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Monday, November 16th, 2009

Brasov, Romania

New apartment.
New neighbourhood.
New market.
New prices (surprisingly more like Germany than Poland)

Leo and Lili organised an apartment for us to rent for our month here. We said we only needed a small one, but this was an impossibility. No-one was willing to rent a small apartment to someone with eight kids. So we have ended up in a very spacious two-storey, two-bathroom sprawling mansion!! Just the entrance hall alone is bigger than the living space in both our motorhomes put together! Then there’s another hallway (even larger) upstairs, not to mention three double bedrooms, a kitchen bigger than we have at home, an ENORMOUS lounge and dining area and a balcony.
To call it two-storey is perhaps a little misleading. We have two floors, but they are both within the context of a six-storey building – up near the top. The rest of the block is occupied by offices, which are a hive of activity during the day, but quiet at night. There’s a 24hour security man and a view across a busy main road (bus stop right at the door) to apartment blocks.

Right on our street are small supermarkets, kiosks, pizzeria, petrol station, hair dresser (who also does manicures, pedicures and something we don’t understand), travel agent, light shop, second-hand clothing store (there are five of these within ten minutes’ walk in one direction), and, of course, a gazillion apartments.
One block over is a big supermarket – no, let me rephrase that. It is not big by French Carrefour standards, neither is it big by even Kiwi standards, but it is bigger than the more frequent little mini-markets. There is also The Market. A huge high-roofed affair, it has small shops around the outside – butcher, baker, cheese-ery, random-goods-store, and in the middle are rows of high wooden tables. Mostly fresh fruit and vegetables are displayed on these, but there are also hand-hacked wooden spoons, baskets, a great stack of dark grey dinner-plates and other miscellaneous items. There are four shining milk dispensers – bring your own bottle and go home with fresh raw milk!

Generally speaking the produce lacks the finesse of the Polish market – most probably because far less of it is imported. There ARE grapes and bananas, but not pineapples or avocadoes or mangoes. In contrast, there is plenty of horseradish, bunches of dried herbs, jars of pickled everything – in fact there are metre-high tubs of pickled gherkins and whole pickled cabbages – and there are parsnips, beetroot, carrots, potatoes, turnips, garlic, beans. Soup will definitely be on the menu. In fact, it already has been. Our favourite pumpkin soup has turned all the tastier with the addition of Eastern European sausage and sweet peppers. YUMMO.

 

The bread is delish. It’s reminiscent of South Italian semolina bread – crunchy crust, doughy inside, fairly solid. White, but not fluffy. It comes in big loaves – two kilos worth, but you just buy as much as you want. There are other breads too (brown, plaited, plain fluffy white, batons, rolls), but this big round loaf seems to be the main bread of choice. It’s certainly become our favourite.
Our sweets-ectasy of Krakow, was always going to be hard to replicate. It would be difficult to do in New Zealand, and we get the feeling it will be impossible here. The Romanian range of cakes seems to be more closely related to that in Bulgaria than Poland. In the shops, that is. At Lili’s apartment we had a divine pumpkin cake, and tomorrow we’ll make  scrumptious cinnamon and apple rolls at our place – but, thankfully, we will be spared the temptation of putting on weight here!

New Recipes.

CINNAMON ROLLS
1/2 C warm water
1 packet yeast (about 1t, I guess)
   Dissolve

1/2C scalded milk
1/3C butter
1/4C sugar
1t salt
1 egg
   Add in that order, allowing the butter to melt before adding egg

2C flour
   Add to milk mixture and mix until smooth
   Then add yeast mixture

1 1/2-2C flour
   Add a little at a time, until not too sticky
   Knead
   Set aside in a warm place (yay for radiators!) until doubled in size (~1 1/2 hours)
   Roll out into a large rectangle
   Cover with any of the following:
      butter, sugar (brown is nice, but we could only buy white), cinnamon, grated
      apple, chopped nuts (it’s walnut season here), chocolate chips (we didn’t!)
   Roll up tightly from the long edge and slice into as many pieces as you’d like
   (maybe about a dozen)
   Place spirals in a greased oven dish and set aside to rise for another half hour

Ours rose so much that there was no room to pour over the syrup and we just had to add it when serving, but if there is space in your dish, it’s really yummy to pour over a syrup made with 1/4C sugar and 1C water – goes nice-n-gooey.
Bake for 30 minutes, probably at 180*C, but we had a temperamental gas oven!

 

And LILI’S PUMPKIN CAKE (note 1C=150ml)
4 eggs
2C sugar
   Beat together

2C milk
1 packet vanilla
zest from one lemon, grated
2C oil
   Add

1T baking soda
pinch of salt
flour
   Add until the dough is no longer pourable, but not too thick
   In a greased oven dish, spread out half the dough

~1kg fresh pumpkin, grated
1C sugar
   Combine and spread over top of dough

1t cinnamon
~1C chopped nuts
   Sprinkle over and top with remaining dough
   Bake at 200*C for one hour
For a big oven dish, use six eggs and change the cups to 200ml!!!

LILI’s CHILLIES
Take about a kilo of chillies, chop them up and pack them into (probably four) jars.
Heat 1/2l vinegar, 1/2l water, 2T sugar, 2T salt, 1t peppercorns and 4 bay leaves. Pour over the chillies and seal the jars.
Cover with a towel and blankets for 24 hours (really, truly)

We added these to the soup Lili served the day we arrived.
She thought it hilarious that Rob then also added them to his layered potatoes.
Lili offered more with his coffee. This time he declined.
But we did eat more the following morning on eggs.

moving again

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

Budapest, Hungary

Our final day in Krakow is Independence Day. Undoubtedly there will be a big parade. Patriotism runs rife here. There will be red and white flags flapping, national costumes, brass bands, pomp and circumstance.
But it’s pouring with rain, absolutely bucketing down, and we make the decision to remain hermits in the hostel; we’re going to get wet enough walking to the bus station this afternoon. In over thirteen months, this will be the first time we have been stuck unavoidably in pouring rain with packs on our backs. Can’t complain really.

And we were right. There *was* a big celebration. As we stumbled along the puddle-filled cobblestone streets for the last time, we were not alone. The parade-goers were all heading home, still clutching their flags. The police were still stationed near important monuments  – remember the horse monument we walked past on our first night? As we left, it had an enormous flame burning in front of it, and the metal barricades were in the process of being removed. We definitely missed something.

But we gained something else. Obviously that day it had started snowing in the mountains and the children got to see for the first time what it looks like when snow is just beginning to fall – how the green grass still pokes through, how there are big dark shadows underneath trees, how it sticks just a little to the road signs, how you can still see the different patterns of tiles on roofs, how the trees are gently outlined. Further on was the deeper storybook snow similar to what we saw coming across Russia. And, just like back then, everyone wished aloud that we could STOP. 


please excuse photo quality – through foggy window on moving bus with snow falling outside

But public busses don’t stop. Although sometimes they DEPART half an hour early, even without all the passengers. And sometimes they double-book seats. At least, those are the experiences of some other people, who had previously used the company we picked. Our budget dictated that we take the risk – and make it to the station with plenty of time to spare. Our decision was well-rewarded. What a surprise; here was the nicest (by far) bus we have been on. Airline-style seats and overhead lockers, free hot drinks, onboard toilet for urgent cases (heehee), DVDs with personal headsets, smooth driving and a half-hour early arrival.

Good-bye Poland, hello Hungary (albeit briefly).

Quote of the day: ”My bed’s got bones in it.” ~ ERgirl3, who clearly did not appreciate the luxury of an innersprung mattress.

did you say swaziland?

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
Krakow, Poland There’s only one bus a week from Krakow that connects directly with the bus to Brasov. We tried to book it today, only to discover it’s full. So’s the one that leaves a week earlier and the one ... [Continue reading this entry]

then and now; old and new

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
Krakow, Poland  Letterboxes. You wouldn’t think there’s much to say about a letterbox, would you? But they symbolise today’s observations. Down in the lobby of our inner-city hostel, just like in all the other old buildings and new apartments in Poland, ... [Continue reading this entry]

tolls, tunnels and tzatziki

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
Corinth, Greece Well you couldn’t come to Greece and not buy tzatziki, could you? So we did. We also did tunnels – six of them in a row through one stretch of hillside (and then back again a few days later), ... [Continue reading this entry]

he lingers

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009
Capitolo, Italy We cut the breakfast rockmelon into eleven slices. Rob ate two, as Grandpa was out of reach, somewhere over the Indian Ocean. He joined us for lunch though – we discovered two emails from Dubai in the inbox just as ... [Continue reading this entry]

surprise drive

Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
by the back van driver Cordes sur Ceil, France We’ve taken you on strolls around villages, boat rides down rivers, treks across hills, trains across continents; we’ve taken you vicariously with us on tuktuks, tandems and even elephants. Today, would you ... [Continue reading this entry]

food (again) (well, this *is* France)

Friday, July 31st, 2009
by Rachael across the river, but still in Uzerche, France He stood at the baguette basket and picked up first one and then another, handled them gently, pressed a little, returned them until the best one was found. He was a ... [Continue reading this entry]

quick eats

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
by the cook Byland Abbey, 1/2 a mile from Wass, 1 1/2 from Oldstead, 6 1/2 from Helmsley, England My kitchen view keeps changing. This morning when I was chucking together the curry it was out across a huge grass reserve ... [Continue reading this entry]

boats * bikes * bargains

Friday, June 12th, 2009
by Rachael Burgum, Holland It sure is a pleasant place to be staying.

Now that the harbourmaster is satisfied the children will not rip up his lawn, kick their ball ... [Continue reading this entry]