Old Europe. Man, I mean like REALLY old Europe

I just got back to Bucharest from spending 4 days in Maramures, one of the areas on which the EDS tourism strengthening project is focusing. Maramures is in Northern Romania, at the Western end of the Romanian Carpathian mountains. Its about as rural and traditional as you can possibly get. According to one story I heard, interpersonal conflicts in some of the towns are still dealt with by giving your enemy the "evil eye", apparently a very effective attitude adjustor that can be responsible for any number of bad things ranging from a difficult case of hives, to certain doom for all of your generations - forever and ever and EVER. Of course, only a qualified witch can give the evil eye, and these days one can be hard to find as a lot of the kids have moved to the cities (no pool of trainable labor) and most experienced witches have retired to vacation homes on the Black Sea. Seriously though, it is quite rural. I saw more horse drawn wagons than cars, and tons of farm animals. Traditional clothing was very popular as well. About 90% of the women wore scarves on their heads. The ones that didn't were usually school girls who I suspect removed their scarves once out of sight of their Mothers. Kids!

On a more professional level, I was there to look around and get a feel for what tourists to Maramures come to see. One of the notable things are a series of wooden churches that are anywhere from 200 to 700 years old. I was invited to climb up into the steeple of one of these churches, the oldest one actually, and since I figured not many people are given this "opportunity", I decided to accept (so as to not appear ungrateful or disinterested in a regional landmark). Here is where I have to say that the average 700 year old church steeple tends to accumulate a lot of bat and animal shit - everywhere. It was an interesting experience though, with a nice view from the top. Click http://www.okcomputer.org/gallery/album151 for more pictures of the church and some other things from the trip, including traditional hemp (yes, hemp) weaving, the town of Baia Mare, and the hundred some odd cows we encountered on the road as we drove home. By the way, I also came within about 200 yards of the border to Ukraine - close enough that I recieved a message on my phone, presumably from a Ukrainian cell provider, that said "Welcome to the Ukraine". Then the border guards fired some greeting shots in the direction of our car. Okay, I'm kidding about that last part.

Translyvania, not just for vampires anymore!

I just returned today from a long weekend in Transylvania, specifically in an area known as Sibiu county. A town in Sibiu county, Rasinari, was host to the 2nd annual Cheese and Brandy festival on Sept 10-11. Our project director, project officer, myself, and a fellow consultant colleague were attending because our project, "Enterprise Development Strengthening" also known as EDS, was one of the organizing partners for the festival. The 200km drive from Bucharest to Rasinari took a little over 4 hours by car. The shocking part is that from what I am told, the roads along the route we took are some of the best in the country!

The entire time at the festival, we were given the royal treatment - which started with the mayor of Rasinari meeting us at our guest house dressed in traditional clothes and offering shots of brandy! The next day, after a morning and afternoon of sampling some very strong Romanian brandy and "palinka" (a very strong home distilled alcohol), we were treated to a 3 hour lunch with the mayor and the organizers of the festival. No need for dinner after that, although the mayor insisted on buying me a plate of mamaliga cu branzei (corn cake with cheese) when we returned to the festival. He also wouldn't let me pay for any beers! The day ended with watching traditional Translyvanian dances and a huge bonfire.

One of the more interesting people we met was a shepard who brought his flock of sheep to graze in the hills above the festival each day. The first morning we were there, we walked up into the hills to talk to him and take some pictures. After chatting for awhile, thanks to my ever improving language skills, I knew he had over 300 sheep, 6 dogs, and 2 sons (one of which is standing with him in the picture above). He had his most senior dog, Boitan ("Boy-tahn") demonstrate his sheep herding skills for us. When we left to go back to the festival, he brought all 300 sheep along and had them graze above the festival grounds while he took a break for a beer or two. Of course, his 6 dogs dutifully stood watch. The mayor later told me that he thought the sheep added a great touch of traditional rural life to the festival. I'd have to agree - as a matter of fact the effect was so authentic that on the second day the shepard actually sold one of his sheep to a local family who promptly slaughtered it and had a barbecue on the spot!

After a couple of days in Rasinari, we moved into the larger town of Sibiu, about 25 km away. Sibiu is a town right out of medieval times, with narrow winding streets and walkways, buildings that are hundreds of years old, and beautiful Saxon churches. The heritage of Sibiu is mostly German, however very few Germans remain, since most of them were displaced during Ceaceascu's reign. Sibiu is getting a lot of ever increasing attention because it has been designated to be the European cultural capital in 2007. Hence, the streets and squares are all being refurbished, and many of the older buildings with cultural significance are being renovated. It is truly going to be spectacular once it is done. The main square of Sibiu will easily be as grand and impressive as Stare Mesto square in Prague. More importantly, the revenue it will bring into this economically depressed area is going to be an incredible and much needed boost to development.

What happens in Amsterdam, stays in Amsterdam...

On my way back from the US, I decided to make a stop in Amsterdam to meet up with a couple of friends from Minnesota who were taking a 2 week trip around Europe with a larger group.

In addition to the phenomenal rock-star style partying one can do there (which I am happy to describe in person sometime, over a beer or two), Amsterdam is a very beautiful city and now ranks as one of the favorite places I have visited. The restaurants, shops, and pubs set along the idyllic canals make for a very relaxing setting to spend your afternoons doing very little at all. As far as sights-to-see go, the Van Gogh museum was excellent - an incredible monument to VVG's influence on the art of his time, despite his tragically short life that ended when he commited suicide at 37.

Another monument to someone who died young and tragically is the Anne Frank house. This museum really takes the visitor as far as possible into the experiences of the Frank family and friends as they hid for over two years from the Nazis in Amsterdam. The events she writes about in her diary take on a stunning reality as visitors stand in each room and read her words describing the things that happened there, and the interactions and emotions of the people in hiding. It is the ultimate victory of the human spirit that so many people visit this house each year, and an even greater number of people read the words of this young girl that the Nazis considered so unworthy of life or happiness, and killed with no conception of how she would come to symbolize and solidify the world's condemnation of their agenda.

You see, my friend, we are in Romania

I'll start by saying I'm sorry that its been almost a month since I wrote anything. To make a long story short, the first month or so in Bucharest has been busy with a lot of exciting things going on at the new job, and a bit of a challenge in a few areas.

First, after spending a week here, I decided to move from my company provided apartment. The list of reasons why is pretty long but at the heart of it was that it was a tiny two bedroom apartment that I was sharing with a colleague, and my bed was too small (I'm 6'4" - the bed, with bannisters on three sides, was 6'5"). After a week of going in circles attempting to move into an apartment I liked, the deal fell through at the last minute when the owner just dissappeared completely. I should have known something was strange about that guy by the way he explained every oddity of the proposed deal with "You see, my friend, we are not in America. We are in Romania." As a side note, this phrase is often used here when a less-than-honest person is about to cause you to part with some of your money, and you are questioning the reasons why.

I finally found a place in a charming area known as The Lipscani, or "historic district" (a nice way to say "the run-down part of town"). The Lipscani is an area of pre-Communist buildings, most built between the end of the 19th century, and the 1930s. The architecture is quite stunning - but the buildings are falling apart. Millions of euros are reportedly earmarked by the government and private investors to restore the area. For now, it is a less-than-gentrified home to a lot of interesting cafes, restaurants, art galleries, antique shops, and about 60,000 squatters. It also seems to be a popular location for shooting movies and television shows, as I've seen this happening twice now. It has the potential to be a serious high end district that could compete with any city in Europe. For now, I'd say it is somewhere at the point Soho was in 1970's New York.

Despite the "interesting" neighborhood, the apartment is pretty much okay for a short term rental. Its the size of a large studio, but has two distinct rooms, in addition to the kitchen and bathroom, as well as nice fixtures, and a small balcony with decent views. If you don't look too hard, you can almost gaze out over the rooftops and imagine being in Paris.... Maybe.

Shortly after the apartment issue was settled, a death in my family required me to fly home to the USA for a week. I just returned a few days ago, after making a stop in Amsterdam for some much needed R & R along the way. More on that later!