Romania

Not having been very active in Blogland recently, and not having anything of great interest to share because my whole ARTHaven is packed up, I thought I’d go back in time and share something a bit different with you.

For many years, my hubby has been involved in charity work in Romania, and during that time he made many good and lasting friendships. In 2003, the son of one of them got married, and we were invited to the wedding, so of course we combined this with a fortnight’s holiday. It was my first visit, and nothing prepared me for the beauty of the country or the generosity and warmth of the people – they had all suffered terrible privations during the Ceausescu era and many were still struggling financially but they welcomed us with open arms, and opened their homes and hearts to us.

We went at an extraordinary time – it was several years since the revolution, and the country had had some time to pick itself up by its bootstraps and was beginning to repair the infrastructure. It was a time of a great building boom – particularly of churches, after a long period when the Orthodox Church was barely tolerated, and we were privileged to see how they constructed these buildings, and decorated them – so unlike our building styles here in the UK.

As you can imagine, I took loads of photos – over 600 to be exact! It is a country hugely rich in cultural heritage, and their wooden buildings and brightly coloured textiles were crying out to be photographed! I was particularly interested in all the small details, so my camera was clicking almost constantly.

When we came home, I transferred all these photos onto discs, and put them away. They did surface a couple of years ago, and I thought, “I simply must get those onto the computer and uploaded to my Photobucket album” but at that point the discs completely vanished! Recently I’ve been turning the place upside down in an attempt to find them, and when I packed up my ARTHaven ready for our house move, I was sure they would turn up, but they didn’t. Yesterday I was clearing some stuff dumped in the dining room while packing boxes, and I found them! I am so delighted. I have now transferred them and uploaded them all, and they can be seen here if you are prepared to dip into over 600 photos!!

Rather than give you a blow-by-blow account of our trip, what I propose to do over the next few blog posts is share a selection of these photos, following a theme in each case, to give you a flavour of this wonderful country we were so privileged to visit, 10 years ago! To begin with, here are some photos of the stunning landscapes we encountered.

After spending a couple of days in Bucharest, we drove to Sibiu. This is a river scene beside the road.

We went in September/October, and everywhere there were fields of sunflowers – all getting themselves ready for harvesting. I stood underneath this one and felt as if I could have a shower of sunflower oil from its massive “shower head”!

Staying with friends in a cabin in the mountains near Horea, we were surrounded by this:

We loved the stooks and haystacks they made, over a wooden support. They were everywhere in the fields, and we called them “dumbies”!

Sunflowers on the roadside as we drove from Cluj towards Baia Mare:

Beautiful Mogosa Lake:

A picnic spot in Maramures County:

The dam at Bicaz Lake:

This gives a taste of the landscape and countryside. It’s been such fun looking at these long lost photos once again – I am so glad they have turned up! (Nothing like a house move for finding lost things, is there.)

Watch this space for more. You’re in for a treat.