Totems aren't just for poles!

It's now Day 3 - Suspend time why don't you. I'm only doing this so I don't forget what a fantastic time we had!!

Memories of muddy roads, cows, goats and horses and carts. The Turbo version of that last is when you see the cart pulled by one horse and the turbo horse trotting along beside or behind. The Supercharged version?? Ea-sy! TWO horses towing and one extra!

First impressions of the Romanian countryside was just how much poorer it looked than Poland. Having said that, at least the fields were large - Not strip framing. But there again, this was the result of collectivisation! Very few tractors were in evidence and in addition to this, very little mechanisation of any kind.

First stop - a wood carver's home which houses the 15th generation of carvers! Beautiful work - even the gate was amazingly carved. Inside the ground the family had their own totem. Moving on, we went next to see a mill.

This mill still produces all the flour and animal feed for the district. It was great to see something that was still in use - complete with cats, one of whom was in grave danger of being adopted by us! The mill owner's widow gave us coffee - I do like Romanian coffee - and her family were most hospitable. Bearing in mind that this is a Hungarian speaking region, there's a lot to consider including how they are treated. More of that later.

Many villages still have and use the village pump for water. Or, as we saw, people will come to the mill to get water form the mill lade. We even saw a woman washing the laundry in the river. It was winter folks. How lucky are we with all our mod cons?

Next off to see a cemetery. Not just any old cemetery, but one with totems as well as grave stones. Now here's the swift guide: Tulips. If the tulip is closed, it's a man's grave; if it's open, it's a woman's. The carvings tell about dates of birth, death, occupation and even children. Got that? Good, as the test will be later. There were a couple of beautiful totems.

After lunch back at the Guesthouse (with wine of course!) we were taken on a walk to see the Count's Hunting Lodge. this once beautiful building had been wrecked by the Communists and needs a great deal of work to restore it. But ... the Count is doing just that. We had a wander round inside and it's just possible, using your imagination to 'see' how things would have been.

Returning to the Guesthouse for afternoon tea, we were greeted at the door by a most elegant gentleman who introduced himself "Hello, I'm Tabor, would you like tea?" Well, yes - it was the Count himself. We were very lucky to meet him and had a lovely chat over brandy and tea - oh yes - the home made brandy...6* stuff. Delicious. He explained that there is so much bureaucracy that it is taking a very long time to get permission to do things. I just hope he gets it all done as he has such wonderful plans. What's best? The fact that everything is local, so the benefits are often immediate.

And really, that was the 22nd December! Only a couple more days till Christmas!