Sibiu Sightseeing

 We walked for about 5 miles to the zoo and enjoyed hearing the lion roar. The weather was so delightful that we just walked all day. On the previous day we stopped by a langosh place. Their credit card machine was down so they told us to come back the next day and pay. What a wonderful city!

I should have taken a picture of the finished product, but it is similar to Navajo flatbread.

The downtown plaza was being set up for a weekend event so there were musicians and sound technicians warming up. 

The little eyes on the roof is part of the architecture of this county and through Transylvania.

We thought about eating some Kürtős but ended up buying ice cream.

Beautiful Sibiu!

Trip to Sibiu

We escaped the heat of Bucharest for the 70s weather of Sibiu. Missionaries from the central district were meeting in the city for a conference. I was shocked at how beautiful the buildings were.

The view from our hotel room was spectacular. Due to Sibiu's distance from Bucharest and any oil-producing, it seems unaffected by the war. Most of the early buildings are still standing.

This tall wall surrounds the downtown area and encloses some of the oldest buildings in the area.

I absolutely love the texture of the different objects embedded in mortar. 

On the reverse side was a staircase leading up to the second floor where they operated a museum.

We stopped by a pastrami restaurant and had the best Reuben sandwiches we had since Anaconda, Montana. They were a bit different, as we like rye bread, but we still ate every bite.

These missionaries are so fun to spend time with. 

We enjoyed a lunch together around the corner of the chapel. After suffering through some serious heat in Bucharest, it was nice to sit outside and relax in the cooler weather.

The joy they experience together is infectious.

Here we are together!

We saw this gentleman on the side of the street and he gave us a tour of his car.

This was the cutest car I have ever seen!

I enjoy taking pictures of the wood and brick structures around town.

Tina's Baptism

 On Monday we met at the Mihai Bravu building to celebrate Tina's baptism. She is such a delightful young woman from Nigeria. Here she is with Sister Bills from the branch. We actually served with Sister Bills daughter in Hong Kong!

My favorite part of the service was the special musical number with the missionaries. Here we have the culminating effort of 10 Primary choristers who knew their assignment. They sang Baptism from the Children's Songbook and they sounded like angels.

It is a pleasure to serve here with these wonderful missionaries.

Cuptor Season

 Yes, it's the oven season. We've been back and forth from the 90s to the 100s with scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. Sometimes when we head out to walk (8pm) it is quite comfortable.

Can you tell the difference between Summer and Spring?

Recently we had a brother bring a doll to church and wanted to get the sister missionaries to take a picture with her.

These sisters are so fun--always smiling and eager to please. I had the most wonderful plum the other day. When I was a little girl, we had 1 plum tree and they were better than anything I've ever had. It was a challenge to process them all into jam because the whole tree ripened on the same day.

Recently my parents celebrated their 68th anniversary. Hurray!

They celebrated while cousin Joanie visited with Tad and Liz. Nana reported they had a fabulous time together.

Greenhouses and Mini Farms

 We spent Friday travelling around Constanta County, checking on a project helping families become self-reliant. The NGO we work with has been helping them for many years. This is the second time we have visited.

Rather than building a chicken coop out of wood, the NGO helps them build something that will last a long time.

Because the coop is brand new, they don't have any bedding yet. But the chickens don't mind.

I remember this puppy! She was still chained up in the same area and was so happy to see me. Her whole body was wagging.

These piglets are helping this family become self-reliant!

Oltenita, Giurgiu, and Constanta

After the final lesson was completed, we drove to Giurgiu. It is situated amongst mud-flats and marshes on the left bank of the Danube facing the Bulgarian city of Ruse. The Giurgiu-Ruse Friendship Bridge crosses the river in the outskirts of the city, but its reconstruction is underway, so we had to stay inside Romania. There is a church meetinghouse in Ruse that would have been fun to visit.

This statue is so Ceausescu. At first you might think, "How delightful. A mother and her child." And then you remember what happened. So many children were sent to orphanages because they couldn't afford to keep them.

We didn't see any big riverboats, but there were plenty of smaller fishing vessels and a barge pulling something. There's Paul getting a good view.

His perspective shows how wide and calm the water is here. Giurgiu was first mentioned in 1395, during the reign of Mircea the Elder, and was conquered by the Ottomans in 1420 as a way to control the Danube traffic.

Oltenița was next on our travels in the south. The hospital there is small, but the maternity ward has recently been updated to include some great equipment. About 350 babies are born here each year.

This little girl was born a few days ago and is doing great. Most babies stay for 3 days in Romania, but usually away from their mothers, who are down the hall.

After checking on the equipment we donated, we met with the hospital administration and the mayor, who happened to be onsite. It was a good opportunity to hear about their challenges and discuss solutions. We continued east on our way to Constanta.

For two hours it was mostly fields of sunflowers and wheat. We even traveled through a town called Nana. It was hot and I had brought my swimsuit.

We walked on the promenade to see the Casino. This is newly renovated after years of disuse, robbery, etc. Originally a wooden structure used for the theater, it was torn down in 1900 to make way for a new building. After the foundations were finished the City Hall entrusted their modification to the architect Daniel Renard, who renounced the Romanian style in favor of something which was at its peak at the time: Art Nouveau.

It was windy and a bit rainy on the coast, but we still enjoyed our walk after travelling so much in the car.

Excursion boats along the waterfront make heavy use of Jack Sparrow.

There is our hotel, the Continental Forum. We just heard some extremely heavy storms are hitting our apartment in Bucharest right now.

But we are enjoying the Black Sea (along with many tourists).