Pork Anyone?

In Romania it is common for many people in rural areas to skin pork, or roast it on the fire. Here is a pic of some people cutting up the pork right in the bloc parking lot :)

Sweaters, Caroling, and Good Cheer!

On Friday I helped my friends deliver potato-sacks full of food and gifts to extremely disadvantaged families living in Bucharest and the children that were with us in camp last summer. We greeted the families with carols and delivered the beautiful hand-knit sweaters made by the people at Immanuel Church. It was perfect timing, as the weather has turned cold here and the warm clothing is much appreciated. Here are some pictures with the kids, who too would like to extend a big THANK YOU to all those who helped make their Christmas special.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

The lights are up across Bucharest, adding a lot of Christmas Cheer!

Fagaras Fortress

Fagaras Fortress and Castle were wholly built in brick. At present, the castle has 80 rooms, and the fortress is still surrounded by a moat which is deep and wide. At times of war or social unrest in the area, the moat could easily fill with water from a mountain brook nearby, whose course had been specially deviated to this purpose. The citadel was ranked among the strongest in Transylvania, standing in the way of Turkish and Tartar invasions. Its massive walls, towers and tall roofs are arranged in the shape of a trapezium with four corners provided with four large bastions. Access is made through a bridge over the defence moat. At the centre of the citadel stands the castle. It has three levels, i.e. basement, ground floor, first floor and five towers, i.e. the Red Tower, the Black Tower, the Prison's Tower, Tomori Tower and the Motley Tower.The exterior wall of the castle was erected in the first half of the 15th century. The castle was first mentioned in 1455, when Transylvania’s prince, Iancu de Hunedoara, appointed two lords to administer it.

As regards its style of construction, Fagaras Fortress belongs to the western system of fortifications used in the 15th century, and brought along to Transylvania as early as the 14th century. In 1539, Transylvania’s prince Stephen Mailath (1528-1541) partially rebuilt the fortress. Gaspar Bekes (1567-1573) had the moat made,strengthened the earthen exterior walls and resumed works in the northern wing of the castle. Stephen Bathóry (1575-1586) and Balthazar Bathóry (1589-1594) finished the second level of the northern wing, the third level of the southern wing and the loggia on the south side. It was Gabriel Bethlen (1613-1629) who brought along major architectural changes he built Italian style bastions and casemates, repaired the inner walls and reshaped the loggia on the south side in the Renaissance style.He turned the edifice into a fortified castle, with much the same its present-day aspect. Strongly influenced by the Italian Renaissance, Bethlen brought along architects and glass-makers from Italy, bestowing elegance and beauty to a construction formerly designed for merely military and utilitarian purposes. For a year (1599-1600), Fagaras Fortress was the residence home of Michael the Brave's family his wife, lady Stanca and their children. During the rule of Georg Rákóczi (1630-1649), the fortification of the castle was doubled and the moat was enlarged. Ráckózi had the bastions bridged and covered, the moat paved with stones, the bridge and the casemates repaired and a guard house built.The fortress had 33 commanders-in-chief between 1507-1848. During the Austrian-Hungarian rule, under the rule of Michael Apáfi, Diets were held there. After 1699, the fortress fell under Hapsburg sway; it was functional as a castle under Maria Theresa's reign (1740-1780); by the end of the 18th century, it was turned into military headquarters and barracks. The only changes that were made by that time were of a strictly military or utilitarian nature. As the castle and its fortress had fallen into disrepair, restoration works were carried out between 1965-1977. Since 1954, the castle has housed the Museum of Fagaras Country; it comprises sections of archaelogy, which render the evolution of the Fagaras borough; sections of history, which display Roman artifacts and a collection of medieval weapons, etnographic sections, which focus on artistic and folk crafts in the area. The museum hosts also a beautiful collection of glass painted icons made by Ioan Pop, Savu Moga, Matei Simfonea alongside recent ones, made by archimandrite Timotei Tohaneanu from Sambata de Sus monastery.

Romanian National Day

The first of December is Romanian National Day, celebrating the unification of the Romanian regions in 1918 in the city of Alba Iulia. Each year they have big parades and celebrations throughout the country and this year was no different with the annual military parade through the Arcul de Triumf in Bucharest. It was a cold day with freezing rain, but we all celebrate our great country. Long live Romania! I hope you celebrated :)