A day in paradise

I slept in my rustic Saxon bed till about 8 am, when I woke up to my stomach growling. The French couple was already waiting for me at the breakfast, which consisted of fresh bread, feta cheese, some aubergine spread, tomatoes, pepper and about 6 kinds of different house-made jams - I tried each and everyone of these, with the strawberry getting the Biker Balazs Seal of Approval. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the two huge poached turkey eggs (all of this for 15 Lei or 4 Euros), pretty incredible. As it was a rainy morning, I decided on staying a day in this paradise of the village, with the one dog, nine cats, turkeys and chicken.

After breakfast, I allowed myself the luxury for jumping back to bed, it is something I rarely do. It was around noon that I got ready and I walked up the main (and pretty much only) street, treating myself to an ice-cream at the central (and pretty much only) shop. As I was walking, I met a little boy who looked longingly at my ice-cream, so I asked his dad if I could get him an ice-cream and he welcomed the idea, mentioning he had not one, but three sons; so the four of us walked back to the shop, the boys were quite happy with their treat. There is a coffee shop close to the fortified church, they had some home-made cake, but being there, I also chose try the chorba soup. I am not sure where it all fit after the breakfast and the ice-cream, but somehow I managed to finish the entire serving (and then the cake). I am just collecting strength for the coming days.

After a short walk, I went on a smaller bike ride, to a traditional charcoal burner (Koehler), where a huge pile of wood is burnt slowly for about two weeks, with the charcoal then being sold. On the way back, I played with some of the children on the street, we sang some English songs (i.e. Happy Birthday and Merry Xmas). They appreciated my trick with the elastic band.

Back to the hotel, it was time to lay down; after an hour or so, I was woken up by the owner, telling me dinner was served. And what a dinner it was, my countrymen. It was some schnaps, then some more chorba soup (really good), followed by the best main course I had in years: it was a delicious, tender lamb meat that melted in my mouth with some Romanian potatoes and salad. Yummmieeeeeee. Even though I wasn't too hungry (remember, the stuff I had till noon), I could not stop eating the lamb. To round it off, I had some nut cake with coffee.

So here I am and I can definitely can say it was an excellent decision staying here. I feel it will be tough to leave...ah, and I met a German couple who travel here every year for two weeks; I can only understand why. If anyone wants to come here, this is house #22.