We are a blessed family, we know that. We have an amazing little girl, we have loving families and we have the financial comfort to enjoy what life gifts us. After two amazing vacations in 2014 (Disney and Colorado/Yellowstone) we had little hope we'll be able to visit Romania for the holidays. God has His own plans though and made it possible for us. Somehow we put together enough free days and enough money to ship ourselves across the ocean to our homeland. Romania, here we come!
We always celebrate Christmas eve with bunica Milica and bunicul Gelu when we visit Romania. The house is always beautifully decorated, the tree is sparkling and ... Santa knows their address! Jet lag is horrible for mommy, but daddy and Catalina enjoy pre-holiday preparations.
Catalina always makes an imaginary team with bunica Milica and they always have some sort of "conflict" with bunicul Gelu. This translates into pinching bunicul, into scaring him and finally into a lot of laughter.
Somehow, Christmas knows when it's time to come. Always when the food is ready, when the house in clean and everybody has the hearts open. We start the eve evening by taking pictures, screaming at each other to smile more, to move left or right :). The pictures never look as good as we think they will :). But the memories remain!
And yes, Santa knows where Catalina leaves every year! The upstairs neighbor made sure that Santa comes on time and at the right place. Catalina loves Santa. She waited for him impatiently, she opened the door for him and climbed into his arms ready for presents :)
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| Mommy's hugs were needed for reassurement |
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| Finally daddy left his camera to join us in a picture! |
After Santa left it was time for opening ALL the presents. Small and big, there was something for everybody!
Christmas eve is a wonderful event in bunica and bunicul's house. The tree is light up, the food and wine are good and plentiful.
First Christmas day we packed up and went to my grandma's house. It is always with mixed feelings that I take this trip. I can't wait to see her, but I am always worried at her health, at how torn I will leave her house. The trip was especially hard this year as my grandma had just lost her second adult son and I knew she's torn and her suffering is very raw. And for people who suffer, holidays are extra hard.
Once again, seeing her house, the garden, the trees that I once climbed, all this is cathartic for me. It burns all the bad that happened and leaves space only for hope and peace. I do wish will all my heart that everybody has a place, a person, a little thing that has the same effect on them. Something to transport you back to a time when everything was good and happy, when you were good and had no questions or regrets.
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| Two walnut trees on my grandma's property. Growing up, these trees felt to me scary humongous |
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| This is the ladder that chickens were climbing to lay eggs. I remember being scared climbing it to check for their nests. Up there, in the summer my grandma would lay hay to dry for winter. The chickens loved to lay eggs there :) |
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| My grandma and her amazing daughters. Absent from the picture, but not from our hearts or memories is my beautiful aunt Tatiana. I am sure she always watches us from above and gives us warm hugs. |
My grandma was heartbroken, as I knew she will be. She was mostly crying and always in deep thought. She managed some smiles, we knew they were for us.
But, no matter how much sorrow is in her heart, her house in always full of love. Unconditional, pure and generous.
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| I am so so happy that Catalina knows ALL these amazing women! |
Oblivious to the atmosphere loaded with so many contradictory feelings, Catalina had a wonderful time. She was very eager to help, to keep her strabunica (great-grandma) comfortable and happy. She helped my mom set the table. She brought food to strabunica. She was lovely, and if I possible, I loved her even more for that.
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| sweeping the porch, just like mommy (30 years ago...) |
It is Catalina's turn to enjoy my grandma. She is lucky, this girl of mine. She has an incredible bunica and an incredible strabunica. I can share these women that raised me, but not with too many. Catalina made the short list :)
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| food |
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| and more food and smiles |
There was a lot of fun going around. Promises of coming back. And then it was time to leave. We spent some days with daddy's parents, and then it was time to meet bunica Milica and bunicul Gelu again!
We packed for a nice trip for New Year celebrations!
We went to Brasov, a beautiful city surrounded by mountains, right in the heart of Romania. It started snowing just before we left, and when we got there it looked like a fairytale.
With two pairs of grandparents to babysit, mommy and daddy took some time for themselves and went on a hiking/dating adventure. Destination: Poiana Brasov, one of the most sought skiing destinations in Romania, a small resort with amazing views.
When night came, it was time for the big party! Revelion is celebrated in big style in Romania. We went to a nice restaurant, all dressed up and ready to party.
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| Happy New Year, precious baby! |
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| this is how Romanians party :) |
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| Catalina got very jealous that bunica Milica dances with other people... |
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| dancing with my husband |
The year ended well. We were happy. And we got ready for yet another party, the festive January 1st dinner. This was at a very posh romanian restaurant, we had amazing romanian folk dancers and good music. Catalina had many smiles on her face, this kid likes high life :)
Bunica Milica was invited to dance by one of the professional dancers. Bunica is a smooth dancer, everybody was delighted...
Except Catalina! She was terribly upset bunica is dancing once again with somebody else. My kid is not very generous when it comes to sharing her favorite babysitter. No way!
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| some one on one time to re-tighten the bond :) |
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| The sweetest kiss! |
The party ended and outside was snowing. My heart was so full, I thought it might explode.
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| May all the days this year be like the first! Good food, good music, good company! |
For the last day of our trip we planned a visit to Bran Castle or, as the non-romanians know it, "Dracula's castle". Bundled up we left ready for another adventure. The castle is up the hill, it looks beautiful from afar, it looks beautiful close up too!
The hill was steep though...We got tired only reaching the front door :)
Catalina started being cold. She started complaining she's tired. But the rest of us were excited!!
The inside of the castle was very "romanian". I loved it, I just wish it was summer as the castle was not heated...
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| beautiful inner court |
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| Vlad Tepes, wrongfully thought to be Dracula |
At the end of the castle visit we went to a restaurant to recharge our batteries. Catalina was very happy to be in a warm place, and to check out the presents bunica got her: a beautiful romanian peasant and a very cute beanie.
This ended a very beautiful but rather cold and tiring trip. I was happy. The next day it was time to return to bunica Milica's house along with Catalina. The morning we were still in Brasov so mommy and daddy went visiting the city some more. Brasov is a beautiful medieval fortress, inhabited by nice, welcoming people. Some of the highlights of our hikings
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| Black church, burnt in the big fire that affected Brasov. The walls are black from the smoke, restoration efforts are underway |
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| Beautiful park with a view of a pretty church. These churches abound around the city |
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| Walking towards the Brasov fortress. Steep hill (probably stairs in summer) |
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| Difficult hike for those wearing fancy shoes... |
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| Entrance to the fortress. Built in 1580...I feel young! |
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| This is was, is and always will be Romanian territory |
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Strada Sforii, or the narrowest street. It's more like a passage, it's not meant for cars, just pedestrians who lived on a different side of a cathedral. Te ease their walk for Sunday mass.
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This is how our Brasov adventure ended. We hoped on a bus, planning many adventures in Roman with bunica Milica and bunicu Gelu. Luck was not on our side. All the girls came down with a terrible flu. By the time we recovered it was time to pack and head back to our Philadelphia home. Sickness or no sickness, the memories stay and we'll revisit them often.
One more stop on our way back. Austria. Our flight back had a 18 hour layover and we stayed with some friends. We took advantage of it and visited some of Vienna's major attractions. We first stopped at Schonbrunn castle. We expected Catalina to be in a foul mood after an airplane and a long taxi ride, but she enjoyed it quite a bit.
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| panoram picture of the castle and the plazza |
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| Gorgeous embellishments inside the castle. Nice to visit, but for sure I would not like to call this my home. Poor kings and queens...no sarcasm here |
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| Catalina loved the courtyard where she ran freely, no cars to worry! |
Vienna is a nice city. European city in all its might, castles and beautiful architecture at every step.
I have to say I was not as impressed as I was by Paris, but there we had the honeymoon, so maybe other factors weighted in favor :)
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| In front of St. Stefan Cathedral. Catalina was hungry and tired at this time. The rest of the trip was against the clock :) |
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| St Stefan Cathedral |
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| Downtown Vienna. Winter decorations |
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| pretty happy and tired family :) |
We ended our trip to Europe at a nice austrian restaurant. Catalina ate a most horrible soup (but she was so hungry, she declared it the best soup ever!), but our dishes were delicious and plentiful. Such were our hearts as well.
Happy New Year to us all and may we all have great happy adventures ahead.
