Romania - A Fascinating Destination
I boarded Lufthansa Airlines from LAX with a certain giddiness and anticipation.
I was ready for a long flight over the USA, Canada, Iceland, the Northern Sea, and Germany, with the final destination, Bucuresti - the capital of Romania.
The South-Eastern European location of this land of mystique reveals deep fingerprints of history, culture and tradition. I had to decide which places I should visit this time: the Black Sea and its range of luxury resorts, the beautiful Carpathian Mountains with cozy cottages and hotels, a cruise along the Danube River and the Danube Delta, Transylvania and its relentless Dracula and his castle, the major cities’ cultural life or the Old Monasteries of Moldavia.
I chose the spiritual journey to the monasteries of the Christian Orthodox faith.: Arbore Monastery built in 1503, Humor built in 1530, Moldovita 1532, Patrauti Monastery built in 1487, Suceava 1522, Voronet 1487 and Sucevita built in 1583.
Each and every monastery has its own personality and architectural style. Outdoor and indoor frescoes depicting religious scenes fascinate the eyes and minds of tourists.
Entering the church makes you step solemnly and humbly. Two separate stands are painfully punctured by holes holding tens and hundreds of yellow, thin candles lit for the souls of the departed.
Slowly you head towards the altar just to be mesmerized by icons in Byzantine influenced style and priests in Holy adorned attires. Later, in the journey, I had the unique experience of dining with the nuns, sitting at a long, wooden table, so long that one could unroll a scroll of the entire history of Christian religion…
As I ate the food the nuns cooked I peeked a little at their faces: so much peace and purity of the soul …so much resembling the icons with no lines of worries…as if time had stopped indefinitely.
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The international airport Otopeni in Bucuresti was ready for my “Good Bye’s”.
I hugged my former childhood friends and promised I would return soon for, yet, another adventure, perhaps skiing in the Carpathians mountains.
“Please fasten your seatbelts!”
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by: Yolanda Scripca 5/25/2011 |
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