Romania: Bucharest, a wedding, Dracula's castle and more!

Before I can move on to my daily posting, I figure I need to finish updating the blog with our latest travels. BK and I had the pleasure of setting off to Romania a couple of weeks ago. This trip came after BK had been back in the US for a couple of weeks, so I was really excited to get to meet him in Bucharest. We were also really excited to be there for our friends' L&V's wedding.

What first stuck me about Romania is that it seems like a country that's struggling to let go of its past, but so badly wants to hang onto its culture and heritage; is trying hard to move forward and be a modern Western nation, but faces many internal challenges that limit how far they've come. We were in Bucharest for the beginning of our trip, which is the capital city, and where L&V's wedding was held. 

Romanian Athenaeum

This was our first trip to a post-communist country, which was quite intriguing for me, especially considering that Romania is a relatively young democracy (1989). I also found it very interesting that L's parents were part of the Romanian Revolution that led to them now being a democracy. The city is full of great historical architecture, that surprisingly was not destroyed by the communist regime.  On the flip side of that, there are also many buildings that have become run down, with owners who essentially have decided to let them fall down (literally) so they can then sell or rent the valuable land, while incurring no renovation costs themselves. It's really a shame, but is also a prime example of not changing old rules that would benefit the revitalization of the city.

We arrived on Friday and had that evening and pretty much all day Saturday and Sunday to wander around and explore. Keep in mind we also had to rest up for/recover from the wedding. The Old Town part of the city center is very charming and has many outdoor restaurants and terraces to enjoy. Of course, like anywhere else BK and I go, it rained, but only part of the time. Friday night we had traditional Romanian cuisine at Caru cu bere, which was a great way to really get into our experience. L&V also arranged a great hotel for us, the Grand Continental Hotel. Another note about Romania in general...it's super cheap.  They use the Romanian Leu, and are part of the EU.

Here are some of the sights from around the city:

Bucharest boasts the largest administrative building in the world- this picture doesn't do it justice

Sculpture built after the fall of communism

Romanian king (from hundreds of years ago)

The big event we were there for though, was L&V's wedding. It was a great time, and the longest party we've ever attended. We were there for about 12 hours- from around 5pm for the church service (Romanian Orthodox) until 5am when we left the reception. We didn't make it as long as the Romanians- they stayed until 6:30am! The church service was very interesting for us, and quite traditional for Romanian weddings. There are no seats in the Basilica, so no falling asleep for church-goers here.

From the church service we headed to the reception hall. It is the job of the wedding party to check off guests as they arrive and show them to their assigned tables. While they are doing this, L&V were off taking pictures after the ceremony. It's quite the party, but not incredibly different from US weddings. There was both a band and DJ, with dancing starting with L&V's first dance- a waltz. Then the dancing starts for everyone...and there is a lot of dancing. BK and I did dance, but not nearly as much as some of the other guests. We were pulled into one Romanian dance, the Hora, but I think he and I were pretty much just running around in a circle, as opposed to trying to complete any steps.

Traditional Romanian dance

So what did we do until 5am you ask? Danced, of course, but also ate lots of tasty food. I think there were about five courses before the wedding cake was served at 3am. Essentially the first one starts around 9pm, then every hour-and-a-half or so another one comes out. Another tradition that L&V did was the "stealing of the bride." L's friends take her somewhere away from the wedding, then call V to tell him what he has to do to get her back. This is usually very embarrassing for the groom. V didn't have it too bad- he just had to get the whole reception to do Gangnam Style and the Harlem Shuffle. 

The beginning of sunrise- to prove we were still awake

The success of the wedding is judged on how late your party goes. Based on theirs, I'd say it turned out pretty well! More about Dracula and our trip to Transylvania tomorrow...

An Idea Inspired by "The Happiness Project"

No I'm not doing my own Happiness Project, but I am reading the book and it has inspired me to set a new goal for myself. When I started this blog I initially wanted it to chronicle our travels before moving abroad with the ultimate goal of blogging about our lives while living in Switzerland. I've decided that blogging four times a month isn't really accomplishing that goal. I am posting about our travels, and of course the dogs, but not much other than that.

So here's my goal: TO BLOG ON A DAILY BASIS.

Yes, you read right, I want to start posting on a daily basis. They may not all be long, and they may not all be earth-shattering, but they'll be about something happening in our daily lives.

In the spirit of this new goal, here are a couple of things that happened today:

• It's really hot here. I know I was just complaining about the cold, but now it's 95 degrees outside. My fellow Texans should also know no one has air conditioning over here. You just learn to manage your sun shades well and keep the apartment closed off from the hot air.
• I started intensive German lessons at a school with a group of three other women. I go three hours a day, five days a week...there's homework and everything. I'm extremely excited about learning the language and feeling like we can move forward with our lives.
• I took my house cleaner for granted in the US. I cleaned our apartment today, and it doesn't take long, but it's also not my favorite thing to do. I am not someone who "likes" to clean, but I like to clean more than I like a messy house. Chaotic house = chaotic life.
• Speaking of cleaning...while I was cleaning today I was also doing laundry. Seems that I forgot to put the washer drain in the bathtub and when it came time to drain the washer, it drained all over the bathroom. Oops.  I knew this would happen at some point. I cleaned it up and moved on.
• The pups seem to be perpetually pooped. Exercising them three hours a day seems to be doing just the trick! As I mentioned today was really hot; Tobs took a quick dip and Tanner was involuntarily plunged in to cool him off.

That's about it for now. See you tomorrow :)

The beginning of something new?

I should absolutely be posting about Romania, but first I have to post about this weekend. It has been great! Summer seems to have finally decided to show up in Switzerland, BK is back home after about three weeks away, and the pups seem to have finally accepted that this is their home now.

As I've mentioned before, I realize that I post a lot about the dogs. I see this being reduced now that they aren't howling at the top of their lungs when I leave the apartment and barking at every little sound. While BK was away for two weeks I became the Swiss version of the Dog Whisperer. In addition to working with the trainer, I delved into two of Caesar Millan's books to help me get some perspective on what I needed to do to really fix this problem. The answer is exercise, discipline and affection.

BK and I thought they were getting enough exercise because we were walking them way more than in the US. Not so much. We're now really in a routine that seems to be working, and the first part of that is walking their little behinds off. Right now we're walking about three hours a day- an hour in the morning, an hour at lunch and an hour in the evening. They are typically so exhausted at the end of the day, they don't really care what we do. They also only get food after walks. Once they have walked and are full, supposedly their brain tells them that now it's time to rest, and I believe it. We've also changed how we give affection/attention. For one thing, it now happens on our terms, when we want it. And they pretty much get no attention (talking to them or touching them) until after they have had their morning walk and breakfast.

Toby enjoying a dip

BK brought the final thing we needed back from the US- the Sonic Egg.  It is a small device shaped like an egg that emits a high pitched noise only the dogs can hear, and don't like.  As soon as we set it up, Tanner got through about half of a bark, and then the egg shut him up. He wants nothing to do with that thing. It's also reassuring to know that when we're gone they won't hear something and just go on a barking rampage.

BK sometimes jokingly asks if certain things are allowed in my "regime," and my sisters refer to me as Caesar in their texts, but hey, if it works and I can have a life outside of our apartment, we're keeping it up.

I say all this to lead into the fact that we had a great morning on Saturday when we took the dogs to a park with a stream running through it. We successfully walked them without their leashes, they played well with all the other dogs there, Toby got in the water, and we walked up and down the stream throwing a squeaky ball for them- letting them get even more energy out. We were able to sit on an outdoor terrace and have lunch with the dogs waiting patiently, then come home and relax for a bit. We took them on another hour long walk in the evening, but then BK and I were able to go out to dinner for three hours, and the dogs didn't make a peep!  Woo hoo!

First night out!

This may seem insignificant, and when we look back on our time in Switzerland we'll realize what a short amount of time it took to settle the boys in the grand scheme of things. But for me, this has been a long journey, and quite a bit of it with BK traveling and not available to help. I'm excited and it feels like we can finally move on with our lives and start to live normally. It's been a great weekend and I'm now looking forward to more just like this!