Mara Hotel Baia Mare

... but modern homes are beginning to populate the country. The train moves through the mountains, tightly cornering to get around the terrain. This part of Europe is built on substance farming.

In my cabin is Rodo, a 12 year old Romanian. He is working with his uncle in Timisoara to earn money and comes home to the farm every couple of months. We are the only ones in the cabin for a couple of hours. Over the journey he relates tidbits of his life. His family is ...

... second batch of rain clouds of the day (the first batch delaying our trip by four hours) did nothing to lift our spirits. An old man and a very old woman sat in what appeared to be a bus stop across the road. In my best Romanian, I asked the man about a bus to Sighet. According to our guidebook, there were a few, but that meant nothing. “No,” he said. “Only taxis, private vehicles.” “Now, wait a minute,” snapped the old lady. “There ...

... everything from the children, to how they manage their finances to how the history of how the orphanage was built. Last year we were here at about the same time and I wrote in my blog about how Vasyl and Irina built this place. In short, they had a vision after the fall of Communism to build a school, a Christian center. The government allocated a piece of land for their dream but the economy ...

... went to the border and the Romania border guards were very nice. They probably don't get too many people with Irish passports but they processed me fairly quickly. Helps that Romania is an EU country. I walked over the bridge that connected Romania with Ukraine (the river is the border) and I was in Ukraine. Well, I was in No Man's Land. Then I saw the line for entry into Ukraine. I had forgotten that in Ukraine they check passports very closely so it takes longer to get processed. I stood ...

... dress, men in funny fez-like straw hats. Maramures is known for its wood crafts and they are omnipresent. We visit three old wooden churches, dating back hundreds of years with spires reaching for the heavens. We also visit a recently built monastic complex which was nice enough to almost make me consider becoming a nun. Suppose Romanian nuns have to learn Romanian, though. Our final religious stop is a church under construction ...

Road side open air market. This was quite a remarkable sight. It reminded me a little of the old swap meets at the Goleta Drive In. We all felt awkward taking pictures, but it was so colorful and interesting that we couldn't resist. (It would be like taking pictures at the SB Farmers' Market - colorful foods and displays with lots of interesting people walking around ...

... was good today, but light rain began as we left for bed. Rooms: Art and I had a room above a garage or storage room. It was very comfortable - to a point. The bed had a footboard which doesn't make for good sleeping when you're 6'4". Also, the "dyne" or comforter was the heaviest, darn thing I've ever slept under. It was just about impossible to change positions and if you succeeded in doing that, you took the whole comforter ...

I'm now sitting on the 'plane, In seat 6F. Window seat. I'm nervous, but not out of control, Yet. Weather's gorgeous, Sun shining, crisp fresh air, Bloody great engine ten feet away. My palms and armpits are sweating. Not even thinking about my Nether regions. I've just remembered that the wings Tend to flap. Oh ****. Moving now! Back soon. Oh ****. OhshitOhshitOhshit, I'm walking back from Romania. I'm too panicked To have a panic attack. We're STILL ...

The journey was actually relatively painless, for a change! Even managed to get some sleep on the train, though being interrupted at 3 in the morning to make a connection was a necessary evil. Through vigorous arm waving and sign language, the woman selling tikets at the Sighetu Marmatiei station managed to communicate I had 8 hours before my onward train, there was no left luggage office and the buses departed to Sapanta from just outside where I was standing. Not bad ...

... but they seemed nice and often smiled. Vacile took us exploring. Right in their backyard is another wooden Orthodox Church being built and Vacile is a proud worker who is involved in the project. We walked around in the village and he showed us the village water-mill, similar to the other we saw. They also had strange wooden wash machine basins in the river where in warmer weather, -clothes would spin and splash away till clean. Later, he hooked up the horses ...