Relaxing in Germany

We are doing great. We just dont have steady access to the internet here. I will update the blog when we get time.

My name is mud...May showers bring sweet Moldovan wine & full bellies...

Not too many years ago, i would have been arrested for crossing the "Iron Curtain" to take this picture.

I am VERY lucky that d's one cousin knew enough english to tell me to stay in the car... otherwise I would have been pushing us through the mud also!

Our tracks.

Please note d hanging onto the back of the car for traction...

Woodstock... Moldovan style.

...And then it was Andre's turn to get unstuck from the mud!

Thank goodness for old soviet cars with bald tires!

Tanya's parents and brother greeted us with their homeade wine after we got out of the mud. They were wonderful people. They offered up numerous toasts to us for bringing the rain. They said they desperately need the rain because they had very little snow last winter. Like I said, this was a wonderful family.

Here we are participating in the old one cup, large group circle toast. This was probably the BEST wine I have tasted yet. It was the first homeade white we had.

When you cant actually communicate easily with anyone, it leaves a lot of time to commune with nature. I sure will have a great collection of pictures to put up on my walls at work now!

Another Day in Paradise

We spent the day with Andre & Igor at a 15th Century monestary. The little girl on the right showed us around. I am squatting in the sleeping/praying quarters. The monestary was built into the side of a huge cliff that was once the edge of the sea.

This is the cross marking the monestary.

This is the church that was built later on.

This is actually the mode of transportation for most of the village dwellers. We havent gotten to ride in one, but that is only becuase we are special company...

I have a lot more pictures of the monestary, church and museum dwelling, but we leave for Germany tomorrow and it takes too long to upload everything here.

THis was our nightly dinner party with D's oldest cousin.

Nina, D, Me, Vitali, Natasha, Sveta, Cornell, Nicanor, and baby Alexander.

The cameras kept Alexander busy for hours... He was the only person I could connect with... He spoke no Romanian and neither did I!

It was a fun night, d said "a rough morning."

Dinner at Cornell's would have exceeded everyone's steriotype of a russian party... He kept giving us shots, and differnt shots, and then more shots...

This was the last "over coffee" shot.

Mom, I havent had a diet coke since I got here; but I drink all the tea I can handle to try to get a caffeine buzz!

Day 5- A wino & a weirdo

You know you're gonna have a good day when you can see your skivvies hanging out in the noonday sun:).

We had a 10am tour at one of Moldova's 2 state subsidized wineries. We drove through the extensive limestone caves and ended up at a beautiful dining room either 30 ot 70 meters under ground. It was cold (the first time we needed a jacket the whole time), and delicious.

They let us walk around a little too. Although it looks like I am gaining weight, I dont think that I am, the pants are just a little big... not my butt..

Dad, you would have loved it. These guys came up to us in the wine room and started playing. They probably played 7 songs, some american (for me), but mostly native moldovan songs. It was great.

This would have motivatved you to keep practicing your accordian; It would even have motivated me to keep practicing my violin if I would have heard it 15 years ago!

They had a ton of wine. They need a good marketer though, because they dont really sell the wine widely.

At the end, after the tour, the tasting and the dinner, they sent us each home with 2 of their bottles of wine. Andre gave us his, so we will be bringing it all home with us. Later that evening we went to a store and the wine we served at the wedding was approximately $2 (american) per bottle! We will bring some of that home too!

The property was great too. (again, I think it is just the pants that make my butt look that big!)

D's cousins Euri & Andrei.

Nina took us to the house that they are building in the city. Although it isnt finished yet, they still store their wine in the wine cellar...

Each family in Moldova grows their own grapes and makes all their own wine. D's uncles' wine is great! We would like to learn & make it in America!

D's cousin Igor is the head physician at the state mental hospital. He let us all try on the doctor jackets.

This was a very interesting excursion...

Day 4- Crawfish Kings

D's cousin Victor had a wonderful house in the country! Their gardens were amazing. Both him and his wife are lawyers...

Finally, D found his long lost brother in the country!

We spent the day in the forest, but before we got to the forest, we had to stop to get some water...

The forest was in the middle of no where. We had to drive down through a valley village to get there. I have to say, the picnic areas could definately top Shawnee!

Did you think that Louisiana was the only place known for its crawfish? Well you were wrong. D's cousin's caught a whole pot full of crawfish.

I couldnt bring myself to try any... but everyone else liked them.

This is D's uncles' garden & guard dog. Their garden was wonderful also. I was a little surprised that they have so many of the same flowers as we do. Too bad I dont know the names of them all...

I went for a walk around the Uncles' town/village. The uncle said that these children are just 3 of a 10 child family with a mother of 28 and on child over pre-teen... I wish he would have told us that earlier, maybe we could have given them something.

Have I ever shared my extreme fear of cows?

Well, on my walk I turned a corner, and there was the herd of cows. So I turned I walked away. Unfortunately, I think they thought they were supposed to follow me... Hoy vey. Although they arent in this picture, at one point that big black one was less than an arms length away...

This is Aunt Maria. A very lovely women. Very warm & welcoming.