Roaming in Romania

Friday Sept 30 Once again the alarm went off way to early. We had little to do but freshen up and head to the lobby. We caught the shuttle back to the airport and after a short wait for Mark to get searched we were back in the lounge having our breakfast. The flight was just over 9 hours even though we left Barcelona at 11:30 AM and landed in Chicago at 1:30 PM, just 2 hours later. We cleared customs, changed terminals and had a bite to eat before boarding our next and final flight home to Little Rock. The final flight was talkative. We all sat in different locations and everyone was wanting to talk. And not just to us or with us, but it was one of the noisiest flights we'd ever been on. One guy that looked like he crawled out of a Dogpatch USA Comic strip came on board and sat in front of Mark. He had a long beard and wore old overalls and smelled of fish, or maybe it was whiskey. He came on the plane looking for his seat and announced loudly, "Can anyone on here read? I onl...

Thursday Sept 29 Once again we woke early, as has been the norm lately. Actually its not really that early either but days full of exploring and travel certainly make one tired, and this late in the trip we were all on the point of exhaustion. The irony of it all is, in this case, we were in Budapest, and for only one day. And Budapest is one of those grand places in the world for amazing architecture and history and rich culture and great food. No matter how tired we were, it just seemed like a shame not to explore this beautiful city, so we did. After a very satisfying buffet at the hotel we met up with a tour group to see the sights of Budapest. We took a tour by CityRama, a local company and our tour guide was a knowledgeable lady named Boré. She was a Hungarian native and lived her whole life in Budapest. She was probably around 60 in age and was dressed simple but proper and carried a large umbrella. She spoke with a definite accent and knew her history although she was was a bit...

Wednesday Sept 28th We all were up early again and met for breakfast at 8, finished packing and ready to go when Emanuel arrived at 9 AM. On the way to the airport Emanuel only had one stop for us. When Mark first told us we were going to visit a Gypsy family we were all like, what? why? I imagined it as just a sales pitch for some homemade jewelry or baskets or something like that. Basically just a stop for us to get rid of any extra local currency that we may still have. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Emanuel’s wife called him to notify him of an accident on the highway to the airport and traffic was stopped in both directions. The place he was taking us happened to be the village just before where the accident occurred so it worked out for us to take the detour with the Gypsies after all. We pulled into an average looking home in the small village of Valenii and was greeted by Clara who welcomed us into her home. The house was a simple single floor dwelling but furnished well. Gyp...

Tuesday Sept 27th Today we are back on a schedule and set to visit some other towns in Transylvania. We had a private guide for the day who picked us up at our hotel promptly at 9:30. The driver was Emmanuel and had been doing private tours in the area for years. He and his family live in Sighișoara and he has grown up visiting the towns in the area, so, he’s knows his stuff. Our first visit was to the fortified town of Biertan which was certified as a fortress over 600 years ago. The town with its fortifications are considered the strongest in Transylvania. Rows of houses are arranged around a central square, above which rises the imposing church-fortress. The impressive religious monument combines Gothic and Renaissance styles, and is enclosed by three walls with towers and medieval bastions. The current church was built in the early 1500s in late Gothic style. Inside the church and to the side of the altar area is the sacristy. Not being of this faith I had no idea what that meant b...

Monday Sept 26 This was our second free day in Sighișoara and it started out pretty much the same as the first day. But there was one big difference: There was mutiny in the ranks! Ok well maybe that’s a bit harsh of a word but I’ll leave it in for dramatic effect. We are starting our third and final week and in our third destination. After this much time away from home it’s very common for most people to feel homesick and ready to get back to something comfortable and familiar. Fortunately today was another down day but the next four days will be quite busy again. After a busy two weeks of fast paced action, Bryan and Jason both started to physically, mentally and emotionally check out. Neither wanted to continue and were ready to go right home. Obviously that was not an option. We had a hearty discussion together and talked a few things out. With only a few more days left it looks like we are all engaged and ready to finish out the trip. After a serious talk there is only one appropr...

Sunday, Sept 25 This morning we could actually sleep in. But since we had a free buffet included with our room we had to go, we couldn't waste that. Still we all dragged our feet and finally got to breakfast at 10. We returned to the room to clean up. Mark had more problems with his room and wanted to switch, which they agreed to let him do. All of our rooms were having trouble with the AC. My room, and their old one and the new one all had trouble, it seems the AC may actually be turned off for the season since the days and evenings are so cool. But the temps have been up to 70 and that makes for a closed up room to be a warm room. Without giving any names, lets just say some people have a tendency to get rather cranky when their room is not cool enough. While I was waiting on people to get ready I had the windows open since it was cooler outside than in the room. Outside was blaring some very loud music. It sounded like 80s rock to me and again to keep from getting anyone upset ...

Saturday Sept 24 We had to wake early for breakfast at and be packed and ready for our guide Catalin. (Yes it sounds like a female's name to us but he was male). It was miserable trying to wake up so early. Any travel day is exhausting and ideally we should have slept in. But we had to travel a good distance today and take in several stops along the way so we had no choice.  If you are familiar with Mark's ambitious travel schedules its no surprise. He would not intentionally schedule any sleep if it meant missing "The Annual Measuring of the Invasive Impacted Snail Trail" in some remote village only a 12 hour ride away, at night, in the rain, by motorcycle. Admittedly this was one of those days that we had no choice and as we found out, he certainly did plan the right thing for us this time. We made it for breakfast, a decent buffet at the hotel including an assortment of meats and cheeses, cereals, waffles, breads and eggs, but not a minute more to spare as our guid...

Friday, Sept 22 Our final morning in Scotland started off on a pretty good note considering the fact that we were packing to leave. We were given a complimentary breakfast at the Waldorf, which was a $30 value each, and it was certainly a yummy meal of different kinds of smoked salmon, freshly squeezed juice and tropical smoothies, fresh breads and pastries and eggs cooked in all sorts of special styles includes eggs benedict and eggs Florentine. After breakfast Mark went back to his room to do some work while the three of us headed back to the old part of town looking to do some shopping. Among other things, the shopping list included a refrigerator magnet (We always get one or more from every trip), a sweatshirt for Bryan that he could have used in the Highlands trip, and a waffle donut!! I was not going to leave without one! We did manage to find all the primary things on the list and finally it was my turn and we headed to find the waffles, which I did! The mysterious filling th...

Thursday Sept 22 Our second morning on Skye was similar to the first with Kirstie making the same breakfast except this time we had to be fully packed and ready to leave directly after we ate. Another trio of women joined us today, three women from North Carolina. The day was primarily a travel day as we were heading back to Edinburg with a few stops along the way, the first being Eilean Donan Castle. Eilean Donan is recognized as one of the most iconic images of Scotland all over the world. Situated on an island at the point where three great sea lochs meet, and surrounded by majestic scenery, the castle is now one of the most visited and important attractions in the Scottish Highlands. It was first inhabited around the 6th century. The castle has had at least four different versions as the feudal history of Scotland unfolded through the centuries. This castle had a bit more of an original look than the last one we visited with narrow corridors and staircases and unfurnished rooms wh...