Wow, what an exciting week we had this week!! Like I stated in my last post we were fortunate enough to go to Budapest for the weekend, but I’ll get to that later….
Right after posting to my blog last week, a few of us (including myself) got to go to the Soimos ruins in Lipova. I was eager to go but was half expecting just a few rocks or something. I couldn’t have been more wrong! The Soimos ruins are the remains of a castle at the top of a mountain about 15 minutes away from where we are staying. It was amazing. It took some hard work to get up there but it was certainly worth the effort. I could have spent all day there. Climbing up the castle and running and jumping along the walls made me feel a bit like Nathan Drake from Uncharted (if you know who that is). Some of the walls were a good 30ft or higher. I love being able to explore without limits. In the states they would have fences up and signs saying not to climb the walls…..but not here. And the best part was there was no one else there. We had it all to ourselves for a couple of hours. It was so much fun. Afterwards we walked to a nearby monastery and spent some time checking it out.
On Friday morning we left for Budapest. It took about 4 hours to get there but Romi and his wife were nice enough to drive us there so we wouldn’t have to take the train. Once we got into Hungary we stopped at a really nice restaurant and had some Hungarian goulash. It was so delicious……and cheap. Once we got to our hotel we put our bags in our rooms and immediately left for the city. Seeing as we all wanted to do different things we decided it was best to split into small groups. My group was hungry so we decided to grab a bite to eat. After finding a nice Irish pub, we settled down, and I ordered some amazing fish and chips. We sat and talked for a couple of hours, enjoying our time together. When it was dark, we walked to the top of the citadel to check out the view of the city. And what a view it was. It was spectacular. As things often are, it was so worth the hard work to get there. Afterwards we traveled back to the hotel and rested for the big day ahead of us. The next morning we got up early and again raced to the city. If you know anything about Budapest you know that Baths are THE THING to do there. They have dozens of hot springs where people gather to relax. They’re like giant hot tubs. Most of the buildings where the baths are located are hundreds of years old. Anyway we found a nice bath to go to and spent a couple of hours just relaxing and enjoying the view. When we were finished we went to the top of Castle Hill near Buda Castle and checked out the underground labyrinths. They go on for miles and miles and have been used for thousands of years. It looked like a scene out of Lord of the Rings. When we were done exploring we found a nice café and spent some time relaxing by the Danube River, enjoying the sites while a violinist performed nearby. Also nearby was a man with the biggest hawk I have ever seen. For a price you could take pictures holding it. I couldn’t pass up an opportunity like that so I of course jumped at the chance. It was an awesome experience and one I won’t soon forget. We returned to our hotel as the sun was setting and began our trip back to Romania. Budapest was such a beautiful and amazing city and I hope that someday I can return.
When we returned home to the camp we helped Mihai with the little yard work there was left. Mostly just picking up large logs and sticks and picking up trash. Yesterday, Mihai took me about 5 minutes away from here to a man who sold sheep. And for about 30 seconds I was the proud owner of one of the nicest looking sheep in the herd. But of course I only wanted it for the meat. So they took me to the back of a shed where I killed and helped prepare it. When we got back, Mihai and I cooked it on the grill and we all ate like kings. I thought my stomach was going to explode. We did the math and discovered that a sheep could literally feed 30 people. Not just a little bit either. Feed them till they’re full. So we’ve been giving a lot away to some poorer people in the village and to Sophia as well. Needless to say we have all been eating a lot of sheep lately. Good thing it’s my favorite meat.
Well I feel like I’ve been talking forever so I’ll shut up now and let you get back to whatever it is you were doing. Thanks for listening and as always I’ll be sure to keep you posted….
