Tripping With Toby: Maramures

Horowitz Travel- May 15, 2017- Maramures

Where the hell are we? I don't know the name of the town, but it took a day to get here. I do know that we can see the Ukrainian border from here. That could be due to my extraterrestrial experience this morning. Our shower was enclosed top to bottom by a cylindrical clear plastic sliding door. Once inside, I looked out at David and said, "Beam me up Scotty." Oh wait, my phone just told me we're in Vadu Izei.

Breakfast was a collaborative effort of the approximately ten people in the intimate breakfast room. Food and supplies were stored on a multi-level buffet in no particular order. Guests would see someone searching for an item and call out its location. Coffee was a whole new adventure. The machine had tiny pictorial outlines of different coffees. David got me through that, but I never would have figured out that there was a side lever under which to put the filled cup for steamed milk. Amidst all the interchanges, we met a couple from New Zealand and their guide. The guide was from the same company as ours, and we're on the same program. We should see them at dinner tonight.

We took the obligatory walk around the old city seeing exteriors of churches and multiple other curlicued facades on buildings used for government or university purposes. Clusters of students were on the move as we wove among them trying to stay together. On returning to our hotel, we loaded the van and immediately had troubles. Radu couldn't get it to go into reverse. In this model, the gear shift has to be pulled up before being slid into reverse. Despite a mighty effort it kept going into second. Since we were parallel parked on an incline, it was a major issue. Radu stopped a policeman who stopped traffic until the gears cooperated. At last, we were off.

I slept a lot in the car. There was a sameness to the roadside. Houses in Romania hug the road. Many seemed vacant, but had signs of life if I looked closely. Most exteriors were run-down and the surrounding property unkempt. This went for towns and villages we passed. I think this is a poorer country than I imagined from being in Bucharest. But the highways, even the two-lane ones, were in very good repair.

We were going North into Maramures County (land of forests). We breezed through Baia Mares (large mines) without seeing a single copper or silver mine. We crossed the Maramures Mts. and deadheaded to the 1720's Church of Surdesti, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Until recently, at 225 feet tall, the spire of the church made it the second tallest in Europe. It is now a Greek Catholic Church using the Romanian language to worship and whose pontiff is the Pope in Rome. It had been Eastern Orthodox until the Hapsburg's influence prevailed and it became Catholic with its own twist. Original faded paintings peer out from the aged walls making it a challenge to decipher them. White fabric swags with red and black embroidery are hung around the perimeter of the interior draping each icon with a handmade token of devotion. Backless benches and floors are covered in gray and white wool rugs doing nothing to warm the frigid interior. Women still sit in back of the men as old traditions prevail. In the end, it might be Mother Nature that puts an end to it all. A very determined woodpecker was hard at work on the steeple as we left.

This area is known for decoratively carved wooden gates with wooden chain embellishments. Those homes without the old gates still install unique, though modern ones. The old ways die hard in this area. Horse carts are a common sight and haystacks are assembled in the shape of Orthodox Church domes. But progress must come. I asked about the bright yellow guard rails on the roads. I was told those aren't guard rails. They're gas lines. Evidently, they're not concerned about cars running into them and causing explosions.

We're staying two nights in a private home. Well, it's a series of three homes owned by the same family. The daughter and her children live in ours. I don't know how many toddlers she has, but there are enough tiny shoes of the same size in the entry to provide for triplets many times over. The rooms are modern though sparsely furnished. The bathroom is clean and basic with a Stark Trek shower. Doors to the rooms are interesting. Translucent glass is the main component in the doors. It's easy to see who's who in the rooms and view all kinds of details of dress and undress that is better unseen. David stayed in the room as Judi & I stood in the hall trying to see how far back he'd have to go to not put on a show. He has to be out the window or in the corner behind the armoire. However, the bathroom door is solid. Speaking of bathrooms, so far today, we've used blue, pink, and now orange crepe paper textured toilet paper.

Dinner tonight was home hosted by the family who runs the houses. There are seven guests staying here including the New Zealanders and a Jewish couple from NYC. We assembled under a large gazebo for drinks of pear/apple brandy and/or blueberry and sour cherry liqueur. We were treated to a show of local music and dance performed by young people in typical costume. Some of the tunes had a W. Virginia sound and one sounded like a Romanian rap to Judi. One of the young dancers came over to shake my hand, or so I thought. He wanted me to dance and I did. It was a simple step, but when he reversed and I started twirling backwards, I was glad I hadn't had much to drink. We all joined in. Then the songs switched to Hava Nagila and Hevenu Shalom Aleichem. Judi and I got up to dance and grabbed the Romanians to join us. Turn-about is fair play. The food was delicious and all homemade if not home grown. They understood we didn't eat pork, but it seemed to be a challenge. We ended up with chicken in a delicious sauce and a to die for chocolate cake.

Tomorrow we'l tour locally.

Toby