The Secret Garden

Could I ask all the people that visit my blog. if you have a little time to spare, to take a look at my daughters blog. http://visdecopilarad.blogspot.com it is interesting reading and may give you a little glimpse of the work she and her husband do. At this Easter time I think we all should stop and think of all the things we take for granted , including myself of course. Thank you hope you enjoy reading.

A Good Day

I had a good day today, feeling better!! Going out did me good. Kathy took me to change the hotel booking for Kirsty and Nick, then on to the supermarket Kaufland for fresh supplies of vegetables mainly for my new meat free diet. I got lovely fresh spinach, so for the first time I made Saag Aloo (potato and spinach with spices and onions , garlic and ginger), It was a great success and I really enjoyed it, Kathy told me how to make it as she and Kenneth lived in India for a while and know lots of spicy vegetable recipes. My Grandson was born in Pakistan. Then I went to the Textile shop on Strada Emminescu to get a gift for the couple of friends who have their civil ceremony at the Primaria tomorrow. I then offered to have wee Yasmina for a couple of hours, she is a sweet, clever little thing and no trouble to look after , she plays happily and never cries. It was a pleasure to have her, we are all very fond of her and dread the day she may have to go back with her Mummy. I will post a photo of her and one of Daniela helping me when she came last Saturday. Will go and relax now and watch a little TV. Yes !! it was a good day indeed.

Easter

It was Easter for the Catholics in Arad this weekend but the Romanian Orthodox celebrate Easter at the end of April 27Th being Easter Sunday. It has however still been very quiet as there were still a lot of people not working. Kathy and family celebrate Easter with the Romanians and usually attend the village church along with friends and neighbours. Most Romanians eat spring lamb on Easter Sunday , it is very young lamb and very good tasting.

I am not eating meat at the moment I just seem to have had too much lately , so have gone vegetarian temporarily. It is a good time to eat veg. the markets are full of the most delicious fruit and veg as you will have seen on my photo's of the market here most of it from the local gardens. The forsythia is out now along the river bank and along the Boulevard the fruit trees are all in blossom, it looks lovely. I saw some great plants in the market too and can't wait to get my tubs planted now for outside and maybe a tree would be good too.

Last Easter here we went on a picnic run by the church in the woods and every one had a great time most people brought a barbecue with them and everyone shared the food, there was music , dancing and games for the children and for the adults so I am hoping we can go again this year. As most things here Easter is a big family time to share good times , meals , walks and time in the park etc. I went into the Red Church ( Lutheran) the other day when I was in town as it was open and all the candles were lit on the altar it really was quite moving.

I don't get many emails these days I think maybe Skype has something to do with it. It is a great way to communicate at very little cost and my Brother and his wife talk to me about three times a week and we have web cams so I try to make sure I have done my hair and look decent ha ha!! I also can speak to my sister on her land line for an hour for about 50p. wonderful!!! Technology has certainly come a long way since I was a nipper hey!! Still for folks like me who have moved away it deserves a big thank you to Skype for helping me keep in touch with family and friends.

Must motivate myself to do some jobs now and wonder what I will write about next??

Good bye , Betty, Angie and Pattie

Oh dear!!! at the airport , checking in. Everyone came to say goodbye . There were a few tears it was sad to see them go, but we will remember the visit and all the laughs .Just wished it had been a little longer. We left to go back to Arad as it was Irina's baptism and I had promised I would go. I am afraid I fell asleep in church but did see Irina get baptised. It felt very strange when I got back home , very quiet and I was glad when it was time for bed . I will try and look on the bright side and think of how I am going to enjoy all the treats they brought for me yummy, can.t wait for potted beef sandwiches, black puddings (from Hibberts butchers , in Hyde) Hollands meat pie , cheddar cheese and Marmite. there is lot's more but I won't tell you all my secrets ha ha!!! Funny the silly little things you miss when you have moved away. The bacon here is much better than UK and the pork is far better, succulent and very tasty and a lot of things are better but I still miss a good CRUMPET;well done with lots of butter Yumpt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday oh dear!!!! the last day.

The last day, then tomorrow would be travelling home for my dear friends and sister.Guess where they wanted to go again , yes back to "Jackson".We had a good rummage round and all bought a few things then back to town as the girls wanted to buy a gift for Hajni who they think a lot of because she is such a good person and for the way she helps me.They got lovely earings from Ziridava and had got a wee present for Hajni's little girl too. We went home quite early as I had decided to take them and all the family to "Casa Bulzan" the traditional Romanian resturant. There were twelve of us with the baby, Kathy had asked them to put on the traditional starter platters for us. Three huge platters came with a fantastic array of meats and salad. There was Antelope pasrami, Bear, Wild Boar, Rabbit sausage, Lamb Paté, wonderful smoked hams, Salami's it was just amazing!!! every body really enjoyed them all and tried a little of everything. We all ordered a main meal too,everybody choosing different meals. Pattie and I had the Trout ,Wow!! delicious! and we got two each, Betty, Amy and Johanna had Lamb cooked slowely in the oven , I didn't keep track of what every one else had but we all enjoyed it all , the service was , as always very good. We went back to my apartment and ended the evening with champagne , music and a little dancing. I think it was a good send off to my visitors, I shall be sad to see them go tomorrow.

Szeged

We had decided to pay a visit to Hungary, Szeged is about a two hour drive and Kathy and Kenneth were going to Budapest and said they would drop us off in Szeged. We arrived bit too late for the market but had a quick look round and bought a couple of things. We then found a bus that took us to the centre, there was a lovely square there with very impressive building and the most unusual statues. We couldn't find a resturant so ended up in Macdonalds. Betty got a lovely piece of jewelery and we just strolled around the square in lovely sunshine again and took some good photo's. We then made our way to the huge Tesco's there and had a coffee and peroused the shops inside Tesco, lots of nice shoes , handbags , gifts of all kinds. Kathy and Kenneth were held up badly in Budapest in traffic so we made our way back home in a Mini bus. It was a bit of a dissapointing day but at least we had been to Hungary and all decided we all like Romania better. We still had a good evening chatting and laughing and of course a few voka's were enjoyed.

Gosh Wednesday already!!!

My goodness it was Wednesday already, the time was flying past. The weather was glorious every day, bright warm sunshine , the girls were quite surprised all this lovelysunshine and warm too in February!!! I thought I would take them up the other end of town where the Orthodox Cathedral stands proudly over looking the city.We called in Ziridava ( a big store) and all the other shops and I picked up some great pork ribs to cook for supper at my favorite shop which is below street level and quite facinating!!
We met Kathy and she took us all to "The Secret Garden" (day centre). It is really looking good now with lovely voile curtains at the windows and little tables and chairs where the street kids sit sipping coffee and chatting.The "girls" met a lot of them and the children and babies and agreed it was a nice place for them all to go. One girl had had a shower and washed her hair and her clothes were being washed, these kids like to be clean when they have the opportunity to be able to do so.
Irina who used to be on the streets is doing a great job helping Kathy and is trying very hard to make a decent life for herself and her little girl,Daniela, good for her, i wish her all the best.
I think it made Angie, Pattie and Betty how hard it is for these people , it makes you appreciate all the little things we all take for granted, soap and running water for a start. They will go home with a different outlook on Romania and be able to tell people first hand what a lovely country it is and how warm and friendly the people are and all hard working, also much more respect from the young people, for instance, when I travel on the tram or bus the young ones will always get up to let me sit down, and help me get on and off the tram!!
Thursday we went to Hungary so more about that tomorrow.

The Visit part 2

Actually the first day here was Sunday, which in Arad is a quiet day spent going to church and time to visit family and friends, so we had a lie in and then went for a walk round the village of Subcetate in bright , warm sunshine , whilst Britain was freezing. Then back home and then Pizza King for dinner. A good first day nice and relaxed.

On Tuesday I took them to see "Jackson" a market with indoor and outdoor stalls, they had heard me speak often of "Jackson" so much so it became a joke like in the song "I'm goin to Jackson"!!!!!!! Pattie, Betty and Angie bought nice handbags etc. etc. I think by the end of the trip Pattie had got 5 handbags, (they have lovely , different bags here a lot of Italian leather). Kathy came to meet us and we then called in at Keketch a place where the poor families live. I think it was an eye opener to see before you how these people live with very little assistance except of course from Kathy and a few others and of course her main concern is the children. We came back to the apartment and I did a roast pork dinner and everyone agreed that the pork here is scrumptious!!!! Yet another day of sunshine and it was 20 degrees wow!!!

My First Visitors

Well the day had come at last, Angie and Pattie were arriving in Timisoara at 1.30, we all piled in the mini bus to be there when they got here. We mustered as many of the family as we could to give them a good welcome, we picked Kenny and Johanna and Philip up from Timisoara on the way. In actual fact they were waiting outside for us , it was lovely to see them and there were lots of hugs and kisses. As we were about to drive away a lady strolled up , strange she was wearing sunglasses and a fur coat, oh my goodness!!! I couldn't believe it , it was my sister Betty they had kept the surprise for me for weeks, ( how did three women keep a secret for so long!!) So there were more hugs , kisses and tears ( of joy of course). We took them to the lovely square in Timisoara and for a coffee, then back to my apartment. The things they had brought for me were great, jars of potted beef, suet , HP sauce,Cheddar cheese , crumpets and lots of magazines oh!! what a feast I was going to have but best of all they brought themselves.

The first day, which was warm and sunny I took them to the market, the huge textile shop, Leonardo's ( our favorite shoe shop) and a walk up the main Boulevard. They couldn't believe how lovely the weather was and we all had a really nice day and finished up chatting and having a drink at the apartment. There is so much to tell I will have to do a blog every day for a week , so this is the end of this one on "The Visit"