On to Cluj

    On Sunday, we returned to the airport to fly to Cluj, where Ellen is scheduled to participate in the Jubilate! festival. This festival features many musicians from other countries as well as local, and the chorus, made up primarily of members of the Romanian Baptist Church where the rehearsals are conducted.
    The Jubilate! festival is the brainchild of Ken Tucker, a highly musical missionary in Romania for thirteen years or so.

The featured work is The Creation, by Franz Josef Haydn.
    Ken and his wife Laura started life together in Brussels, where he completed certificates in piano & chamber music. They moved to Oradia, Romania, where he became music director of the music school of Emmanuel Bible Institute, later known as Emmanuel University, for ten years. Then they were called to a church in Cluj, for last seven years.

More Romania

    Ion's family has greeted us in style—his father, mother, brother, sister, and two grown nieces. English is a little lacking here and there, but we get along fine. The father, far right, is also musical.


    On Friday we took a little trip up into the hills north of Brasnov to visit the castle at Bran. This is the one that is associated with the Dracula story that Bram Stoker wrote in the 29th century. Naturally, there is no connection at all. The figure of Count Dracula (which means devil's son) is modeled on a 16th-century ruler named Vlad the Impaler. The castle was built in the early 18th century as a defense for Transylvania against the neighboring region, and later against the Turks. Later it was occupied by the Hapsburg rulers of Romania, a couple of whom were much loved.
    Here is the courtyard of this impressive structure.

Getting started

    Internet access is a bit dodgy in the part of Romania where we started our trip. Like all countries where the telephone system is run by the state, everyone uses cell phones for everything.
    We landed in Frankfurt at 0900 and waited through the 5 hour layover for the plane to Buchurest. Ion Zanca's family met us at the airport at 1700 (we lost another hour going east), and we all drove to the family residence in Gura Sutii.


Specifically, this is located here Gura Sutii is located in a large agricultural region, where the narrow roads are often blocked by livestock or horse-drawn carts. Thought there is a lot of corn growing, the main crop being harvested right now is potatoes.

Trip to begin July 15

    Well, friends, Ellen and I fly off on the big silver bird on Ellen's birthday—first to Frankfurt and then to Bucharest (which I must learn how to spell). If you follow this blog, you will see some of the better pictures we take, read about the places we visit, and generally drool with envy at the rich experiences that we share.
    All this will be accompanied by witty, pertinent, flowery prose to give you the highly personal and biased viewpoint that we develop over the course of this adventure. For some of it, you need a little background (if you don't already have it). Ellen and I are surprised parents of a young man, Ion Zanca, who came from Romania to study viola with her—surprised because in the absence of his parents who were unable to attend, he asked Ellen and me to stand in for his parents when he married his lovely bride, Estera, two summers ago. As a result we have all become close friends. One of the objectives of the trip to Romania is to meet Ion's mother and father. There is much more to this story to come.
    The second phase of the trip involves Ellen performing in a festival. I don't know much about this, so I will relate details as we go along.
    The third phase is a Mediterranean cruise. That should provide me with the opportunity to unload tons of pictures on you (you know, the kind that feature light blue above dark blue, and real flat...), as we steam from one port to the next. When we were signing up for this, I saw a note in the literature that mentioned "Titanic II". I looked back through it carefully but could not find the page.
    At any rate, save this URL and check back here from time to time, to be amazed at our astounding adventures. Better yet, sign on to follow this blog (see right sidebar). If you do, I think you get notification of new posts.