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Published: November 16th 2007
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Hello all,
And then there was Romania! So, deciding that Transylvania was filled with sights and local buses having tried out patience again and again, we settled on renting a car in Romania. The only problem with the plan - John's wallet was stolen along with his driver's license and I have never learned to drive standard - Europe being the land of stick shift vehicles put us in a bit of a tough spot.
However, me being filled with false reassurances from John and John filled with unwarranted notions of the simplicity of a standard (did I mention he learned to drive stick-shift on a tractor when he was eight?!), we called the cheapest place and arranged a time to meet.
After the paperwork, the kind woman we were renting from offered, or rather, insisted on driving out to the main road to get us on our way... us following behind. Well, I think in the 4 minutes it took to get there I must have stalled at least half a dozen times, and instigated an outright screaming match between her and a local when he pulled in between us and cut me off, and stopped.
Local images
rural beauty So, hands trembling, and voice hysterical, I pleaded John to talk me through the steps and we managed to make it to the main road. Instead of pulling out, we pulled over and parked... and managed to out wait the lady we rented the car from, feigning to read the map. We had to convince her we were on our way, and when she finally left, I pulled out hesitantly and we proceeded to circle around the neighbourhood, allowing me to familiarizing myself with the car.
Luckily, I did start getting an understanding for the car, though not without a few mishaps.... have you ever started a diesel rental in 3rd gear? I have! Ooops.... amazingly, I actually did it as I was starting to learn the feeling of the clutch. Hmmm, other moments of excitement... well, lets just say there were a few, but none terribly out of control or dangerous... Most of my stalls were in and out of first gear, as it took me a while to learn to sit on the sweet spot of the clutch just right.
Unfortunately, I did traumatize poor John who had no hint of understanding why I didn't know
More local images...
amazing isn't it - I had to pull a u-turn to avoid him! how or why to shift... and then when I would lug or feel the engine over-work and ask for the reason, pistons, joints, and other chunks of the engine always came into the explanation... which, having never properly learned how the engine functions, would go completely over my head, especially being that I was still on a Romain hiway attempting to control a lot of metal, so my focus was not 100% on what John said.
Amazingly, over the course of the day, and with a lot of help and patience from John, I started sorting out how the car works, how it should feel and the way to maneuver it smoothly (I figured it out... mind you, I didn't always succeed) But, by the end of the first day, according to John I was a bit more comfortable as my eyes were no longer saucer plates... and I was actually getting the hang of it.
We pulled into private room after private room trying to find a place to sleep, but to no avail. I was exhausted and starved and we were out of energy, so when we went to another full private room, I pulled out
;0)
Me! my desperate charades and explained that all the places we had tried were full and we were really in need of a place. The couple kindly went next door and sorted out with their neighbours a place for us, even though they were full, and put us up in a room next to their bedroom for the night.
We had an unexpected and fantastic time. We were stuffed with a local meal and fed all sorts of wine and truly frightening liquor and then explained (the man spoke french) that there was a hugely popular rock band that night, which is why the town was so busy. The man was so proud of this rock band that he insisted on taking us, so in Romania, with a local rural man, we drove into town and watch The Scorpions, with thousands of others.
After a late night and a much awaited sleep, I felt refreshed and excited when I woke up and was looking forward to see how much of the driving ability I learned the previous day, I had retained. But, my excitement was doused when I peered outside to the little village buried in a few feet
of snow.
Needless to say, the stress level was not as low as I had anticipated, but we managed, and all I can say is that pressure learning can lead to fast, good results! Over the next few days we wound ourselves through Romania, from little town to little town, and I experienced slick mud slides they called roads, snow, hail, sleet, rain, fog, white-out conditions, potholes that were more like off-roading, and switchback hills to make the list complete. Semi's and horse and cart pairs crowding the roads, and crazy Romanians that pass on double solid lines around blind corners....
Amazingly, we stayed safe, and aside from the draining, constant tension and concentration on my part, we made it from little towns and dirt roads to Dracula's castle... and really had a blast!
More to come...
Trish xxx
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chris
non-member comment
great
nice pictures, I used to live in Romania, some time ago,