Romania Road Ways I - TRAVEL - Two on the Loose. .

Rosia Montana Village - Gabriel Resources Ltx., gold mining , Between Cluj Napoca, and Hunedoara, West

2011-12-04T11:40:00.001-05:00

Transylvania's new life is waved before its very eyes. Is that so? Watch the persistent and persuasive Gabriel Resources Ltd; and its Romanian (20% is government-owned) subsidiary, Rosia Montana Gold Corp. Will they prevail in obtaining 16 years of profit, at the expense of the rural local population, its heritage. Who is getting whom to sign away what. Is this the world's gold-mining 1%? Will Romania's 99% benefit?

The Gabriel Project at the small village of Rosia, Montana, may become real.

Little, rural, historic Rosia Montana shows signs of becoming a renewed mecca for global gold-miners, at least for the 16 years anticipated production. With prices for gold rising, there may be momentum to destroy the 4-5 historic churches in the area, and President Traian Basescu seems to be on board. Remaining issues include negotiating with Gabriel's Romanian, subsidiary, Rosia Montana Gold Corp. and lowering the cyanide to be dumped into the tailings pond ancillary to the project, and revising the profit-sharing with the government.

How about renegotiating with the people, many or most have already signed away mineral rights. What information were they given? See similar issues here, at http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/chesapeake_energy_corporation/index.html?scp=1&sq=landowners%20regret%20leases%20oil%20shale&st=cse

Romania, rural residents, near Ieud, east of Rosia Montana

Fast contracts sounding great, but regretted with more information. This
sounds like the US fracking maneuvers. But in Romania, the government itself owns some 20% of Rosia Montana Gold Corp. What chance to individual farmers have.

Next step, if remaining approvals are given, a huge pit mine, destruction of ancient Roman mining galleries from the 2d-3rd Centuries, and exploitation of a "world-class reserve" for gold. Already, many of the 2000 residents have been bought out, reports the Toronto Globe and Mail, Monday, August 29, 2011, article "Gabriel's Romanian odyssey: A long-delayed gold project takes shape. Development plans for huge Rosia Montana mine are moving ahead. But not without new snags." Author: Eric Reguly, Rome by-line.

In 2007, the CEO of Gabriel called the government's then-blocking of the project "illegal.: What changed? The price of gold. What new or any protections are in place for the rural residents who, if you have been in that area, are hand-to-mouth.

Eric Reguly, your article addresses no human issues at all. Opponents' views are given: the Rosia Rebels, This is, say they in the article, "an environmental, heritage and social disaster."

But the reserves. Oh, the reserves. Everybody wants gold reserves if you are in the gold business. Go to Romania? If you believe in ethics, not under the current terms. For 16 years of profit, to destroy a heritage. We vote no. But we don't count. Gold rush. Been there.

Targoviste. Cabbage market at the crossroads - ciorba and recipes

2011-08-09T19:48:00.000-04:00

Targoviste

Leave time to stop, or just to get lost on the way to Targoviste. We were happily lost, fog was coming in over the flat fields. The fog then suddenly lifted and we were in the middle of a large cabbage line of trucks, extending all four ways at a crossroads on the way to Targoviste.

Much bartering, selling, moving about as it got dark. Trucks piled high.

The advantage of a car is the ability to pull over and see another side of a culture: the earning a living. We saw manual picking in the fields, very few automated machines. And there is where the produce comes: Drive carefully because around the bend, at the crossroads at dusk after the picking, may be a truck-lined cabbage market. Buying and selling, the trucks lined up in all directions.

Cabbage is a mainstay.

Try the ciorba, a sweet-sour cabbage soup. Go to http://www.mcgees.com/kitchen/recipes/soupsand/ss109801.

And stuffed cabbage. See http://www.bitsyskitchen.com/romanian1. This includes Vegeta, a seasoned salt with bits of dried vegetable. Vegeta is also part of Western Balkans (Bosnia, Croatia) cooking, and available in our markets in the international foods sections. I use it often, when a bouillon cube is called for or a seasoned salt. It does contain msg, however.

Romanian Food

2011-08-09T18:50:00.003-04:00

Time to Eat

But what? Not to worry.

1. Staples

Cornmeal. Food is excellent in Romania; hearty, with a great deal of cornmeal, as in mamaliga, a cornmeal mush (like polenta, formed and unformed) with or without other vegetables, cheeses. See http://www.food.com/recipe/mamaliga-cu-branza-cornmeal-mush-with-cheese-122683

See also cornmeal porridges (that that mamaglia, served like a mellow and rich polenta), soups -- especially ciorba, a sour soup. Recipe at http://www.natashascafe.com/html/ciorba.html
Hearty. It is not a spicy cuisine. See overview at http://www.romaniatourism.com/foodwine.

2. Root vegetables, regular barnyard meats.

Overall, think home cooking. Root vegetables and potatoes, cabbage dishes, chicken and lamb and beef stews, sausages, cutlets,

Breads are whiter than we expected, but there is plenty of it.

Romanian Music: Roma, Traditional

2011-08-09T17:33:00.001-04:00

Romanian Music

Bucharest:

Music -- gypsy fast-fast at the hotel

Dan Widing with Romani musicians, Bucharest, Romania

At this hotel, we joined with another traveler who was on her own. Good times. The Rom, Roma, Romani, or as too-casually known, Gypsies, have a long history, see http://www.eliznik.org.uk/RomaniaHistory/minority-gypsies.htm

The language and culture of Rom groups vary from country to country, but with common roots. See also Gypsies, Roma, Romani The persecution and killing of Roma during the holocaust has been buried beneath the more publicized persecution and killing of Jews and other groups.

Traditional trades, now diminished with the stopping of the caravans, and warehousing of populations in high-rises, include: musicians and dancers, tinners and coppersmiths, jewelers, blacksmiths, panners of gold, sieve-makers, horse-dealers. See the Eliznik site.

Local pubs also provide local music, as well as the sophisticated jazz. Enjoy the local pub and its music. Even watch a video of a wedding that day. See Romanian music.

I believe Bercuvlahu is the video producer, not the musician. Is that so?

Transylvania: Hear traditional, zither sounding instrumentalists at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLig4uePuv8&feature=related

Dance music: This sound was on the car radio - there had not been a supplanting by Western music yet. Good. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDDNC7LZz-c&feature=related.

Songs: Hear Maria Tanase 1913-1963, at, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79QVepeBrWA&feature=related. Maria Tanase, a mid-20th Century, highly talented singer, see http://www.hrmusic.com/artists/mtaart.html

Roma, or Gypsy, band, Bucharest, Romania

And the concertina - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOqUnzxLAHI. Keyboard, accordion, often Roma. We saw shocking poverty among the Roma, so this video of some Roma music is misleading, and highly idealized for the market, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5GjVD2r3-8&feature=related

Itinerary after the fact - Places unfolding. Improvised travel.

2011-08-09T02:06:00.000-04:00

Roughly:

Bucharest (includes some Vlad sites),

Snagov - Vlad burial tradition,

Brasov - castle Bran, but he was not there or, at least, just as an occasional guest,

Curtea de Arges,

Poinari - Vlad Castle ruin

Sighisoara - birthplace of Vlad

Sibiu

Bucovina - painted monasteries,

Voronet - painted monasteries,

Putna - painted monasteries, hermit cave,

Vatra Dornei,

Moisei - see Jewish memorial, holocaust (villagers burned),

Sapinta - Merry Cemetery,

Sighetu Marmetiei - see prison there, intellectuals, political prisoners, interrogations, a US black site?,

Ieud - old wooden churches,

Maramures - ancient area,

Cluj Napoca - city now very modern,

Alba Iulia - watch the smog; castle and town walls,

Hunedoara - John Hunyadi, for a time, foster father of Vlad, killed Vlad's father

Targu Jiu - Vlad held court here

Horezu Monastery,

Ramnicu Valcea, - political rally

Mogosoaia Palace near Bucharest, see Lenin statue toppled near the kitchens

Bucharest. Vlad's Princely Court

Ieud - Wooden Church, Birth of the Virgin Mary Church, Maramures

2011-08-08T10:50:00.000-04:00

Ieud dates to the Bronze Age, see http://www.brasovtravelguide.ro/en/romania/maramures/iza-valley.php

This is the Birth of the Virgin Mary Church, on a hill. The other well-known church is far fancier, in the valley, and is called the Wooden Cathedral. The guide will come right in your car to show the way, and ours was bilingual.

Wooden church, Birth of the Virgin Mary Church, Ieud, Maramures, Romania; and guide

People proud of their heritage are concerned that Romanian history is being distorted with so much stress on Vlad. Here is our guide in Ieud, Maramures, Extremely well informed and articulate.

Bucharest - Ghencea Military Cemetery (Ceaucesu); Museum of the Romanian Peasant; Mogosoia Palace (Lenin)

2011-05-25T19:58:00.000-04:00

Bucharest

Ghencea Military Cemetery

We save the capital city for the end of the trip. We aim right out of the airport into the great beyond, wherever that is. Then, we are not rushed on our way back; or, if we are, it is easier to come back to a major city if we can. City traffic upon first landing is not a good introduction to any country. Get out of it.

Bucharest is a cosmopolitan city, see http://www.escapeartist.com/efam/63/Travel_To_Romania.

1. Propellers as markers. Romania honors its war dead in unique ways.

For the air force, those who served are buried with a propeller instead of a headstone.

Ghencea Military Cemetery, Propeller Grave Markers, Bucharest, Romania

That custom is found elsewhere in Romania. For locating well-known graves, visit "Find A Grave" at http://www.findagrave.com/php/famous.php?page=country&FScountryid=6

2. Others are not so revered, at least in public. See Lenin statue, toppled, Mogosoaia Palace, near Bucharest Lenin's statue is discarded behind the kitchens at Mogosoaia Palace outside Bucharest.

At the Communist Exhibition at the Museum of the Romanian Peasant in Bucharest, however, there is a lower level, creep down in search of the Ladies, and find reverential exhibits, complete with altars, for Lenin and the Ceaucescu, and others.

3. Nicolai Ceaucescu is buried here, but at the civil side of the cemetery.

Grave, Nicolai Ceaucescu, Ghencea Civil Cemetery, Bucharest, Romania

The Ceaucescus are buried separately at the Ghencea Civil Cemetery in Bucharest, but are some aisles apart.

We looked for a long time before finding either grave, and were carefully watched by guards.

I believe the concern was simple vandalism, and we were not hindered in any way as we looked. Nonetheless, we were watched, watched. Guns ready.
We are not used to that. All we wanted was a look, and a picture. Got them. Got out.

There are tributes on the graves. Candles, objects, even a beer bottle.

Bucharest - Music, food -The Dracula Club

2011-05-01T20:00:00.001-04:00

Bucharest - Some Night Life

The Dracula Club and Other Vlad sites

Dracula Club, Bucharest, Romania.

1. The Dracula Club in Bucharest is kitsch, plus good food and good fun - see http://www.travellady.com/Issues/Issue60/dracula.htm ("Dinner At The Count's")

Go to the front door, knock, and a little tiny door at eye level opens up and you will be examined.

Even if the premises are rented for a private party, ask if you can just slip in for a while. We did that and had a fine time.

2. For further Vlad sites in Bucharest, including the "Princely Court," Curtea Veche, being excavated, at http://romaniaroadwaysvladtepes.blogspot.com/2006/08/bucharest-princely-court-vlad.html

Mogosoia. Palace: Lenin, toppled; elsewhere, revered

2011-04-30T11:20:00.000-04:00

Mogosoia Palace - 1698-1702

Mogosoia Palace is not far from Bucharest. Enjoy the grounds before heading into the traffic. It dates from the 1600's at its earliest parts. See http://www.bookcase.com/~claudia/mt/archives/000066.html

For us, the lure was the statue of Lenin, pulled off its pedestal in Bucharest and ignominiously dumped behind the kitchens here.

Lenin statue, toppled, Mogosoia Palace, near Bucharest, Romania

The complex shows Byzantine elements, and the style known as "Brancovenesc" after the Voivode, local ruler of Wallachia who built it, or as he is known more simply, Brancovan. There are combined balconies, arcades, staircases all over, balconies Greek columns, and Renaissance and Baroque - all in one setting. See http://bucharest.8k.com/mogosoaia/ Brancovan offended the Ottoman overlord, however, and lost his head. As with Vlad Tepes, it was not uncommon to keep the head and return it without the body, as Brancovan's wife did,

The Palace became a high-level caravanserai, or "han", with space for passing caravans to enter a protected area for the night of a few days, See the history of hans at http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/architecture/SeljukCaravanserais.html

Mogosoia was renovated in the 1800's by an aristocratic family, then followed a series of patrons, owners, literary and cultural uses. It became a salon, and now is in a holding pattern, the lake silting over, the views muted.

Accommodations: Prince Charles in Romania. Guesthouses; Other Projects

2011-01-03T18:36:00.003-05:00

Projects, Trusts and Charities

Preserving, Conserving Old Ways

By Accommodating the New

1. Housing: Citizen and Visitor

Prince Charles of England has made and is making a substantial difference, in Transylvania in particula. He promotes and otherwise sponsors saving old houses, conservation, encouraging visitors with planned guesthouses at intervals, and training villagers in traditional building methods that use local materials.

He has bought "endangered" properties and is turning them into guesthouses, or showing local people how to do it.

William Blacker wrote Fit for a Prince, The Financial Times, August 28-29, 2010, at page 8, Life and Arts. See http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/6cabf0fa-b169-11df-b899-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1US4nTH7D. This is a well-written description of Romania.

Look up also the

Mihai Eminescu Trust; this is a whole-village endeavor, the history of the Village of Viscri is particularly noted at http://www.mihaieminescutrust.org/content/nd_village.asp?n=102the.
Prince Charles also has an interest in the Mihai Eminescu Trust, see http://www.mihaieminescutrust.org/content/nd_standard.asp?n=114
International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture and Urbanism (INTBAU); see http://www.intbau.org/; Prince Charles is also the patron of this charity; find training programs in building techniques, architecture, even fund-raising by sponsoring a week's landscape painting course in Romania! this a look back from 2011 - we are updating here.
Transylvania Trust - see it at http://www.transylvaniatrust.ro/index2.php?lang=en

These organizations foster "traditional craftsmanship" as well as how to succeed at small-scale farming, and raise money in many ways that attract non-builders..

Prince Charles - Royal Highness, Prince of Wales, with a worthy set of projects here, rescuing traditional properties, morphing them into guesthouses; sponsoring education, skills.

We found the small hotels along the way, well-spaced for the traveler,"cabanas" or pensiones, to be just fine. We found them clean and warm. No complaints about any of the accommodations we found in Romania, but choice is nice.

Many little hotels were threadbare. Inside the duvets were blankets, heavily felted, but with holes. Nonetheless all bedding was spotlessly clean. We never minded threadbare in felted blankets, or sheets. We never questioned the cleanliness. Bricks, tiles from terracotta techniques.

Villages we missed, but you could see: Visceri, Zalanpatak (Hungarian: a Romanian friend told us that the old people in her family would say, Hun-GAR and spit. Those times, we understand, have passed. Hungarian and Romanian history are intertwined, although village animosities remain. The Prince owns his own house in Romania, address not given. Smart. It is said to be modest, delightful.

2. Welcome to preserving.

The Prince is not against modern development, but wants it to proceed alongside the preserved original, where the original is also now productive. It is too late in many places. Whole villages were destroyed even after Premier Ceausescu was executed in 1989, along with his pattern of bulldoze it now, think later. The bulldozing did not stop. Was this mainly for Roma villages, or other peasant? Or did it matter?

Euros pouring in do not help in conservation of culture. Euros just find pockets, as dollars do here -- it all does not get to the purpose intended. The article correctly states that the replacement block building for mass residences are hideous.

I am tempted to reproduce here all our (to us) wonderful rural photographs, people, costumes, ox carts. What about the gypsy village where we stopped to ask directions for a night's lodgings, got a fine deli sausage sandwich and an orange soda. To take pictures seemed intrusive, so we did not. Now I wish we had. Will others see the same hospitality, open welcome.

Prince Charles of England. Good work. Tell Wills. Tell Harry. Welcome to Romania. Carry on. Sally forth. Even ordinary people want to see your fostering of traditional talents and lifestyle and architecture, remain. Salute. Prince Charles fosters Romanian guesthouses. Yes. More. Cultural conservation in Romania. Cultural trusts. High time. Go there.

Romania Invented Baseball

2009-08-07T13:52:00.002-04:00

Who invented Baseball? The Romanians. Can it be so? Yes! Great!

Global roots.

The inventor of baseball was not Abner Doubleday, despite the Cooperstown, NY Baseball Hall of Fame, see http://www.whoinventedbaseball.com/.

Play Ball!

The modern field came about in 1845, thanks to Alexander Joy Cartwright, see ://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blbaseball.htm/. But, despite continuing claims that the game was invented in America also in 1845, the British had been playing "Rounders" since the 1600's, and then the American colonists played their version, called "Town Ball", see ://www.schools.pinellas.k12.fl.us/educators/tec/Mutert2/begbb.html/

Play Oina! It is the Romanians who invented the game closest to baseball - or its group equivalents before the name came about. They have been playing "Oina" since 1364, during the reign of Vlaicu Voda, and Oina is the "godfather" of our baseball, see ://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_invented_baseball/ It remains the national sport. There are back-and-forth lanes (not our diamond), and the game lasts 30 minutes, and read there of the many similarities.

This Inventorship: other sources agree. The idea is supported by this article in the Seattle Times - see ://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19900422&slug=1067700/ Transylvanians introduced it here, according to Romanian sports writer Cristian Costescu. They emigrated from Alba Iulia. They joined the US Army, taught the game to their fellows, and one of those was - you guessed it - Abner Doubleday, who added a twist or two. See also the Romanian baseball origins at ://www.buzzle.com/articles/origin-and-history-of-baseball.html

Oina: 11 on a side. One team bats, the other team takes the field. The pitcher, however, is from the batting team and lobs over an easy slow one. Whack! Batter runs 120 yards. There are 9 bases. If the batter gets tagged, that earns the fielding team points, so you can rack up your score by tagging the runners - not just by hitting and getting home. Bat looks like a cricket bat, and nobody wears gloves. Each side gets an "at-bat" - and all 11 get a chance.

Famous player, like Babe Ruth: Eugen Cocut. All that still from ://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19900422&slug=1067700/

Basarab I (not Vlaicu Voda)

Vlaicu Voda - see the monastery he founded, at ://alexisphoenix.org/vodita.php/. Do an Images search in Bing, and see a statue that we had thought, when we were there, to be Basarab I, and that is the name on the pedestal. Here is our Basarab, the same statue that shows up at Bing's Images Vlaicu Voda.

Basarab does sound more like baseball. That clinches it.

No, wrong. Basarab reigned 1310-1352; Vlaicu Voda reigned 1364-1377. See ://www.fact-index.com/w/wa/wallachia.html/ Separate people.

Safe!

EU Membership Romania - What it Means (European Union)

2008-04-03T17:52:00.009-04:00

European Union Issues - Romania

Romania has been in the news lately, as hosting the big NATO conference April 2008.

1. The site of the conference:

Parliament stands alone.

A large area was demolished for this purpose, cleared of traditional Bucharest neighborhoods, by Former President Nicolae Ceaucescu, see http://www.ceausescu.org/. He was later executed by firing squad 12/25/1989. There are many sites with negative coverage as to Ceaucescu at http://www.dictatorofthemonth.com/Ceaucescu/May2007CeaucescuEN.htm. However, we noted special shrines to him at his grave at Ghenciu Military Cemetery; and in the lower floors of the Peasants' Museum. That one is like a shrine.

In an effort to look more European, Ceaucescu modeled Bucharest according to Parisian style -- an Arch of Triumph and radiating roadways, and broad boulevards lead to isolated huge Parliamentary buildings. That Parliamentary area is where the conference was held.

The urban clearance area is still largely vacant. Acre after acre.

2. Feral dogs dogs dogs.

People forced from their homes could not take their pets into the new housing offered.

In clearing the old city neighborhoods, and moving people to government housing, we understand that the people could take no pets - thus the thousands upon thousands (by now) of stray dogs, including cockers, pekingese, shelties, beagles and poodles, as well as the large yellow mixes, many Heinz 57 by now, but still many identifiable as essentially specific breeds. Foraging.

Dogs, dogs. Even up in the mountains now. Chasing cars, looking for food.

They tell you never to put your hand down to pet, offer no kind words, even to the cute. Is there no solution here, no humane help to be given without slaughter.

3. European Union. Separatist interests.

We like the Financial Times for balanced, neutral accounts of our world, so this is from that UK publication's March 7, 2008, Special Report: Find it at http://www.ft.com/intl/reports/romania2008

Romania joined the EU in January 2007, after our visit, and when the horsecarts were still a norm. With EU membership, Romania qualifies for, but is not guaranteed unless it shows it can draw up and execute enough projects to qualify:

infrastructure (roads and what else?),
social and environmental purposes (what is that? horrible industrial smog south of Cluj Napoca,
farm sector "taking them on" whatever that means. The peasants? a living wage? or assimilation of The Roma or Gypsies -- but their tradition is non-assimilation, working in a transient way. Is there a future in merely offering self-employment, having been cast off regular work for so long, see Gypsies, Roma .

The economy apparently is soaring, nonetheless.

Yet, political factions are warring - as is expected when cash is around. As in the US, with our ubiquitous political pork. No claim of superiority here.

In Romania, as perhaps here if there is no clear direction after the 2008 election, paralysis politically is around the bend, with warring groups squaring off. Like here. Lack of experience in "project design and management," coping with new conditions - sounds like us, here, all parties, all candidates - the world is marching on despite our misinterpretations and corruptions. Is there any real difference between east and west..

4. Separatism. Romania on Kosovo:
Unilateralism in separatism.

Teodor Melescanu, defense minister, see http://untreaty.un.org/unts/144078_158780/5/8/1317.pdf is dismayed about Kosovo as departing from the tried-and-true process of changing borders through negotiation; and turning instead to unilateralism, and with approval from the United States, much as President Bush used unilateralism as a tool to get what he wanted.

Romania also has other reason for concern if groups succeed in separation out unilaterally - separatist interests - there is a large Hungarian population in Romania. What if they want to reunite with Hungary? See a review of the Hungarian minority, also known as the Magyar, in Romania at http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/assessment.asp?groupId=36002.

Positives for Romania: It has indeed weathered Communism, Fascism,

Horsecarts now banned, major roadways

2008-03-03T18:24:00.005-05:00

Horsecart, Romania

Horsecarts, wagons with auto wheels, are built with divided supports for flexibility front to back, and can carry whole families on board, goods, equipment. They are also on all the roads, including major highways, until we now read that they are banned from major roadways.

We never saw any accidents, even on the motorways. The carts kept well to the side. There were only courteous drivers slowing up, going around, blinking lights if a cart happened to be in front, and that was the reason for the slow-up. So many of them - on main highways, everywhere. A rule for us was never drive after dark if we could help it - many carts had no reflectors, and no lights. In foggy areas, we crept.

There was a massive road-building program in progress, however. We were there in the fall, also, and that meant end-of-summer pothole filling in preparation for another winter. The best time to travel in Romania then was in the fall. Spring meant the new holes gaping out there, and worst for the horses. So, European Union aspirations mean big bucks for some, and a hindrance to an already marginal life for so many poor.

See the issue of those who prosper from their investments and properties, at the expense, again, of the peasant (andthe gypsy) who cannot get to their destinations in many cases, except by the major roads. See http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D06E1DA1630F931A35752C1A961958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

See this update, read with mixed feelings here because how else do people get around. The funding is for the roads for the rich, and to draw in tourists; not for the poor areas at this point: http://www.gadling.com/2007/11/20/the-death-of-an-anachronism-horse-carts-banned-from-romanian-ro/

Cluj Napoca - Transylvania

2007-12-21T16:37:00.001-05:00

Cluj Napoca has strong Hungarian roots, with migrations back and forth over centuries, see http://www.clujonline.com/ The Hungarian national dress, worn for special occasions, looks different from the traditional Romanian that we saw in northern Maramures, but we are not sure if that is so. This was on the way to Cluj Napoca, in a small town.

Romania's Hungarian traditions:

Hungarian dress? near Cluj Napola, Romania

Cluj is a large, cosmopolitan area - http://www.cluj4all.com/addresses/. Here is Cluj - see http://www.clujonline.com/ Photos at http://www.ici.ro/romania/en/orase/cluj.html.

To navigate in any city:

Look for the country's equivalent of the "city center" sign - centrum, or its equivalent.

The city center signs will begin dependably at the outskirts, at the motorways, and lead you.

Go to the main square, then look for some place to sleep.

Park once, where you are staying the night; then walk. No driving at night if possible - vehicles may not have lights, horse carts may not have reflectors.

Everyone is more careful in driving there than we are here, looking out for horsecarts, people. I saw no accidents except an occasional urban truck-car or car-car fender-benders.

Roma update - Colum McCann; and Leafpile photo gallery, Ina Zoon

2007-11-12T18:29:00.002-05:00

The author of the novel, "Zoli," Colum McCann - the novel based roughly on the life of a Slovakian Roma poet, Branislawa Wajs (see Gypsies, Roma, Romani, and "Zoli" wrote this current events opinion regarding the larger Gypsy issue and the European Union - ://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/10/opinion/edmcCann.php. The article is entitled, "Gypsies Put Europe To The Test: The Roma of Romania and Bulgaria." International Herald Tribune.

The issue is how Romania, Bulgaria, and other countries regarding the European Union, will deal with their minority populations.

Here is a good photo gallery of Roma, done by "Leafpile" - //www.leafpile.com/TravelLog/Romania/Roma/Roma.htm. We were not comfortable taking pictures of Roma, looks like our over-concern for people's sense of privacy was off base. Do look at these.

Further update, on the poor vs. progress. This is 3/3/08: Read "On the Margins: Roma and Public Services in Romania, Bulgaria, and Macedonia, With a Supplement on Housing in the Czech Republic," by Ina Zoon, Open Society Institute press 2001. Covers denials of health care, lack of adequate housing, and recommendations.

Sighet Prison, Museum of Arrested Thought. Torture, Theirs and Ours

2007-10-05T09:11:00.004-04:00

Romania. Where people raise little children, as we do, and want them to share their values, just as we do.

The point here, as we discuss abuse, is that human beings are human beings anywhere. Each culture probably has its eras of torture and abuse, religious, political, social, and our look at Romania is triggered by our own culture's willingness to engage in it, but then deny or do it elsewhere. Including in Romania?

So: From a visual touring approach to current events. Make a shift. See Romania as an example of larger issues in all of us, and one that our children will face, just as each generation:

1. Pain, purposefully inflicted. See the Human Rights Watch site, hrw.org/campaigns/torture.htm.

When, where, by whom, how much, if any. And not as a natural adjunct to a neutral injury, or weather event. We are looking from neighborhood bullies and gangs, where seeds are sown, to international issues.

For current issues, see Joy of Equivocating, Abuse Experience and the Brain: Distorts Perception.

This looks at torture, and other forms of abuse, and the effect that those have on the person, the brain. This is in the context of the US elections of 2008, and the issue of experience of the candidates. Senator McCain was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, and subjected to abuse behaviors, information evolving. Do a search for McCain torture and see a variety of views.

Overview. We discuss torture here, from the individual, to the institutional, to the individual leader doing it. Romania has a reputation for political prisons and torture within; and a bloody history with Vlad II Tepes, the Impaler, and past President Ceaucescu. The course of events there is hardly unique, but useful as a starting place for thinking of torture, as we have to now, from the news.

1. Defining, Identifying. Gray Areas or Not. Torture is hard to define because the word itself is disagreeable - nobody wants it applied to their actions. Do you know it when you see it? Why won't they let us see? And uses of words make the acts eminently deniable.

So, don't call it torture. Call it a "severe interrogation" or "extreme interrogation," and not torture at all. See discussions of extreme interrogation at www.changingminds.org/techniques/interrogation/extreme_interrogation.htm; and this law review article, "Tortured History: Finding Our Way Back to the Lost Origins of the Eighth Amendment," 31 Pepperdine Law Review 61 (2004), available by ordering, not free, but we understand worth it, at lawreview@law.pepperdine.edu.

2. Why look at it at all. Pain-infliction issues arise from the everyday in a household, where a parent wants to spank a child, to the global. It is familiar and complex. The more we study what we have done, the more we may be able to control it. Go to Petr Ginz: Places and the Legacy, as a start: Petr Ginz, a Prague child, enduring the ghetto and then death at Auschwitz, see the post there on the legacy of heightened awareness when you can see and hear torture.

3. Torture's long history, used as "deterrent" and as "punishment" and incentive to cooperate.

Vlad. Come to Romania. To the memory of a torturer. The Romanian (then, his area was Wallachia) Vlad Tepes II, the Impaler. "Dracula," the one whose pain-inflictions kept law and order, and the Ottomans at bay for a while. What was the role of torture for him, and why.

Church, Monastery, Island in Lake Snagov, Tradition-bound Burial Place, Vlad Tepes (see details)

This is the place said to be his burial place (not, probably, see posts at Romania Road Ways - Vlad Dracula sites) at a tiny monastery in an island at Lake Snagov, Romania, near Complex Astoria, where you can stay. See the little flowers. A priest sits inside, where the memorial by the altar is.

Vlad is notorious for torture, impalings, and other techniques, but still revered for keeping back the Turkish invaders, and coping with a disorderly time,. Torture was a common means for imposing a moral order and defense. Very intricate issues, looking back now. See www.stanford.edu/group/rsa/_content/_public/_htm/dracula.shtml.

Now look at us. Our culture's view of the value of other lives. Inflicting pain is apparently ok if the goal is deterrence of something, or enforcement of something; or to get something the government wants. Or if we do not call it torture, but call it "extreme interrogation." Wordswords.

4. Everyday torture. We also do it. Is this true: Torture does not have to be political or religious. It has many forms and purposes.

4.1 Secret inflicting of pain is apparently acceptable, so long as it is kept secret. People don't intrude. Examples include domestic abuse, animal issues where we do not see the slaughterhouse, exterminators who do their work out of sight,

Do we really want pain infliction to be out of sight or easily digestible, or do we lose something of ourselves if we skip accountability. FN 1, a domestic diversion into the garden. But,
if we say we can only inflict torture if we do it directly, out in front, for reasons and to an extent that can be examined, there is another danger: If you do do it yourself, or let your institutions do it, maybe you or they won't quit. It snowballs. How to extricate - a push becomes an entanglement to worse.

4.2 Abuse is also acceptable when the words used create a disposable sub-class: Pest. Female. Gender-type designations. Unbeliever. The articulated goal - getting rid of undesirables - can also become a justification, so words used to label the victim count. Insurgent, not patriot. How do you label. Widdoo mousie? or Rodent. Vermin. A job may need to be done - rat control - but use of words facilitates, reduces resistance to how it is being done. Or, again as to words, torture is acceptable if the words used to describe the inflictee create a subclass as to whom pain is okay (a circular argument): as criminals, ethnic groups when they are to be controlled or exterminated, the death penalty. A different morality then applies to the pain.

"Tar-Baby stay still, en Brer Fox, he lay low." From "Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings," by Joel Chandler Harris, Grosset & Dunlap, NY1921, at page 9. Touch torture and you'll get stuck.

4.3 Torture is acceptable if done in increments. Everyday homespun tortures numb us.

4,4. Torture is acceptable if it produces profit, eases the burden in business. Institutional and other cultural torture. Force and pain are apparently ok if produces a profit (ex. slaughterhouses as we have them), Or is the cheap way to kill. Look again at that horrid glue tray in the hardware store for mice.

We may need to control the infestation, but there must be a decent way, regardless of the label. Is it "just" an animal?. Make people put them on the counters, so they can see? Is infliction of pain not a moral issue for certain defined groups of living creatures, including people. Either way, inflicting pain is easy to digest when you get someone else to do it for you, or hide the horror tray back in the cellar.

The numbing. We get accustomed. As in the current movie, "The Kingdom," force the child to watch the bombing. See overview of film at www.imdb.com/title/tt0431197/.

Or, more usual here, rather than forcing a child to watch people get killed in real life, we use the gradual warming of the water, until we as frogs let ourselves boil up and never knew we were dying.

4.5 Torture is acceptable if it fosters macho. More numbing, but also with the profit angle. Bull-riding. The rodeo from the bull's eye-ball view. It is expected to make the creatures fierce with pain because it is entertainment, produces a profit, or enhances macho. Or is that a false impression? See www.sharkonline.org/?P=0000000441.

Why not just ride a bull yourself, invite your friends to watch, and if it is a dull one, fine.

No, because that real event may not be profitable or consistently exciting as a made-up one.

Or Pamplona here. The bulls on the way to the ring. Condensed torture. Maybe twenty minutes in the ring.

On the other hand, Spain's approach for an individual bull hurt for that short time, beats years of hurt in the stockyards, then the slaughterhouse.

Small voice: should pain really be used this way, irrelevant for purposes of profit, or macho for Saint Fermin; relevant only as a dispensation when it does not count?

At least Portugal does not kill the bull. See their equestrian bullfights at //mundo-taurino.org/horses.html.

4.5. Torture is acceptable for poliical purposes, for turf, power. Back to political uses of pain: Modern times. Visit the building at Sighet Prison, Sighetu Marmetiei, Romania,; provided it and the rest of the old prison system is not being rented out - offshored. Outsourced. Then use the internet.

Go here to see the building, photos of inmates - that included professionals, politicians, academics, civic leaders - online at www.memorialsighet.ro/en/istoric_cladire_sighet.asp.
More examples of institutional torture: See Petr Ginz: Places and Legacy for post on a World War II child's exposure to inhuman treatment in his era, as a Prague part-Jew, and his ultimate death at Auschwitz. In our own place: see www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1664174,00. Or, the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International, at www.tassc.org/index.php?sn=66.

5. The Traps of Torture

Problems: how to get a society to agree on what objectives can support torture, when pain may be inflicted, and how much; and the experiential fact that, once set on the enforcement path, the inflicter-forcer won't quit.

Human and institutional corruptibility. Dangerous addictions and desires arise. Marquis de Sade. See www.kirjasto.sci.fi/desade.htm. Torturers don't quit, as to subjects or methods. Examples: See Sighetu Marmetiei in northwest Romania, the Maramures region. See earlier posts on Maramures and Sighet. Those people were not even criminals who hurt people - they were intellectual dissenters. Still criminal?

6. Individual leaders and torture. The Lure of it working. Here it can be winner take all. Individuals can bull things through, if they have enough talent, or have enough people around as a substitute for the leader's lacks. Lackeys! Surrogates can get the job done for you. For a time.

Leaders find that repression, misrepresentation and torture work - but that is true only for a while. Specific leaders may thrive, then they lose. Or do they keep on winning? What does it take to stay in power. Muscle, combined with inflicting Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt, and reminders of a threat if the people do not stay in line.

Example in Romania is Vlad Tepes II, The Impaler, "Dracula." His torture was for a purpose: to keep the Ottomans at bay, as well as do acts to deter locals from breaking laws - maintain order in a disorderly time. See Romania Road Ways - Vlad Dracula sites; and overview at "Vlad Tepes - The Historical Dracula" at www.donlinke.com/drakula/vlad.

See again that lovely Lake Snagov, where we found Vlad's island earlier. It also is the place where Nicholae Ceaucescu, late dictator, had his palace, there at the shore. President Ceaucescu: see /www.historyguide.org/europe/ceausescu.html.

6. Torture, the Captive-Fear Experience, and its Stockholm effect. The Stockholm Syndrome.

Despite its irreverent air, this is a good overview of the phenomenon between jailers/oppressors and jailees/oppressees, known as the Stockholm effect: go to sniggle.net/stock.php.

In summary, the receiving end of oppression ultimately plays along, if they get little rewards.

That is the dynamic. Theoretically, and often in practice, the torturer gets you to identify with the torturer by giving you little benevolences as time goes on. Moral issue in spite of that: If that does not happen (any at Gitmo?) does or should the torturer just go on?

Read more about the Stockholm Syndrome - See iadfw.net/ktrig246/out_of_cave/sss.html. Here it is again: Just put out a) that there are threats to your survival out there, b) isolate what they can see or hear other than the captors, c) throw them a lolly once in a while, and d) make it clear that there is no escape.Here is a big one. Worth exploring. Another reason why perceived captivity, deprivation-infliction and torture work.

Make a verb of Stockholm effect: "To Stockholm." That way, we get out of the mold and can see how it as a technique can be intentionally used by governments, institutions, individuals.

Example: our gleaned definition, including the elements we have found:

Stock-holm (stock'-holm). v.t. -holmed, -holming, -holms.

1. To throw sporadic benefits at a person who
a. believes there is no escape,
b. is kept isolated and ignorant of views other than those of the captor,
c. is subject to ongoing and extreme deprivations, or is being tortured, and
d. believes that his or her life is in danger, with the result that
the person begins to identify with the controller and his or her goals.

2. To foster the psychological shift from one's self to the perceived need to keep the captor happy.

Do your own search for the Stockholm, Sweden, 1973 study following events and results of perpetrators holding persons captive at a bank robbery.

6. Enslavement by Imposed Belief Systems. Is this a form of Stockholming? Do news stations and politicians effectively Stockholm people?

Brer Fox again. Put out the bait, see who dares touch it.

Why not use fear and invective and volume, repeated, to Stockholm the citizenry. Stockholm the middle class, the poor. Let Rush prevent opposing views during his hours' advertising time and get paid (this a later update July 2008) his $32,ooo,ooo per year for the next 8 years. See old salary at://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_does_Rush_Limbaugh_make_per_year.

He could sponsor an entire district in Romania.

Back to the method: Isolate addicted viewers. Increasing deprivations imposed on the middle and lower classes by their government, but then a taffy. Bet there a memo on it. A function of propaganda. Then they won't focus on what you are doing.

7. Global citizen torture issues: in weighing all that is said in its defense, or how offensive it is:

7.1. The danger of pleasure felt by the torturer. Does inflicting pain give pleasure to the torturer. This has been the subject of investigation-denial-interest. See this view of the inquisition - cgi.stanford.edu/group/wais/cgi-bin/index.php?p=2474. Like a garden party. No big deal, just people being gullible about what happened.

It must give pleasure? See the Marquis de Sade site above. See all the violent sites also on the net, that you can find on your own. The topic must give pleasure, to be so prominent and colorful, universal and fascinating. Pain on the silver screen. The addiction early. The dance, abuser and abusee. The Stockholm syndrome - identifying with the abuser. See web2.iadfw.net/ktrig246/out_of_cave/sss.html

7.2. Whether torture can ever be kept under control. The torturer doesn't want to stop. You psychologists out there? When does boxing turn into it. What if the referee likes it. True or false?

7.3 Legitimacy based on longevity. It has a long history, so some may see it as fine because it is familiar. Good for schools who approach torture as a subject: see this school student oriented Elizabethan era overview of the history of torture, with its information as to the deeper past - www.springfield.k12.il.us/schools/springfield/eliz/Torturepun.

7.4. How long is it effective. Before long, it gives rise to resistance, more fervor behind it, to support the tortured. What if the bees could horde back. Run! What is happening outside when you are busy inside.

The Transience of Defeat - Even Vlad the Impaler's fabled impalings to deter the Ottoman advance only lasted for some 40 years. They came back, of course. Lay low for a while. See Romania Road Ways - Vlad Tepes-Impaler Sites. Vlad is revered for his effectiveness. See Romanian history from the consulate in Athens, at atena.mae.ro/index.php?lang=en&id=215.

7.5 And how is a citizen to keep from being Stockholmed, by getting those little ditsy bones occasionally, into compliance with what else the ones in power want. See above. Have to outfox the fox on your own, because you won't get any help. Too many people making money and enhancing macho by inflicting pain.

....................................................................................................
FN 1 - Discussion of domestic colonialisms has been moved to Spain Road Ways, Seville colonialism post, Columbus Day.

Jewish history and Romania; from the Khazars?

2007-09-02T20:04:00.000-04:00

Sephardi and Ashkenazi, both. Jewish history in Romania is laid out at this site through its overview of specific place names: cja.huji.ac.il/NL14-Romania.htm.

In particular, read about Brasov, Cluj Napoca, and then Moisei here, in the photo, and its destruction. Little trace of the old Jewish population now, but a ritual bath built at Moisei is still being used, as a public bath. I try not to reuse photos, but for Moisei, here is the memorial for villagers slain in WWII here. The town is in the Maramures area. See the post on Maramures. We were on the way to the larger city, Sighetu Marmetei.

For a report on the holocaust in Romania, see //www1.yadvashem.org/about_yad/what_new/index_whats_new-report.

I do not recall a differentiation or identification of which of the 125 families who fled Moisei into the forest during the incident of the German attack, and whose homes were burned. I believe the whole village was burned, and at the onset of winter. Some 30+/- were caught and killed, but no information on how many were Jewish. The killings were reported as Jewish-focused in sites related to Magyar references for Budapest - and a site started in with settlements from eastern and central Europe. See Budapest Road Ways, Magyar history post.

Origins, Eastern European Jews: This group seems to be descended from European German, Spanish, Czech, Austrian, or Portuguese?

Some say "Russian" Jews are descended from their own lines, Khazars, and are looking for archeological support to the other sources. See khazaria.com/khazar-diaspora. That reviews the book, "Are Russian Jews Descended from the Khazars," by David Alan Brook.

Roma - Gypsy culture - holocaust

2007-08-13T12:46:00.000-04:00

This is a roadside dumping area, with Roma (gypsy ethnic group) looking for clothing, anything that can be repaired and resold, or used. The gypsy population was decimated in World War II. Read about gypsies at For a basic history of gypsies, see www.gypsy-traveller.org/history/index. Do a search for gypsies .

We also saw many well-dressed Roma, traditional costume and gold.

Roma are countrywide, and have had a difficult history, including centuries (past) of enslavement in Romania and discrimination now. See "Minorities at Risk" at www.cidcm.umd.edu/inscr/mar/data/rumroma. More background on Roma: go to the e-museum that the University of Minnisota offers at http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/oldworld/europe. Then click on Roma. Go to the main home page first, and see all they offer in other areas.

The holocaust in Romania was directed at Roma and Jews and other groups. Read about the holocaust in Romania at www1.yadvashem.org/about_yad/what_new/index_whats_new-report.html. The holocaust was officially remembered in Romania in 2006. See www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/09/europe/EU_GEN_Romania_Holocaust_Victims.php. Read its history at hist.academic.claremontmckenna.edu/jpetropoulos/ironguard/holocaust.htm. In the town of Moisei, see post here on Maramures, there is a special memorial, but no break-down of which of those killed were Jewish.

Keeping diaries of those times requires literacy and then preservation, discovery and translation - for me, into English. "The Diary of Petr Ginz 1941-1942," edited by his sister, Chava Pressburger, was discovered in 1993 but only translated into English in 2007. See The Places of Petr Ginz. See also Petr Ginz: The Places, The Legacy. Are there diaries in Romanian?

I was not comfortable taking pictures of the Roma girls or women. They are easily seen in doorways, windows, on the street with a companion, with families. I understand they are strongly protected. The clothing was exquisite in the economically advantaged groups, fine cars, great style - as anywhere where there is financial and cultural confidence for the individual. Others are very poor, but resourceful in picking out clothing and other useful items from throw-aways, and fixing and selling them.

Children beg, but a strong body language "no" - including flat palms crossing and flung out, usually brought the adult from a doorway nearby to signal a cease.

Vlachs: Possible earliest settlers in Romania, now nomadic shepherds; an entire culture;

2007-06-18T09:33:00.001-04:00

Vlachs

Vlach flock, crossing road, Romania

The Vlachs are an ancient people that are in many eastern European countries. Commonly called "gypsies", whether accurately or not, these peoples have kept their own ways. Origins may be the Indus Valley, India. Perhaps.

See Gypsies, Roma, Romani.

Some believe that it was the Vlachs who originally founded Romania, and were the indigenous people when the Romans came. See the Romania section at mysite.du.edu/~etuttle/misc/europe.htm#Mong.
The Vlachs remain distinct. There were also, however Dacians in the area, also laying claim to the indigenous people-founding Romania status. More Vlach history: www.friesian.com/decdenc2, and at www.eliznik.org.uk/RomaniaHistory/vlach-south/; and ://www.columbia.edu/cu/romanian/articles/aromani.

Vlach shepherd, Romania
This shepherd was the only one herding all those sheep, among 18-wheelers, and those of us in cars, through the village. Their dogs are indispensable. See more on the Romanian shepherd dogs at romdogs.tripod.com/ogar/romshdog.

He leaped across the road, carrying his possessions (no carts seen); and was gone. Stragglers among the sheep ran to catch up, and did, but he did not call. No sheepdogs.

Someone described that kind of sight as a cloud of sheep. Exactly.

The fun part here was the good humor of the truckers -- no anger, no fingers, just open the window, lean out and chat and smile in good humor as, when all seemed to be past, somebody went under the truck to coax out the last straggler. To an outsider, it looked like respect for someone else's assets and way of life. Room for many. What's the rush.

I seldom saw any kind of road kill. That may not mean a particular love of animals -- stray dogs are everywhere -- recognizable breeds -- from the edicts in Bucharest that people whose neighborhoods were destroyed by Ceaucescu's urban renewal could not move into the new apartment highrise boxes with dogs. The absence of road kill could mean 1) skill in veering; and we agree; or 2) the practical side. A hit may damage your own vehicle.

We have found them in Greece and Croatia, for example, see more about "Aromanian Vlachs: The Vanishing Tribe," at www.vlachophiles.net/.

There are supposed to be some Vlachs in Texas - the site is at some other post here.

The mother of the Hungarian hero, Janos Hunyadi (governor of Transylvania in the 15th century, castle at Hundoara, Romania) was said to be Vlach. The Vanishing Tribe site says that Vlachs set up Wallachia.

Update - from our 2007 trip to Poland:

Some Vlachs migrated to Poland - see the Magurski National Park site at www.staff.amu.edu.pl/~zbzw/ph/pnp/magu.htm. There, the people were called "Lemks," and lived in the Low Beskid region, with only a few survivors now. There are vestiges of their culture, and later orthodox religion there, and in roadway shrines. The article says they were deported in 1947 for political reasons. See populations post at Poland Road Ways.

Vlachs - Once there is an awareness of something new, all sorts of other information comes out - now we find Vlach references in many places and contexts. More at a Vlach site, bastian.freeyellow.com/index.

Sinaia - Peles Castle

2006-12-31T19:55:00.000-05:00

Arrive at Bucharest, drive north, and Sinaia is the town that fits between Lake Snagov, where Vlad is said to be buried, and Brasov, Bran Castle.

Remember that we put all the Vlad III Tepes (Impaler) sites together at Romania Road Ways: Vlad Tepes. Sometimes the Vlad focus can be distracting from the rest of the history.

Sinaia. It is a prime ski area, great resort, and there is a splendid castle - Peles. Do a search for "Sinaia" and you will see a site with thousands of photos. Look. This site shows the mountains behind the castle -www.montania.ro/en_vile. The castle, Peles, has no connection to Vlad that I can find, but this site suggests by its name that it does - www.draculascastle.com/html/pelesint. How could there be a connection, where Peles was built 1873-1883? See www.infotravelromania.ro/en/castle. Still, it is magnificent, and the photos at the infotravel site include other castles - worth a look.

The town has all the shops and cafes you would expect. We don't shop, we people-watch and this was excellent.

For specific Vlad Tepes sites - see second Romania blog: Lake Snagov, Bran, Poinari Citadel, Sighisoara, Bistrita, Hunedoara, Targoviste, Bucharest

2006-12-26T13:18:00.000-05:00

Please visit the Vlad site blog at Romania Road Ways: Vlad Tepes for sites specifically related to Vlad the Impaler, a/k/a Vlad Dracula, a/k/a Vlad III Tepes; or his fictional offshoot - "Dracula" by Bram Stoker.

This site travels around the other Romania, a country with a vast history and culture.

Links, posts, archives

2006-12-14T19:47:00.000-05:00

All third party websites referred to in word form, not as quick-links, pending learning more about issues raised at www.bitlaw.com. Direct linking may be risky.

Post dates show the itinerary chronology - from arrival, to departure. Do read the Archives - they show the continuing trip, not necessarily earlier posts. A new or revised post may appear at the beginning, to draw attention to it, but the plan is to incorporate it later elsewhere, if the post fits better there.

Technorati Profile

Sibiu: "Naver"

2006-12-11T15:31:00.000-05:00

Sibiu, Romania. Update and self-correction - from having believed these to be Roma or gypsies, some/many of whom prosper. As anywhere, the casino in Sibiu drew those with money to spend and an evening to glam, and I saw traditional dress and accessories and gala gala going in and out.

But: The men at left are, according to the comment here, traveling tradesmen, "Naver," of Saxon heritage, common mainly in the north central parts of Romania.They have a long tradition of education and skill.

A Germanic tradition here makes sense, from the overall area - see the German - Saxon walled churches located in the region, another post.

A search of "Naver" - a quick one - shows more information about the tradesmen and Templar influence: at www.curezone.com/blogs/m.asp?f=665&i=2, that the Templars were all part of an information/skills network between the East and to the West; that the Templars brought building skills and implements to the West, giving rise to the Masonic tradition and its symbols. And that those connections enabled the building of the ever-more elaborate Gothic cathedrals. More info?

Sibiu windows: roof gables, wide, not tall, sloped across the top to blend into the roof at both ends, rather like eyes up there. One is barely visible here, at this photo, to the right of the street light at www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/Romania/photo422118. Look at the traditional Sibiu roof, this photo gallery, and scroll down for it: www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transylvania/blog-112567; or here, look for the one entitled, "Eyes of the City," at home.xnet.com/~jkelley/BucharestBugle.fldr/BuchBugle75.

Transfagarasan Pass, Carpathian Alps, cabanas

2006-12-11T11:19:00.004-05:00

Transfagarasan Pass,
Our Vlad Dracula sites are listed here, to show where they fit in the itinerary, but comments and photos in full are at Romania Road Ways II, Vlad Tepes.

Dan Widing at Vlad Dracula's castle ruin, Transfagarasan Pass, Carpathian Alps, Poinari Citadel, Romania

Saxon Fortified Churches - Sibiu-Sighisoara area; World Heritage

2006-12-09T23:39:00.000-05:00

These walled Saxon churches are World Heritage sites. See www.cimec.ro/Monumente/Lpm/UNESCO/Biertan/eng. You can read the German script over the door. There were substantial migrations of Germanic people beginning in 1123, by invitation of the Hungarian King Geza, and during the centuries. The new groups kept their own language, and protected themselves with walls like these around towns and churches in the 15th-16th centuries. See www.archaeology-romania.org/projects/fortified-saxon-churches. We were told that funds are coming in again, from Germany, and from the descendants of those expelled by wars and other invasions. People also moving back.

There is a map for them at www.cimec.ro/Monumente/unesco/UNESCOen/indexTrans.

These church walls, seen from the inside, have rooms in them for entire families. Story is that if a couple wanted a divorce, they would be put together in one of these rooms for 60 days, fed and taken care of, and as a result, they seem to have worked it all out and no divorces were recorded there. Most are between Sibiu and Sighisoara. Here is a fine photo of a walled church: www.roconsulboston.com/Pages/InfoPages/Travel/DealulFrumos.

Other sites say these were Swabians, from the Danube area in Germany - see the Schwabisch Hall post at Germany Road Ways. Need to find out the difference between Swabians and Saxons.

To the outhouse. This picture is not it, but we had been going back into villages off the road to try to find our own walled churches, and came to one lovely church - turned out to be a Catholic one, but not a German one - and these ladies kept gesturing to the outside and indicating, come on.

So we did, over yards, around puddles, through gates and gardens, all winding through the village until we came somewhere and they gestured us over with great ceremony. It was an outhouse. Very hospitable. Where else would fine local folk invite tourists to their outhouse? We didn't need it, but appreciated the thought and saw parts of a Romanian village no bus tour could match. Thank you.

This photo is just outside the walls of that village. This is not an automobile society yet in the rural areas. We didn't see a motorized tractor for 10 days. Horses and carts are also in the cities and the highways. The construction of the carts is ingenious, with a break in the axel (what is that connector not between wheels laterally, but going the length of the wagon to accommodate the huge potholes and ruts? Car tires are used.

Bucovina - Painted monasteries - fresco

2006-11-30T12:27:00.000-05:00

These Painted Churches, at the monasteries in the north, are World Heritage sites. See www.geocities.com/paintedchurches/.

Churches and painted monasteries in Bucovina and Moldovita often also served as forts. Defense and religion all at once. Many painted monasteries were mustering areas for gathering fighters,and the stories on the outer walls were a scriptural teaching tool for the orthodox while they waited - also for villagers seeking refuge inside. The monasteries usually have walls around for defense, and many buildings.

See Voronet and others at www.romaniatourism.com/monasteries. See details also atdntis.ro/romania/unicef/index.

There are many of these painted monasteries at Suceava, northeast Romania. See similar one at Arbore, www.rotravel.com/romania/monasteries/arbore.php.

Paintings are done on wet stucco (fresco), telling Bible or saint stories, often located within fortified walls. Used as mustering places or defense, against Huns or Turkish or other invaders. Teaching tool while the people waited for services or to fight. Interiors also painted.

You may also see a receptacle with beeswax candles, water and layer of sand on bottom. Candles are placed to remember a life or make a prayer. The candle burns down to its natural extinguishing in the water.

Here is an interior:

Putna - most remote of the painted monasteries

2006-11-28T20:01:00.000-05:00

Try to get there before 5 PM so you can hear the chanting at Putna Monastery, in the north. We just missed it.

You can stay at a fine hostel (cabana) in the town, with its own companionably loud cafe, and there was another cafe on the main street. We went in that one, and immediately saw another Down young man with his parents, just leaving. We all gave especially long handshakes and smiles. Universals.

At the cafe (good food, but not in served courses as at a formal restaurant), you may see a local TV station in the pub broadcasting community events such as a local wedding that day. How else would you be invited to something like that?

Gateways - barrier to evil getting to the house; and logging

2006-11-25T19:51:00.000-05:00

Elaborate gates mark the homes, out at the street, with walkways to the compound beyond. See Maramures gates at www.puzzleworld.org/Maramures/budes01. The bigger the gate (like our/correct that, other people's Hummers) the more prestige sought or claimed?

We found a gate also up in the mountains, where I understand the Huns were finally stopped. Their horses could not manage the forests, many still pristine. Think Cold Mountain - filmed here. But the logging is turning to clear-cutting. Can someone help out here, to get it under control? Economy and need for product, yes, but surely there is a way that can accommodate the future as well.

But is that fair? We have ours, shouldn't they get theirs?

A Welshman among the Vlachs (WWI), The Greek-Latin influence; photo galleries; Vlachs

2006-11-01T15:35:00.000-05:00

Vlachs extend through many countries, including Greece (Macedonia), Albania and Bulgaria. Here is a site that describes how a Welsh soldier, a medical orderly, in World War I deserted and apparently lived among the Vlachs. Read abaout Dafydd Ellis at www.farsarotul.org/nl21_6.htm. Ways of life we may see as outdated, like nomadic shepherds, may have more important kinds of anchors than we offer ourselves? See the extent of the ranges of the Vlachs at www.eliznik.org.uk/RomaniaHistory/vlach-south.

And the post on Vlachs in this blog.

This gallery one is breathtaking on Romania. www.pbase.com/bauer/romania&page=all.

More blogs about Romania Road Ways.

Maramures: In the country, people, villages, traditional.

2006-10-30T23:38:00.000-05:00

Traditional clothing is not seen as much as before, I understand. We saw people dressed traditionally on feast days mostly. These are from the Maramures area, off the main roads. See www.romaniatourism.com/villages.

Great numbers of people going to church, or returning, or socializing. The wooden churches are World Heritage Sites. See www.geocities.com/MadisonAvenue/7569/mypage., This has music, so you may want to reduce the volume. I increase it, myself.

Maramures: Ieud; WWII, Moisei: Roadside Memorials, and Sighet Prison, WWII

2006-10-28T11:13:00.000-04:00

Maramures is a northwestern region with strong traditions and rural villages. See Ieud at www.puzzleworld.org/Maramures/ieud01.

We were never far from reminders of WWII tragedies. At Moisei, a little village on the way to Signetu Marmetje in northwestern Maramures, there is a particularly moving memorial. I understand that this had been a largely Jewish community, but numbers are not clear. See cja.huji.ac.il/NL14-Romania.

There were about 125 families. Villagers had fled to the forests to escape the Nazis, who followed and captured up to three dozen people, and after terrible things, shot them through the windows in the locked little farmhouse where they had been imprisoned. We found a standing-stone type of memorial here. www.puzzleworld.org/Maramures/moise01. Only the farmhouse itself was left standing. The rest of the town was burned to the ground and the inhabitants left to forage in the deep winter in the forests. It is now a small, industrial, dark town.

We are isolated here, without daily reminders of what people are capable of.

There is a pilgrimage festival at Moisei on August 15 every year, not connected to the war. We missed it, but here it is for you: www.leafpile.com/TravelLog/Romania/Ceremonies/Moisei/Moisei.

Sighetu Marmetiei is a city in the north north-east. The prison there, now The Museum of Arrested Thought, in Sighetu Marmetje, in the northeast, is open but guides are guarded in what they say. Enough is visible, however, to put together a great deal. For its history, see www.memorialsighet.ro/en/istoric_cladire_sighet.asp. In use?

Here intellectuals and government dissenters and others were kept, tortured and died, and we don't seem to be above it after all. See also "Prison of the Ministers," at www.beyondtheforest.com/Pages/RSR6.

Sapinta - Sapanta - The Merry Cemetery

2006-10-27T20:50:00.000-04:00

At Sapanta, past Sighetu Marmetje, you will find the Merry Cemetery where a carver years ago began carving wooden markers with the customary little roof shapes above. He showed in the carving and in words how the person died, or his or her place in the community. See Sapinta at www.puzzleworld.org/Maramures/sapin01.

You can see a butcher's life carved on the marker, with the sheep and calf, a housewife, people doing the ordinary things of life.

Then you look more closely, as in this picture, and there is someone being shot by a firing squad.

Elsewhere is a child about to be hit by a car. See Paul's Blog at neptunerising.blogspot.com/2006/11/romania-bucharest-transylvania-and.html. Fine closeup of one of the wooden markers, the child and the car. How she died is part of her life forever.

On another, someone translated for me the last words of one fallen body: as having just been trying to get home across the river, when some soldiers came along and shot him, for no reason. Another marker is of the wife, mourning.

Sapinta is in the north east, past Sighetu Marmetje. The original carver died in 1977, and the work is being carried on.

Sighetu Marmetiei: Elie Wiesel; Museum of Arrested Thought Political Prison, Traditional dress; festival of the cows

2006-10-26T00:35:00.001-04:00

Sighetu Marmetij, or Sighetu Marmetiei

This northern town holds vast contrasts. We were there for the Festival of the Cows, when the cows are brought down from summer pastures in the mountains, to the lower lands. Traditional dress is usually not seen in the cities, but performers are a common sight.

Dancer, Festival of the Cows, Sighetu Marmetij, Sighetu Marketiei, Maramures, Romania

Musicians, Festival of the Cows, Sighetu MarmeteieThe Festival of the Cows brings out musicians and musical troupes. There was a large banquet for officials, and music and dancing, to celebrate the bringing down of the cattle from the high pastures for the winter.

The skirts are heavy felted wool connected aprons front and back.

2. Sighetu Marmetiei, the town in northwestern Romania where Elie Wiesel was born, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, and who now is working with George Clooney (9/06) to promote action to stop genocide in Darfur. For the work and life of Elie Wiesel, see http://www.pbs.org/eliewiesel/photo/index for Elie Wiesel's "Sighet" - a nickname for the town - 1920-1939.

He was Chairman of the International Commission for the Holocaust in Romania. Read his speech regarding the holocaust at http://www1.yadvashem.org/about_yad/what_new/data_whats_new/pdf/english/004_Message_from_Elie_Wiesel.pdf. Read the full report at http://www1.yadvashem.org/about_yad/what_new/index_whats_new-report.html.

Yad Vashem is the Jewish national museum in Jerusalem.

3. The Museum of Arrested Thought is here, - one of the chain of political prisons, now open as a museum to visitors.

Guides are not open in responding to questions, however; our guide looked over his shoulder and shook his head. But most is self-explanatory. See prior post on Maramures and WWII. For more on the prison, and its torture, and a map of where the political prisons are, see Paul's Blog at Map of Russian prisons in Romania

How many of those have been used as US black prisons.

4. Gone. Cemetery locked. The Jewish population: This was Elie Wiesel's home. The Jewish population was decimated, and the cemetery is kept locked. For background on Jewish history in Romania, go to http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/romania. They undertook a strong resistance to the Nazis, I understand.

Romanian Heroes - identify as you go

2006-10-24T13:41:00.000-04:00

Identifying royalty, crown by sceptre by turban.
Which is this?

With the history of this area so new to the West, we recommend two steps: 1) Take a little history book - we had "Romania, An Illustrated History" by Nicolae Klepper, Hippocrene Books NY 2002. and 2) Start a list of names and dates and distinguishing features as you see the statues. Note the crown or headdress styles. I am not confident in the "images" internet search method - too many other people confused. No controls.

We saw recurrent people, identifiable by their headdresses or features. Much revered. A basic chronology:

1. Basarab I, Prince of Wallachia 1310-1352.

He unified Wallachia, from the Carpathian Mountains to the Danube River, and the Black Sea, including a part now the separate country of Moldova, and defied the Hungarians who controlled much else by refusing tribute. He defeated the Hungarians in a mountain pass area, and fended off the Tatars who controlled the region of Moldavia in the east.

2. John Hunyadi - 1441-1446, Transylvania - Hungarian-appointed voievod (name for ruler). A/k/a/ Janos Hunyadi, Iancu de Hundeoara. See his castle here. Like governor. Great military leader, many victories on behalf of King Sigismund of Hungary. Became governor of Hungary for a while.

3. Matthias Corvinus - statue in Cluj Napoca. King of Hungary and son-in-law of John Hunyadi. Arrested Vlad III Dracula, imprisoned him.

4. Mircea the Old - Wallachia - 1386-1395, and 1397-1418 Bucharest

5. Vlad Dracul - Wallachia province. 1436-1442, 1443-1447 -

Father of Vlad III Dracula. Dracul meant Dragon. He was bestowed with the Order of the Dragon, a crusading order (award in Nuremberg), so was known as Vlad Dracul or Vlad the Dragon. Later assassinated by John Hunyadi, of Hungary. See Hunedoara post here.

6. Vlad III Dracula - Wallachia province. 1448. 1456-1462 and 1476.

Dracula-son of Dracul. Attacked Turkish forces. On-again-off-again support from Hungarians, obtained throne, then killed in battle against them. Had become known as Vlad Tepes, Vlad the Impaler.

7. Stephen the Great - 1457-1504. In Moldavia province.

Cousin of Vlad III Dracula. King, fought Turks. Commissioned many monasteries. After a victory, shot an arrow off a hill and sited the next monastery there.

8. Michael the Brave - 1593-1601.

See turban-type shaped (not wound) headdress, feather, large, sloping bulbous to the leftStatue in Cluj, a historical hero, rides high in the city park here. See photo album at www.ici.ro/romania/en/orase/cluj. Overcame Turks.

9. Mattei Basarab - 1632-1654, Wallachia. Turban style headdress in shape, but floppy hat style, not wound.

10. Basil the Wolf, Moldavia 1634-1653

Barsana Monastery and towering steeples

2006-09-09T09:11:00.000-04:00

Many monasteries, but each style represents a historical period with its invasions and need for defense, and culture group differences. In Maramures (not exclusive), many monasteries and churches are unpainted wood, see Barsana at www.puzzleworld.org/Maramures/barsa01, with its stratospheric spires. The timbers are massive. Surrounding forests are being deforested (is the government overseeing anybody? we don't oversee ourselves much, environmentally, but worth asking).

In another one, under construction near Sapanta, we were able to climb 'way up. Here is one outside staircase to the interior. The basic construction was post and beam.

Horezu Monastery

2006-09-09T08:59:00.000-04:00

This monastery is a World Heritage site. See Horezu at www.cimec.ro/Monumente/Lpm/UNESCO/Hurezi/hurezien. The style is called Post-Byzantine Art Synthesis, and is widely seen.

Here is an elderly monk. Sometimes the facades at monasteries are similar, but I think this was also at Horezu.

Moldova, Moldavia - Romania until 1991

2006-09-06T21:21:00.000-04:00

A country's history is also known by its borders. Some of a country's turmoils are rooted in forced border changes, or voluntary migrations, and many other factors. Look at a map, and you will see a tiny country bordering Romania, called Moldova, or Moldavia. This country was an independent state beginning in the early 1500's, but was ruled for centuries by Romania as part of "Bessarabia." It then became part of Romania in 1918, and again independent in 1991, and in that period, was also a small state in the former USSR.

See the e-museum site of The University of Minnesota at Mankato, MN,
offers a full-service museum-type website at www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/oldworld/europe/moldavia. This gives a good introduction to the history, cultures and archeology of the area.

Curtea de Arges Monastery

2006-07-27T10:14:00.000-04:00

Curtea de Arges, Orthodox Church 1517. This was built by Basarab I, and with eye-opener origins in (legend? fact? both?). The story is that the lives of the workers were taken so they could not create such beauty again. See www.rotravel.com/romania/monasteries/arges. One did try to escape, and did not survive. Another story involves another sacrifice - a builder's wife. You can read about that at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtea_de_Arge%C5%9F_Cathedral.

At Curtea, there will be a sign as you begin the road north to the Carpathians and the Transfagarasan Pass, where Vlad III Tepes (the Impaler) had his castle, now a ruin at Poinari Citadel. The sign says whether the pass is open or not. We went without seeing the sign, all was open, and there are places to stay if you are stuck. Just don't drive after sunset if you can help it - few markers to the next stopping point.

Driving. Sharing the road; hints and cautions

2006-06-22T09:51:00.001-04:00

Driving in Romania

Horse cart, Romania

1. Sharing the road.

Expect to share it with horse carts, ox carts. The transportation for rural people in the east is animal, and animals also do the plow/farm work.

I understand that a law now prevents the horse carts from the major roads. How do rural poor people now get around?

Horse carts are everywhere but the high mountain passes. Towns, cities, countryside. also in the towns and cities. Does the prohibition further marginalize the poor, without providing an alternative.

In the industrialized west, there were tractors pulling the wagons of produce and hay - it was 10 days, however, in Romania before we moved out of the agricultural east and center, and saw a tractor.

Oxen are usually not on the major roads. We were there at harvest time, October, so the loads on wagons were huge.

Ox team wagon, Romania

2. Driving rules

See Romanian driving rules at http://www.enzia.com/Pages/Car5. The car of choice is the practical Dacia. See it new at http://www.daciaclub.eu/romanian_carmaker_manufacturer_dacia.php, and old everywhere else. They go with duct tape and fit a dozen people at once. The Dacians occupied Romanian land in the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans, see http://www.eliznik.org.uk/RomaniaHistory/dacia.htm.

The Roman Emperor Trajan finally conquered this powerful kingdom in about 105 AD -- that late, and after fierce warfare. See Dacian culture at YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S61vFE8swUk

Check the US government info on any country where you plan to drive. For example, go to travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1004. The Romanian tourism people are also helpful. See www.romaniatourism.com/while.

Afterpost- 1/2/07 - with Romania now in the European Union, what will change? Not sure.

I saw no accidents. People are courteous, but go very fast. Just watch for everyone else on the road, on foot or with animals, and pass fast in and out yourself. Other drivers will slide over and make room, I found. There are people carrying firewood and other necessaries on their backs on the roads. We just went slow and did fine, even on back roads.

Avoid night driving. If dark comes upon you, creep. All bets are off. The horsecarts and some of the older cars do not have lights or reflectors. Fog settled in one day (very fitting - at the Hotel Castel Dracula, Transylvania, east of Bistrita at Piatra Fantanele). We stayed at the hotel, reading and chatting until noon, as did most everyone else.

Drive on the right. Drivers are on the right side of the road, and very skillful.

1. Driving in Romania

It is easy to drive in Romania. Their alphabet is Roman, as ours, so names are easy to read, easy to find. Roads may end unexpectedly, so build in extra time for the turn around and finding another way.

Dim Transfagarasan Pass, dusk. Roman

Passing. In passing, the customs are different.
The passer tailgates. The slower vehicle immediately pulls over halfway on the burm or as far as possible. The passer whizzes out over half the center line, looks, then keeps whizzing past or pulls back in. The slower one meanwhile leaves plenty of room. The passer seldom has to go entirely into the oncoming traffic lane -- I did not see one accident caused by passing. I only saw one fenderbender in a town, a usual rearender.

Roundabouts. Most sites on driving in Romania are alarmist. Not so. Just keep going around the roundabout until you can slither off, and watch who is ahead and beside you first, then look behind.

Dogs. Watch out for the stray dogs. They are quick, but all over. Some estimates are 2,000,000. Just go slow, and keep your hands in your pockets. The situation is tragic. Dog hell, says this site : Dog hell. Horrible to read about, but if you are going there, you will see them. During a Ceaucescu relocation period when entire neighborhoods parts of great cities were being torn down and enormous public buildings put up, the government did not permit people to take their pets. So they were set loose, many survived and are all over as feral cockers and feral pekingese and everything else huge and little. No neutering program until too late. Now the government is just trying to get rid of them. Many beautiful dogs there, many sick. Many. I did not see dogs run over, though. Drivers are careful. But the news accounts say worse, things a passer-by does not see.

Itinerary After The Fact

2006-05-31T15:59:00.000-04:00

Bucharest - Snagov - Sinaia - Brasov - Rasnov - Bran - Curtea de Arges - Poinari Citadel - Transfagarasan Pass (check at southern end to check that it is open) - Sibiu - Sighisoara - Targu Mures - Bistrita - Piatra Fantanele - Putna - Moisei - Ieud - Sighetu Marmetei - Sapanta - Cluj Napoca - Alba Iulia - Hunedoara - Targu Jiu - Horezu - Calimaneste - Ramnicu Valcea - Targoviste - and Bucharest.

See also www.europeroadways.com.

Brancusi, sculptor - Roadside art, and Mystery Man

2005-01-25T20:07:00.000-05:00

We came across this large carving in the middle of an S curve in the mountains - workmen farther down said it was by Brancusi. It did not look like a Brancusi, but I am no expert. It is a fine kind of totem pole. Will try to look it up. See www.brancusi.com/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=10&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DBrancusi%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26rls%3DTSHA,TSHA:2005-32,TSHA:en. Again, if the address is long here, just stop at the dot com and see what else you need. But by whom? The mystery remains. For some of his work, see www.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/brancusi/overview. This one was just suddenly there.

And who was this gentleman, in the middle of somebody's orchard as we drove by. Does anyone know what Brancusi looks like?

Who did this? Who is it? More fun not knowing. Spontaneity in Romania - these things just appear.

Cows of the household

2005-01-25T19:54:00.000-05:00

The cows coming down from pasture in the evening are often in single file, or double, coming through the village. Each weaves off at the home street, lumbers and sways down the center or the side, and stops at the gate of its household, and just waits for someone to open the gate.

Once, Dan was taking a picture of something else, in the dirt road, not too far from our pensione when a tan one made its way slowly right toward him. Much surprise, no harm, no threat, but the idea of a partnership with one's cows, completes a circle of life somehow. No adversarial profitleeching, downer-torturing feed lot. We don't have all the answers.

Travel packing: One to wash, one to wear, one for spare: plus:

2005-01-25T19:48:00.002-05:00

Travel Packing

What to take into an unknown. In the fall, how cold will mountain areas be. What is needed. We took too much, but it all fit in our backpacks plus the small duffel we -- in those days -- could send through at no cost. Fit the categories of items in plastic bags, one per type of clothing, and all in a backpack. Then the security people can rummage more eaasily.

Looking back after a few years, see what we took, and what we did not need: Dan, the gent, had about the same.

Ladies: lightweight, fast-dry; basically one of each to wash, one to wear, and one for spare. We now, after several years, are down to one to wash and one to wear.

One lightweight duffel-backpack, with extra nylon empty duffel inside for overflow and to keep in the car for the seldom-wears.

Two synthetic poly long pants, black, tan. One belt. One pair black jeans (Skip jeans - too heavy).

One black wind-rain top, with hood.

One fleece jacket. Skip that. Use the sweaters.

Two synthetic turtlenecks, black and gray. One would do, but I liked a change.

Two cashmere pullovers, black and gray. Keep the two, if you do without a fleece.

Two short sleeve synthetic T-shirts, red and black. Ok.

One pair hiking boots. Skip that.

One pair black walking shoes, slip-ons, no laces. Keep it simple.

One pair lightweight black flats - a must. Double as slippers, eating out. Keep those.

One longish skirt (splurge on Patagonia, and this is not a paid site but they do a good job)

long-ish, in case Orthodox monasteries require that ladies not remind men that women also have two appendages, called legs
a skirt like this was needed in Greece, where they forced a long hip shawl on you ifa you came in pants, but not in Romania after all.
The skirt still was nice for pretend dress-up for dinner once in a while.

One wool watch cap. We could skip that. Pull up your hood and endure.

One pair gloves. Skip

Three pairs socks; one pair knee-hose. Two is enough. Wash and wear.

Three pairs underwear, tops and bots. Two pair of underpants and two bras will do. Dry them on the back seat.

One lightweight robe, for trekking to bath. Not needed. Take instead a substantial T-shirt dress, sleep in it, lounge in it, have a belt, and sashay down the hall fully dressed. I have a black heavy T-shirt dress now. Can go to dinner in it. No dedicated nightgown at all.

Beauty. What?

Minimal jams and jellies. Yes. Your gorgeousness will survive two weeks of deprivation. Does anyone else care if you have liver spots? No.