We have some new missionaries, and our daughter Christi and her husband Jeff came. We had a wonderful time showing them our beautiful Timisoara and traveled to a few other towns in Romania. The time with them was great and it was so good for Ginny and me to step back a bit and enjoy our family. This was our first time in 6 months taking a trip to relax and sight see. It was good to take a little break, and we came back refreshed and excited to continue the work we were sent here to do. This is really a beautiful country, and we are so fortunate to be here.
Here are some photos and brief comments.
These are two of the students at our weekly english classes. They have been attending for a long time and speak english very well. They took us shopping after class and showed us this great place to shop, if there really is such a place. Those who know me know shopping has never been high on my priority list, in fact it doesn't even appear on my priority list. So shopping is something I have had to adjust to. As you can see my job as designated mule has not changed. They are really great people and are examples of how gracious Romanian people can be. We really enjoy them.
Another view of this place. It is huge and they have everything imaginable. Most of what Ginny bought was wearable and most of what I bought was eatable. Hers has already outlasted mine.
OUR ROAD TRIP AND SIGHT SEEING TOUR OF ROMANIA WITH CHRISTI AND JEFF
One of the most wonderful experiences we have had here in Romania was the visit of our daughter Christi and her husband Jeff. We enjoyed our time together and just had lots of fun.
Our tour of the country with Jeff and Christi began with a trip to Oradea where we attended a Saturday night cultural event and District Conference on Sunday. District conference is equivalent to our Stake Conferences at home, the difference is our Stake Center is 7 minutes from our house. We travel three hours by car or 4 hours by train, one way, to go to District Conference here. We usually stay over night in Oradea when we have meetings there. So far we have traveled there four times. Below are some photos of the Cultural event that the District put on the night before our conference. The members and many missionaries performed song, dance and stories representing their varied backgrounds. Way cool.
Our Australian missionary and his companion doing a traditional Australian song. Australian english is so fun to listen to.
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The grand finale showing our performers and to the far right is the person responsible for the activity. She is the most vivacious, organized, optimistic and all around wonderful Hungarian you will ever meet. She served a mission in the U.S. at Temple Square. She speaks three languages fluently and who knows how many others. She is a true inspiration of how one can fill a life with accomplishment and happiness.
Our little group of missionaries leaving the cultural event. They travel by train to and from the events and they walk almost everywhere they go in the cities. Quite remarkable young people to say the least.
Christi, Jeff and Ginny in our beautiful city of Timisoara. We spent a day and a half here before we took our country tour.
We left Timisoara and the following photos are of some of the sights we saw as we traveled around this beautiful country. Our travels took us to Oradea, Sighisoara, Brasov and back home again. There were many small towns in between, but these were the major cities and our tourist destinations. There are no freeways that cross the country so the roads are all two way roads and they go through every little village along the way. Frustrating if you are in a hurry but we loved it. We saw so much of the country lifestyle here as compared to the larger city we live in.
A common scene as you travel through the countryside. We snapped this picture while enjoying lunch in a sidewalk cafe along our way.
Fall is near and the hay stacks are tall and full. Again a typical scene in the country.
This is a picture I just had to have. It is a picture of a house with its roof completely covered with moss. Do you think there is any humidity in this place? This is fascinating to a boy born and raised in Arizona where Moss is usually someones last name not something growing on a roof top.
Up close picture of the moss roof described above. So cool. Did I mention I love this country
Lunch in a small village. We really enjoyed our time together.
Here we are in Sighisoara a midevil town on top of a hill. The city has grown up all around it in the valley below, but the old city still stands and is a wonderful tourist attraction, which is perfect for us because we are ace tourists.
The watch tower at the entrance of Sighisoara.
Colorful street in the old town.
Our hotel in Sigisoara. I found out it is a recently renovated building. Interestingly enough a joint venture between a Romanian and some Americans. Very popular. It was very nice.
We took a tram to the top of a mountain and took this picture of Brasov. It is a beautiful town in the central part of the country.
Below are two pictures of the four of us. We had to take the photo this way because we couldn't find anyone available to do it for us. I call this type of a photo a youie its the same as a selfie but different. I'll take a picture of youie and youie do the same.
