Finally we're back in Romania! And it feels so good to be here again. It took a seven hour train ride from Budapest to get to Cluj, and there were a few stops in between. So, it was a long way, but any trip pales in comparison to the trans-Atlantic one we took to get to Hungary! Once in Cluj, we called Eric (our dig director) and let him know we were on our way. One fidgety hour-and-a-half later, we were in Zalau and had a happy reunion with Eric. He took us up to Porolissum, and it was so nice to be back on familiar streets.
Another happy reunion was had with Alexandru (the other dig director), and Erin, who was with us last year. I met the seven new students. They're all very nice and I'm starting to get a feel for each of them, and I'm pretty sure I can remember all their names now, which is a good start! Alexandru made us "kiss the bottle" of tuica, which was just as horrendous as I remember, but then, I still regard the drink fondly (it made for lots of good memories last year!)
Yesterday was our first day digging and I'm already feeling sore, both from the physical work and from slight sunburns. I feel like today was more productive, because I had more variety in my work, like digging, cleaning, brushing, and sifting. It was good to see the Romanian workers from last year, like Anna and Cristina, who brought us seven jars of homemade strawberry and cherry jam (Val, Erin and I all took some jars for our very own stash, but we'll probably share anyway).
It's Canada Day tomorrow, so we'll dress up, share stickers and Canadian souvenirs and have a fun day. I think the actual celebration will be merged with Independence Day, and we'll have quite the feast.
That's pretty much all to report for now. We're going to hang out together downtown for awhile, and probably eat dinner at Pizza King, a beloved hangout from last year.
'Til next time!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
New faces and happy reunions
So after our wondefull stay in Budapest, we spent the day travelling to Romania. It took a cab , a train and a bus to get there..but we made it and Eric picked us up at the bus station so it was very nice to see a familiar face. We met the new team, they seem very nice. There are more guys than last year which is cool. Had my first shot of tuica and some good homemade wine and gave hugs to everyone. Alexandru said he would help me out with my career in Museum studies, said he would have me work with him during and/or after my studies. So needless to say I will hold him to his offer. We started digging yesterday...holy poop am I ever out of shape! I am so sore and so stiff...but sooon I will be muscular and able..and tanned. The new girls at camp also managed to get a Romanian to bring us a trampoline for a few days..so awesome. Oh and Christina, a romanian worker, had promised us some of her famous homemade jam and we were greeted with 7 or 8 jars this morning. Sooo good. Finally...I must say I am happy to be back in the land of meat and potatoes...and delicious desserts and mostly free booze and dirt.
Our dear friend Annie arrived today, it has been a great reunion and we are sure to have a good time these next few weeks.
Oh...and the archaeology...eh....um...I found a nice jar handle today haha.
Anyways all is well in Romania..more news in a few days!
Val :)
Our dear friend Annie arrived today, it has been a great reunion and we are sure to have a good time these next few weeks.
Oh...and the archaeology...eh....um...I found a nice jar handle today haha.
Anyways all is well in Romania..more news in a few days!
Val :)
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Two Days' Account
June 26, 2009:
We were hoping to do the Great Synagogue and Aquincum but poor weather changed those plans. Instead we took a full tour of the synagogue, which included the prayer hall itself (which is beautiful and is easily the nicest synagogue I've ever been in), the Memorial Tree, and the small museum. The Memorial Tree is really nice, it looks like a sort of metal weeping willow, and the leaves are inscribed with the names of those lost in the Holocaust - people could make a donation in order to have the name of a family member put on the tree. We also learned about Raoul Wallenberg and some others who made great efforts to facilitate the escapes of thousands of Jews during that time. As Val says, the Museum really was a crash course in Jewish history and religion, it had all the major items associated with each holiday, like the Torah, menorahs, shabbat candles, passover plates, marriage contracts and funerary objects, as well as an extra room devoted to events of World War II in Hungary.
After the synagogue, the weather was still very ugly, so we went back to the hostel so I could pick up my rain coat, and headed back out. We hopped the Metro across the river and wandered the Castle District. We managed to see the Royal Palace, Matthias Church (part of which was under construction), Fishermans' Bastion and the underground Labryrinth. The maze was easily the best part of the day, as it had rooms with various themes and lots of wondrous strange statues, carvings and paintings.
That was pretty much all we did for the day. We made a quick shopping trip at the grocery store next door and picked up pasta and sauce for dinner. We also fulfilled our new tradition of sharing a bottle of wine (a tradition we started last tear in Bucharest), which was really very good.
June 27, 2009:
It was a nice morning as we made our way to Aquincum, the ancient Roman town located just outside of Budapest. We found it to be more spread out than Ostia Antica in Italy, but just as impressive. They had uncovered various houses, shops, and other buildings; lots of monuments and engravings were out for exhibition. A really neat feature was something called a Chronoscope, which you could look through like a telescope, rotate it around to look out at the reconstructed ruins, and it would show you what that place would have looked like in the past, complete walls, roofs, windows and all. We took a quick look through the museum as well, and they had uncovered some amazing artifacts, things we could only hope to uncover at Porolissum.
As soon as we left Aquincum, these ugly clouds rolled in and it began raining on us. We took up a brisk walk back to the train station. Happily, the rain had stopped when we returned downtown, and the sun came back out occasionally. We changed into our swimsuits and packed up towels for the trip to Gellert Baths. It was such a relaxing experience. The men and women had separate rooms, which was small and enclosed, and very quiet. The room had two baths of different temperatures, one which was 36C and the other was 38C. You'd go into the cooler one first (which was still very warm), then switch to the other and it would feel so hot. When you switched back, the pool felt cooler and so soothing, but still a lovely warm temperature. We stayed for a good hour and a half, just going back and forth.
After the baths we returned and dropped off our wet things. Next was the search for a nice restaurant to finish off our stay in Budapest. It took some time but we found a good spot nearby called Bali Caffe. I had the breaded turkey with mushrooms and gratinated cheese on top, and Val had Pasta Carbonara. We each had a glass of this sweet, fruity wine, and overall, it was just a very nice dinner. We had expressed the hope of having a shot of palinka while in Hungary, because it seemed proper, but it would've been too expensive at that restaurant. So we were resigned to go without, but the waiter surprised us with free shots! It was a flavoured palinka, with honey and while it was really strong (Val kept making faces, it was hilarious), it was also tasty. Needless to say, we were feeling pretty good when we were walking back to the hostel.
We ended the night - after a quick break in our room - with a last-minute stroll up to the chain bridge, because it was recommended that we see it at night. It really is a beautiful sight, and we didn't realize until we crossed it that it was lined with all these stalls selling various products. It would be a great opportunity for trinket-shopping. We walked further up on the Buda side so we could also take a picture of Parliament at night. Power-walked back to the hostel and we have a final night in the city.
Tomorrow we get up early for a morning train to Cluj-Napoca in Romania, where we'll have to hop a bus to Zalau and then another ride (probably by taxi) to Porolissum. It will be a fun day of travelling tomorrow!
From here on in, the updates will become more infrequent as we'll only make it into town about once a week for Internet updates.
We were hoping to do the Great Synagogue and Aquincum but poor weather changed those plans. Instead we took a full tour of the synagogue, which included the prayer hall itself (which is beautiful and is easily the nicest synagogue I've ever been in), the Memorial Tree, and the small museum. The Memorial Tree is really nice, it looks like a sort of metal weeping willow, and the leaves are inscribed with the names of those lost in the Holocaust - people could make a donation in order to have the name of a family member put on the tree. We also learned about Raoul Wallenberg and some others who made great efforts to facilitate the escapes of thousands of Jews during that time. As Val says, the Museum really was a crash course in Jewish history and religion, it had all the major items associated with each holiday, like the Torah, menorahs, shabbat candles, passover plates, marriage contracts and funerary objects, as well as an extra room devoted to events of World War II in Hungary.
After the synagogue, the weather was still very ugly, so we went back to the hostel so I could pick up my rain coat, and headed back out. We hopped the Metro across the river and wandered the Castle District. We managed to see the Royal Palace, Matthias Church (part of which was under construction), Fishermans' Bastion and the underground Labryrinth. The maze was easily the best part of the day, as it had rooms with various themes and lots of wondrous strange statues, carvings and paintings.
That was pretty much all we did for the day. We made a quick shopping trip at the grocery store next door and picked up pasta and sauce for dinner. We also fulfilled our new tradition of sharing a bottle of wine (a tradition we started last tear in Bucharest), which was really very good.
June 27, 2009:
It was a nice morning as we made our way to Aquincum, the ancient Roman town located just outside of Budapest. We found it to be more spread out than Ostia Antica in Italy, but just as impressive. They had uncovered various houses, shops, and other buildings; lots of monuments and engravings were out for exhibition. A really neat feature was something called a Chronoscope, which you could look through like a telescope, rotate it around to look out at the reconstructed ruins, and it would show you what that place would have looked like in the past, complete walls, roofs, windows and all. We took a quick look through the museum as well, and they had uncovered some amazing artifacts, things we could only hope to uncover at Porolissum.
As soon as we left Aquincum, these ugly clouds rolled in and it began raining on us. We took up a brisk walk back to the train station. Happily, the rain had stopped when we returned downtown, and the sun came back out occasionally. We changed into our swimsuits and packed up towels for the trip to Gellert Baths. It was such a relaxing experience. The men and women had separate rooms, which was small and enclosed, and very quiet. The room had two baths of different temperatures, one which was 36C and the other was 38C. You'd go into the cooler one first (which was still very warm), then switch to the other and it would feel so hot. When you switched back, the pool felt cooler and so soothing, but still a lovely warm temperature. We stayed for a good hour and a half, just going back and forth.
After the baths we returned and dropped off our wet things. Next was the search for a nice restaurant to finish off our stay in Budapest. It took some time but we found a good spot nearby called Bali Caffe. I had the breaded turkey with mushrooms and gratinated cheese on top, and Val had Pasta Carbonara. We each had a glass of this sweet, fruity wine, and overall, it was just a very nice dinner. We had expressed the hope of having a shot of palinka while in Hungary, because it seemed proper, but it would've been too expensive at that restaurant. So we were resigned to go without, but the waiter surprised us with free shots! It was a flavoured palinka, with honey and while it was really strong (Val kept making faces, it was hilarious), it was also tasty. Needless to say, we were feeling pretty good when we were walking back to the hostel.
We ended the night - after a quick break in our room - with a last-minute stroll up to the chain bridge, because it was recommended that we see it at night. It really is a beautiful sight, and we didn't realize until we crossed it that it was lined with all these stalls selling various products. It would be a great opportunity for trinket-shopping. We walked further up on the Buda side so we could also take a picture of Parliament at night. Power-walked back to the hostel and we have a final night in the city.
Tomorrow we get up early for a morning train to Cluj-Napoca in Romania, where we'll have to hop a bus to Zalau and then another ride (probably by taxi) to Porolissum. It will be a fun day of travelling tomorrow!
From here on in, the updates will become more infrequent as we'll only make it into town about once a week for Internet updates.
Friday, June 26, 2009
aMAZEing Buda
So today, we started off with a pretty decent game plan, but ended up changing it due to the fact that it was raining, like hardcore. In the morning and early afternoon, we took a tour of the great synagogue where I got a crash course in Jewish history and learned about the hollocaust and how it affected Hungary. After a light lunch, we decide to cross the river(and ride the easy to use even though we dont understand Hungarian) Subway to the Buda side of the city where we checked out the Buda castle and the district that surrounds it. We got to see the castle, fishermans bastion and best of all the underground labyrinth. Now the labyrinth was the highlight of my day. It was creepy, cool, dark and extensive, with crazy random exibits and a fountain covered with ivy...but instead of water flowing...its aromatic red wine...niiice. There was also a section called the labyrinth of courage which was a section completely dark. I kept walking into poor Dara and wacking myself on the rocks...It was too funny. All this to say, that we had a great full day in Budapest and so far I really love the city. Also Im finding Hungarian men more attractive then Romanians...but ssshhh dont tell them that :P
Val
Val
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Babies should not be allowed to fly
Hello! Well I survived another couple of flights. After hours of waiting, we boarded our huge-omongous flight to Paris (45o people). It was quite good actually...minus the non-stop crying babies..ugh. Anyways, we found our hostel which is right next to the Danube on the Pest side and we plan on fighting the jetlag and go for a walk to check it out.
I promise a better post tomorrow
Val
I promise a better post tomorrow
Val
Budapest, ahoy
We are now in Budapest, after a long day of travel. It seems like it took ages just to get here, so we're both quite relieved to have finally arrived; now we can begin to slow down and start to enjoy our time here.
We've checked into the hostel, taken a little nap and now we're going to go out and explore. The city centre seems rather nice so far!
That's all for now, I'll have more to report later.
We've checked into the hostel, taken a little nap and now we're going to go out and explore. The city centre seems rather nice so far!
That's all for now, I'll have more to report later.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Introduction!
Val and myself are embarking on another trip to Europe. We'll be spending all of July at Porolissum in Romania, but that's bookended by a three-night stay in Budapest, Hungary for sight-seeing, and then we have an extra five days or so after the excavation to explore the bits of Romania that we wanted to see last time, but didn't get to. At this moment, I'm still in Toronto, and will soon board a train for Ottawa where I'll stay a night. Then the next day, we'll head to Montreal and fly out from there. So, for myself, not taking my laptop to Ottawa, I will be on Internet-silence (shocking, I know.)
The flight (with a stopover in Paris) to Budapest occurs in the evening of June 24th. We'll arrive in Hungary on the 25th and as the hostel has Internet access, we'll update again from there.
For all you visitors to this blog, you can leave comments without having an account. There's a drop-down menu below each post with a "Name" option, and you can select that to let us know who's leaving the comment, or just put your name in the comment itself. Or leave no name, be mysterious!
I hope this blog will make for some good vicarious living, and assuages fears as to our health, safety and well-being (I'm looking at you, Mom.) Please come back now and then!
I think I can speak for myself and Val when I say we are incredibly excited, and are just itching to be back on European soil. New adventures await!
The flight (with a stopover in Paris) to Budapest occurs in the evening of June 24th. We'll arrive in Hungary on the 25th and as the hostel has Internet access, we'll update again from there.
For all you visitors to this blog, you can leave comments without having an account. There's a drop-down menu below each post with a "Name" option, and you can select that to let us know who's leaving the comment, or just put your name in the comment itself. Or leave no name, be mysterious!
I hope this blog will make for some good vicarious living, and assuages fears as to our health, safety and well-being (I'm looking at you, Mom.) Please come back now and then!
I think I can speak for myself and Val when I say we are incredibly excited, and are just itching to be back on European soil. New adventures await!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
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