Advertisement
Published: October 19th 2007
Edit Blog Post
Bench
This is a bench out in front of the place we went for lunch the second day. Isn't it BEAUTIFUL!?! Okay, I’m back again. So there we were climbing up the face of a castle, freezing to death. My fingers were pretty much just long slender flesh cubes. When I finally got to the top the wind was blowing so hard I thought it would catch me and throw me back off the side. The view however was beautiful. We climbed around on the castle for a while taking windy pictures then we walked back down the easy way. Once back on the bus we headed to yet another little town to walk around for about a half hour. This is where I was able to find a cheap pair of gloves that saved my fingers from further abuse. I also got a traditional-ish Romanian/Hungarian dress. Photo to follow….
That night we went out to a dance party that was happening right by our little village. It was a sort of small place but it was PACKED with people. Because I had this wonderful dress I felt I ought to wear it. The only problem with this is that when you go to a Romanian dance, dressed like a Romanian, they all think you actually know how to do the dance.
Hiking
This is Erik deomonstrating how painful the hike to the castle was. See the pain etched into his face? This is caused by breathing in icy cold air. While it may look simple, it isn’t. The dance involves lots of being spun in really fast circles, over and over and over, regardless of people standing in your way. “Leading” in this situation actually means “throw your dance partner into anyone and everyone standing nearby”. It was actually great fun since I couldn’t understand any of the comments I was getting. I’m sure they were saying something along the lines of, “Wow, when you spin in 40 circles in 10 seconds your grace and beauty is so over powering I didn’t even notice it when you SLAMED INTO ME”.
The next day we got up early to go milk our host family’s cow. Except they didn’t let us. We just watched. Very disappointing. Later that day we toured a local church and then had a traditional dinner at some woman’s house. The food was probably in my top ten meals ever. I really don’t quite know what it was, besides the fact that it was like happiness in my mouth. We ate so much I think Transylvania may be now facing a famine, I feel partially responsible. After lunch we went to a nearby city for no particular reason
Castle on a Hill
This is the castle we hiked to. See that hill? It looks more like a mountain when you're climbing it. What a day. at all. But once we were there I found a place that served the best hot chocolate of my life. It was almost like drinking melted chocolate. It was incredible. And the café we got it at? They had FLUSH TOILETS! I could have just moved in and never left.
The following morning we headed back to Budapest, pretty uneventful. I am now so grateful for real bathrooms though that I feel a little teary eyed every time I walk past bathroom in my apartment. Also, you cannot drink the water in Romania. This and the lack of any real sleep was probably the main reason I got a migraine EVERYDAY I was in Romania. I actually found myself sitting at the table trying my best to chug a bottle of mineral water with gas. This does not work very well, even if you are dehydrated. Once home I drank about four bathtubs worth of water. While I was not really in love with Budapest water before this past weekend, I have changed my mind and we are now planning on getting married, I’m going to wear a swimsuit at the wedding. You are all invited.
Other fun tidbits….I was
View from the top 1
This is the view after I finally reached the top. Can you tell how high up I am? Very very high. But worth it. So pretty... inspired to learn how to make a quiche last week. So I did. It was actually pretty good and I have made a few since then. It is the first really official food I have been able to make here. As in really make, not just cooking a burger or something. Grilled cheese doesn’t count. Quiche does. And mine rocks.
My roommate Paige has gotten SEVEN packages since we have been here. I’m not sure I like doing the whole emphasizing with capital letters but I can’t do italics on here, so you all must just imagine it. So anyway, SEVEN packages. Are you shocked, appalled, and jealous too? Yea, me too. Thank goodness our apartment is so big.
Other fun and exciting news: This weekend I am heading to Krakow. And by this weekend I mean tomorrow. I really put off this whole blog thing this week, sorry guys. I am a little nervous cause the group I am going with is a bunch of people I haven’t ever met, and we are going to Krakow, which means Auschwitz, which means difficultness. This cannot be helped. I will try to update you sooner next week than I did this
View from the top 2
This is another angle from the top of the castle. week.
Also, you guys know that really cool lady I call “Mom”? Well she’s coming to visit me next week. It’s going to be super fantastic. Maybe I’ll have her write and entry while she’s here. Or seven.
I’ll tell you all about our plans next week, before we leave.
I am also going to try to post some pictures but the Internet is being silly so no promises…but here goes…
p.s. On Tuesday I went to a gypsy concert. It was really fun. Maybe I will take mom when she visits. They play every Tuesday. They made fun of me in Hungarian cause I'm an american. Oh well....
Advertisement
Tot: 0.093s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 16; qc: 57; dbt: 0.054s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb