Aurora Baia Mare

... sounds a little gypsy, a little middle east but not at all appealing to the Western ear). He is bringing home a shopping bag full of peppers since they are much cheaper in Timisoara. He despairs that so many people drink heavily with over a hundred bars in his town of a few thousand. I try to empress on him the importance of education and that Romania has the potential to improve greatly.

I am staying at the Happy House Hostel owned by a Brit who married a ...

... a museum and memorial to those who suffered under the Nazi regime. It's quite interesting and they have done a good job. Plus they provide information in English that describes what each main display is about. In Sighet I also had pizza that included peas as one of the toppings. Was not expecting that at all. In fact it was called a Pepperoni pizza but I should know by now that pepperoni means peppers, as in the green peppers, not the Italian sausage. But peas?? I never would have ...

... the day. Just driving around Maramures was beautiful! The rolling hills, mountains, farmland and scenery was awesome!! RANDOM: Ukraine boarder is 100 meters away at some points of the river. We took pictures of a few villages in Ukraine that we could see from our minibus. Most Romanians have benches outside their houses which is the village social system, sitting outside and just talking. Romanian Cheers = Na - Roock (oo sounds like brook)

Sure, we were given wrong directions from three different (well intentioned) romanians, after spending twice as long on the train (without food) as we had understood. Sure we were walking down dark streets, past barking dogs protecting a deserted cemetary full of the dark shadows of grave stones in the middle of the night...but we were OK. After all, the taxi driver, who kept frantically trying to call her son who spoke English, dropped us off at the ...

... as they were forced to work under appalling conditions and shuffled between concentration camps in the closing days of the war. On January 28, 1945, just a few weeks after the two were marched to Buchenwald and only months before the camp was liberated by the American Third Army on April 11, Wiesel's father suffered from dysentery, starvation, and exhaustion, and was later sent to the crematory. The last word his father spoke was "Eliezer", Elie's name.

... But people can't cross the border yet. The second round of enlargement of the EU will include Romania, which has to apply the Schengen acquis when it becomes a member of the Union and this means also to severe ties with populations and territories to which it is linked by culture and history. The inhabitants of the two towns are still separated. http://www.deckert-distribution.com/fil ms/deckert_204.htm

... of people crossing on foot so had to queue up for quite a while. They were all carrying 200 cigarettes. Noticed all car drivers were paying the border guard bribes and very large petrol tanks for such small cars. Over wooden historically important and newly restored bridge over the Tisa, with lots of money changers and cigarette sellers on. Into Sighet and a feel of wealth...well compared to ...

... on the side of a hill and walked into a field to have our picnic lunch. After we had filled the hunger hole, we went to a distillery. I'm going to assume it was no longer in use since we just saw the outside which was a pretty but run down log cabin with a watermill on the side. Pretty for some photos, but not sure if anything was being distilled there. From there we went on to the Wood Church of the Holy Archangels in Surdesti, a UNESCO listed ...

... So we're not alone. Nod off for fifteen minutes. Look what happens - I can see the ground. Feel reality flooding back. Snow capped hills thousands of feet below. Unreal. Absolutely fantastic. One of THE sights of my life. Can't be more than ten minutes left. Should start descending soon. Which I hate. Buffeting a bit now. BIG wing wobble. HERE WE GO! Don't believe it... a) Landed safely, b) Dog sunbathing on the runway! I'm now in Romania.

... They started pouring us shots of their plum-brandy and we had a toast. (This turned out to be something they would do before every meal, even breakfast. To which we simply had to kindly accept.) Of the whole family, only Dumitru and Vacile spoke English. (Dumitru had been to America to live and learn for six months and he has taught his brother.) The living room was decorated completely with Religious-icons, some kitchy and some rather old and important looking ...