SUNDAY 10 AUGUST
Saturday morning, we had barely finished our bread and spread, when news came that we had 15 minutes to grab our stuff and be ready to head down the mountain. The fog was rolling in, and if we did not leave soon, we’d be trapped for several more hours. Ana, Katarina and I made good time – we got off the mountain with the fog at our backs, walked the 4km downhill and got a lift to Kamnik bus station. Lojze and Gaya met me there. They had come down the day before, to get ready for our epic road trip to Romania. The ladies had another 20 minutes to wait for their connection.
I confess, I had a bit of an unwelcome shock readjusting from the bracing cold of Velika Planina to the summer heat of Brnik. I actually felt faint in the grocery and had to quickly drink something cold and sweet. Back at the house, a cold shower followed by a rest, and I was my old self again.
Essentials packed and ready for Romania
This morning, we left just after 720am, and began the long drive to Romania, a trip that was scheduled to take us 13 hours. The route took us from Slovenia through Hungary, and then into Romania, with a pause at the Hungary-Romania border check for a stamp in my passport. In between sleep and wake, I took some random photos of houses, haystacks, and storks nests on the lampposts… with my camera on sports mode, to capture images from a car moving at the required speed limit of 130kmph.
Warning sign – bandits benefit from you fixing a flat
Slovenia was mountainous. Hungary was flat. The temperature outside was 33 degrees, and as we passed the occasional walker, I was grateful to be in the car, with AC. At 1pm we were hungry, so we picnicked in Hungary (all puns intended), at a rest stop that was popular, but was more conducive to eat-and-run than to a relaxing picnic. Unfortunately the tables were within sniffing distance of the men’s WC. We did not stay long. The top sign in the photo amused me.
Fields of sunflowers lined the route from Slovenia through Hungary
I drowsed and woke to take photos and drowsed again, but for most, if not all the way, on either side of the highway, I saw fields of corn, and field of sunflowers, and fields of corn and sunflowers. These gave way to tracts of grassland, small forests and fields dotted with rolls of hay, before the corn and sunflowers repeated.
An example of a gypsy palace, ie a house for an extended family
Apart from the border stop, we crossed into Romania with little fanfare. We passed along a village main road, lined with what I was told were ‘gypsy palaces’ – installations of serious flamboyance. Another village lined its road with souvenir stands and possibly the largest collections of garden gnomes this side of Disneyland. Other villages sported compact houses with tiled roofs, grapevine arbours and fruit trees. It being Sunday, and it being very hot, the roads and pavements were deserted of pedestrians, however I did notice that some persons – young girls, older women, old men – were sitting on the roadside, either in quiet conversation or just watching the traffic roll by.
Roadside souvenir village
About an hour and a half out of Aiud, we stopped again to stretch our legs, and picnicked on sandwiches, yogurt and fruit on the edge of a grass verge. This was close to 720pm. The sun was still awake, but was slowly sinking, as were we. I mentioned that tonight there was to be a supermoon, and that as we were in the shadow of the Carpathian mountains before it got any darker, we should move on. (Visions of Bram Stoker.)
We arrived in Aiud at long last, and located the hotel Victoria, our base until 25 August. We also found Stefan and Zoltan Balog, the organisers of the Inter-Art art camp, who were happy we got to Aiud safely. By delightful coincidence, there was an international folk festival going on right outside the hotel. This was the last day, and there were well over a thousand persons, maybe more in attendance. We had a quick supper, and then went out to be part of the crowd. Gaya and I braved the rollercoaster, then took in a brief performance from a group from Georgia.
Gaya and I de-stress on the rollercoaster
I’ve seen the programme of events for the 2 weeks, and I am exhausted just looking at it. Tomorrow art camp begins at 8am. Will keep you posted.