Blogs from Transilvania, Romania, Europe - page 34

Saavuin tanne kuuluisaan Transylvaniaan pari paivaa sitten jahtaamaan Draculan haamua. Ensimmaisena paivana taisin muistuttaa itse haamua unenpuutteen vuoksi. Budapestissa kavimme Miken (asuimme samassa hostellissa) kanssa drinksuilla siina kivassa baarissa ja tapasin samalla Miken entisen huonekaverin Yhdysvalloissa. Kun palasimme hostellille, hostellin pitaja ihmetteli ettei ollut ollenkaan huomannut meidan poistuvan hostellilta eika osannut odottaa meidan palaavan. Han sitten "komensi" meidat keittioon ja vilkaisimme kohta toisiimme ihmeissamme. Kohta isanta palasikin tonkan kanssa ja kertoi, etta koska olemme olleen tuopillisella, taytyy meidan ehdottomasti nyt maistaa paikallista-tai oikeastaan Transylvanialaista- erikoisuutta, postulaa tms. suomalaisittain siis pontikkaa! No, ei siina mitaan, maistoimme shotit tata erikoisuutta. Mausta en osaa niin sanoa mitaan, vahvaa oli ja polt... read more

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The myths and legends about Transylvania enticed us to go a bit further into Romania than we initially planned. For those who know me(Shilpa) well, Im not the biggest fan of dark, scary, or vampire stuff so Dara loaded the van up with those extra few cloves of garlic and started sharpening the wooden stakes. This sealed the deal for me, and we headed into dracula land...!! Left my Appendix in Romania.....(Dara) As Dara cannot recall much of his first day in Transylvania I'll attempt to explain the longest 2 days of our trip. Well, we thankfully in hindsight decided not to wild/free camp and stayed in a lovely dutch owned campsite in the small villave of Sovota. In the morning we did a hike up some hills and to cool down had a long swim ... read more

"Use the blessed chance - that of being a human - to make the world better, fairer and more beautiful, not only for mankind but for the whole nature!" Herman Oberth - one of the founding fathers of rocketry and astronautics. After 3 wonderful days in Sighisoara we were heading towards Sibiu. Bought ourselves tickets to the mini-bus and 2 hours later there we were! Since Friday the weather was very very hot and the Sunday noon ride was a nightmare - I ve promised my self I ll never travel in a mini-bus (peasants traveling with frozen lambs in their bags, bicycles and what ever u can think of). Sibiu is the European Cultural Capital of 2007 in partnership with Luxemburg and it had to be on my itinerary list. Of course we planned for ... read more

Dear All, It has been a while since our last update but in retrospect the pictures, until recently have been rather dull. But now that the dark and stormy months seem to be passing into a spring time we are coming out of hibernation and have some pictures and stories to share. For the most part, life in Odorhei/Undvarhely is increasingly busy. Alecia is deep into the fruit project with Agora and we have had several meetings with various folks in the villages regarding re-vitalizing traditional fruit drying practices and creating some traditional product focused cooperatives. People have seemed quite excited. A cynic might say just because there is a promise of income (though even if this were the only case, who could blame folks subsisting on less than $140/month?) but I think the reality ... read more