In the summer of 1999 we spent a week at the summer home of 10 Romanian children, aged between 7 and 13, rescued some years ago from the notorious state orphanages.
With several friends we helped to organise a 'Summer School' for the children, giving them lessons in English, some basic music lessons and the opportunity to try out various craft activities such as tie-dying and resist dying t-shirts, papier mache and simple kite making - we couldn't supply the necessary wind unfortunately!
We drove out, taking most of the supplies needed for the week, whilst the other members of the group flew out via Bucharest.
On our journey homewards we first visited the northern part of Romania called Bucovina. In this province there are a number of 'Painted Monasteries' - World Heritage sites in fact. They date mostly from the 15th and 16th centuries. Two of the most famous are those at Voronets and Humor, both conveniently near the small town of Gura Humorului at which we stayed. What makes these fortified monasteries so outstanding are the painted frescoes on the outside walls. After all the centuries and, laterly, the years of neglect they are still in a remarkable state of preservation.
At Voronets the blue paint used is so vivid and specific that the colour has become known as "Voronets Blue". The subjects of the frescoes are obviously religious in nature but the artists have often imbued them with a certain sense of humour, as in the portrayal of the Last Judgement both at Voronets and Humor. Some of the internal frescoes at Humor are remarkable, too, for the violence shown in the images. Heads are seemingly flying everywhere!
(Some of these images are scanned from photographs - others are frames 'grabbed' from a Hi8 video recording.)
Click on a picture to see it full-sized and use the 'back button' to return.
Sibiu - a Romanian town with a very "Austro-Hungarian" feel
It was once known as 'Hermannstadt'
The valley of the river Buzau
between Brasov and Buzau
Looking north towards the
Ukrainian border between
Suceava and Cluj Napoca
Shepherds with sheep - and storks!
Typical domestic architecture
in Northern Romania
Main Street - Panatau!
The river valley in which
the home is situated
Local kids - kids anywhere?
English lessons
in progress
"Hubble, Bubble". Stirring the t-shirts in the dye bath
Preparing the t-shirts for the paste resist
Lovely and
messy!
Kite making in progress
Making heads of
papier mache
Who needs a teacher to have fun!
The eastern end of Voronets
The west wall of the monastery
The west wall with
the "Last Judgement"
A detail of the "Last Judgement"
More details of
the "Last Judgement"
on the west wall
of Voronets
Some of the
frescoes on the
south side of Voronets
...and on the way to Humor!
The exterior of the Humor monastery
Coming to the boil!
Heads everywhere!
A new church near the Humor monastery
...and just to show that the trip was not TOTALLY intellectual!
An ice cream at our favourite czarda 'Eger' at Tihany on Lake Balaton, Hungary
Time for 'Kaffee und Kuchen'...
Sachertorte of course!
...on the terrace of the Cafe Winkler overlooking Salzburg
