EASTER CELEBRATION IN MARAMURES April 11 -22, 2009

Sibiu ( 4nts) – Cluj (2 nts) – Maramures (3 nts) – Alba Iulia ( 1 nt) – Sibiu departure

Day 1 Saturday April 11 Fly Boston – Sibiu (Hermanstadt )

Day 2 Sunday April 12 Sibiu (Hermannstadt )
You have arrived in Transylvania! Enjoy an afternoon at leisure in Sibiu (Hermanstadt) one of the best-preserved medieval towns in Europe, selected in 2007 as the European city of Culture (together with Luxembourg). Walk along the cobbled stone passages of the old town, enjoy a cup of coffee or visit the rich Art Galleries and bookstores.
In the evening we meet for our first dinner in Romania.
Overnight Forum Hotel Dinner

Day 3 Monday April 13th Sibiu ( Hermanstadt)
Morning walking tour of Sibiu (Hermanstadt) - one of the seven fortified sites of the Saxon Transylvania – Siebenburgen, founded in the 12th century by the Saxons coming from the Moselle Region.. The Hungarian ruler Gyza transferred them to Transylvania;
to guard the mountain passes against the Tatar and Ottoman invaders.
This Saxon population of about one million has vanished almost completely after the 1989 revolution, when the Saxons left Transylvania for the mirage of the West.
Their towns, villages and fortified churches, used as shelters during foreign siege, were left behind, empty and open to nature and human destruction. Prince Charles of Wales took a vivid interest in these Saxon villages and their restoration.
We will visit its beautifully restored medieval center that includes Piata Mare (Large Square), Pita Mica (Small Square), the Bruckenthal Museum, and the Evangelical, Romanian Orthodox and Franciscan churches.
Traditional dinner at the famous ASTRA – open air village museum in the Dumbrava Forest, that we will see from our horse drawn carriages..
Overnight Forum Hotel Breakfast, Dinner

Day 4 Tuesday April 14th Sibiu ( Hermanstadt)
A day of travel through the charming surrounding villages: We take the yellow tramway from Dumbrava to Rasinari a pretty shepherds village , the birth place of the renowned philosopher Cioran . To visit the writer’s museum and one of the most beautiful painted Orthodox churches of Transylvania, showing the only Wheel of Life fresco in Romania.

Cinadioara(Michelsburg) a small Saxon settlement and one of the most beautiful villages in the region. With cherry orchards, a Romanesque church and a Saxon fortified site on top of the hill. Here we are the guests of a local family for a traditional lunch
.
Cisnadie ( Heltau) – a Saxon market town with a wide town square and a massive fortress church , where Bach is played during the Sunday morning service.
Overnight Forum Hotel Breakfast, Lunch

Day 5 Wedensday April 15 Sibiu ( Hermanstad )
We spend the day in Sibiel , a charming Romanian village to visit the largest collection of Glass Icons in Europe. Father Oancea, a local priest started this collection after spending 11 years in a communist prison as a political dissident. Today, the museum enriched through local donations has become the richest in the country.
For lunch we will the guests of a local family for a traditional Romanian meal.
We return in the afternoon, stopping en route to visit the “hatmaker of Gura Riului “
A local artisan who makes all hats by hand, to be sent to his California clients…
Overnight Forum Hotel Breakfast, Lunch

Day 6 Thursday April 16 Cluj ( Klausenburg)
Morning departure through the lovely Carpathian landscapes, visiting en route Biertan and Sighisoara. The Saxon fortified church of Biertan (Birtholm) was built in 1516 and served as the seat of the Lutheran Bishops for many years. Sighisoara (Schassburg) is a medieval town of gingerbread houses, steep stairways, narrow passages, towers and lonely squares. There is a 14th century Evangelical Church, an enchanting clock tower with a musical horologe and a small history museum. Vlad Tepes, the legendary Dracula was born here, in 1431. Both towns belong to the Unesco patrimony – a detail that escaped an American entrepreneur who decided to open ”Dracula Land” in Sighisoara,.
It took the presidential intervention of HRH Prince Charles of Wales to stop the project…
Overnight Cluj Breakfast, Lunch

Day 7 Friday April 17 Cluj ( Klausenburg)
Cluj Napoca, the present day Romanian town was the first Imperial capital of the Austro Hungarian Empire (Kolozsvar) and one of the seven Saxon Sieberburgen – Kluasenburg. A vibrant cultural city with one of the best universities in the country Babes Bolyai founded in 1581. A Romanian Opera and the State Hungarian Theater
( Teatrul Maghiar de Stat) near the central park. The largest botanical garden in south eastern Europe , large wide squares Piata Avram Iancu, Piata Unirii dominated by the massive Gothic Church of St.Michael with a imposing equestrian statue in front of Matthias Corvinus ( Matei Corvin) the greatest Hungarian King . We will walk around town, and spend the afternoon in a corner café with some of the most enchanting pastries to be found from here to Vienna. You may enjoy a night a the opera (schedule pending)
Overnight Cluj Breakfast, Kafe mit Kuchen

Day 8 Saturday April 18 Maramures
In the morning we start our journey into Maramures , the most northerly province in Romania, the closest to my heart. This gorgeous region of rugged mountains and thick forests was never conquered by the Romans and was widely ignored be the central communist government of Bucharest. Maramures is a land and forgotten by time and its beauty is overwhelming. The traditional Maramures costumes are still worn routinely in the villages. The carpets are woven by hand and the natural colors used are extracted from the flowers. The shepherds are tending to their flocks in the high pastures and the artisans are carving some of the most beautiful wooden gates (portile din Maramures) and delicate wooden churches. Some years ago, when the Smithsonian had their annual folk festival in Washington DC a group of Maramures artisans built a wooden church by the Potomac, in a couple of weeks. We visit the ethnographic museum in Sighetul Marmatiei
with its rich collections of carpets, bags, covers, traditional costumes. Also the Prison of the Ministers, dedicated to the victims of communism – a terrible place of imprisonment for mostly students, ministers and professors.
Tonight the Romanians celebrate Eastern and you will take part in the special service at mid night at Birsana monastery.
Overnight Maramures Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 9 Sunday April 19 Maramures
A full day exploration of Maramures takes us along valleys and villages celebrating the Eastern Sunday –when everybody wears colorful traditional costumes on the way to church. In the Iza valley you discover the 13th century wooden churches like jewels of time forgotten - Ieud, Rozalvea, Bogdan Voda, Plopis and Surdesti with its airy spire – the tallest wooden structure in Europe. And Birsana, the new monastery built under the care and strict supervision of Mother Superior Filofteia.
Further on in Sapinta you find in wonder the Merry Cemetery, an enchanting example of folk traditional art. About 50 years ago, a local carpenter Stan Ion Patraus started to carve elaborated wooden crosses with humorous scenes to mark the burial sites of the village cemetery. Witty verses, colorful carvings make one to forget death and only beauty remains. The cemetery, unique in the world has become a major tourist attraction.
Overnight Maramures Eastern Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 10 Monday April 20 Maramures
Experience the life in the village of Botiza – visit the workshops of the carpet weavers, the icon makers and the wood carvers. Today, being the second day of Eastern not many artisans will be actively working but you will drink your way through with palinca and sampling of traditional foods – colored Eastern eggs, sarmale (cabbage rolls) with fresh smintana – sour cream . And the traditional cozonac – the Romanian version of panetone, made with walnuts, raisins, marmelade or even Turkish delight.
Visit the old Church, with its wonderful frescos in the nave depicting the works of the Devil and what happens to sinners after the last judgment. See allso the new church where father Berbecaru , an old friend is a pastor .His wife Victoria will be our hostess for lunch. Overnight Maramures Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 11 Tuesday April 21 Alba Iulia
We start our return to Sibiu with a stop in Alba Iulia – Gyulafehervar by its Hugarian name has long been woven into the history of Transylvania. Its upper town citadel was fortified since the Roman times. The catholic St.Michael’s cathedral testifies to its connection with the former Austro Hungarian empire . While the Orthodox Cathedral of 1921 was the coronation site for King Ferdinand and Queen Mary.
The Museum of Unification celebrates Unirea – the Unification of Transylvania, Tara Romineasca and Moldova under the lead of Mihai Viteazul – Michael the Brave who was able to unify the three regions in 1600. His unity was shortly lived and Romania become one country - Rominia Mare – only in 1918 . We will visit the town, the museum, the Roman citadel and some of the best art galleries and bookstores in the country. Overnight Alba Iulia Breakfast, Dinner

Day 12 Wednesday April 22 Sibiu – Boston Departure
Morning departure for Sibiu airport and our connection flight back home.

Good Bye , until next year

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