Timisoara, Romania (August 2023)

After Novi Sad, Serbia, we crossed the border in Romania. Romania is a country located at the central, eastern and south eastern part of Europe. It borders with many countries and the Black Sea. Its land size is approximately 230 thousand square km with a population of almost 20 million.

Romania's major ethnicity is Romanian people. Now, Romanian people are different from Romani people who are often called Gypsies. Romanians speak Romanian language that is derived from Vulgar Latin. So Romanians are related to the Romans of the Roman Empire, particularly Eastern Roman Empire. At any rate, Romania is close to many Slavic nations, but not one of them. Its former status as part of the Soviet Union makes it look like a Slavic nation, but it is not.

Our first stop in Romania was Timosoara. Honestly, I had never heard of this city until we got there, but it turned out to be an interesting place. In fact, it is a charming city.

In this tour, Timisoara gave us a special meaning because we had a reunion with S-P who came from Transylvania to meet up with us. S-P carries an Irish passport living in Romania with his Romanian wife. He and I served together as members of the Opportunity Kenya board of directors more than ten years ago. Our reunion was joyous and we were grateful for his willingness to make a trip.

 

We had our dinner together separately from the tour group in this pretty noisy restaurant.

One surprising discovery in Timisoara was a Korean market. Where in the world is Timisoara and there was a Korean market...? I went in for curiosity and learned that the Korean owner has three stores. The K-Wave has reached this remote part of the world.

Some streets were covered with lights...

Some streets were covered with umbrellas...

Overall, we had good experiences in Timisoara. Here are several photo shots.

Open Air Theater

Timisoara has a Romanian Orthodox Church with a wide open garden. It was so picturesque. We ended up taking a lot of photos.

Right behind our hotel Timisoara Hotel was a wall painting that was so eye-catching and beautiful.

After we left Timisoara, we made a stopover at Corvin's Castle in Hunedoara. 

After we visited this castle, we were heading to the next city, Sibiu. Romanian journey continues with excitement. - Jeffrey