Romania root trip July 2006

Start point - Bucharest @ Bucharest, Romania

2006-07-24T04:13:00.000Z

We arrived at the Lupulo Motel (3 stars) after a short flight from Israel. The motel had some insects, and wasn't clean, which was very disgusting. In the morning we realized the motel was situated around a farm, in the suburb of Bucharest.
It was the only hotel which was not clean during the whole trip.

Sinaia monestary @ Sinaia, Romania

2006-07-24T21:51:00.000Z

We were picked up by our tour guide/driver after breakfast. On the way to a town called 'Sinia' (called after Mount Sinai near Israel) we passed wagons and horse carriages. This is because the country is very poor, and people don't have many modern resources. We also passed an oil factory, which was a great oil resource for the Germans during World War 2. Nowadays, there is very little oil left and it is hardly useful.

In Sinia we visited an orthodox church. Savta says that it is very fun visiting her home country and even better, talking to our driver in Romanian, which she hasn't done in a while.

Sinaia Peles palace @ Sinaia, Romania

2006-07-24T22:11:00.000Z

We then drove to the Peles Castle, which was the King's summer palace. Unfortuanly the place was closed on that same day so we could not see it from inside. During the communist period, the state took over all private property including this palace. Now that democracy is restored, the state has given back the palace to the royal family, but the king himself cannot come back because he is not permitted to enter the country. The royal family is not as rich as it used to be, and does not have the money to maintain the castle. This is why the castle will be given back to the country in the future. Nearby there is another castle called 'The little castle' which was built for the Queen since she did not like the king's palace. That castle is much more modern.

Bucegi mountain @ Caraiman, Romania

2006-07-25T00:39:00.000Z

Later, we arrived to Bucegi mountains, we took the cable car up the mountain and on the way we saw ice since it was so cold up there. Unfortunately, Savta had to stay in the building up there because it was too cold for her. We took a hike to see two statues that were carved by wind and rain. First was the Sphinx, which looks like the famous one from Egypt, and the second was the 'Sitting old Ladies', which apparently looked like old ladies sitting around and chatting. We also saw Shepards with some funny looking hats talking to tourists. It is said that if they have their hats tilted to a certain side, they are in a certain mood. By the positioning of their hats, the two shepards appeared to be in a different mood.

Brasov, Romania @ Brasov, Romania

2006-07-25T03:01:00.000Z

Later in Brasov up on the hills we saw a sign that read 'Brasov' (just like the Hollywood sign). We walked on a pedestrian street which was filled with restaurants and the buildings were very old. We walked to the Black Church, which is catholic and got its name from the fire that took place a long time ago where the whole city was burned and the church's walls turned black. The church itself was built by merchants. Inside the church, the merchants used to sit according to their guilds.

Later, we drove up the hill to see the great view of old Brasov and new Brasov. And right now we are in a four star hotel called 'Villa Aron' which is NOT infected by bugs, and is very clean.

Bran, Romania @ Bran, Romania

2006-07-25T20:09:00.000Z

We woke up to a beautiful view in the Aron Hotel and again- to a farm. Our hotel did not have any food for breakfast and therefore we walked over to a nearby restaurant. On our way back we saw a motel called 'Vampire Camping' and soon realized that many things in this town are related to vampires since this was the town of famous Dracula.

Later, on our way to the Dracula castle, we saw cows and farmers on the road, who proved that this country is very poor. In the castle, we visited all the rooms. There was also a well that was carved into stone by Turkish prisoners who were promised freedom from the governor if they craved it. By the time they finished, which was 7 years later, the governor had changed and they were not let free. On the well you could see Arabic writing which says "You have water, but you don't have heart."

Sighisoara, Romania @ Sighisoara, Romania

2006-07-26T00:12:00.000Z

Romania has the only town from the Middle-Ages that it still inhabited (so they say), it is called Sighisoara. It still has the walls that were used to protect the city. We saw the clock tower, which had a Star of David on its roof because the Jews helped to build it. This was from the 13th/14th century, and the clock still works.
The city was preparing for Middle-Age festival, due two days after, but we missed it.
We also saw the actual house where Darcula was born.

We talked a lot about migration and Israel and Savta told us that before the second world war, people did not think about migrating to Israel. The only reason people would go there was because old and rich people wanted to die there. Savta's great-grandparents are buried in Tzfat in Israel. She remembers that when she was young, there was one family that went to Palestine, but after a couple of years they returned because there were too many mosquitoes.

Lacu Rosu @ Lacul Rosu, Romania

2006-07-26T03:59:00.000Z

From there we drove to Laku Ruso, which stands for RED LAKE in english. It was the best hotel till now, which also had amazing scenery surrounding it.
On the way there we heard the story of how Savta and Saba fled from Romania- After the war, Saba went to Bucharest for work for 2 years and after, he returned to Dorohoi. But, he needed to enlist to the Romanian army, and he did not want to. So he decided with Savta, to get married and to escape to Israel, illegally. So they drove to Transylvania, rented a room, and waited for someone who would help them escape, while waiting due to inflation, the price doubled from 12000000 lei to 250000000. Savta wanted to go back, but Saba refused, so they sold all their belongings and clothes, and managed to pay the smuggler and crossed to Hungary. From there they fled to Austria, where they joined many other Jews. They then fled to Italy and were put into a camp organized by the Joint. The Jewish men would go to mini army exercises to get ready for the independence war of Israel.
We talked about how our driver Sherban, is 23 years old, and speaks very good English, and if Savta had not fled to Israel, her grandchildren might have been in the same university as him, Omer, it means you........

Bicaz @ Cirnu, Romania

2006-07-26T21:14:00.000Z

Later, when we got to the Bicaz lake/Dam, there was a big cross, which apparently was dedicated to all the prisoners who died in the making of the dam. In the 70's, the communist regime wanted to build a hydroelectric dam to produce electricity, so they decided to build it in Bicaz, and it created a big lake which is the lake of Bicaz. For the building of the dam, they used political prisoners (forced labor). The conditions of living were very harsh for the prisoners, who tended to die after a few years of hard labor. So, the regime accomplished two goals- building the dam, and getting rid of their opponents.

Sucevita @ lon: 25.68 lat: 47.76

2006-07-27T01:18:00.000Z

When we got to Suchuvita we saw the painted monastery, which has all its walls painted and even the ceilings. There is one painting that shows the order of heaven and the outrage of hell.
* The painted monasteries in the area are protected by UNESCO as part of humankind's world heritage.

On the way we heard stories from Savta. She first told us about her Saba, who was originally around Austria. He and his brother decided to play with their luck and travelled to America. When they reached London, Savta's Saba was very homesick and decided to come back, while his brother continued his journey to America and eventually became a millionaire.

Another story she told us, was about Saba's family- During the war many Jews were deported from Dorohoi. Since Saba's father won a decoration in the 1st world war, he pleaded to the authorities to bring his family back, and indeed after 6 months they agreed to do so. Unfortunately, Saba's mom and his little brother already died.
After the war, his father remarried, so Saba moved with his sister Lisa to Bucharest to try their luck. Saba opened a shop but after 2 years returned to Dorohoi, took Savta and fled to Palestine. Lisa, got married with Saba's co-worker but then she got sick, got hospitalized, and later she traveled to Dorohoi and died there. Her tombstone cannot be found in the cemetery in Dorohoi, where Saba's father is buried, and so is Lisa and that's what we will see tomorrow.
We asked Savta if the Jews in Romania were religious. She said that most were either religious or traditional before the war. She remembered going to synagogues on Fridays and keeping kosher at home, but after the war many of the Jews lost belief and became non-religious.

Dorohoi - entering the town @ Dorohoi, Romania

2006-07-27T20:41:00.000Z

We started the day early because we wanted to be on our way to Dorohoi as early as possible. The drive seemed short and once we got to the entrance of the city Savta and aba got very excited. The entrance wasn't very welcoming and was not what we expected. The road was bumpy and covered with rocks but we were told that there once used to be pavement. Apparently, our driver accidentally took a shortcut but we were afraid that the entire city would be this way. But we found out that Dorohoi is bigger and is more modern than the villages we passed.

Dorohoi - Town hall @ Dorohoi, Romania

2006-07-27T21:56:00.000Z

We started the tour in the centre of the city, which was the first place that Savta was sure she would recognize because of the statue of a soldier, which is a memorial statue for the fallen soldiers of the first World War. Then, we went into the city hall and had the honor to meet the mayor. When we walked into his office, on the wall there was a big flag of Romania- which was blue yellow and red and in the centre was a symbol of the 4 provinces of Romania. The tour guide told us that in communist times the symbol was replaced by another symbol with Soviet influence. During the 1988 revolution, the demonstrators tore off the symbol. At that time, the TV would show people holding a Romanian flag with a hole in the middle. Later on, the original flag was restored. We were very welcomed and he sent his son to drive us to the building of the Jewish community which resides in the old house of the old Jewish hospital, called Israel hospital.

Dorohoi - Jewish Cemetary @ Dorohoi, Romania

2006-07-27T22:58:00.000Z

First we went to the the Jewish cemetery. We knew that Saba's dad was buried there but we weren’t sure whether we would manage to find his grave or not. We entered and saw a memorial in the shape of a star of David which read on one side that it is to remember the Jews that were killed on the spot during the progrom on July 1st, 1940. On the other side it read to remember the Jews that were killed during the deportation in November 1941. From there the guards brought a notebook that had all the names of the dead, and we found Saba's dad's name (hershku seculet) and the location of his grave. We also saw the name of Saba's sister, Lisa, but the location of her grave was not written in the notebook.

Dorohoi - Saba's dad grave @ Dorohoi, Romania

2006-07-27T23:11:00.000Z

We went through the graves, until we found his tombstone. We placed some stones on his grave, accoridng to the Jewish tradition, and Savta told us that he died a couple of months after aba's brit. She said that if he had died before that, my father would've been named hershku.

Dorohoi - Looking for Mom's house @ Dorohoi, Romania

2006-07-27T23:28:00.000Z

From there we went looking for Savta's old home in the Spiru Haret street-#29. We knew the house was already demolished, but we hoped she would be able to recognize the place.Indeed, there was a building there of 4 floors, but Savta did not recognize the area. Outside, she recognized the sewage hole, which was old and made of wood. Savta's brother, Lupo told her to look for it, as that is the sign of where their house was located.

Dorohoi - Jewish school @ Dorohoi, Romania

2006-07-27T23:37:00.000Z

We then drove to the Jewish school which today is deserted, but Savta even remembered the place where she stood in her class picture.

Dorohoi - - Looking for Dad's house @ Dorohoi, Romania

2006-07-27T23:43:00.000Z

Then we went to where Saba was born - Carmen Silva Street, but we weren’t sure which house belonged to his family back in the day. In that area, the old houses still remained, exactly as it was 60 years ago.
From there we left Dorohoi, and spent the night in Suceava.
When we asked Savta what was the most exciting moment of going back to her old town, she said it was the statue of the soldier that we saw, because it's been there since before she was born.

Tirgu Neamt - - Cetatea Neamt, Gropi - agapia monesteray @ Tirgu Neamt, Romania

2006-07-28T06:57:00.000Z

Today we left Suceava and started heading south. On the way, we stopped in one monastery and a castle, which were located on a high hill.
On the way we spoke to Savta about the origin of names, since at that period time names were much more meaningful. These are the names of Savta's children- Avraham, who was named after Savta's Saba. Yona, who was named after Tova, Saba's Savta. Aharon, who was named after Savta's Saba. The only exception is Efraim, as grandmother was convinced it was going to be a girl. She came up with a few possible names for a girl, and had to change it when she found out it was a boy. She ended up naming him Efraim, as it has an 'F' like fanny, which was the name she was originally planning to name her newly born daughter.
We were also discussing the topic of last names. We learnt that in the past it was common to name people after their occupation. For example, my grandma's family name was meant to be Mindrizhu, which means someone who makes mattresses. However, because her grandparents did not have a civil marriage (but only a religious marriage), their children were named after the grandmother, who's last name was Chobutaro.

Piatra Neamt - synagogue @ Piatra Neamt, Romania

2006-07-29T00:47:00.000Z

The main attraction was the old synagogue in Piatra Neamt. When we arrived there the entrance to the synagogue was locked and the building looked quite new and well preserved from the outside. We started walking back towards the car when we noticed someone watching us and looking interested in what we were up to. We started talking to him and he turned out to be the president of the town's Jewish community. The man was generous enough to let us in and show us the synagogue from inside. We went in and noticed that it was divided into two sections. The smaller section is still being used today and the bigger one, which is actually the remaining of the old synagogue, is used as a museum. Mr. Salomon, the man who let us in, explained that the synagogue was built before the 15th century. He also said that it was half buried underground, as the Jews were not allowed to build higher than Christians. For the same reason the building was constructed out of wood, rather than metal. Mr. Salomon also mentioned that it is the second oldest synagogue, after the synagogue in Prague. It is considered to be a holy place, since Bhal Shem Tov prayed there on his way to Israel. Until today, Hasidim come for that reason to visit the place regularly. At the end of the day we went to a small town called Viisuara, where we spent our last night in Romania.

Maraseti memorial WW1 @ Siretu, Romania

2006-07-29T23:44:00.000Z

Today we left the hotel in Viisuara and headed back to Bucharest for our flight. On the way we stopped at Maraseti, which is a memorial building to the fallen soldiers of World War 1. This place is significant because fierce battles occurred there when the Austro-Hungarian army was pushing their way through the mountain passage of the Carpet Mountains and the Romanian army tried to stop them. Two of Savta's uncles who served in the army died there. We went into the building and scanned the list of hundreds of thousands of names of fallen soldiers but could not find them. Savta told us that her brother and her sister were named after her uncles. One was Lupu and the other was Meir.

Bucharest, Romania @ Bucharest, Romania

2006-07-30T04:54:00.000Z

From there we drove to the airport and got given a tour of Bucharest on our way. Our tour guide showed us numerous places, including the university square where many student were shot dead during the revolution and also the house of the high county committee which, according to his story, was surrounded with protestors during the revolution and Chauchesku who was hiding there, tried to escape by helicopter but was forced to land in an army base where he was shot dead along with his wife.

We are now at the airport waiting for our flight.