RICK & ROSE DO ROMANIA!!!

Due to the fact that we were driving home from Bulgaria and my parents were flying there, we knew they would arrive first. To avoid confusion at the time of their arrival, David had arranged for a car service to pick my parents up from the airport and drive them directly to our house. They had our house key so all they had to worry about was being able to unlock all the locks, gates and doors to get in.
My mother, who drives from the backseat, got the ride of her life. The trip from Iasi to Roman takes approx. 1 hour and 20 minutes. It is a drive that takes you from a "highway" to city streets to back country roads. David had hired this particular driver knowing that my mother was a bit nervous about speed. He was confident he wouldn't go too fast.... Really he didn't for Romanian standards. 120kms down winding, hilly roads where you come across horse drawn buggies very frequently is quite normal in this country. Its not fast! My parents probably made a mad dash to the liquor cabinet to settled their nerves on arrival.

We arrived 4 hours later after our long drive from Bucharest. My parents were singing our praises on our arrival for how lovely our house was and cozy. They were so impressed that we had it set up the way we did and said it seemed as though we had been living here for years not months. I was and am very proud of what David and I have been able to accomplish in such a short period of time. I took them on a proper tour and made sure to point out every little thing I liked about this house.
They were commenting that Roman seemed so much nicer than Varna, Bulgaria. I was annoyed.
"It is not nicer at all!" I said to them. I seemed to want them to think I live in an absolute dive.

The next day brought cold weather and rain and I feared that weather might be miserable for their whole trip. I've been telling them how hot it was here for so long and now it's mid July and cold. I took them on a walking tour of Roman in the rain. I don't have a car and didn't have any food so I didn't really have a choice. We walked to the open air market and got fresh veggies and fruit. Then stopped at the bakery and got fresh bread. My mother couldn't believe the prices of these things.

1 kg cucumbers = $0.40
1kg carrots = $0.70
2 loaves of fresh French Bread = $1.25

On our way back to the house we passed "The Hole". You can't miss it really, it's in the center of town and the location of my gym. It's the place I had taken Trevor to where he realized this city has quite a bit of work to do. We decided to take a picture to capture the beauty. There was no one around and typically on a clear day this place is overflowing with people and Gypsies. Except of course for some wild dogs having fun in the empty streets and sidewalks. "Hans" is a dog I have gotten to know who hangs out a lot down here near the hole and lives on the church grounds in front of David's bosses house. He's lovely and friendly. I would take him home but I know I'd end up like Angelina and Brad. I'd have at least 7-8 dogs by the time we were to leave. If not more. Then what? So instead I travel always with dog cookies and treat the nice dogs every time we come across one.

The weather cleared the next day and the temperature started to climb as usual. On a walk in the center of town to get an Ice cream we ran into an unpleasant sight. It was a pigeon chasing a large rat in front of a restaurant. This rat was probably 20-30cms in length not including its disgustingly thick tail. My mother was able to hold back her horror so the children would not be a witness to her fear. This was not the first rat I have seen here in the town. I know that rats live just about everywhere but actually seeing them with your own eyes is different. ICK!

My parents also got to experience the starring that goes on in the town as I walk down the streets. Not being afraid of being the center of attention I'm sure they thought it wouldn't be that big a deal. Stare after stare, winced up eyes after winced up eyes, people looking at me up and down, construction workers stopping their work and starring at their only daughter. They quickly became uncomfortable. The reason these people all stare at me is mostly due to the Chariot Child Carrier I push down the street everyday. (See above picture) With Evelyn and Ruby sitting in it and Gabrielle sitting on the cross bar, I look like I'm pushing a reverse Rickshaw. I walk down the same street everyday, pass the same people everyday, buy from the same vendors in the market but still after 3 months they all still stop and stare. "They stare in an unfriendly way!" my mother whispered to me always worried she may upset my children. I don't think they are trying to be unfriendly, they are just not used to seeing such foreign sights. I guess?! They do look awfully unfriendly. I have recently found myself avoiding the market if I have all 3 kids with me. The last time I was there on my own with the girls I saw a gypsy mother sick her gypsy daughter on me. Told her to follow me around the market which she did. Like my bloody shadow. I felt very uneasy and just hoped my kids didn't sense it. It will be the Supermarket for me for the next little while.

I had great pipe dreams that I would entertain my parents wonderfully. I would take them to the gym 3 times per week and train them the way Brittany had trained me. I would take them on tours of the town everyday discovering all kinds of new things and shopping the sales. I would put on lavish lunches and superb suppers. They would find my new home a relaxing paradise surrounded by third world charm. Only it didn't quite work that way. We did work out 3 times a week and I happily made my fathers knuckles bleed as Brittany did for me. As expected, the temperature climbed to an uncomfortable 36-39 degress celcius making hiking trips uncomfortable and shopping impossible. No one here believes in AC. It's the breeze thing again. In fact most of the older generations are still wearing scraves around their heads and long sleeve shirts. The stores are hot, humid and stink of body odour. David is convinced they love the smell of their own sweat. Why else would you wear a long sleeve shirt and no deodorant on a 38 degree day???
My mother ended up making most of the suppers and lunches and baked cookies for the girls. She taught Gabrielle how to read and set up a reading program for me to follow during the fall and winter. My father cut the grass three times, weeded the gardens, cleaned all the patio furniture and vacuumed my house every other day. He also made sure there was plenty of wine at the dinner table. My parents became big fans of Romanian wine:) They assured me that they were here to give us a break and so I took it. Soaked it up and went with it!

By the end of the week though we were all getting a bit stir crazy. The temperatures outside were in the mid 30's everyday making staying indoors the only option. I could sense my father discomfort as his bare head would be hit by the sun and immediately start to burn. Hats were a constant must... especially for my Dad:) The plan for the weekend was to drive through the mountains and visit the Medeval town of Brasov. I had booked a hotel for 2 nights so we could change it up and discover Romania with my parents. We decided to rent one large car that would fit us all. Since David was quite used to driving here and my Dad wasn't, we thought it might be a better option. The only problem is my Dad gets car sick if he's not driving so he popped a couple Gravol before the trip. The beautiful scenery, winding roads, mountain views were all missed by him as he sat in the front seat slumped over and passed out from his Gravol side effects. Oh well, I guess he missed out on my mothers white knuckles too as David seemed to really enjoy the drive and hug every turn in the road with uncomfortable speed. He says he's just keeping up with the Romanians but I think he loves it. Especially making my poor mother nervous!

We were told that Brasov was the Niagra Falls of Romania. To anyone from Ontario, you know that means it's tacky but we wanted to go at least once and see it for ourselves.
I don't know where those people went but where we were was just beautiful! Our hotel rooms ended up being right in the center of the walled city sitting on the edge of a huge square. The mountains in the backdrop were breathtaking along with the view of the oldest Gothic Church in Europe! We toured the town looking for the tackiness we were told about and couldn't find it. Just loveliness everywhere. Were we still in Romania?
Everywhere we turned in this little town you find interesting and beautiful sites! The iron gates and courtyard were too much to resist. We sent the girls in a few to take their pictures.
We decided to go to the most famous tourist site near Brasov. Bran Castle. The castle that Vlad The Impaler (otherwise known as Dracula) ruled from. I was a bit worried it might be too scary for the kids and was on high alert. The closer we got to the castle, the more billboards we saw with monster, mummies and blood sucking vampires all over them. This was obviously a place that freaky deaky vampire lovers come for their vacations. Blood drinking bars, Dracula Hotel etc.... Not my bag for sure! That is saved for weirdos who paint their faces white and lips red and get extentions put on their eye teeth. Freaks! I wonder what they think of themselves when they find out that Vlad The Impaler, better known as Dracula, never drank blood or bit beautiful virgins in the neck. He was simply a man who took pleasure in torturing people who wronged him or his people. He became know as the guy who would impale his victims and display them for the common people. He was such a lover of making people bleed and suffer and essientially was a psychopath with money that people called him "blood thirsty." Which turned into drinking their blood. Which turned into sucking their blood from their necks. Not sure where the virgins came from but I imagine it has something to do with Hollywood! The castle was very cool and the view from the castle even greater.
The entrance to the castle was chaotic with Romanians clammering to get their tickets. They are very bad a queuing in a line. There is non-stop cutting! People walking by 30 people in line and just pushing themselves towards the cash. The receptionist taking the money doesn't tell them to get the hell back where they belong, oh no. She serves them which gives you 5 more Romanians pushing up to the front. Urgh!
As soon as we got through the gate the entrance was beautiful. This was a small cottage converted into a restaurant. I imagine it was used in the past as the house that housed "The Help" in the castle due to it's proximity. I believe that is what I read. No Dracula mumbo-jumbo. Just pretty and natural. This was followed by very steep path up to the castle. Had to laugh! I saw so many Romanian women with their stilettos on trying to get themselves up a steep ancient cobblestone path. God forbid not be sexy!! Indeed, they were so sexy twisting their ankles all over the place. Running shoes rock ladies! Try them on!
The massive steep walls were impressive!
Our legs were burning by the time we reached his front doors.
This was a very steep and narrow stair way that led us to the watch tower. The air was stale and stagnant and I was feeling a bit clausterphobic in here.
It was worth it. The views from the watch tower were fabulous.
The inner sanctum of Vlad's castle. It was beautiful. I wonder if the Dracula/Vampire junkee's come here and find themselves disappointed. No blood trickling down the walls. No dudes dressed up in capes and make up that scare you when you come around a corner. Its not a hauted house, it's history!

We came across a children play park in the town of Brasov with a blow up slide. The girls immediately wanted to go on. Fairs are all over the place in Romania but we don't go because we don't trust that the equipment is properly maintained. This was a blow up slide so we figured you can't go too wrong with that. Evelyn took to the slide right away and enjoyed every minute. Gabrielle on the other hand was not so sure. Even though she thought she wanted it, once at the top, my little girl would not go down. Evelyn dragged her down the first time which didn't scare her enough to walk away. She looked like her arms would pop off coming down the slide on her own. Finally! She loved it! Classic Gabrielle laugh :) Priceless!

On our return back to the hotel we found a concert happening in the square. I think they were a pretty popular group cause everyone around us was singing all the words. It was very well done and taped for TV. It could have been live to TV but I can't read Romanian so I really don't know. I have 3 girls who love to dance so the square was there dance floor. Gabrielle dances with thumbs and bum wiggles. Ruby is a dance machine. As soon as she could move voluntarily, she would sway to music. It makes her very happy!! She also has jazz fingers!

All in all, Brasov was a big surprise. Happily a very pleasant surprise. Our hotel was lovely and served a terrific breakfast. The scenery was gorgeous and shopping was good too! We finally found the girls some solid hiking boots and bought some souvenirs. (I got a new North Face rain coat! ;) My parents were so happy we made the stomach lurching drive through the mountains and so were David and I.

So we were on our way back to Roman for another week at home with my parents while David worked. I couldn't have been happier that they were staying longer than 1 week. This coming week was going to bring us a change in our itinerary though. And another exciting excursion. But I'll save that for next time.

Stay cool Canada cause god knows were not. 40 degrees everyday and no rain!

Alison xxxxx