Maramures: Iza Village Walking Tour – Iza Valley – Gypsy Home Visit - Sighisoara, Tour Day 5, WTRD 14

Maramures: Iza Village Walking Tour – Iza Valley – Gypsy Home Visit - Sighisoara

Last night, we stayed in the home of our folklore host.  We had an upstairs bedroom with sear sucker, textured sheets.  This was a first.  The double room was very peaceful, until 5;00 am when we were awakened by the rooster and his hens outside our bedroom window.  Between the crows, diesel farm tractors rumbling down the road towards their fields, and the near by church bells that rang continuously from 7:20-:30, calling people to morning mass, this would be a village that no one could ever sleep late.

This morning we needed to be ready for breakfast by 8:00 so we didn't mind the natural village alarms...well maybe the rooster could have held off a bit.

After our breakfast of bread, butter, apricot and plum jams, ham, cheese, fried eggs, coffee and tea, we took a walk in the morning mist through  the village of Iza.  We visited a place where dowery trees are refined,

the local, traditional plum brandy is distilled,

and a typical whirlpool is still used by the local women to wash heavy woolen blankets and hung on sturdy beams to dry.

On our way into the village I took some photos of some flowers in a garden.

There was a lady in the shadows of the garden who smiled at me when I looked up.  When we returned from the village she was waiting on her front porch dressed up with white cap sitting on her porch waiting for our return.

Our guide George struck up a lively conversation with her, and translated for us.  She had a great sense of humor telling us she was 57 or was it the reverse, she had number reversal problem, but she retired when she was 65.  She told us her teeth were bad, but she didn't want false teeth because she was afraid shouldn't couldn't remember where she would put them if she took them out.  Apparently, this is a common problem in the village.

We chatted with her for about 10 minutes. Eventually she went into her tiny cottage and brought out some photos of her family. Moriana was delighted to have some visitors to talk with as she lives alone and most of the villagers all know each other's stories so well they are no fun to tell again.

Our next stop was in the village of Rozavlea to a famous master carver in his own workshop.

 He represented Romania at the 1999 Smithsonian World Folk Festival in Washington, DC., and claims to have invented the wooden chain link.

He was quite a humorous character as well.  One of our members, Helen,  mentioned that she thought she had seen the wood carving at the Festival in 1999.  Without missing a beat, he walked over to her, gave her a hug and wink and said he remembered the night very well.  We all laughed, Helen blushed, and signed the guest book with, "So nice to see you again."

The woodcarver showed us a cradle and traditional child's seat.  Where baby was placed to sit bare bottomed so that diapers were not needed.  Later as the baby grew, the seat was enhanced with new tools for the growing child, an ashtray and a brandy glass.

The woodcarver's son has followed in his father's footsteps and has quite a business doing large scale carvings of gates, doors, beams, and shrines.

Next stop was the exquisite Barsana Nunnery, a superb example of Maramures wooden church architecture. Beyond the new church there were many church related outbuildings and gardens.  It was a beautiful setting in the Maramures mountains.  Gardens and hanging geraniums on the buildings decorated the grounds.

Instead of visiting a mask maker in the village of Sacel because he was out of town, we visited a museum of Peasant Women.

There was a display of these masks made from textiles.  The masks are traditional from ancient times to scare away evil spirits.

In addition to the masks, there were home art tools (looms, ceramic pots, wooden spoons, traditional baked breads, textiles, and furniture). Peasant women were expected to take care of everything in the home while the peasant men worked in the fields.  Children learned at an early age that their duty was to work along side their parents.

The Maramures has been a pleasure not only because of how picturesque it is but because of the good natured people we have met here.  We learned from our guide as we were leaving the area, that we were only 400 kilometers at this point from Chernobyl.

We crossed the Carpathian Mountains back to Transylvania passing though an area inhabited mostly by the Hungarian Szeklers community, which actively maintains its peculiar culture and even script. 

Our favorite stop of the day was a Gypsy home visit.  We visited the family home of Carla (24) and her sister Margaret (14).

Their father is a policeman and owner of car mechanics shop.  They have been settled in the village for twenty years.  It was a unique an intriguing opportunity to learn about this less known yet controversial ethnic group, about its culture, identity and lifestyle. I plan to write about this in more detail tomorrow.  We learned so much!  Woe to the Gypsy Woman.

We arrived in Sighisoara - World Heritage Site and the only still inhabited medieval citadel in Europe, around 7:30. Our tourist bus is not allowed up the hill to the citadel, so we transferred the necessities to a hotel car and walked up the steep hill to the the citadel.  We are staying in the same hotel (The house of the Antler) that Prince Charles used in his early travels to Transylvania.  By the time we reached the hotel, caught up with some necessary hand laundry, went out to dinner, and returned it is well passed 11:00 pm.

Tomorrow we will take  a walking tour of this medieval town, the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler and symbolic model for the Count Dracula Fiction.

Our necks are covered as we try to sleep in "Dracula's Hometown",

All is Well....so far with the Worrall Travel R'sin Sighisoara, Translyvania.   

Cluj Napoca – Maramures: Culture and Folk Lore, Tour Day 3, WTRD 13, Aug 22, 2016

Cluj Napoca Tour – Maramures

The small hotel we stayed in last night was very comfortable. The breakfast room had only enough room for about 12 people. We were early enough 7:30, that we did not have to compete for seats, but it was a good thing we were leaving at 8:15 and vacated the breakfast room by 8:00 when another group was flowing in.

According to our guide George, Romania does not have an immigration, refugee problem. Romania is not a part of the Schengen agreement so they do not have to take refugees, but most of the refugees apparently are not interested in migrating to Romania because of its lower socioeconomic status. Romania has lost about 5,000,000 million people from the last census, migrating out of Romania. Unemployment is low because of the baby boomer retirements opening jobs to younger people.

A hold over from communist times, Romania has universal healthcare of sorts. It doesn't pay for surgeries. Dental care is not included. Not sure what else it doesn't cover, but it sounds very basic.

Our guide tells us a joke explaining Romanian culture: An Italian, a German, and a Romanian, died and were being interviewed by St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. He asked the Italian how he died. The Italian replied,"I was driving my Ferrari and driving 300 kilometers per hour when I hit a wall, and I died." "Ok, come in", St Peter said and opened the gate. St. Peter then asked the German how he died. The German replied, "I was driving my BMW and driving 200 kilometers per hour, hit a cow, and I died. "Ok, come in", St Peter said and opened the gate. He then asked the Romanian how he died, and the Romanian replied, "I was driving my BMW, and I starved to death." Apparently showing off and keeping up is a part of the Romanian mindset

We were on the road driving north toward the region of Maramures (northern Transylvania), close to the border of Romania and the Ukraine. Through long agricultural valleys of corn, hay, sunflowers and small villages we traveled until we began a more twisted ride uphill into the low mountains. The vegetation is both deciduous and evergreen, firs and pines.

As we drive further into the mountains, there is more mining and industrial buildings to refine the metals extracted from the lands. The landscape is covered with smog. You can smell the industry here.All of the metal components on the Eiffel Tower, came from Romania. The third highest cooling tower in Europe of 1000 feet is here in the mountains. The structure is concrete, resistant to earthquakes and the inside has special bricks to trap pollutants.

Due to the relative isolation of their land, the people of Maramures developed a particularly strong community with a unique personality, traditions, culture, fashion and lifestyle unspoiled for centuries.

Our first visit is to the early 1720's Church of Surdesti, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and until recently the tallest and oldest wooden structure in Europe. This is a good opportunity to learn about the Uniate Church (Greek Originally, this church was a Greek Catholic Church, not Greek Orthodox and there was a law that no stone and mortar tower could be taller than the state church, so the Greek Catholics subverted the tower law by building a tall tower made of wood.

During the communist era, the Greek Catholic church was given to the state church. Today, both the Greek Catholics and Greek Orthodox share the wooden church. The surrounding grave yard is old and ill kept and looked as if it is no longer used. However, as I worked my way out to the graveyard to get a better photo perspective of the church tower, there was a new grave of a man born in 1933. It was an interesting stop.

There is a local dowry tradition here in the mountains and the Iza Valley. Girls coming into marriageable age begin to collect things for their wedding. Ceramic pots were an important item to have. The young woman and her family would place pots in the tree. Prospective suitors would watch as the pots were place upwards toward the top of a tree in the garden. When the top pot was placed, it was a signal that the girls was ready to be married and would accept suitors.

A one point in our drive through the mountains, we came to a small hill, called a magnetic hill. The driver of our van, turned of the engine and took his foot off the brake. The van appeared to move upward as it was pulled by an invisible force "up the hill." Russ assures me it was an optical illusion, but it sure looked like we were going up hill. Hmmm. Will have to do a little research on this.

Our troup stopped for lunch, huge bowls of soup. Russ, ordered a cold cut plate, but I ordered the Hungarian Goulash and it was terrific.

After lunch we visited the Anti-Communist Memorial - a political prison in the Communist times. This is one of the main memorial sites of the continent, alongside Auschwitz Museum and the Peace Memorial in Normandy.

Locations of Political Prisons in Romania

Not only were Jews exterminated, but all who were against communism, human rights, who spoke out and dissented against the establishment. Up until 1989 when the communist government was overthrown, 2.3 MILLION Romanians were exterminated.  Despite that all of the exhibits were not in English, we've been to enough of these infamous prisons to know it was the last torturous stop for those who were incarcerated here. WHY as human beings are we so afraid of dissent and so vicious for absolute power and agreement?

We think this is all in the past. Well, it's not! Look at Turkey, today. Look at America and the people who think we should keep Muslims out of the country, who think that if you are not a Christian you should get out of the USA, if you do not believe in god, you are angry and the anti-christ; if you are gay, you are an abomination; if you are not white, you are inferior; if you are a woman, you are inferior. What is the matter with us as human beings that we are so willing to demonize and persecute, and even execute those not a part of our group of like thinkers? We are sickened by our gross generalities, and rationalized inhumanity towards one another.

We motor west along the Tisa River (very close to the Ukrainian border) and reach the village of Sapinta world famous for its "Merry Cemetery". Here each wooden cross carries a funny epitaph about the person's life. The community wanted to lighten the load of death and celebrate the passage into the next life. This cemetary is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

By the time we have visited the cemetery, we are tired and ready for a nap; however that is not the plan.

We stop briefly at the new tallest wooden church in Romania for photos,

gaze across the river at the Ukraine, and head toward our accommodations which will be home hosted this evening, first with dinner, then exclusively organized Maramurees folklore show, and accommodation.

During a magnificent, thunder, lightening, and rain storm we gather in a large protected gazebo where we drink homemade blueberry, wild cherry , and plum brandy, feast on dinner and dessert, sing, dance, and have a fun evening.

Yes, it tasted as good as it looks.

Now it's off to bed.

All is Well with the Worrall Travel Rs in Northern Romania

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Through the Carpathian Mountains, Day 2 of Tour, WTRD 12, Sunday Aug 21, 2016

Through the Carpathian Mountains

After peaking in on Sunday Mass in an Eastern Orthodox Catholic church

and walking through a fresh, yet-to-be-busy open market, filled with flowers, vegetables, fruits, cheese, and meats.

By 9:30 we were on the road with the travel plan of passing through the Capathian Mountains.

Remnants of medieval fortification culture is still seen in houses in this area. All are fenced in front with central courtyards and the open-air living areas in back.

As we enter Hunedoara, our guide points out that this town is comprised of about 35% wealthy gypsies who have made a boatload of money from nefarious enterprises (Roma mafia, drugs, prostitution, etc.). Gypsy mansions have replaced the horse-drawn wagons. The roofs are quite elaborate.

Our third visitation of the day is Hunedoara (not in the gypsy section) for a guided tour of Huniady Castle - one of the most well preserved medieval castles of Transylvania and home to the mighty Huniady royal family. This is supposedly is one of the less visited castles of Transylvania, but it looked like a lot of tourists new about this place with us. The Gothic architecture with arched ceilings is always impressive.

We spent quite a bit of time driving today and arrived in the late afternoon to Cluj Napoca, the former capital of Transylvania and an important university center. Cluj is the second largest city in Romania with 330,000 (same as all of Iceland) people.

 Cluj was an ancient Hungarian capital. In 1960, Napoca was added to Cluj, to commemorate its Roman History. One fifth of the population is of Hungarian descent and speak Hungarian. Again, we walked around town learning about the churches, the religions, and enjoyed the old buildings including the Feliner Helmer Opera House.

Opera House

Sunset Quintet Playing on Church Balcony

We ate our dinner with friends at an outdoor cafe. There was a sunset quitntet playing on the balcony of the Catholic church. It has been a full day, and we look forward to retiring at Hotel Siago.

All is Well with the Worrall Travel Rs in Cluj Napoca, Transylvania, Romania