thelizthatwas

And back again.

Heading home in a matter of hours.  Just a quick note to let you know that the remaining performances went really well.  Tonight's performance was a packed house and we made many new friends here. 

Sadly, Joyce, Rich, and I did not make it into the Olympic Village or get to see an event.  I'm disappointed of course, but it doesn't make this trip an unsuccessful one.  I see it just the opposite.  I don't know if I can adequately sum up this whole experience yet, but I will say this: it was worth every minute.  I loved all of it unreservedly. 

Also, even though I was here, I saw and heard very little Olympics news.  I heard Badminton was particularly newsworthy.  I expect you all to fill me in on what I missed.

Now, we not only have invitations back to Romania and London, but several people have asked us to travel to Hungary, Malawi, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Italy, Brazil and Russia. Awesome.

The last two days have been restful.  Since we have performances from now (Thursday) through Saturday night, Joyce, Rich, & I took the opportunity to sightsee around London.  Tuesday was spent taking a turn on the London Eye for truly fantastic views of the city ("look kids!  Big Ben! Parliament!" was repeated as necessary).  Then we walked down the Thames to get a look at the Olympic Rings then over Monument Bridge to walk through the Whitehall gardens and onto, well, Big Ben and Parliament.  We also walked around the outside of Westminster Abbey.  We weren't able to go in because it closed for the day, but we're hopeful to take in Evensong there on Saturday afternoon.  Just before going to see Chariots of Fire, a play on the West End, we stopped and had High Tea, complete with finger sandwiches, scones and my personal favorite topping, clotted cream.

Since we've been unable to get tickets to events, we took Wednesday for a day trip to Oxford.  Okay, Rich and Joyce indulged me on this.  I've been wanting go there for years and the timing never worked out.  I was so excited.  It was everything I thought it would be.  We didn't have time to tour many colleges, but we walked by Blackfriars, Balliol, Magdalene, and Exeter.  We stepped into the Exeter chapel, which is where JRR Tolkien went to church.  Exeter also has a fantastic tapestry of the Adoration of the Magi which is in remarkable condition for its age.  We climbed to the top of St Mary's and were treated to a stunning views of the entire city.   Of course, we saw Radcliffe Camera.

And the piece de resistance, for me anyway, was the Bodleian Library.  600 years of history, 12 million volumes and over 118 miles of bookshelves.  Oh my.  I was in book nerd heaven.  We were not allowed to take pictures inside, but trust me, it's amazing.  On the tour, it was explained that at the time the library was put in place that bookshelves were a relatively new technology to store books and were originally called bookpresses as you had to press the books together on the shelf to keep them standing upright.  The books were also physically chained to shelves to prevent pilferage which made for a lot chains and a lot of noise when moving them.  Like I said, book nerd.  I went nuts in the bookstore after. 

To think I was in the same town and in the same area as Oscar Wilde, Albert Einstein, CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, Lewis Carroll, Dorothy Sayers, PD James...(I could go on) were, and in some cases, still are is really something.  The city prides itself on its history, so you can catch a 'whiff' of exclusivity, but I loved being there just the same.

On Sunday morning we departed early for London.  It was wicked tough to get up so early in the morning.  The kind receptionist not only called us a taxi, but made Joyce, Rich & I breakfast to go.  We each had a sandwich and an apple for the flight so we didn’t have to pay on the plane.  Wow.  



After touching down at Luton airport at 7am, we took a bus into Victoria Station.  Since our hosts in London weren’t expecting us until 1pm, we stowed our bags at Victoria Station and paid our respects to the Queen.  While at Buckingham Palace, we barely saw the front runners of the women’s marathon.  I’m afraid that may be as close as I get to seeing an Olympic event.  Checking, calling and looking for tickets for events has yielded no fruit.  If you know of anything, drop me a line!  I’m ever hopeful that something will turn up.



We also managed to attend High Mass (most of the service was in Latin) at Westminster Cathedral.  Not to be confused with the Abbey of the same name, this is the Roman Catholic hub of London.  It’s really a beautiful building and it was a different worship experience especially compared to Transylvania.  In both places I couldn’t understand the language.  And yet, as happens when the only thing you have in common is your faith, there was a camaraderie despite the differences in style, language, etc.  It was a nice pause.



On the way back to Victoria Station, we stopped a tiny cafe offering free wi-fi and a Full English breakfast.  We weren’t able to gain access to the wi-fi, but our waitress was from Targu-Mares, Romania!  It was unbelievable.  We talked to her about what we saw and even were able to greet her in Romanian.  It was a great cultural moment made even better by the seeming randomness of the meeting.  We unfortunately made her homesick, but she did say she was heading back to Romania on October to visit her family.

So we arrive at The Cedars which is owned and operated by the Salvation Army.  It's where we're staying.  Hello manor house!  It's absolutely gorgeous!  It's a grand house with a rather grand staircase and bits of stained glass.  The main house is mostly community space with apartments in the back of the property.  The back lawn is lovely, no formal gardens but still just cool.  We got to soak up the atmosphere and rest.  Our apartment here has a small kitchen so we went to Sainsburys and stocked up on some snacks.  I'm happy to report that I am now in possession of dark chocolate Hob Nobs.  Heaven on earth, my friends, heaven on earth.  I taught Rich the proper way to eat them, which is the much more sedate cousin to the Tim Tam slam.

This a late post.  I've had internet access trouble from London.  I wrote this earlier, but wanted to post it now

Saturday was a travel day before leaving Transylvania.  It was so hard to leave ARTCamp.  In just 3 days we had developed such a mutual admiration society that Rich, Joyce and I seriously considered foregoing sightseeing for a few precious extra hours.  Just before we embarked on our journey, the campers wished to pray a blessing over us.  Then they proceeded to stand, extended their arms outward toward us and began to sing.  For about 4 minutes was the most beautiful song in Hungarian.  I don't know what they sang, but I immediately burst into tears.  As many who know me can attest, that is no big thing; I often use tears to express a range of emotions.  But I was also speechless for a good 15 minutes after.  As everyone was hugging me good-bye, I couldn't even croak out a word.  It was a beautiful moment and will stick with me for the rest of my life.


The ARTCamp has invited us for a full week next year and we also have an offer to go to Budapest, Hungary next year with other offers in between the two places.  I so badly want to go back.  This place has effectively worked it's way into my heart so completely that I can't shake it.  It doesn't make a difference that I can't speak the language, I just want to go back.  It reminds me of all the very best parts of where I grew up and of my family whom I love with passionate intensity.


When we finally managed to tear ourselves away, we began our tour with the town (or commune as they call it in Romania) of Praid.  It's claim to fame are the salt mines used to de-ice the roads, medicinal salts and everyone's favorite: bath salts.  It gets down to -40 in the winter and it snows a lot so the salt is put to good use on the roads.  As a minor tangent, one of our hosts and translators, Laslo "CC" Szilagyi (a really, really, really awesome person), told me that in all of Transylvania there is only 50km of highway.  Transylvania is roughly the combined size of New York and Pennsylvania, so that means the majority of travel is on local roads.  Beautiful to be sure, but not made for fast travel.  Anyway, the Praid salt mines are also used as prescriptions for healthcare, i.e. people go into the mines and stay for several hours a day just to breathe in the air.  It’s supposed to help with all sorts of ailments.  What was totally remarkable was the mines are set up like a mini Six Flags.  There’s games, playgrounds, an obstacle course, group exercise classes, even a restaurant designed for all ages as a way to pass the time.  There are cell phone repeater antennas down there so you can stay connected.   I was expecting that we would see a working salt mine, so imagine my surprise when the definition of ‘working’ was different!


After Praid, we traveled to Sighișoara which is widely considered to be the best preserved and most beautiful inhabited fortress in Europe with authentic medieval architecture.  Stunning.  And hard to walk since it's on a mountain.  But stunning.

We arrived at ARTCamp.  I'm still processing all that I'm seeing, but Romania is quite beautiful.  On the way to the camp, I was able to snap some pictures of the countryside.  Hope you like them.  Transylvania is pretty stunning, and the people I've met are warm and hospitable.  Where we are staying has mostly Hungarian speaking residents.  They are especially patient, since I speak no Hungarian.  I'm trying, but everyone explains that the language takes decades to master if you aren't a native speaker.  The syntax and grammar is very precise and I've experienced already a number of hilarious miscommunications.  

For example, last night I was talking with 4 girls ranging in age from 14-16.  There were a lot of weird looks coming my way and I was baffled at what I had done or said.  Then CC, one of the translators working with the Swingles and I, explained that although all the girls understood English, I was speaking far too quickly and they couldn't get all the words.  Then CC spoke to the girls in Hungarian and explained that I wasn't just an American, but a New Yorker which garnered huge laughs.  So, really, you can take the girl out of New York, but you can't take New York out of the girl.  So, in addition to trying to master some key Hungarian phrases, I am trying to slow down my speech. 

Yes, I know there is not really a 221b Baker St.  Duh.  But gosh, don't you just love it anyway?

After a flight experience I'd rather not re-live, we touched down in London.  For the record, the middle seat is NEVER a good idea, but especially not a good idea flanked by passengers that have excessive gas to expel and a seat is broken in the upright position.  I managed to watch not one but three in flight movies (Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Safe House and The Avengers.  Yes, The Avengers.  Yes, again.  Shut up. Did I mention the excessive gas?)

Just a brief pause before continuing to Transylvania to acclimate to the time and clear customs.  I love London.  I had no idea how much I missed being here until the plane touched down in a rainy and foggy morning.  If I could afford it, I'd live here no question.

Rich, Joyce and I managed to squeeze in a bit of sightseeing before heading to the hotel.  In an awesome turn of events, the bus we needed to get to go to the hotel was near...Baker St.  My inner child was super excited, so despite not sleeping a wink on the airplane and looking like something the feral cats and dogs dragged in, a quick tour to pay homage to Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson was made.