Christmas Day
I enjoyed my first Christmas in another country. I had a lazy start to Christmas morning, and had a nice and (relatively) quiet and relaxing Christmas day at the apartment. Everything was closed so I got a breakfast cooked in. Enjoyed opening some presents and getting some surprises.
Spa Day in Poiana Brașov
The day after Christmas we went and spent some time at a spa at Hotel Ana up in Poiana Brașov. It was cold and snowy, but we went and had a swim and then some steam baths. I wasn’t brave enough to run outside (in the subfreezing evening) after the steam bath to the outdoor hot tub, but lots of Romanians seemed to be doing that. They’re definitely a very active people.
After a couple of hours of spa time, we had a light dinner at the traditional restaurant Stâna Turistică where we again saw singers dressed in traditional Romanian clothing serenading the crowd. The place is filled with stuffed animals like a hunting lodge. I again managed to get home with some of their delicious apple juice.
Brunch at Grandma’s
I got a special treat as my friend Maddy’s grandmother invited us over for breakfast. This was my first chance to experience some traditional Romanian home life. Maddy’s grandmother had lived in her apartment for decades. She didn’t speak any English, and I only had my handful of Romanian phrases, but it was very nice. She had me drink some Țuică, a traditional homemade plum liquor, and made a delicious breakfast for us that consisted mostly of traditional homemade foods. We weren’t there too long, but it was a very nice experience.
Local Hikes, Shopping, and Furniture
Maddy got tied up helping a friend who was sick. Even though she’s still a nursing student, she’s become a medical resource for a lot of people. I spent one (pretty cold and a bit snowy) morning hiking up the valley behind my Airbnb, and I seemed to be joined by quite a few people. It was quite pretty. I also hiked up the base of Tâmpa mountain and a bit down the trail where I’d seen lots of other people go. It looks like it would be a nice hike in the warmer months.
Another thing I spent a bit of time doing on this trip was helping Maddy arrange an apartment she was in the process of setting up as a combined salon and Airbnb apartment. I spent some time assembling some furniture she had gotten, and the place was starting to take shape. We were able to get the bedroom functional which was a good thing. I hadn’t been able to book my primary Airbnb apartment continuously for my entire stay in Brașov, so the day before New Year’s Eve, I checked out of the apartment, and crashed in Maddy’s studio for the few days I didn’t have access to the other place. I continued working on some of the furniture in one room while Maddy worked on clients in the other.
New Year’s Eve
On New Year’s Eve, Maddy and her friend Doina came over with some traditional Romanian snacks for the occasion. We had some champagne, grapes, and various smoked meats and cheeses. Maddy also brought her dog to stay in the apartment to protect her from the holiday fireworks. The Romanians really go for the fireworks on this holiday, and unfortunately later in the evening one of the building residents was having a party and throwing big fire crackers off the top floor that were exploding right outside my apartment window, and it scarred the dog quite a bit. So I spent the hours around midnight into the early hours sitting on the couch with the dog in my lap comforting her from all the noise. More noise than I would have liked, but spending the evening with a dog in your lap isn’t a bad thing.