My Travels in Transylvania, Romania: Romanian Cartoon Network, news channel, CultureTV, ambulances, crazy drivers, Petersdorf (Petresti), discovery of the Romanian Walmart too late and saying good bye to a good dog

I have recorded a little bit of romanian tv channels for you. They have 2 cultural channels that play traditional Romanian music and dance videos 24hrs a day...or as the say here, "non-stop". I like watching it sometimes; I would imagine it would drive some people crazy though.

Over the course of my trip here i have noticed a few things about driving on the road; it seems that ambulances always have their lights on no matter what and they never use sirens even if it is an emergency. I guess your supposed to just know they may be on a emergency call if you see their lights? Who knows.

Drivers on the road here are just insane. They will pass a semi-truck while doing 140 kmh when they have oncomong traffic in the lane they are using to pass! Crazy! It amazes me I have not seen one accident here seeing as though I have driven almost 2500km around Transylvania. Amazing!

At the same time I have noticed that 99.9% of the Romanian people are some of the most friendly I have met anywhere; especially in the small villages where they have nothing, they will always wave to you and give you a smile.

I went to Petersdorf (Petresti) today to see my Great-Great Grandmother's and Great-Great Aunt's graves and leave some flowers and stones. I would have liked to found more gravestones for other family members, but I did not; probably because they have eroded into the earth or are in other villages I did not get to this time. most of the men died on the battlefield or in war prisons so I will probably never find theirs; but I will continue to search and when I get home I have a lot of work to do figuring out all the records I did uncover at the archives in Sebes. next visit I want to look at the 3rd gergeschdorf book, track down the Petersdorf (Petresti) records and visit Alba Julia to check for the oldest records and search through the cemetery there.

I have been buying food and other things at a store in the Piata mare called Billa; it is a good store but quite expensive. I never thought the 3 weeks that i was here to look for a large grocery superstore outside the historic center, but I found it today! It is Romania's answer to WalMart. Food, clothes, furniture, everything you want at low prices. next time if I have a car I will be going there and save a bundle of cash. I think i know Sibiu good enough to drive around without the GPS now! But Bucharest is next and there is no way in hell I could navigate that city without it.

I said goodbye this afternoon to my friendly neighborhood stray, "Wally" is what an old German woman down the street calls him. I shared some carpaccio and scratched him behind the ears and told him I might see him next year. He will probably be in the same place. I will miss him; he is a good dog.

Tomorrow morning I plan on leaving Sibiu very early to take the 225km drive to Bucharest and hopefully miss some of the truck traffic. Once I arrive I am going to try to find the Parliment House, take a tour and then go check in at my hotel. My flight is at 6am Friday morning so I will not have much sleep. My flight will arrive in Denver at about 7pm Friday night...(flight time is 24 hrs with 3 different planes)...talk about jet lag! Ouch! I will post one last blog from the hotel in Bucharest. I have enjoyed sharing my travels and photos with you...hopefully it did not bore too many of you and showed you a part of the world not many visit, but that all should!

Ciao,

Tom

I had quite a following worldwide and over 1,000 views over 22 days.

Romanian Cartoon Network

Romanian Commercials

Romanian Culture Channels

Sibiu Promenade Mall (includes Romanian Walmart, "Carrefour")

Petersdorf (Petresti)

This is the village that my Great-Great Grandmother Maria Fising (Mai) lived in from around 1930 to 1964 at the time of her death.

This big column is what is left of a castle from the 14th Century. the cemetery was built around it...kind of a nice sentinel. The easiest Saxon cemetery in Transylvania to find.