Bars & Baars

Viscri, Romania

After settling in, we went for an orientation walk & were joined by some locals

Viscri is a tiny village of Saxon origin (although settled earlier by Hungarians), and therefore German speaking.  The village has a small fortified church (1100) where many years ago locals would retreat in times of attack.  It makes you realise how challenging life must have been in those days.

And understood why there was a good view from the lookout tower of the fortified church

Then we met the neighbours busy making wine,

and spelling his horse before going for a bit of a drive.

For accommodation, our group was split between three Saxon houses in the village, all owned and restored by host, Walter and his wife.  The rooms had warming fireplaces, original furniture and cosy feather pillows & quilts – European style.  Yep, winter was well and truly on the way!  Luckily, dinner was served in the cellar of our quarters so we did not have to wander far in the cold, sidestepping cows, goats, sheep, chickens, dogs, cats and pigs returning from a day in the fields.  We did though, do a pub crawl, much to the amusement of locals; well, two bars didn't present such a huge challenge!

Sleeping options were a tad traditional (yes, it's a drawer)

But GS preferred something a little more lavish (this was in the museum)

The local community runs a “sock project” and we purchased a couple of pairs of felt slippers that came in exceedingly handy as temperatures plummeted to single figures.  We also spent an hour tasting locally made jams.   The lady who makes them is part of the slow food movement and was about to embark on a trip to Turin (yes, Italy!) to have hers judged.  She was hoping to win with her two new jams, rose hip and gooseberry?  They were exceedingly good!   Just in case you want to stay, Prince Charles also owns a rental house in the village.  Does he know something about the property market in Romania that we don’t? 

Next morning, we waited until rush hour subsided before setting off

Now, who can remember which house had we stayed in?

In all it was a highly romantic experience out in the countryside surrounded by horse drawn carts (noting lucky red tassels on every bridle), watching farmers using wooden pitchforks making old fashioned hay stacks and others making wine and gathering firewood in preparation for the oncoming winter.  Two fat pigs scoffed food in a barn at the back of our house and roosters crowed all day, ignoring us completely.  Don't forget fella's that slow food's not all vegan!!