8 June

8 June

On our bus tour of Romania, our guide told us all about Romania's history and especially about more recent events at the turn of THIS century.  Romania has 3 basic regions that combine for a total of 6 districts.  It now has a democratic government, but has been conquered by Austria-Hungarians, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire.  The modern period of history essentially goes from the 1800s when it became a European country until the end of WWII, when it ended up under Communist control .  Romania had a ruthless Communist dictator until 1989, and had a several years of civil war following his being overthrown and subsequent prompt trial and execution.  Romanians consider their country in its infancy of Democratic rule.

Budapest is often referred to as the "Little Paris of the East" and this can be seen in its architecture and small Arch d'Triumph.  Romania has great pride in its aviation history and our guide informed us that Romania had the world's first:  self propelled plane, jet engine, and modern rocket.  However our guide said that while under Communist rule things were terrible and little progress was made by population, which in could be easily divided into the haves and have nots.  The Communists confiscated property and whole scale corruption was the norm.

Our first tour stop was at a Romanian outdoor museum, which had on display old regional houses.  The homes were dismantled, moved and reconstructed at the museum.  There were three regional houses:  the lowland flats, the river region, and the highlands.  The lowland flat houses didn't have a lot of timber, so they were dug out into the ground and sort of looked like Hobbit houses, with steps down and thick thatched roofs.  The river region the houses are built on a foundation of river rock, as flooding was recognized as an eventuality.  The highlands were built of timber and of note had no chimneys, because chimneys were used as a means to tax the owners.  Instead the roofs were steep and the high areas were used for fire smoke with small vents discretely cut into the sides.  (see the pictures)  The families also displayed their wealth by ornate entry gates to their property.

As an example of how life was in modern Romania, the Communist Dictator Ceausescu ordered the construction of the Grand Palace.  We toured this building.  It was started in 1983 and was completed by the free Romanian people in 1994.  The building is the world's second largest building (behind the Pentagon) and used tons and tons of marble, to the point it exhausted the pink and black marble supply in the country.  Ceausescu did not see it's completion due to the collapse of his government and the people wanted it to become the house of their new government, so the people finished the building.  Ceausescu destroyed over 40,000 homes (half of which belonged to Bucharest's Jewish population) and 21 churches (he hated religion of any kind and it was publicly outlawed).  Over 20,000 Romanians had to work on the Palace as did 700 architects.

Romania is part of the European Union, but not part of the European Economic Community.  This means they still maintain their own currency, however in major stores the Euro, Dollar, and Credit Cards are accepted.  However in the smaller shops, only Lei or Rons are taken.  There was a lady at the outdoor museum who was selling homemade treats and we were told that she only accepted Lei or Rons.  The Romanian currency has two names, but the value is the same.  The L10 note has a picture of one of the typical houses.  The bill feels like it has a lot of plastic in it.

We stopped at the Patriarchal Church, which was built in the 1500s and its benefactor translated the Bible into Romanian.  90% of the population of Romania is Orthodox Christian.  The church has no pews, as people are to stand in respect towards God, as well as no visible altar.  This separation is deliberate, as God is separated in heaven from the people.  The priests do confession in a very bizarre manner, as they don't have confessionals.  Instead the priest sits in a high backed wooden chair, wears a wide stole, and the person confessing kneels before the priest and has the stole put over their head.  You can imagine all sorts of comments that came from the westerners who didn't know what the guy on his knees was doing underneath the priest's stole.  It does look bizarre.

Our final stop for the day was lunch, where we were served a local soup, shredded raw cabbage salad, chicken goulash, and Romanian homemade ice cream.  (Homemade Romanian ice cream is a lot better than anything Roger ate in Turkey.)  During the meal there were traditional folk dancers and musicians.

It was about 1.5 hours from Bucharest to Guirgui, which is a port that is about half a century behind in time compared to other modern European ports.  We have a Cocktail hour, Embarkation and Safety briefing, Welcome Dinner, Cast Off as we head to Russe Bulgaria (which will only take an hour to get to).     We'll be on ship internet which will probalby precude pictures.