Cetatea Fagarasului (photo: Ileana 2015)
We found Cetatea Fagarasului half-way between Brasov and Sibiu, an hour drive off the beaten path for foreign tourists. I would venture to say that we were the only overseas visitors on that drizzly morning. The fortress was surrounded by a fosse populated by black and white swans, perfect sentries for a castle that was often under Ottoman siege. Weeping willows lined the street leading to the entrance. Continue reading
Prejmer Citadel Walls Photo: Ileana Johnson 2015
Leaving our hotel in Brasov and barely avoiding two collisions from impertinent drivers who seem to be in so much hurry that they triple and quadruple pass other vehicles close to dangerous curves and impassable hills, we made our way a few kilometers north to the neighboring Saxon villages of Prejmer and Harman. Continue reading
Brasov Rally 5-21-15
Photo: Ileana Johnson 2015
On a beautiful sunny morning, May 21, 2015 when the Orthodox celebrated Ascension Day and Sf. Elena, we walked in the beautiful park downtown Brasov set at the foot of Timpa Peak, where a crowd had gathered in front of a large cross and several tombs of the young men and women killed on December 22-26, 1989, during the Revolution that toppled Ceausescu’s brutal communist regime. Some of them came to a rally and some were simply walking through the park. Continue reading
Photo: Ileana Johnson 2015
The plane was rocked violently on the tarmac at Dulles by a freak storm. The ten passengers and crew that had managed to board were wide-eyed, praying that the shaking of the Boeing 767 would stop soon and the boarding would resume. My husband was still in the terminal with the rest of the passengers. Lightning and wind gusts were so intense that boarding had been temporarily suspended.
The seven and a half hour flight to Zurich finally took off two and half hours late amid scary dark clouds and soul-rattling sudden altitude drops. Fortunately, as we reached a cruising altitude of 39,000 feet, everything calmed down and we settled into a routine of getting up, stretching, bathroom trips, and watching movies for seven and half hours. I can’t sleep on planes; all my limbs go numb rather quickly. Continue reading