We have spent nearly two years in Bucharest.
This is what that time looks like. This is what happened along the way.
Soundtrack: CCR's "Lookin' Out My Backdoor"
Aug 20, 2015 - Arrival in Romania
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| Bine aţi venit! |
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| Our modern apartment all ready to welcome the five of us. |
Aug 21, 2015 - First day of work - Non-Immigrant Visa Manager
Aug 29, 2015 - We lose "Daphne"
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| There couldn't have been a worse way to start a tour. My sweet, funny girl at 17.5 years old. |
Sept. 11, 2015 - "Dodger" suffers a debilitating blood clot
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| And then it got worse. |
Late Sept. 2015 - Step-daughter visits for two weeks
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| Finally getting out into the country! Castle Peleş, Sinaia. |
Oct. 25, 2015 - First visit to the Danube
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| Only the skies were blue at this Danube. |
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Oct 31, 2015
I start chronicling the seasons through our neighbor's back garden. Thanks Şerban! |
Nov 26, 2015 - Thanksgiving spent in Sardinia, Italy
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| First regional trip to Sardinia. Off-season is the way to go! |
Dec 15, 2015 - Tenured!
Dec 25, 2015 - First Christmas in Bucharest
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| Dodger is weak in muscles but strong in spirit. |
Dec 31, 2015 - New Year's Eve in Herastrau Park.
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| Peaceful alongside the frozen lake. |
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| January 9, 2016 |
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| January 16, 2016 - Still snowing. |
Feb 9, 2016 - We pull a fisherman from the icy waters of Snagov Lake
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| I don't recommend ice fishing on an unseasonably warm winter day. |
Feb 16, 2016 - Trip to eastern city Iaşi for visa outreach.
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| Trei Ierhari Church, Iaşi |
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| Valentine's Day, 2016 and the snowdrops are lining the garden paths. |
April 4, 2016 - Rotate to Immigrant Visa Section Manager as Spring hits the city
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| March 19, 2016 and the trees are starting to bloom, too. |
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| April 2, 2016 and it's puffy white tree time of year! |
April 15-18, 2016 - Visit the interior of Transylvania: Sibiu and Sighisoara
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| Transylvanian town and their backyard fortified church. |
April 30, 2016 First Romanian Easter
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| Park Cismigiu Easter decorations. |
June 2016 - Vacation to Milos, Greece
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| Exploring the beautiful island of Milos. |
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| June 27, 2016 shady backyards are the way to escape the city heat. |
July 2016 - First trip back to US to sell old and buy new house
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| Our new house - now rented. |
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| July 30, 2016. Still hot, bring on the shade tents! |
Aug 14, 2016 - Weekend trip up the Transfăgărășan highway
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| So steep I "hiked" on all fours up this mountainside. The view was worth it. |
Aug 21, 2016 - Dog days of summer at Snagov Lake
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Nothing says Romania like a guy with an accordion at a lakeside picnic.
The cigarettes, swimming in your skivvies and the pile of trash also, unfortunately, say "Romania." |
Aug 31, 2016 - Promoted!
Sept 4, 2016 - Day trip to Târgoviște
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| View from Chindia Tower. |
October 2016 - My good friend Rose visits.
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| This isn't me and Rose, it's Brasov school girls staying in at recess. |
Late October 2016 - My mother and step-father visit.
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| Old Casino on the Black Sea, Constanţa. |
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| Nov. 13, 2016 |
Dec 22, 2016 - We lose "Dodger"
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| Good bye my dear, lovely friend after 18.5 years. |
Christmas 2016 - Step-daughter visits for second time
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| Christmas Fair in front of the People's Palace, Bucharest |
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| Christmas 2016 |
Dec 26, 2016 - Visit to the far northern county of Maramureş
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| The Merry Cemetary in Săpânța |
Jan 1, 2017 - Rotate to Fraud Prevention Manager
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| Jan. 6, 2017 |
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| Feb. 11, 2017 Snow isn't going anywhere! |
March 6, 2017 - Trip to western cities of Timișoara and Cluj-Napoca for visa outreach
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Piața Unirii, Timișoara
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| March 29, 2017 Finally spring comes! |
March 17, 2017 - Day trip to Câmpina
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| Sanford and Son Romanian style. |
March 29, 2017 - Herastrau Park bursts into bloom
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| Japanese Garden, Herastrau Park. |
April 12, 2017 - We lose my husband's father
May 5, 2017 "Toby" diagnosed with mesenteric lymphoma (i.e. cancer)
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| But all in all - he's doing very well. |
April 2017 - Still riding after all these years!
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| With the lovely "Feivel" |
April 30, 2017 - Roadside fruit stand season begins
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| Crates of strawberries anyone? |
May 2017 - Wedding season at the Botanical Gardens
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| We saw no fewer than eight wedding parties in the park! |
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| May 27, 2017 Serban's cherry trees are full of fruit. |
Early June 2017 - Trip to Nikiti, Greece
June 10, 2017 Toby becomes "Captain Underpants"
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| A little loss of bladder control, but hey, he's 19! |
June 19, 2017 Pack-out (our 7th, but who's counting?)
June 20-24, 2017 Husband takes trip to the Danube Delta
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| Pelican and friends in Danube Delta near Murighiol. |
July 1, 2017 Last trip into the countryside
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| Dâmboviţa County sunflower fields. |
July 4, 2017 Last hurrah - Embassy Independence Day party with 3000 of our closest friends.
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Ambassador Klemm and Mrs. Klemm with the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis.
Not sure who that lady in the red jacket is. Certainly isn't me. Nope. |
July 7, 2017 We sadly head for the airport and close this Romanian chapter.
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| We WILL be back. |
Seasons come and go and life continues for most - but not all - of us. Days are full of the daily grind of routine and the joy of the unexpected; the incredible sadness of loss and the marvel of new found beauty; arguments and laughs; embarrassment and accomplishment. People will inevitably ask me "How was Romania?", and the above images will flip through my mind like a deck of shuffling cards, but I will simply say it was wonderful.
La revedere!
Pa!
