Erdély (Transsylvania)

Ever since we knew each other we have been talking about travelling to Transsylvania...I've never been, on the other hand N had, and he loves the place... and everybody, who knows me, said that I would love it too...
And so it happened, that my favorite band put up an event on FB, that they will have a concert at a festival...no, not in Hungary, but in Transslyvania... And so it happened that we started talking about how it would be a good idea to go there now... And then it so happaned that I bumped into a dear friend, who asked so naturally if she would ask if I will brush my teeth before bedtime, she asked if we are going and she would be at that festival, so would we all meet...
And so we started to talk a bit more seriously, and see how could we fit the trip into our schedule, as We aleady had ticets for a festival (umm concert) at the lake Fertő (the Northwest corner of out country), and I had a reenacting event to attend at Sárospatak (at the Norteast corner of the country - I posted pictures of that here)... But then it so hapened that I recived a text from our above mentioned friend that would I give her the full name of N, as she would list us among the guests, and we could get in without buying tickets... NOT that the tickets were that expensive (especially compared to the price of the whole trip), but still, the fact that she though about us, was enough to push us over the edge...
Yes the weekend before that would be crazy and the weekend after it would be just as crazy and we are total idiots even consider it, but that one of the things I love in N... He can be so totally crazy with me... I always loved travelling, but my father is absolutely mmune to it. Don't ask me how, I cannot imagine, but he just does not care, not interested. PJ, my ex would have liked to travel, but he was way to cheap to actually do it...
N is not like either of them.
And so when I say.."we should go to..." "Let's go to...." he says "Okay..." and when I say "you are crazy I was joking..." "But I did NOT how fast can you pack?" he makes my heart melt.
I love sitting in the car beside him, and just go...

And so we did go to Transsylvania...
He said we pobably would not stop at Déva, yes, there is a castle up there, but no museum, "just the stones"... But as the road turned and I caught a wiev of the castle and gasped... he knew we had to stop.

No, it is not just stones... aside from the legend about its building (what was built during the day fell by the night, what was built at the night, crumbled before the sunrise... and so he had to sacrifice his wife and built her body in the walls to make them hold up), it is not just the stones.

However, our excursion to see the castle took just enough time, that we arrived to Vajdahunyad just after it closed.

N found accomondations for the first two nights in Torocko, a small village between the montains, famous for its folk art and (for me) its rustic bobbinlace.

Gyulafehérvár (Alba Julia), I loved the central part of the city... lovely churches...

Mixed heritage...

However right around the central part the big apartment buildings were so n down, they definetly had a post apocaliptic feel...

The salt mine in Torda was interesting (and I know there is a crevice / canyon? there, which is beautiful, and you can walk in , but not with the car - we passed it a few times and N told me that every time we did...even though we had no time to actually to stop and do walk in there)

And Marosvásárhely...

Again, the center and the castle area, is gorgeous... I could just imagine a historical festival there...

Korond and Farkaslaka..

and the birthplace of a writer, Áron Tamási

By the fourth day we were on our way to that festival and the concert...But we stopped at Csíksomlyó...

Tusnádfürdő...

The festival itself has some political overtone, but I do not get into politics publicly.
Not even as far a a like on Facebook. Not that I do not have an opinion, I do, but I will not express it.
And we did not went there for the politics, but for teh music.... and I belive my favorite band did so too.

As an extra I caught a quick hug and photo with the violin player (and singer and writer and whatnot)... just because the one who dies with the most picture with him wins...

and it seems I caught up with this festival thing..

The last days we were supposed to drive back to Hungary directly, but N wanted to show me the most he could, and took an excursion to see the Death lake and the Frog canyon..

"Ahh so you said I would not there to climb out there??? " :-)

"Or just I should not??? Anyway, too late :-) "

My feelings were somewhat mixed about Transsylvania... but those feelings were probably just because we only had a short time and could only see some major points of interest and could not go deeper.... Maybe next time.

Photos: Norbert Varga