RE: Out of ICU

From all accounts, the kitten is continuing to do very well. His condition has been downgraded from "critical" to "stable." The vet reports that he is very active with a good personality and that they think he is very clever (yes, Dad, cats can be clever.)

At this rate, we are planning on picking him up Saturday morning.

RE: Instant Recovery

My friend called me to tell me some very good news, that the kitten is doing extremely well. The new vet has determined that the kitten is actually less than 4 weeks old, which means when I got him he was probably just over 2 weeks! Thus, they are treating him accordingly - like an abandoned kitten. They are giving him replacement mother's milk, which is administered every two to three hours throughout the day and night. Also, they are using wet tissues to stroke and massage him because they have to teach him how to urinate and defecate. Rubbing him with wet tissues also simulates cleaning himself, so they are teaching him that as well.

In one week, at Ai-Bi Vet, the kitten's body temperature only went down. It went down dangerously and last night we considered the kitten to be close to death. The new vetk, in less than 24 hours, has gotten the body temperature up 3 degrees and the kitten is now doing very well.

It's good news all around.

RE: Fawkes

Correction - The Kitten is NOT dead.

There are definite communication problems evident when someone from the vet office calls to confirm that your kitten is dead, when it is, in fact, sickly but very much alive.

I called my friend to report the death of the kitten. She called the vet's office to heartily complain, only to learn that it was still alive. However, we thought that it would be getting 24 hour care and upon learning that it was left alone at nights we decided to go bring it some water bottles. We bundled into Mr.Lee's taxi and hurried off to the vet's. En route, Mr.Lee told us several horror stories about Ai-Bi vet that he had heard from friends. On the other hand, he knew of a vet who was supposedly very good. We decided to talk about moving the kitten to a new vet's.

Upon arriving at Ai-Bi vet, we were not encouraged. The kitten was weaker than before. It had lost its voice. It could hardly stand. The eyes were bad. It's ear was cut. It was horribly skinny. It's body temperature was now almost 4 degrees lower. This kitten looked to be on the verge of death.

With no answer at the other vet's, we hurried over there to check it out. Upon arriving, we found a vet/pet shop that was highly unprofessional. ... but homey... There were four people on duty who appeared to truly love animals. There were dogs in cages spread throughout the shop. All the cages had comfy blankets and plenty of water. The dogs were all wearing sweaters and looked very comfortable. Meanwhile, a lab and a dob were friendly wandering around, looking for TLC from whomever would suffer their company. We all had a good laugh when one of the technicians sat down and the dob (which was quite large) jumped up on his lap and then turned around like a baby. I didn't know how he balanced! It turned out that he was a stray who had been abandoned at the clinic. Everyone loved him and now the clinic is his permanent home. We asked where the kitten would spend the night and were shown into a very messy bedroom - it turns out the technician would be sleeping beside the kitten, awaking to re-fill the water bottle. With all this in mind, we hurried back to Ai-Bi Vet to transfer the kitten.

When the kitten arrived at the new shop, the four technicians literally jumped to attention and all began running around like crazy. They found him a very tiny house - In China, the animals sleep in foam structures that I can only compare to dog houses. Well, they found a *very* tiny one that would be very cozy for him. They filled up one water bottle and put it in the bottom, covered with a blanket. Next, they took another smaller water bottle, wrapped, and put it against the wall. They gave the kitten some formula (though I was assured that it was not formula, but rather was replacement mother's milk) and vitamin supplements using an eye dropper and talked about how the next morning they would immediately order a special milk bottle created so that the kittens can drink by themselves, when they want. They also took a towel and partially covered the doorway. In the end, the kitten was in a nice, dark, warm cocoon. Finally, they took the kitten and placed it on a side table directly beside the technician's bed. The entire time, I was carefully watching how the technicians treated all the animals in the store. They cuddled them. They sat them on their laps. I could tell that... while it wasn't as professional and sterile as the other place, it was completely and totally filled with love.

The technicians originally told us that they figured there was a 75% chance that the kitten would die, since hypothermia is nearly fatal in kittens. However, after seeing the kitten for a while, they were heartened. They have asked to keep him for a week, which is perfect for me since Dr.Arnold in Canada said I should keep Hudson separated from the kitten for at least two weeks.

Meanwhile, we now have a large strawberry cat house waiting for him upon his arrival.

RE: The Sad Result

I went through four days of huge indecision. What to do with this kitten? It seemed to me that I had four possiblities:

#1. I could bring the kitten home. Nope... I couldn't risk Hudson getting sick.
#2. I could let a Chinese family fostake her him. Nope... What if it wasn't a good home?
#3. I could take him to the local animal shelter. Nope - it's actually better to be put down than to go there.
#4. I could put him down. Nope - What if he was actuallly perfectly fine?

So I had days of indecision, which was extremely unsettling.

My friend and I kept getting good news and then bad. We were sure that he didn't have the parvovirus because, while he did have a subnormal temperature, animals normally die within hours when that happens. We also researched and found that a hypothermic temperature is the result of the malnutrition, which is actually what the local vet tolds us. It seemed that he was improving. His spirits were rising, as was his temperature.

Still, I didn't want to risk Hudson.

I finally phoned my vet in Canada, who kindly agreed to consult with me over the phone (FYI - If you want a fabulous vet, go to Dr.Arnold in Pelham. This is my plug for him and his office.) Dr. Arnold said that Hudson had been fully vaccinated during his stay in Canada and wasn't about to catch parvo. I felt *much* better after this and decided to go pick up the kitten towards the end of the week.

Unfortunately, I was informed that the kitten had developed diarrhea. Then they discovered parasites. The next day bloody diarrhea. And then the kitten was dead.

//

So now I'm upset because... well... my kitten died.

However, I'm also upset because of how I got this kitten. It didn't matter that I told the taxi driver on many occasions that he was absolutely *not* to bring me a kitten because I wanted to check that it was healthy. He completely and totally ignored my wishes and brought me a sick kitten. I spent 1/5th of my monthly budget trying to nurse it back to health and in the end it died. Now I'm left with nothing, debt, and I have started back at "square one" of my search for a kitten.

It makes me feel like I was dealing with a five year old. You know? Like I had a method to my madness, but all the taxi driver saw was madness. He couldn't understand why I was being so picky. I couldn't understand why he wanted to give me any stray he could find. And in the end, I was right and the kitten was dead.

Animals in China are called, "One Month Pets" because they only survive that long. It's very sad.

RE: Finally... An Adventure

This is my very first post whilst living in China. I'm feeling very ... funny... at the moment. Part of me is so beyond frustration that I can barely function. And part of me is glad that I'm *finally* having an adventure.

China, initially, was a little bit of a disappointment for me because I was seeking adventure and challenges. In the first 7 weeks in China, I experienced none. China has a much *MUCH* higher standard of living than Romania. I wasn't really prepared for that fact. I mean, I knew that China was the land of knock-offs and cheap DVDs, but I really never expected to find George Foreman's Lean and Mean Grilling Machines or Westinghouse air purifiers. Nor did I expect to find imported food sections with Green Giant creamed corn. My school (Nanjing International School) is absolutely fantastic. I love, *love* my apartment. What can I say?

Then I had my first adventure this week.

I was texting the school's travel agent about getting me return tickets to Suzhou, which is a city 173 km away that is famous for cheap pearls. Well, I got my ticket, and my friend Susanne's ticket, the night before at 10 pm, only to find that no return was given. Ack! So we went anyhow - I was figuring that we could simply buy our returns immediately upon descending. Well, we alighted Suzhou station to find that it smelt so overwhelmingly like urine that it was hard to surpress continuous gags. It was hot. We were sticky. And standing in line. Luckily, we met up with a Siberian translator who spoke excellent Mandarin. She tried to help us buy tickets. Unfortunately, all the tickets were sold out except for the N train at midnight (N, I believe, standing for "nasty.") This was the peasant train that stops at every station and takes 4 hours to arrive. We bought the tickets as a safe guard and starting talking about finding a bus. At that moment, we found a taxi driver who promised to take us back to Nanjing for 400 RMB ($52 CDN). We figured this wasn't bad, since we'd be splitting the cost. So we hurried to our meeting place, where we met up with our new friends from AECL. We went off to the pearl market and went crazy with buying. Who could blame us? 9.5mm pearls were only $15 CDN each! Later we went out for dinner, where we also learned how to knot the pearls ourselves. That was awesome, but the frustrating adventure was yet to come. The taxi driver, it turned out, was a slime ball. He raised the price to 800 RMB if we traveled only together. He said if we accepted riding with a Chinese family, the price would go down to 450 RMB (which was still 50 more than we bargained!) Well, we got in the taxi. Out of the taxi. The Chinese family got in the taxi. They got out of the taxi. We yelled They yelled. Susanne scalped our tickets. We had my friend Aggie translating (she was really yelling) over the phone. Manic. Finally we jumped out and climbed in a black cab. Aggie was telling me not to, over the phone, because she said the black cab would stop in the middle of no where and demand more money before finishing. She was also frustrated that we hadn't given her the license plate number so that she could help us if we got in trouble. But Susanne was frustrated more and off we went. True enough, the black cab stopped, after over an hour. He claimed that he was having car troubles. A metred green taxi came along and picked us all up. At this point, I was now shoved in the backseat with three other people, one of whom really smelled. Luckily, Judi Phillips had taught me the trick of putting perfume on your face and hands so that you can only smell the perfume, not the other person. Luckily, Susanne had perfume on her. Well, we continued onwards for over an hour and a half before finally arriving at Nanjing train station. We checked the metre and found that it was at 335 RMB, not including the 85 RMB in tolls. That's when we realised that we actually made a good deal. We were happy.

So that was adventure no.1.

Here is adventure no.2.

There is a famous Chinese saying that goes, "What does it matter if the cat is black or white, if he catches the mouse?" This means that the product, or end result, is more important than the process. This is in direct contrast to Western standards, in which the process can sometimes outweigh the results.

So speaking of cats... i was trying to find a kitten.

This is *much* more difficult than living in Canada, where you can drive down the road looking for kitten signs. Or where you can stop at any farm and ask if they have any stray kittens in the barn.

China is notorious for having very bad animal protection, and this is extremely evident here. There is a knock-off market called Fuzi Miao with an area called Pet Alley. It is a horrible, *horrible* place. It has tiny animals in cages so small that they can't turn around. It has trapped chipmunks and other animals that aren't even domesticated... in cages only small enough to fit them. It has cages of kittens, all lying in heaps. The animals are often dyed strange colours, with purple ears and pink feet. They are diseased. They are matted. They are horrible. And they die after only a month. So I didn't want a cat from Pet Alley.

I told my driver Mr.L and a Chinese friend of mine that I wanted to get a kitten.

In Mr.L's mind, there was only a product - "Amy wants a kitten."

In my mind, there was a process:
#1. Vaccinate existing cat for Feline Parvovirus because it is epidemic in China, and particularly in Pet Alley.
#2. Contact local vets to see if any home cats have recently had litters.
#3. Visit home and observe to see whether cats are well treated.
#4. Choose the most friendly kitten who seems strong and healthy.
#5. Take kitten to the vet to get a thorough check-up and to ensure there is no feline parvovirus.
#6. Take kitten home.

I explained this all to my friend, who in turn explained it to Mr.L. We spent the entire day searching for the perfect kitten, with no luck.

Each time, Mr.L kept saying, "But what colour does she want? I can bring her a kitten. What about Fuzi Miao?" And I was very VERY firmly saying, "No. No! No! No Fuzi Miao."

Well, following my steps, I took my cat, Hudson, to the vet to get the Parvovirus vaccine. We tried to go to the official government vet, but he said the vaccine wasn't available because the government was currently in negotiations with the manufacturer. So we went to a private clinic instead. I took my EU Pet Passport in order to ensure that I could easily get Hudson back into Europe, should I ever want/need to. The vet was initially scared of Hudson. He explained to my friend and I that Chinese cats are very badly behaved in China, that they scratch and bite and that vets normally put a muzzle on them. He couldn't understand why Hudson was so calm and well mannered. I asked my friend why Chinese cats were so badly behaved. Were they abused? She said no, they are normally outdoor cats who learn bad manners. Well, later in the day we went to the house of my friend's maid. She has two kittens left from a previous litter. I was so excited. The description was of a loving home with two darling kittens. However, all the kittens in the home (four) were skittish, timid, and extremely wary of people. One sat on a very high shelf, curled up tight into himself, with his ears flat back, staring at us. There was *no way* I was taking one of these cats. So you see? Even when things sound perfect, you still have to check them out!

So we agreed that we would look again another day.

Here comes the adventure.

10:10 p.m. that night, I got a phone call from my friend saying that Mr.L had found me a kitten. He was outside my townsite with it. He couldn't return it because he would lose face (this honour thing) with his friends, so if I didn't want it, he was going to abandon it - and it would die. I was *sooooo* furious! now the life of this kitten laid in my hands. And what if it was horrible? What if it was skittish? What if it was old? What if it was sick? What if it had parvo already? What if it had a nasty personality? All choice was pulled from my hands. Even though we had explained to Mr.L on *many occasions* that he was *not* to bring me a cat, here he had shown up at my doorstep, telling me if I didn't take it, he would kill it. I was *furious*!

My friend and Mr.L came to my door and showed me the kitten. It was *very* small...maybe only 4 weeks old. A little black and white tuxedo who actually had a bowtie print on his fur. He was dirty and matted. I told my friend that, while he was a very nice kitten of a great age, there was no way he was coming into my house. I mean, I spent so much money and effort and love into getting my cat from Romania, to Canada, to China. To have him die of feline parvovirus was definitely not in my plans. Parvo is not passed by cats, but rather it is passed by the environment. The virus stays in an environment for one year. Thus, if I brought the kitten into my home and he did have parvo, then my cat would get it and die, and then my house would be contaminated for a complete year. Now, Hudson (my cat) had his vaccination for parvo only this afternoon, so I figured he would not have built up the antibodies yet for it. Also, he's supposed to have two shots and he's only had one. So regardless, this cat was not coming into my house. And besides... he could have loads of other diseases. And finally... he looks identical to my cat, Toby, who died years ago, and whose death I still mourn (just thinking about Toby is liable to get me teary). So this cat was absolutely *not* coming into my house. Luckily, another friend (who is deeply allergic to cats) offered to cat sit over night on the condition that the cat never leaves its cage. Wow. Thank goodness. So the cat went over to her house. After watching it for a while, i decided that I did really like it. It's vocal and it comes to the cage door when you call it. It's a little shaky and there is discharge coming out of its eyes. Now... I'm really trying to remind myself that Hudson came out of the garbage in Romania and Tori came out of a woodpile in Canada. And Tori had really messed up eyes. The fact is - stray cats do make awesome pets. So I think I will keep him...her... the problem is that I'm worried that he has parvo and I'm worried about his eyes... and he makes me sad because whenever I see him, I think about Toby. I'm also really furious with Mr.L.

Well, I walked home from my friend's, only to realise that I had locked myself out of my flat. This meant I had to find a taxi, run off to school, explain to the security guards what happened, wake up the facility officer to help me find the key, and come running home to open up the flat. Wow. What a night.

So I'm thinking of names for this cat. I was going to name it after either a Canadian explorer or body of water - to match with Hudson. However, after tonight, I think he/she needs a more meaningful name. If it's a girl, I'm going to call her Benjamina, which is Hebrew for "my sorrow." I think it's appropriate, considering what Mr.L put me through to get this cat "Take it or I'll kill it." and considering how much he looks like my precious cat who died.

//

I was super furious. However, I talked with a cultural training counsellor from Shanghai. She really changed how I view China and the whole culture shock thing. I really looked at the situation from Mr.L's point of view. He was thinking, "What's all the fuss? She wanted a kitten. I found her one. What does it matter where I got it? She's got it. Why isn't she happy? Why is she mad at me?" And I'm thinking, "Where did this kitten come from? Is it healthy? Is it strong? Does it have parvo? Has it been abused?" We just don't understand each other.

I was so angry with Mr.L that I swore I would never use him as a driver ever again. However, now I have calmed down because I realise that even with a translator, he doesn't understand me and I don't understand him. We aren't just from two different countries, it appears we are also from two different planets.

//

So I was hoping for adventure, and I got it. Hopefully everything has a happy ending. If this kitten does turn out to be healthy, then I'll take him and I'll have ended up with a good deal on a taxi ride and a friend for Hudson.

February 3rd - The Job Fair

The beginning of the job fair started off very poorly. The fair, as I said earlier, is an IB fair, which stands for "international baccalaureate." That is the most highly regarded an prestigious curriculum in the world. It comes in three parts - PYP (Primary Years Program), MYP (Middle Years Program) and Diploma (Pre-University). From what I've been told, it's the sort of thing that you can only get through special training, but you can't get the training unless a school sends you and you can't get hired by schools unless you have the IB. So you see, I was greatly disadvantaged at this IB fair.

Well, the sign-up session started that morning. I was discouraged because only two schools had indicated a willingness to interview. I begged four others for an interview, I was turned down for two, and I received three Maybes. Sigh. I tried to stay positive, though, because my first interview was with Nanjing, China, which all along had been my first choice.

Just before the interview I attended a presentation by the school's director, Gez Hayden. He was strict, but funny, good natured and extremely pleasant. The presentation made me yearn for the school all the more! Happily, I was offered a position at Nanjing and immediately cancelled all my interviews but Seoul, Korea, which was later in the afternoon. It had been my second choice. However, while that interview was easy and friendly, the fact is that the job requirements were way over my head (University level orchestra, including strings). As such, I suggested to that director that I try again with him in the years to come and quickly accepted Nanjing, my first choice.

I am absolutely thrilled about this position. Waiting until the summer to arrive, when I'll be moving to China, will be so very difficult! I want to start immediately and yet I still have two more terms to complete in Romania! Hrmmmm.... I'll have to change this website to have a Chinese flag.

But I regress.

That night I celebrated my acceptance with two new friends, Anna from Vancouver and Emma from Australia. We went to Chinatown and had Gungbo China with fried rice. Those two are fantastic and I'm definitely going to keep in touch with them.

February 2nd - Arrival in London

Adventure blogs are best updated in countries containing many internet opportunities. The last time I traveled, I did not update the blog because my adventures in Romania were already well documented and because Atlantic Canada is seriously lacking in Wi-Fi hotspots. Now, 6 months later, I am having yet another adventure, and yet it is not a fun filled vacation.

At the moment, I’m in London (England – not Ontario, where I once attended university) wherein I hope to interview and obtain a position teaching overseas. The nuclear project, with which I am currently attached, is quickly coming to an end and I must look for another teaching position. As such, I’ve come to London to interview at Search Associate’s IB recruitment fair. I am not an IB candidate, though I would love to get my training, and am hoping that this will be a segue into that area of study.

My first impression of London is that the people are extremely polite! I have never seen anything like it. It’s all please and thank yous and excuse me ma’ams, left, right and centre.

For example,

Today on the subway (in which three very helpful servicemen assisted me), a young lady sat beside me and accidentally bumped my leg.

She apologized. I said, “No worries.”

Now, in Canada, she would have apologized, I would have said, “No problem,” and the conversation would have been finished.

In Romania, she would have completely ignored me and may have even continued bumping me, all the while giving me dirty looks for not being as tall, beautiful and European as she was.

Not so in London. The girl proceeded to apologise, “Yes, I’m very sorry. I truly did not mean to sit on you. I’m, again, sorry.”

Laugh. Wow.

Likewise, the lady running the bed and breakfast at which I am staying is extremely nice and friendly.

My room is very cheery with a pleasant view of roof-tops. It amazes me that these rooftops are all older than Newfoundland and are probably older than Canada itself. The sense of history is amazing.

Oh, and my room comes complete with my own cat. His name is… I think Sid. I’ve forgotten. He’s lovely. Actually, I was thinking he might have been stuffed until he turned to lick his paws. He prefers my bed, which is fine with me since I’m now missing my own dear Hudson. Sid, if that is his real name, is extremely fat. He obviously has not heard of Fergie, Duchess of York’s Weight Watcher programs. If he were my cat, he would be on an immediate diet.

My Hudson was very obese just this past September. I put him on a radical diet and now he is lean and handsome. I’m including two pictures to compare and contrast the two boys.

Well, it is just after two and I still need to register for my place at the conference, and pick up my packages. The sky is starting to darken, though I have brought an umbrella with me. Not a backpack, though.

I have nothing to do tonight, since the job fair starts tomorrow morning at 8. I’m going to do a bit of sight-seeing, I think. I saw a camera shop in the Hammersmith subway tunnel, complete with tripods. I think I’ll head out around 7 or 8 and will take some nice night shots of famous London landmarks – Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St.Paul’s, The Tower, and Trafalgar Square. Judi has suggested supper at Harry Ramsden’s, which will solve my very British cravings for fish and chips (no skins, please!)

Hopefully, with my evenings free only to fret over interviews, I’ll be able to write in this blog more often.

I have noticed an internet café quite close buy and hope to pop in and upload often.

Amy

RE: Excuse

It's not that I'm having an identity crisis - it's just that I've found myself immersed in a new hobby which seems to be sucking up all of my time, energy, and even money. What is it, you ask? Digital photography and cinematography. I've bought myself a cool new camera, I've got movie editing software (uLead 10), an instant soundtrack program (SonicFire Pro), a cool new camcorder, and even one of those fancy Hollywood movie blue screens (chromakey). This all means that whilst I used to be updating the blog during a major trip, now I'm planning my next major movie. Or at least, an amazing home video.

Instead of writing all sorts of clever or interesting stories about my godparents' visit, I worked on making them up a DVD slideshow of all the major sites we visited. Of course, I forgot to make myself a copy and I didn't get to upload all my cool pictures. So yes, it is time to stop neglecting the blog and time to start some narrations again.

If only I had time! I leave again for Romania on Friday.

Sigh.

New Brunswick: Day Two

The rain has finally come. It, and thunder showers, was forecasted for today, but held off until our touring was finished. Thank goodness.

We awoke to low-lying fog, making us slightly pestimistic about our whale watching tour. However, our captain was a 12 year veteran and our two guides (both experienced marine biologists) were optomistic, and so away we went. When the fog lifted, the sights were eerie and dramatic.



Luckily, it appeared that all the different whale watching tour companies were friends; from our captain's cabin I heard the different captains all chatting about the morning's tours.
"John, where are you?"
"We just left the cove. Found anything yet?"
"Yup, we've just had 2 great sightings of a Minke Whale."
And off we headed, like Ahab, looking for our whale.



We also saw many porpoises. However, they were all so quick that we didn't get a chance to photograph a single one! Our other finds included bald eagles and harbour seals.

After the tour, we took a lunch break and then headed off for St.Stephen, the home of Canada's first chocolate bar and the world's first heart-shaped candy box. Founded in 1873 by James and Gilbert Ganong, the company has stayed in the same family for four generations and is now run by David Ganong.

While the actual factory is closed to the public, the museum and shop were both open. The former had large trays of chocolates sitting around the museum and everyone was encouraged to eat as much as they liked. Here is a funny story - On a large covered table sat a full tray of delectable chocolates and the clerk encouraged us to eat as many as we liked. However, there below the tray of chocolates was posted a sign reading, "By order of Health Canada, customers must remain a minimum of 1 metres from this table." Laugh. We kinda starred at the table, then back at the girl, then back at the table... then she laughed and said that the table was once used for hand-dipping demonstrations and the sign was to keep spectators away from the hot chocolate.

Afterwards we hurried back to St.Andrew's to visit the aquarium, which was closing in ten minutes. Strange - How can one expect to attract tourists when only opening between ten and five each day? But every cloud has a silver lining, for when we left the aquarium we happened to pass one of only two surviving blockhouses in Canada! These are Canada's versions of castles.

These castles were built as defenses during the War of 1812 (which, BTW, I firmly believe we would have won had the British not offered a truce! We were kidding American butt! laugh) Each blockhouse had a series of cannons on swivels, manned by ten men each. It is fortunate that this blockhouse still survives - 13 years ago an arson attempted to burn it down. Luckily, it was restored and is now manned by two very enthusiastic and well-informed tour guides. For a suggested $0.50 CDN, a great viewing experience is given. Thanks Parks Canada!

After visiting the local castle, we headed back to St.Andrew's for a walking tour of the town. What an old place! It reminded me of Sighisoara in that almost every house on the main thruway had a plaque reading, "Established 1783, originally a customs house." (Laugh - Of course, in Sighisoara it's more like, "Established 1342, originally a crafts guild.")

RE: New Brunswick: Day One

I'm writing this blog on our first day of real rest, despite being in the car for almost 7 hours straight. This is good - the day before we were in the car for 16 hours straight, and ended up sleeping, illegally, in a truck stop surrounded with refrigerated trucks! Sigh. But now we are in a kushy Kiwanis campsite, with our very own WiFi and a gorgeous view of the Atlantic Ocean. We are relaxing now; tomorrow we will head into town for a whale watching tour.

Which leads me to my next point. Do you know how big whales are? They are huge! The Finn Whale, which we will be tracking tomorrow, grows up to 27 metres and weighs up to 50 tonnes! I certainly don't want *that* bumping into my boat! Luckily, the guide today told us that the whales have sonar and so never pump into boats, and that even if they did, they have no teeth and don't eat humans. Good.

We are in St. Andrew's, which is a very picturesque little town on the Atlantic Ocean.



The signs are all in French and English, but I've heard 85% of the people only speaking French.

I'm sure I'll have more to report tomorrow night. After all, I am typically long-winded. However, after two intensive days of driving, all I'm wanting is my bed. (A full size air mattress in a tent measuring 3 X 3 metres! Yeah! Luxury!)

So I've uploaded some pictures for you to view, at my Flickr site. Take some time to puruse them whilst you wait.

RE: Painted Monastaries

I'm sitting in the Iasi airport, awaiting my flight to Timisoara. We have just finished up a really fantastic week in Romanian Moldova, visiting the painted monastaries. These are 500 year old monastaries which have been completed painted, both inside and out, with very colour murals. In some cases, the murals look like they were only just completed a few years ago (Sucevita and Moldovita are particularly amazing).

Our tour guide was absolutely amazing. We all became really close friends. In fact, next week we are going with her parents to visit St. Andrew's Cave near Constanta, and then we are going back to her house for supper and a very competitive game of Scrabble in English (Laugh - I've been warned that her brother is a power-house!)

The week was really great. I'll upload pictures as soon as I get a chance. The only thing that upset us was the actions of my travel agent, Gibraltar from Constanta. Signs, even as early as last week, had pointed towards them trying to cheat us. This all came to a head yesterday. Gibraltar, not knowing that we had become such close friends with our guide, wove a series of lies and demanded more money. We chatted with the tour guide and learned of the truth. Having politely confronted Gibraltar, they immediately backed down and sent us a suck-up email. Still, I will never use their services again. So yes, that was the only unhappistance that occured in the entire trip. Otherwise, things have been great!

In fact, I think I'll go and upload some pictures to my flickr site at the moment.

Amy

RE: Day One

Have you ever watched a favourite movie two or three times and seen something new each and every time? This is often very true for vacations. At the moment, I am embarking on my third extensive travel vacation of Romania. Though I have often shown people around the most common areas - Brasov, Bran, Bucharest, etc - the first bigger trip I took was with my parents several summers ago. That time we ventured farther afield, to Sighisoara. When Pam came to visit in April we went even farther, to Deva, Hunedoara, and Timisoara. Now my godparents, Wayne and Claudia, have come to visit and we are truly doing an amazing trip. With all elements combined, we are also flying to Iasi, before leaving for Suceavita, to see the painted monastaries in Romanian Moldova. I am really excited because I know that we will see new and exciting things which I have not yet experienced. For example, we have arranged to see a Romanian babies orphanage in Brasov. This trip will also be different because I plan on filming the entire thing with my camcorder.

This reminds me... I'll tell you a bit about my camcorder. In the last term in school, we did a media unit with the kids. They used my camcorder and made documentaries. The films were transfered to the computer via a laptop, at which point the kids added title pages, narrations, animations, transitions, and even customised soundtracks (using soundtrack software called SonicFire Pro). It was a lot of hard work, but once you know how, the films are actually quite easy to make. (I had one group make up a documentary on bridges in only and hour!)

So I'm taking my camcorder and I'm going to try to burn to the laptop every evening so that by the end of the trip, the entire DVD will be ready to go home with Wayne and Claudia. I can also burn this for Pam, for whom I was originally going to make a DVD anyhow as a surprise. Oh, SURPRISE PAM!

So that's my idea.

If you are bored now, stop reading, because I'm going to continue to ramble.

Here is my adventure thus far. I got up early this morning and hurried through one thousand and one errands. I had booked transportation on a company shuttle to the airport and found myself aboard a bus with a load of expats demobilising for Canada. We were lucky enough to drive on the newly opened highway. In fact, it opened just as we drove up to it. A helicopter landed, and out jumped the president of Romania for the ribbon cutting ceremony! Unfortunately, my camera didn't have a memory card, and so I missed grabbing a shot.

Well, we got into Otopeni airport and I was let off at arrivals. It seemed forever for Uncle Wayne and Aunt Claudia to exit baggage. Like normal, I waited whilst trying to fend off the mafia taxi drivers. One driver came and asked me to go with him. I told him no, very rudely. He said, "Amy, you must come with me." I was really confused. Then I recognised him. He was a company driver who had been sent to pick me up from the Frankfurt flight at 13:50! I said to him, "But I've only been let off at Arrivals 10 minutes ago!" He exclaimed that he had finished his mail run and had been sent by dispatch to pick me up. He kept saying, "So, let's go." And I was saying, "No, honestly. I'm not coming off the Frankfurt flight. I'm waiting for the Frankfurt flight. I've just arrived with the CNI bus!" So I apologised for his troubles, though he said he was annoyed with dispatch and not me, and watched him walk off in search of his girlfriend... whom he didn't find for over a half hour. Poor fella. Well, U.Wayne and A.Claudia arrived, having found their luggage already pulled off the carousel, and we were on our way.

We are staying at Hotel Central in Bucharest, which is just off Piata Universitatii. The rooms are 85 Euros per night, but are definitely not worth it. A.Claudia asked me to sit on her bed and to offer an opinion. I said, "Wow. I love soft beds." She looked at me in surprise, saying, "If that's what you consider to be soft..." Well, I moved farther up the bed and found it to be rock-hard. You see, the top of the bed was hard, and by the time you go to the foot, your bum was hitting the box! I told A.Claudia that the 85 Euros was for the specialty bed - You get to chose the firmness of your bed depending on which end you want to sleep!

Speaking of sleeping... I left them to deal with jetlag and I came looking for an internet cafe. After a quick pitstop at Fornetti's, I arrived in a really nice Internet cafe with comfy chairs and no smoking. I am *definiately* going to remember this place. It's fantastic! One reason I came was to escape my room, which smells of toilet. I finally had reception move me.

(This reminds me of my trip with my Dad. Whenever I didn't like something, I really politely complained, and we got some great service. The moved me to a room that smells like it was only just cleaned. A great improvement.)

At any rate, we are off to Una Mai for gourmet pizzas tonight. Tomorrow I think we'll go to the Village Museum, the People's Parliment, and where ever else our feet may lead us.

RE: The End

Now that Pam has finished visiting me, I thought I'd put up a rough map of where we went. (I say rough, because several places weren't on the map and I had to squeeze them in.)



Click on the map to see a larger view.

RE: People's Palace

Today we arrived in Bucharest at 7:30 a.m., which was a little disappointing as the train was an hour late. If we had have known that, we would not have set our alarm for 5:30 a.m!

Well, we spent the day just bumming around. Our only real goal was to see the People's Palace.

This place is huge. This place is monstrous. It is the second largest place in the world, behind the Pentagon. It is bigger than the Pyramids of Giza. The first time I visited it, my parents and I had walked around to its north side, only to find the visitor's gate was on the far side. It was a hot day, and we grudgingly walked around to the other side. This time, I was going to be smart. Pam and I checked with the guide book, which confirmed its location, and promptly walked to the south side. That's when we realised that the gate had been moved to its opposite side. I reasoned that since the building was a perfect square, we could easily just continue walking around because all distances would be equal. Not so. The building may be square, but its estate is not. After 10 weeks, we finally arrived tired and exhausted at the proper gate.

From Google Earth

I wanted to tell you about the Palace of Parliament and so checked out its description in Wikipedia. However, this encyclopedia only had bland information about its dimensions, etc. It didn't actually mention the meglomaniac madman who built it - Nicolae Ceauşescu.

Here are some of the facts Pam and I learned throughout the tour:

* Houses, churches, and monastaries were torn down to make way for Ceauşescu's dream area. This included a road meant to eclipe Paris' Champs de l'Elysee. In fact, it is 1 kilometre longer and 6 metres wider. It has 40 water fountains representing the 40 counties in Romania and one large one representing Romania as a whole. (Here's a side note - When I first came to Romania, these were all turned off because whenever they were running, the gypsies used to wash in them. This year they are almost all on.)



* It looks like a gigantic wedding cake. (Okay, this is more my opinion than fact.)

* Ceauşescu had a huge balconey made in front of a big piata so that he could address his adoring fans. The building was never finished during his lifetime, and so he actually gave his last speech (during the revolution) from Piata Revolutiei instead.


* Ceauşescu was such a meglomaniac that he actually ordered two truly massive frames created from marble, in a room 16 metres tall, to house pictures of himself and his wife opposite each other.


Our tour guide was trying not to keep a straight face as she described Ceauşescu's intentions versus reality. For example, two facing wings were meant as apartments for himself and his wife. Now they are used as offices.

Well, after our visit to the People's Palace, we bummed around, had lunch, had a bit of a nap, had supper at Barka Saffron again, and then met up with my friends Iain, Kirstie, and Paul. It was a great evening, but since I didn't get to bed until 1:30 a.m., getting up with Pam at 4:30 a.m. was a bit of a challenge, especially since I then had an 8:25 a.m. train back to Cernavoda. (Thus, why I am in my pajamas today)

RE: Timisoara

Rachel – if you are reading this blog – we should have taken the first class sleeping train from Budapest. It’s awesome! I’m typing right now aboard a first class, 2 compartment sleeper train. I’m on the top bunk and Pam is sound sleep on the bottom. We are leaving Timisoara, en route to Bucuresti.

I love Timisoara.

I repeat: “I love Timisoara.”

I want to move there.

Timisoara is the Romanian city that is 95% European.

I had to keep reminding myself where I was. It’s so clean. There are beautiful parks everywhere that are also so clean. There are beautiful buildings and many of them are restored to their former glories. There are massive squares, unlike anything I’ve seen in Bucharest. These squares have carefully tended gardens with benches and statues, and they are also so clean.


The buses look nice. The trams look nice. The canal bridges are decorative… and clean. The canal has groups of rowers powering through the water. The streets have bike paths which are clearly labeled, and so clean.

Pam and I had the entire day in Timisoara. It doesn’t have so many clearly recognizable tourist attractions, so we finished up our tourists viewings early. However, then we just wandered the city. In fact, we sat for an hour in the park beside the Metropolitan Cathedral, just talking. Nicely dressed people wandered the neat paths. Nice looking Dacias and BMWs hurried past in the distance. New trams followed behind them. I kept having to remind myself where I was. At one point I was confused after all my traveling with Pam. I kept thinking, “When is our plane? Wait… I’m already in Romania.” It is such an amazing place. Later Pam and I went to a restaurant in the student quarter called Harold’s. The menu is clearly the biggest I’ve ever seen. It’s so unbelievable that I think I’ll scan it and upload it for you to see just how huge it is. The food was excellent. We sat outside in a terrace that reminded me of the fantastic Chinese gardens I saw when visiting Rachel.

Earlier in the day, Pam and I decided to get manicures done. She says they normally cost $35 in Canada. Ours were $7.40, which isn’t bad. Whilst Pam had hers, I walked one block away and sat in Piata Unirii. It is really big with two large cathedrals on either end, a Baroque palace at the side, and numerous townhouses. I kept thinking that if every single building were restored, this square could easily rival Staromeske in Prague. It is a cobblestoned square with a large square park in the centre, featuring a huge statue. Around this park sits a massive stone bench. It seemed like everyone was out for the day. Children played in the park. Old women sat on the bench and chatted. School children, just released from the school in the square, ran up and down it screaming. I just sat there, mesmerized. Once again, I marveled at this city. Was I truly in Romania?


Later Pam and I walked through yet another park and found a walkway filled with men hunched over boards. I guess that they were playing chess. They were, in fact; however, they were also playing backgammon, cards, and gin-rummy. There was also a good sized crowd of men around them, watching the progress of the games intently. As I approached them, I realized that I had seen the exact same setup in both Hungary and Sweden. Once again, I asked myself, “What country am I in?”

We saw some gypsies, but not many and they mostly just went about their business. Towards the end of the evening, as we walked near the train station, we did see some glue sniffers. However, I think we only saw 4 the entire day, which is really an all-time low for a Romanian city.

All in all, I absolutely adored Timisoara and I heartily encourage you all to go. I know when my godparents come to visit this summer, I will definitely encourage them to visit this amazing city. Perhaps we should go to Bucharest or Constanta first, so that a good comparison can be created.

Oh, and I forgot to tell you one more thing – the entire evening and then full day that I spent in Timisoara, I did not see one stray dog.

I rest my case.

RE: Deva and Hunedoara

My definition of “sleeping in” is waking at 11:00. In fact, I’m pleased if I can lie in bed and stare at the ceiling from 10 onwards. However, on this trip of frequent 6:30 awakenings, if not earlier, then 9:00 makes me really pleased. Thus, I woke this morning really refreshed and ready to hit the trails. Pam and I were planning on catching the 10:43 train to Deva.

Our train to Deva was absolutely packed. We’ve been buying 2nd class tickets for almost all of the trip. Despite the fact that our compartment was literally packed with people and bags (including one horrible woman who kicked me out of the window seat so she could put her purse there), we enjoyed the ride. We chatted for a while with a Hungarian-Romanian doctor who is a resident in Hungary, studying to become a physiotherapist.

Anyhow. We arrived in Deva. Just as we walked outside the station, the microbus to Hunedoara was pulling out. What luck! I flagged it down and we hoped on. Pam and I were both really amazed at how many people were packed on it. Though we both had gotten seats, we watched in amazement as more and more people were loaded. It got to the point where I didn’t know how the driver was able to steer, as he had two women standing over him! At one point, Pam saw a policewoman at a bus station and said, “I sure hope the cop doesn’t see this.” I laughingly pointed out that Romania doesn’t exactly have the same safety standards as Canada. I mean, there are not even seatbelts laws for the backseats yet! Well, we arrived in Hunedoara and found a taxi to take us to the castle.

All we knew about the castle was that it was owned by John Corvin and that there was a really nasty iron factory directly in front of it. As it turns out Hunedoara is a poor-man’s Hamilton, Ontario. It is one great big seat of factories. It is dingy and disgusting. The only upside, as pointed out by our tour guide, is now that the factories are closed, at least the air no longer has a thick red smog 24 hours a day.

And now about the castle. It is absolutely amazing. It is by far the best castle I have ever seen. It is so much more amazing than Bran.


Like Pam said, *this* castle should be known as Count Dracula’s! It is so dark and sinister, with tall towers, two moats, two shallow bridges, and more. It was such a fantastic place that I am going to highly recommend it to my godparents for when they come to visit. We paid 200 000 lei to get an English guided tour of the castle and we really enjoyed it.

Pam reminded me to put some legends in the blog, so here goes.

John Corvin. The castle was originally just a small fort, which was later given to a solider as a reward for good service. It was later enlarged by subsequent generations. That’s the official version. Here is the legend.

Transylvania, until 1918, belonged to Hungary. In Medieval Times, the Hungarian king came to Transylvania and fell madly in love with a woman named Elisabeth, who was a beautiful woman. The two lovers could not contain their passion for each other and soon made love. The king learned that his dearest love was nothing more than a middle class noblewoman, and that he could never lower himself to marry from her class. However, when she fell pregnant with his child, he knew that he needed to care for her and to save her honour. He arranged for her to marry a solider of high esteem who lived in the local area and gave the married couple the fortress as a gift. The King then approached Elisabeth and gave her a gold ring. An arrangement was made that when his child was old enough, he should come to Buda, Hungary, and present the King with the ring. In this way, the King would be able to recognize his son. The years passed and his son, John Corvin, grew into a skilled hunter. When the time had come, Elisabeth, her soldier husband, and her son John traveled to Buda for his presentation. As the boy laid in camp, a black raven swooped down and stole the king’s golden ring. John quickly grabbed a bow and arrow and stalked the bird. Felling it, the boy was able to recover his birthright. When the family arrived in Buda, the Hungarian king heard their story and declared that the family’s crest would henceforth be represented by a raven with a golden ring. John stayed in the king’s service for his adult life and gained favour.


The Romanians were constantly at war with the Ottoman Empire. At one point, three Turkish soldiers were captured by John Corvin. They were made a special promise – if they promised to dig a well for the castle, then they would be released. These three Turks dug for 15 years, until water was reached at 28 metres. Unfortunately, John Corvin had died by this point and his successor refused to honour the agreement. In deep bitterness, one of the Turks wrote, “You have water, but you have no heart,” on the stone walls. Does this legend sound familiar? Why, it’s the legend of Rasnov Castle as well! But, as our tour guide pointed out to us, Rasnov lacks proof, whereas Hunedoara Castle has Arabic graffiti etched into its walls. This writing, dated as being hundreds of years old, actually reads, “I, Hussein, have written this inscription while I was a slave of the Giaours, in the fortress next to the church.”


Here is the third legend. One of the kings who stayed at Hunedoara Castle, while an old man, had a wife who was very young and very beautiful. Elisabeth took a lover, whom she met in secret while her husband was absent. Unfortunately, the king returned to the castle early after a hunt and found the two lovers locked in an embrace. As a punishment, she was dragged into the castle courtyard and had a spike driven into her head. This was done as an example for all the local women in the area. Well, years later (if not hundreds of years later), some bones were found buried in the chapel. They even had bits of clothing attached. The rumour then spread that these belonged to Elisabeth and that she would never rest until reunited with her true love.

We both really enjoyed the castle and then hurried off to the bus station for our ride back to Deva. The Deva train station is honestly the most disgusting train station I have yet encountered in Romania. It was also a gypsy paradise. Not only were there beggars everywhere, but there were also pick-pockets everywhere. I had to warn Pam about watching her purse after I found myself pickpocketed before I even knew what had happened. Luckily I was keeping all my pockets empty except for tiny bills (hey, I’m street smart enough to know that). However, it was a nasty feeling to find someone’s hand firmly down the front of my jeans! It was only after the fellow had walked away that I thought, “Um, yeah, either someone has just copped a feel, or I’ve been pickpocketed.”

Now we are on the train. We are sharing a compartment with a student, but she has disappeared for the past hour, so we are relaxing, alone. Pam has just returned from the bathroom. We are in a 2nd class carriage on an Accelerat train, so I warned her that the bathroom would most likely be disgusting. (After all, we couldn’t even sit down until we wiped down the sheets in the compartment!) Ah, the adventures of traveling in Romania. Pam is now studying the guide book for Timisoara. She says our hotel, according to the map, is right in the middle of the old city. Excellent!

Later that evening…

It was steadily raining, but even still, I knew that I had to brave the weather for my night shot obsession. I inquired downstairs where the famous cathedral was, and the young receiptionist pointed me in the right direction without a trace of worry or concern. I took this to mean that it was normal for young women to venture out alone, at 10:30 p.m., in Timisoara. As it turns out, it is. I walked outside to find tourists, young couples, and football supports lining the streets. In fact, when I went in at midnight, the streets were still packed with your average Joe and Janes. So I took my night shots. Unlike Copenhagen, Timisoara is a city of lights. All the major attractions were lit up like a Christmas tree.




My impression of Timisoara was good. I headed back to the hotel eagerly anticipating the following morning when I could explore the city in depth. All throughout my wanderings, I noticed that Romanians everywhere were literally glued to the television sets in all the hotel lobbies and pubs. What game was this? I learned that it was Steau, a Romanian team, against Middleborough, a British team. I stopped in Piata Libertatii, where there was a large crowd of men, all cheering wildly, singing, hugging each other, and basically going crazy. Being street-smart, I gauged the “safety of the situation,” (to quote the Barenaked Ladies). There were cops everywhere, so I felt safe enough venturing to the outdoor McDonald’s take-out.

I asked the girl excitedly, “Everyone is so happy! Who won?”
She replied, “No one. Steau lost.”
I was confused, “But… if Steau lost, then why is everyone so happy right now?”
She laughed and answered, “Because these are Rapide fans.”
Rapide is the rival Romanian team. Their supporters were happily mocking Steau’s loss.
Laugh. Europeans take their football very seriously!

Sorry this picture is so bad - I had forgotten my camera and so took the picture using my cellphone!

Re: Pictures

Hiya,

I've been experimenting with this blog. Only this week I figured out how to add pictures. When you click on the pictures, you'll be taken to larger versions on my Flickr site. From there you can chose to download the original size all the way down to thumbnails. Just click on "All Sizes."

If you want to see all the best highlights of the trip, click on my link on the right that says, "See more of Amy's Photos." You'll be taken to my Flickr homepage which has all my pictures grouped into sets.

If you have any comments or questions about the trip, or want to leave a message for Pam and I, click on the COMMENTS link at the bottom of each message. An area will pop up where you can write us a message. Then click on the PUBLISH button. I'm trying to update the blog every few days, so we'll get your notes then.

Now Pam and I are off. We just came in to do some sudden research. We were going to go up north to see the painted monastaries, but there isn't a reliable train, we have lost our tour guide, and neither of us have our driver's licenses to hire a car. Inspiration! Let's go to Timisoara instead!

I'm very excited. I'm thrilled! I've never been to Timisoara before!

TTYL

RE: Sighisoara

I’m sitting on a tradition Romanian rug in a traditional Romanian townhouse, deep inside Sighisoara’s citadel. Pam is napping, the street is filled with the hum of people, and a large bumblebee has just left me in peace.

We began our day in Sinaia. Rising early, we dropped off our room key and collected our packed breakfast. While waiting for our taxi to arrive, Pam made friends with four stray dogs, who would have been more than willing to share her meal. A fifth came along later.


There was a point, during this vacation, in which I wondered where all Romania’s stray dogs had gone, since most of our travels had not seen any large packs. Now, I know that Romania is following a very strict sterilization program for its dogs. However, after having seen Sinaia, I came to the conclusion that they hadn’t died out – they had simply moved up north! At any rate, we left our new friends behind and hopped a train for Sighisoara, where we arrived later that morning.

Sighisoara is a Saxon town. During the medieval times, the king of the area asked a Saxon king whether he had any settlers who might like to settle this part of Romania. A small group was dispatched. At the time, there was no traditional Burgermiester leading the town and thus 14 craft guilds were given the job. Each guild built one of 14 different guard towers which were linked by a castle wall. These included the shoemakers, furriers, locksmiths, etc. Today only 7 of the original towers still stand, but this has not diminished the medieval look of the town. Staying here is like stepping back 600 years in time.


When Mom, Dad, and I stayed in Sighisoara two years ago, we stayed in a 3 person room at a pensione called Casa Legenda. We liked it so I tried to get Pam and me a room again this time, but with no success. We were told, however, that the owner’s grandmother’s house was now being used as a guest house and that we could have the entire building to ourselves for only 1.200.000 lei. Fantastic! We dropped off our luggage, because the house was not finished being cleaned, and went for a short tour of the citadel. Of course, we had to look at Count Dracula’s house. He was born there and stayed for only four short years. It’s now a restaurant with truly horrid food and service.


Moving on, we climbed through the museum of the old clock tower. Upon reaching the roof, we had spectacular views of the entire city. Next, we climbed a horrendous set of covered stairs – 175 steps with 29 platforms – to reach the church at the very top of the citadel.


In this area, you may find a mausoleum, a medieval Lutheran church, and a high school. Just as we exited the top of the stairs, the high school students emerged from classes in a great wave. Pam pointed out an obvious fact which I had missed – each of these students climb the “scholar’s stairs” several times every day. Gasp! No wonder Romanians are so thin! Look at all the exercise they get!

On interesting thing happened. I saw a traditional gypsy woman standing with her small son. I took a picture of Dracula’s house and this woman saw me. She came over and asked if I could take a picture of her and her son, which I did. Her family hurried over to look, and asked for a picture of them as well.



Anyhow.

Next we searched for an exit from the citadel. You know, for a fortified citadel, this place has many stairs which snake around it, all leading to multiply entry points. We found one and went for a walk throughout the town. The architecture here is fantastic! It all looks so medieval. Even the newer houses are exciting because they have Saxon architecture, which is totally different than anything I see down in my area.

At one point in our walk, we came up a large Romanian Orthodox church. Pam read in her guide book that the church had a white exterior but a very dark interior. We approached via a foot bridge over a stream, all the while listening to a female cantor singing through large speakers. The porch to the building was painted with fantastic murals of saints. We tentatively opened the door and walked in. The building is absolutely gorgeous and is definitely not dark. It is painted with amazing murals showing the lives of Jesus and people from the bible. The accents are all in gold. The room was absolutely breath-taking and I was amazed. I could have stayed in there for hours!

On our way out, we walked throughout the town, checking out the different buildings and mildly keeping our eyes open for some breakfast materials for tomorrow morning. We ended up going to the local farmer’s market and picking up some bananas, strawberries, pears, juice, etc for the morning. Then it was back up to check out our room.

I really like Grandmother’s House. I love the fact that we have our own house to stay in whilst visiting the citadel. I also like the fact that we are sleeping overnight here and thus have a great deal of time to simply relax and do nothing. I seem to remember that my parents and I arrived later in the day, because I don’t remember having so much free time. We certainly didn’t look into town or see the Orthodox Church when they came. In fact, I seem to remember taking the train straight up to Sighisoara and then breaking up the journey on the way back. Anyhow. I think Sighisoara is one of those places where you need more than an afternoon but less than two days.

As soon as Pam wakes up, we’ll be sure to have more adventures. I’ll write more then.

Well, Pam awoke and we went for a walk, going up and down every side street and alley in the citadel. We found that some of the houses were marked with placards, reading, “Craft Guild, Est. 1742,” and things like that. We soon found ourselves on yet another path out of the citadel and set out for something to eat. We found a traditional Romanian restaurant where we ordered ciorba de fasole and other yummy treats. A quick stop at the local internet café, and then we were off for the house. I left Pam there and went hunting for night shots. Not many places in the citadel were lit up, so I took a variety of different shots, including one of a lamp and one of a tree. You can see them by visiting my Flickr Night Shots set, or by clicking on the thumbnails below.




Tomorrow morning we are off to Hunedoara to see Corvin Castle. Then we will travel onwards to Timisoara. Am still very excited!

RE: Back to Sinaia

I once read in a travel journal that backpackers should never cross their paths, not only for the sake of time but also for the sake of money. This crossed my mind as Pam and I slowly (and I mean slowly) made our way from Cernavoda to Bucharest, and then on to Sinaia. Déjà vu would have set in were I not terribly frustrated with the speed of the train. Romania is currently working to upgrade its rail systems. My friend Alfred is currently working with the train line between Fetesti and Bucuresti. My friend Horst has a team which is just about to start work on Fetesti to Constanta. The result is that the number of trains has been cut in half and those trains now run 3:11 instead of the normal 1:50! I was so frustrated when it took us over a half hour to get from Cernavoda to Fetesti, when it normally takes only 10 minutes! I finally sent Horst a text message, saying, “Goodness. This bloody train is so slow!” He replied, “So you have more time to write SMS.” Smart Alec. Well, after several years, during which Pam and I both grew old and feeble, we arrived in Bucharest and boarded a beautiful and fast bullet train to Sinaia.

Why go to Sinaia again? Throughout our Romanian travels, I kept saying to Pam, “Oh, you can get that much cheaper in the mountains. Let’s wait until we shop in the mountains.” That’s when we realized that we hadn’t actually done any shopping in the mountains. So en route to Sighisoara we scheduled a shopping stop (Marilyn, isn’t this classic?) in Sinaia.

We had arranged to stay in Hotel Economat, which is located within the Peles and Pelesoir castle grounds. Our room is fantastic. We have a huge terrace right beside our room which over looks the castle’s carriage house.



Under the terrace runs a gurgling brook. We walked around the villa, checking out the antique door handles and fanciful chandeliers.


Then we were off for some serious shopping. Walking down to the centre of town, we hired a taxi driver for 300 000 lei to take us shopping for the afternoon. There are two large folk art malls located between Sinaia and Busteni and we were determined to hit them both. I did not spend much money because I’ve been in Romania for quite a while and thus have hit my quota of traditional handicrafts. I did pick up a large puzzle box for myself, simply because I’ve spent years buying them for my family and my family’s friends, but I’ve never actually gotten one for myself. After this, Pam and I arranged for the driver to take us to Busteni to go up the cable car (cabina). One look at the precarious wire led Pam to be thankful that the system was down for repairs. Thus, we retired back to Sinaia for a nice pizza supper outside of Old Nick’s Pub. Later we walked slowly through town, admiring the architecture.

Upon arriving at the hotel, we had a leisurely dessert of a traditional Romanian pancake with sweets – chocolate and ice cream for me and cottage cheese and jam for Pam. Then Pam settled down to relax in the room whilst I went searching for good night shots.

Here is where an eerie story begins.

Dusk was fading and the stars were beginning to emerge. I knew I wanted some shots of the Sinaia monastery, so I braved the stray dogs, rustlings leaves, and broken cobblestones and slowly made my way down the shopping path. Shut shops gave off eerie shadows. My imagination lept to life. All the while, I began to pray, “Please, God, don’t let me be murdered or bitten by a stray dog or eaten by a bear.”

Up ahead I saw it… a ringwraith. A dark silhouette of a creature slowly floated towards me. Its feet did not touch the ground. Its long hooded cloak, I was sure, masked the undead. It seemed to slither closer and closer, making no noise. The sound of my own terrified heart pounded throughout my entire being. No Hollywood movie could have prepared me for the abomination which was silently heading my way.

Within moments it was upon me, wishing me a pleasant event.

It was a monk. Sigh.

Here is a picture of some Orthodox priests, so you can get see what sort of costume was coming at me in the dark.

All this terror was for nothing – the monastery wasn’t even lit up, and now I had to traverse the lonely path yet again.

Upon reaching Peles Castle, I proceeded to take as many night shots as I could.






A stray dog challenged me, but I yelled and stomped after him, silencing him for the rest of the night. Knowing the rain would soon horten my evening, I decided to pack up and head for Pelesoir Castle. The gates were closed, but I did not heed this warning since my hotel room is within the estate. A guard approached me and indicated that the castle was closed and pictures could not be taken. I said, “Well, of course the castle is closed. It’s 9:00 p.m. The outside is not closed.” No pictures, he assured me. We argued back and forth. I told him I was staying in the villa directly beside the castle. Finally he relented and informed me I could take one photo. As he walked away, I quickly shut off the flash and took four pictures, silently hoping that at least one would turn out.





Then I thanked him and sulked back to my hotel room. All the while I was thinking that it was simply unfortunate that our hotel room faced the opposite courtyard. Had we been on the other side of the villa, I would have been able to simply open my window and take as many shots as I liked.

I firmly believe this goes back to the new castle ownership. When I first started coming to the castles, there was one or two guards for each castle. These guards were lapsadaisy, drinking beers and generally chatting with friends. However, since January 2006, these castles no longer belong to the state. Now they are the personal property of King Mihai of Romania, the absent landowner. Now there are guard booths everywhere, with very serious guards who carry very big guns. Tonight, well after 10 p.m., I even saw a solitary soldier practicing parade formation in front of Pelesoir. I’m not sure what is happening here, but someone is very interested in making sure these soldiers keep a tight eye on the estates. Whilst other attractions (e.g. Copenhagen’s fountain) are lit with pretty colours for the delight of tourists, Pam guesses that the lights of the Peles complex may have more to do with security than beauty. The way these soldiers were acting, I tend to agree.

RE: Lazy Day

For someone who doesn't know how to cook, I did an awful lot of cooking today.

Pam and I did laundry and watched movie after movie after movie. I stayed in my pajamas all day. What luxury! In between this all, I made hummus, lentil chili, and Morrocan stew. Pam made a good point that when I come back from dropping her off, I'll need to have something to eat. All in all, a very relaxing day.

RE: Budapest

I'm writing this update without any idea of whether or not it will be seen. Blogspot's forum is filled with complaints of poor service and official comments say that the problems should diminish soon. In the meantime, here is my account of Budapest.

Pam and I arrived in Budapest ready for an adventure. First we wanted to drop off our luggage. We were first sent off in the wrong direction. Then we followed signs that lead us to a deadend. The information assistant starred at me with a deadpan expression when I softly and politely told her that customer service might improve if the baggage sign indicated the correct building, and not simply towards an escalator. Anyhow. We got our luggage packed and hopped on a city bus. This place reminds me a lot of Romania. The same mud-brick houses with ceramic tiles. The same grotty buses. We were let off at a metro station which looked positively unhygenic. I kept wondering what ever happened to the Budapest that I knew and loved. Well, I had to remember that whenever I go to Budapest, I go by train. I am let off at the historic train station in Pest. Going by airplane allows us to see the grimer side of the city.

Well, we arrived in Pest's town centre and went looking for a handbag for me, since I had checked mine and was worried about being pickpocketed. 600 Euroes seemed a bit expensive, but an H&M was found (Goodness, I wish this clothing chain were in Canada! It's got Walmart prices but with *really* trendy clothes!) and a bag was purchased. We hopped on a metro and went up to Hero's Square.






After this we walked through the park behind the square and into a great looking castle. It is to Hogwarts what Bran Castle is to Cinderella's. Back to the metro, we left Pest for a visit to Buda.

We arrived in Buda and found ourselves looking directly across the Blue Danube at the Parliament building. This building is positively huge. A tour guide once told me this interesting story:

Prince Charles, on an official visit, once remarked that such a tiny country had such a huge parliament building. The president dryly remarked that the country was much larger before 2/3rds of its lands were stripped away after the war.





We walked along Buda's ridge until we came to a huge traffic circle sitting directly below Buda's castle.

I often confuse Budapest with Prague because they both have a plain separated by a river, with many beautiful bridges. They both have stunning castles sitting on high ridges. Neither of these castles actually look like castles because they are both filled with office complexes and churches. So we stood below and gazed up at some pretty amazing buildings. Pam did point out, however, that castle walls were hidden behind the trees.

Being too lazy to walk (Both Rachel and Tracy made me do this before!), Pam and I decided to take the cable car up to the top. It cost $3 for a return trip. The cable car is the second oldest in the world, being 126 years old. It was a quaint experience which left us plenty of time and opportunity to take fantastic pictures of Pest, which laid across the river and below us.





We walked the streets of Buda, shopping at small markets and taking pictures as we went. There was a concert being set up in the St. Mattias church yard and the Fisherman's Bastion was packed with people. Having had enough, it was time to search for my favourite restaurant.

I now know that it is called Fatal. We wandered the streets, with me looking down every side alley, until finally we found it. When we ordered, we learned that we could not have my favourite meal, Potatoe Casserole, because they had run out of ingredients. Later, they informed Pam that they had also run out of Tuborg beer. Laugh. It reminded me *a lot* of Romania. In communist countries, the menu often has little or nothing to do with what they serve. Often in Romania, you'll have to chose three or four dishes before finding out that is actually available.

Well, we were off to the airport next. Our flight left at 23:20 and we didn't get back to my flat until 3:00 a.m. Once again Pam was up at 9:00 a.m. This time I absolutely put my foot down. Laugh. I stayed in bed until 11:00!

RE: Day Four: Picking Up Loose Ends

We had already accomplished so much that today was just a general filler day. We started off by running a book over to Anne and Steffen’s. FYI, Anne and Steffen are fantastic readers with a library which makes me wants to weep. Every time I go to visit, I jump all over their book case, looking for a gem. I think this is why I love visiting them so much. I truly relax my mind and body. We all just sit there… reading or chatting. Sometimes I’ll have a nap while they read the paper. Anyhow. This time there was the added pressure of trying to read a book before leaving. I chose the latest Jasper Fforde book. Anne had introduced this author to me last year and so I was super excited to get a hold of another one of his books. Unfortunately, I only ever made it to page 44 out of 368. Admitting defeat, I dropped off the book this morning and said my goodbyes.

Anne and I hurried off to the Carlsberg museum. You may think it odd that someone who doesn’t drink beer should visit the Carlsberg museum so often. Okay, I admit it – I’m fascinated with their Clydesdale horses. So we showed up and found that whereas it was once free, it now cost $8 to enter. This, it turned out, was for a very good reason. The company had just undergone an expansion which saw a much deeper emphasis put on the original beer receipts of J. C. Jacobsen, the founder of the Carlsberg Company. Carlsberg-Tuborg had opened up several micro-breweries and was trying to reorganize as a “Jacobsen” company. The new-and-improved museum was amazing. Truly a treat. We walked upstairs and saw the world’s largest collection of beer bottles – well over 10 000 in all!



The museum was essentially the same as I saw every year, except this time there were multimedia screens in every room, showing clips of beer making at the turn of the 20th century versus now. Also, in the stables (my favourite part) there were videos showing how the Carlsberg farrier makes his own horse-shoes by hand and how he shoes the horses. It was really interesting. He was doing truly horrible things to this demonstration horse… he was smearing its foot with wax, putting cotton on it, then putting a thick cardboard like substance, and then finally nailing the shoes on with huge nails. All the while, the horse was contently looking around, as if nothing were happening. Lastly, we saw a video on how they hook up the horses to the wagons for special events.



Finally, we went to the new and improved bar, which is on the second floor. A massive cutaway in the floor allows you to look down and see the production line in action (though it was closed today). I can’t wait to go back some time during the week so I can see the machines in motion. All in all, it was well worth the $8!

After this we caught a bus to the far north end of the harbour to view The Little Mermaid. It has always, in my humble opinion, being terribly underwhelming. The best part was when a teenage tourist wearing a Viking helmet climbed up on her rock and starred adoringly into her eyes. Pam got a picture of that, and I admit I’d love to have a copy.

Next we walked to King’s Square, where Pam bought an amber charm. What next… we walked through Stroget again. Because the weather was so beautiful, all the street musicians were out in full force. They were excellent.



Still deciding what to do to fill our day, we decided to head over to the Tycho Bracho Planetarium to see what movie was playing. It turned out to be a 3D IMAX movie about Bugs, which didn’t excite Pam. We walked around the planetarium together, but went our separate ways as I did want to see the movie. It was pretty good. At the end they had a short clip of a rollercoaster going through an alien landscape. It was pretty amazing, though it made me feel a bit sick.

Well, I walked back home and started my packing. End of Copenhagen trip. Tomorrow we are going to see Budapest! Dad tells me that Budapest is currently underwater. I jokingly told him we’d only visit Buda, and not Pest. You see, Budapest is actually two separate cities. Buda is on a huge hill filled with honeycombed caves and chambers (The Nazis used these as ammunition storage areas. Now they are creepy walks for tourists.) Pest, on the other hand, is found on a flat plain. So yeah, I told Dad we’d stick to Buda and leave Pest alone. I’m not sure whether I can keep to this tongue-in-cheek promise, though, since my absolute favourite Hungarian restaurant is located on the walking street in Pest. Whenever I go there, I always get the same dish. I don’t know what it’s called, but basically it’s a layer of potatoes, a layer of cream, and a layer of kielbasa, repeated. It’s dangerously fattening, but since I only have it every few years, I think I can treat myself tomorrow.

RE: Day Three: Roskilde

Day three we got up early and headed off to Roskilde to see the cathedral and the Viking museum. Pam is a mini-expert on European royal families and so she really seemed to enjoy visiting the cathedral. All the monarchs of Denmark going back to the 16th century are buried here, so it is possible to race their lineage. Pam walked around saying, “Ah, this is the tomb of Frederik IV, and his son Christian VI, and over there is his grandson, Frederik V…” I love the cathedral unfailingly because there is one room in which the walls have all been painted with faux architectural elements. As you look at the flat walls, your eyes are constantly playing tricks on you, trying to tell you that it is covered with a massive white frame which is supported by columns and adorned by statues. The fact is, it’s all just a mural. It’s amazing.



After the cathedral, we were off to the Viking museum. It is really interesting. In the 1000s AD, Roskilde was the most important city in Scandinavia. Sitting in the southern end of a large fjord, its protection laid 3 km north at the mouth of the fjord. Being very shallow, there were only three shipping lanes which successfully lead inwards. The first was blocked with the sinking of five different types of Viking ships. The second was also blocked, but no remains are visible. The third challenge twisted and turned, and only local sailors would know its routes. Boaters throughout the area knew of the blockade for hundreds of years afterwards, but never knew exactly what was there. Rumours said it was a sunken ship. In the 1950s, archeologists went searching for one ship and found five. How exciting! They build a dry dam and pulled all the pieces out. They them spent several years putting each piece into this special solution which replaces the water in the wood. Finally, it took 25 years to put all the pieces back into place.



Once ready, the archeologists studied ancient tools that they had found at digs. Then they looked at wood samples throughout Scandinavia. Finally, they analysed the scratch marks on the boats. In this way, they not only figured out where the boats were made (2 in Denmark, 2 in Norway, and 1 in Dublin), but they also figured out which tool had made each boat. Once this knowledge was found, they recreated the tools and started to build their own Viking boats, using only the medieval tools. It was really cool to see the boats all sitting in the harbour. In the summer season, it is possible to go sailing, which I did a few years ago.

Coming back to Copenhagen, it was rainy and I was feeling very ill. We climbed the Round Tower for a great view of Copenhagen and visited the crown jewels at Rosenborg Castle. I really liked Rosenborg Castle much better because it was decorated with all original furniture and wall coverings. It was elaborate beyond belief.



Also, I loved seeing the crown jewels. When I went to see them in London, I had to stand in line forever and then stand on a moving sidewalk which quickly took me past each stand. No so in Denmark. We went into a tiny room, only guarded by a night fellow in a high chair. He told me to take as many pictures as I liked, as long as I didn’t touch the glass. We could walk about, gaze, and admire for as long as we liked.

Afterwards, Pam wanted to go back down the walking street to buy anything else she might see, and I wanted to go shopping at the American store. (I ended up only buying 2 boxes of Kraft Dinner.) By this time, I was seriously ill. I had a stomach ache so bad that I was literally doubled over. I simply sat, in the rain, in a square, starring straight ahead. I had popped into a Matas pharmacy, so I was hopping to feel better soon. Pam wanted to check out the Carlsberg beer museum, so we grabbed a bus to Vesterport. It was closed, but we did see the outside of the Frederiksborg Castle and we toured the inside of a cistern. I loved that part. Dad and I went through a cistern while in Istanbul. This certainly wasn’t as grand or as large. However, it was filled with statues taken from Fredensborg Castle, and with stain glass art pieces, and it was very exciting. Well, Anne phoned about dinner, so we hurried off. That night we had Thai with them and then sat around their flat talking about the upcoming baby. It was a great night.

RE: Day Two: Hillerod

On the second day, we hopped a train to Hillerod, which is a town about 30 minutes outside of Copenhagen. Walking along its walking street, we discovered a gorgeous castle sitting in the midst of a large Baroque and Victorian garden. The outside of the castle is so majestic that it always takes my breath away.

The inside was interesting in that it was an art museum showing the history of Denmark. Pam and I wandered, sharing an audio guide. This proved to be challenging because we had to make sure we always walked at the same speed, or decided to look at the same painting. Otherwise, one of us was always in danger of being decapitated. After seeing the castle, we walked in the gardens. This castle has Europe’s only authentic Baroque garden. When you view it up close, it looks simply like a collection of hedges. Viewed from above, you can clearly see four monograms of famous kings in Denmark. It was very cool.


We hopped a train and hurried back to Copenhagen. Pam wanted to climb a steeple for a good view of Copenhagen, but unfortunately everything was closed. We promised ourselves that we would come back again later. That night the skies were clear and the evening fine. We decided to visit Tivoli, which is the world’s second oldest theme park. It is quite small, fitting only in one city block. However, it is always exciting because there is always one new ride or event every year. Also, when looking above the rides, you see fantastic 400 year old buildings rising with great steeples. Can Canada’s Wonderland boast of such views? My favourite part of Tivoli was when they turned on the lights. This amusement part is actually best at night because it has been decorated with thousands of specialty light bulbs which turn the park into a faerie land. It was amazing.


Later that night, after Pam and I had eaten and the shops were all closed, I journeyed out to take more night shots. I was really surprised at just how few places in Copenhagen are lit up. I can safely say that in Bucharest, *all* the famous buildings are lit up. Perhaps they don’t do it in Copenhagen because they have too many famous buildings. As I was walking, I kept saying, “Well, surely the Marble Church…. No… Of course the Queen’s Palace…no… The fountain? Yes. Good… What else?” Anyhow, you can view all my night shots using my Flickr account.