Autumn Cottage Diarist: The Start of a Great Adventure!

Dear readers - I have returned from just a brief week in Romania, but a huge leap in my interest and appreciation of a country and its inhabitants - an interest which has only just been kindled, but will call me back again and again to dig deeper and discover more. How do I even begin to convey the flavour of the adventure? How can I express the joy of circle-dancing the night away at the gloriously happy wedding of my son and Romanian daughter in law - the central reason for my visit?

But also… how can I capture the colours and mystery of the ancient, frescoed Orthodox churches which I eagerly sought out? The glitter of the icons… the sea of faith with which I was surrounded in those places? How can I share the warmth of the people, their generosity, their welcome, their grasp of the English language (even just a few words in some more remote areas…but even that is a few words more than I shamefacedly admit is my grasp of their language!)

The medieval town of Brasov

How can I tell of the magnificence and mystery of the mountains and the forests of Transylvania - where fairytale leapt alive for me at night as I listened to the low, gutteral growls of European brown bears, rumbling from the deep, dark forest just a hundred or so yards away from the balcony on which I stood? How can I possibly tell you what it felt like to crawl up the narrow, claustrophobic, 45 degree stairway, to the tower in Bran Castle, ('Dracula's Castle' - once part of the kingdom of Vlad the Impaler) - to be rewarded with spectacular views across the valley?

The truth is - I cannot. They are places and events that have to be experienced in the flesh - my words and images are pale imitations of the reality. But for now - they are all that I have…so let me share with you, in the next few posts, just a glimpse into my beautiful, mysterious, sometimes heartbreaking, but every day astonishing visit - just the first of what I hope will be many more.

To begin at the very beginning...In all honesty, it was a struggle to even get there. I have had a severe flying phobia for many years now, after some very unpleasant previous experiences. I had contemplated travelling - as I did to Venice - by train, but it would have taken me at least three days - and I knew that I just did not have the stamina to do that - knowing that, when I arrived, there would be several days of city and country adventures even before the wedding.

So, putting, just for once, environmental considerations aside (I am not unaware) - I gritted my teeth and told Alec 'book the tickets NOW - before I change my mind!!!'

I won't go into detail of how much sleep I lost and how many times my stomach turned over in the two weeks beforehand - suffice it to say that I DID get on the plane, smiled in bliss when the pilot announced that - due to a following wind, the flight would be a whole HOUR shorter than expected - sat back, plugged in my iPlayer and (apart from consuming a delicious meal and lots of pampering by the BA attendants) allowed Melvyn Bragg and his guests to talk me through three 'In Our Time' Podcasts. Time literally and metaphorically flew - and we touched down in Bucharest to be greeted by a temperature of 31C. Just as well I had packed cotton shirts as well as woolly polo jumpers (I needed both by the end of the week )

Phew - that's better!!

Our taxi transfer got us to the heart of Bucharest, dropping us just a few hundred yards from our hotel in Lipscani - the 'Old Town' district of the city - one of the few areas of the city where President Ceaucescu did not let loose his bulldozers in the 1970's & 80's. The location of our little boutique hotel (the 'Rembrandt') was pedestrianised with cobbles - so even those few hundred yards were hard work at the end of a long day.

Our little 'boutique' hotel Rembrandt, in the buzzing heart of the Old Town

But I was rewarded with my first glimpse of what was to fill my passion for the next week - one of the glorious Orthodox Churches with which Bucharest is still peppered. 'Ooh, my feet are aching' was actually an excuse to stop and take first photographs. Here are just a few images - a few 'first impressions' - there will be many more to follow!

The 'Monastery around the corner' - within a short walk of our hotel. Still inhabited by a small number of nuns.