Romania into Hungary and on

Last time I posted was from Romania, the morning that turned into my favorite day of our trip...if not my favorite travel day ever. Throughout Hungary and Romania I have loved all the horse drawn carts. We saw a farm with a sign that it gave cart rides. We ended up getting a couple of hour ride through the Romanian countryside in an old wooden wagon filled with hay driven by "Cowboy" and his charming little grandson, who spoke no English. We went into the little town where Cowboy lived. It was like entering into a Mother Goose nursery rhyme. There wasn't a car in the whole town. There were little houses, in many bright colors. There were two wells in town with buckets, and people coming to draw water. The people, especially the older women, wore brightly colored clothing. There were dogs, sheep, chickens, and filthy but beautiful children everywhere. We even saw an old woman herding a flock of geese using a big long stick. There were lots of horses and carts. Marshall has decided he wants to live in a small town in Romania. After our cart ride the boys rented horses and went for a long ride through the country. Marshall again with Cowboy and Chase with an English girl who was able to ride harder and faster with him. They had a great time.
The next day we just randomly drove off the main road into small towns and saw many similar towns. It was wonderful. The Roma (gypsy) side of Romania is still strong and wild and free. On either boder in Bulgaria and Hungary things are much more orderly....but ah Romania. I love it.
We headed into Hungary where we were quickly immersed in Hungarian culture. Our first morning we went into a restaurant that was filled with young very drunk Hungarian men dancing and drinking and singing very loudly...at 8 am on a Sunday morning!!!! Later that day we were in a thermal pool surrounded by much older and heavier Hungarian men, all in speedos. It was an interesting day. We went to a couple of small towns, Budapest, and along the Danube. After the carefree aproach in Romania, Hungary seemed very tied to doing things in an ordered though not always logical way that seemed a holdover from the communist era. For example, my favorite souvenier of Hungary is my reciept from using a public restroom. It was filled out, dated, signed and stamped, in duplicate, to use a restroom for the equivelent of about 50 cents. There have been attended washrooms all over Europe, but most places just want a coin put in a dish. But even with their stampings and multiple reciepts Hungary seems delighted to be out of the communist age. Around Budapest we saw several signs posted that reminded the public of things that couldn't be done during the communist era. For example by the parliment building a flag flies with a big hole in it where the communist symbol in the center was cut out. A big sign explains how when that was done during an uprising in the 1950's the Communist government gunned down the protesters.
I had really planned just to stick to Eastern Europe but we were so close to Vienna and Chase loves horses so much we had to dip in for a whirlwind day. We saw the Lippizan horses perform, saw their stables, saw the old Palace, and rode the hundred plus year old ferris wheel at the Prater park which offers a great view of the city. We arrived in Vienna at midnight, slept until 7...saw all the above throughout the day...and were back into eastern Europe...the Slovak Republic by midnight. Phew.......
Well, gotta go.....more later......Mijke and the boys.

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