Bought 1st class tickets for 3 hour train ride to
Craiova. $10.00 each. We are staying a in private villa with 30 TV stations and
only MSNBC in English from 8 to 10 AM in the morning. No hardships so far.
Saturday we spent 2 hours in Craiova's large city park, second largest in Europe. Unfortunately the zoo they have is run down and so the
Romanian wolf shares its cage with a German shepherd and an English collie is in the cage next door! Temperatures in the low 80's; high for
this time of year. Sunday Marge and I walked from villa to center of Craiova and had lunch in a beer garden run for military assigned to the
area; note that this is not a military regime and so no concern on our part. Sunday was also Harvest Day Holiday (no time off for anyone as
only 5 national holidays) and so we watched an open air performance by a
musical group with dancers in costume from Bucharest. Opening remarks by the governor of the state we are in and the mayor of Craiova. It was
about this time that I remembered this was Marge's birthday. Ouch!
Have had excellent meals for $9.00 for two and bought fresh fruit at $.50/# for oranges from Italy, bananas for $.40/# and mineral water for
$.40/liter.
The company I am assisting is profitable this year and may set a record. We start strategic planning this PM and will work until 7 PM
tonight. They are in the middle of preparing a $5 million capital replacement
for equipment from Germany and Holland. Hope this all transmits as the
AOL occasionally drops me. Regards,
Ed
September 29, 2003
Having trouble with AOL so may need to just send virtual postcards when
"on the road" next 2 weeks.
My office looks out over major road going west out of Craiova and I see trucks, cars, electric trolleys and
occasional horse drawn wagons driven by gypsies pass bye. Marge is getting
acclimated to city of 300,000 and is comfortable here. Last Friday night we went to the National Teatru and saw 12th Night by Wm.
Shakespeare for $3/bilet on row G, aisle. Presented by group from Moscow, RU in
English with Romanian subtitles on screen above the stage. This version
included, dancing, 6 piece band, music ala Elvis P. and good comedy. The
audience of mostly professionals gave them 4 curtain calls.
Short economic lesson: Social worker makes $120/month and teacher $150 with
engineers around $5-600. A new 5 cubic refrigerator costs $500 and can be
paid over 20 months. Remember that mortgages for homes are just being introduced and so the younger couples still live with their parents.
Sunday we went to the Danube by car with a driver and followed it along
the Yugoslavian border, visited several monasteries and enjoyed wild trout and polenta for dinner. We drove through many villages of 1000
people, saw the gypsies homes among them as indicated by the many turrets
on the roofs that indicated wealth. Some gypsies we passed on the road in their caravans or wagons like our western pioneers
although smaller. At night we had to avoid the cows, sheep, goats, pigs, turkeys and
ducks being driven home from common pastures. The weather is in the high
60's and we continue to enjoy the experience. There is an outside chance they will invite me back
every 6 moths or so. We will see how my strategic planning has helped them this time.
Enjoy life. We are.
Marge and Ed
October 8, 2003
Roads are 2 lane and much better than previous experience. Many Romanians tell me they have expected Americans for over 50 years since WW II
and unfortunately fell under sphere of USSR. Bought food for traveling and Monday were in Cluj. Saw shepherds along the way with cloaks made
of lamb skins and Tyrolean-type hats. Looked at St. Michaels church in
Clej; largest Gothic church in eastern Europe. Statue of Hungarian king when they were in control in 15th century is huge and only barely
tolerated by Nationalist mayor of Clej. To consternation of our Romanian
driver/guide I enjoyed a Hungarian meal at 400 year old building with 200
year old restaurant; food very fresh however.
Tuesday we passed through many farm villages where the homes were replaced by 10 story
concrete apartments and new industry was started in 1980's by Ceausesou. The
industries failed and now the farmers live in the apartments while they rebuild homes and farm their acres. Went to Communist prison (1 of 241)
where 8000 clergy, intellectuals and government leaders opposed to communism perished. A very
sobering day.
Wednesday we drove through villages noted for all wood churches including hard wood nails; no metal at
all. In one village I stopped to video a carved wooden gateway and the mother and her daughter-in-law insisted we be welcomed into their home.
We sat and talked through our driver and they insisted we stay for a mid-morning meal of apple brandy, bread, smoked salt pork (fat back).
Then retired to their farm yard where our driver spoke about politics to
them. He was an official responsible for international tourism in the first democratic elections, but his party is now out of power and he is
a tour guide. Be careful who you vote for I guess. They insisted on giving us a bag of apples and a recycled Pepsi bottle full of their
apple brandy. And we haven't finished the first bottle of plum brandy from
Craiova.
Today, Thursday we drove to see monasteries that were built and painted in the 15th century with hundred of scenes on the OUTSIDE of
the churches and the colors are still fresh and Vibrant. The adventure continues.
Ed and Marge
12 October, 2003 - Sinai, Romania
Monday we visit the Blind School to look at 2 computers sent so far.
Next two days in Bucharest and home Thursday.
The last week highlights:
 |
Passed our first gypsy caravan with 5 wagons, horses grazing and a fire
with all huddled around it. |
|
Continue to see the kids hustling tourists
for coins in most cities. |
|
Stayed at great hotel in Sighisoare
(medieval city) with too many Japanese tourists complete with little flag to
follow. |
|
Attended a madrigal concert complete with ancient instruments at
a 15th century Lutheran church; converted from Catholicism upon time of
Lutheran Reformation. |
|
Have met many people who speak English in all
walks of life; night watchman, waiter on tour boats etc. Our driver has a
huge group of audio tapes for his car and we have had variety; Pavarotti, Queen, Bucharest Philharmonic, Paul
Simon and Pink Floyd. |
|
In Brasov toured a huge
Lutheran Gothic church where service is still in German,
women and children sit in the center and men around the outside -
a carryover from when the Turks were invading a few centuries back. |
|
Climbed a high hill to a citadel in Rasov from 15th century; over 240 were
built by the Saxons during 13-15th century all across the country to
retreat to during invasions. |
|
Had dinner in restaurant named Outlaws Hut with
open fire, 4 cheeses, 4 sausages and 4 vegetables on a board for opening
salad, hot plum brandy, soup in a bowl made of bread and a leg of lamb
carved at the table after we selected same from a pan 2 foot by 3 foot
filled with meat. Hotel we stayed at was at 2500 feet with snow on higher mountain opposite us. |
|
Today to Peles Castle. Look this one up on
www.virtualtourist.com; too beautiful to let words only describe what took
400 craftsmen 39 years to build only to have King Carol I die months
after its completion. |
The trip has been great.
Ed
October 18, 2003
Monday, 16th, we headed for Buzau and the School for the Blind. We expected to see the two computers in operation only to find out that they had been held up in Romanian Customs in the city for the past 4 weeks.
We went to Customs House and met with Supervisor in charge - a 40 year old woman, red headed (20% of women in country use dye jobs or rinses), plunging neckline blouse, mini skirt and high leather boots with label Dirty Jeans on the sides. Her TV was on MTV, but at least it was on mute.
It took us 5 hours to get necessary paperwork straightened out and I ended up signing a notarized statement, with my passport as source information, confirming that "I" had the authority to donate the computers to the blind school.
We went to several classrooms and saw children from 4 to 17 years old. The youngest was crying a bit because he had only left his grandmother's home the week before.
There was a very good teacher and helper ratio in each room. These computers with Windows Eyes are truly needed.
We had a special dinner that night with Rotary Club and their wives that included
a Romanian folk band.
We finally got to Bucharest at midnight
Monday and stayed in a 3-room private apartment (rented for $50/night) that included everything we needed for
a Romanian breakfast each morning. We took a walking tour of Bucharest including the Parliament Building, which is second largest in square feet in world and made entirely of Romanian marble and was designed by 700 Architects (one room each), and also saw Romanian Orthodox Patriarch's church. Bucharest is a very vibrant city with the young people comfortable in English and most willing to help tourist who are lost. Traffic jams and horns were the typical scene and sound.
Our flight back was delayed by a day layover in Amsterdam when Northwest flight canceled due to mechanical breakdown. A truly enjoyable trip. Would we do it again? Maybe. I may be invited back again in February and October next year. Will see.
Ed and Marge
NOTE: Attend Nov 9th meeting
to hear Ed speak on this trip.
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