TOTO WERE NOT IN... WATCH OUT FOR THE WILD DOGS!

Well we arrived safely and really without much trouble. We left Monday at 4:15 pm as scheduled and arrived in Roman Romania at 10:00 am EST Wednesday. It was a long long trip and we were very exhausted by the end but a 6 hour stop over in Athens gave us a chance to tour, quickly, Ancient Athens and see sights I never thought I'd see. I guess taking Art History wasn't a waste of time after all. We pulled the girls around from ruin to ruin and stopped for a Chocolate Crepe when they appeared to be loosing steam. 9 was the number of wild dogs we saw in Ancient Athens, Evelyn was counting.

We took a train into Ancient Athens from the Airport which was very hard for the girls and me. They were packed with people, shoulder to shoulder or face to Greek crotch for the girls ,urgh, so we decided to take a taxi back to the airport. This driver was in one hell of a hurry! We were flying down side roads, and back alleys to avoid traffic and once we got on the motorway...OMG!
The guy was driving in speeds of 160 kms/hr at times. The girls, completely oblivious and not in car seats, were passed out on eachothers shoulders and Ruby was on my lap. Thank god we got there safely and with enough time to take in some of Romania's latest fashion.

I use the term fashion loosely. I thought that there might have been a stripper convention in Bucharest but it turns out many of the women here between the ages 17 and 45 look like strippers. Fantastic slim bodies that I think they get from the coffee and cigarette diet that is all the go here! Diving neck lines, painted on pants and the highest heels possible. The young women are beautiful but unfortunately after years of the cigarette diet you'd have to bag the head for sure. So I've decided to put my runners in the back of the closet and try their fad diet. Just kidding!

We were picked up in Bucharest by a driver that works for the company and driven to an apartment in the centre of town where we all stayed TOGETHER! Wasn't expecting that one. Especially since he smelled a bit like Jimmy. Anyway he ended up locking himself in his room and thankful did not smoke in the apartment. In the morning we were off to Roman, our home away from home.

The drive took 5 hours after getting out of Bucharest which took and hour itself. The drive was prettier than I remembered but I guess that had everything to do with the sun and all the fruit trees being in blosom. I am reminding myself often to appreciate it for what it is and not to want this country to be just like home. The farmers are in the fields with their horse pulled farm equipement. The men of the villages are standing along the road with cigarettes hanging off their lips and faces that tell a story. The women are busy sweeping the driveways with home made staw, midget sized brooms or hang the clothes on the line. Very picturesque! Not so much in November thought. Luckily the children all slept in the car about half the way there and the rest of the time they were counting wild dogs and colouring. DVD machine wouldn't work. Luckily they didn't see the dog carcasses on the road. Yuck. Breaks my heart and makes me miss Abby.

We arrived at the house and got the tour. WOW! So much more than I expected. It is only 2 bedrooms but the rooms are huge. My kitchen is enormous and there is enough yard for the girls to play comfortably and it is all surounded by an electronically controlled, iron fence with a gate. It took all of 20 minutes to find Ruby and Gabrielle playing with the Bidet. Great. Two minutes later it got scrubbed with Bleach. Gabrielle still can't understand why she can't use it as a child's wash basin. The upstairs floors are wood laminate as well as the family room but the rest of the house is marble tile as well as the backyard and driveway. Should be interesting when Ruby starts to learn how to walk. I wonder if they sell baby helmets here? Yah right.

It's funny, I walk around now thinking of what I want to write in my blog. So odd for me. I don't want to forget any of this. The good and the bad. Already working on my next post. Got to tell you about my Gypsy run in but my friend Jeff Dykstra told me my last post was longer than most so I will break it up.

Miss you all. I litterally walk around thinking, "I wonder what my Mom would think of that. I wonder what Ann would do about that. Sue would love this shot. Jeff will love this house. Trevor would say "it's got character" with strong english accent. Wonder what their ER is like. How do they treat gypsies? And on and on....

Love to all,
Alison