Day trips

Maandag heb ik eerst mijn Hongaars les. Vervolgens werk ik met Marlene aan een tour boekje van locaties waar we deze week heen gaan, ik heb mijn try-out voor de Intercultural Night en spreek af met mijn mentor. Inmiddels ben ik helemaal kapot, maar ik heb om 7 uur de Green Quiz Night. Ik presenteer het deel met waar/ niet waar vragen en na de tijd ga ik zo snel mogelijk naar bed. De volgende dag staat er namelijk wat leuks op het programma:

Het volgende verhaal is in het Engels, omdat ik er sowieso over moest schrijven:

Day 1:

On Tuesday morning, Vikki, Marlene and I were picked up by Emöke. Our first destination of the day was the Lázár castle. This castle has a large history, but only recently opened as a museum for visitors. We were shown around the castle and the area and also got to see some of the exhibitions. Next we went to the red lake. To our surprise, the entire lake was still frozen when we arrived. We went to climb up to a nice viewpoint. For this, we had to cross a river, which was pretty adventurous, but we made it and the views were absolutely worth it! Afterwords, we enjoyed some Langos and drove to the Bicaz gorge. We made a short walk on a trail next to the river and had some magnificent views. After long, but amazing day, we headed back to Csíkszereda.

Day 2:

On Wednesday we went to Sighisoara. However, on the way there we made several stops. First, we stopped at Homorod. Here are some water fountains with fresh mineral water coming from the mountains. This water has a unique and distinct taste because of all the iron in it, and according to legends it's also good for one's health. Next, we stopped at a village which is known for its many traditional Szekler gates, after which we finally reached Sighisoara! We had to walk up the hill to reach the old town and walked around there. Our visit couldn't be complete without visiting the famous clocktower. From here we had some magnificent views over the city. We also climbed the Scholars stairs. After this, we headed back home.

Day 3:

On Thursday we had the chance to visit the Mikó castle here in town, which is home to a museum. We got to learn a lot about the Szekler people and their traditional way of living. Furthermore, we also got to learn more about the area, the mountains and surrounding nature and about Csíkszereda. There was also a special part about printing and several old, especially religious books were portrayed here. We also liked the short movie displayed in the museum and the opportunity to dress up at one point. Overall, we very much enjoyed our visit to the castle.

Tevens is dit ook de dag van de Intercultural Night. De avond hiervoor heb ik al met Sjoerd boodschappen gedaan en een aantal voorbereidingen met het deeg. Op de dag zelf sta ik van half 10 tot een uur of 1 in de keuken om oliebollen te bakken en de gevulde koeken te bakken. Daarna ga ik dus naar het kasteel en daarna direct door naar de bibliotheek om alles voor te bereiden. Om 5 uur is het go-time en presenteren we Nederland. Ik denk dat de mensen er enthousiast over waren. ’s Avonds ontmoet ik mijn mentor en om de een of andere reden ga ik ook nog koken, terwijl dat niet nodig was.

Day 4:

During our last day of our tour through Transylvania, we visited a salt mine. With a bus we drove into the mine, until a certain point. Here we had to get out and descent the stairs. Our eyes immediately fell on a climbing park! Besides this there were other opportunities for entertainment. We learned that kids with some long problems go to the mine because the salty air supposedly helps them. Instead of just waiting in boredom, both the kids and the parents get to entertain themselves. There's also a church inside. On our way to the exit, we found a viewing point with light shining in from outside. Next up, we drove to the famous Jesus statue. The road to get there got a bit adventurous. We could climb up all the way to Jesus' head and were greated with beautiful views over the valley!

Onderweg terug komen we langs het plaatsje Udvarhely, waar ik een bijzonder bord zie: Frieske pan, met de Friese vlag erbij. We nemen een kijkje bij deze schijnbaar bekende bakkerij. Helaas hebben ze niks wat echt Fries is, maar toch zijn de mensen zo aardig om een hele tas vol met allerlei broodjes en lekkernijen mee te geven. In de avond is het spelletjes avond in een of ander gebouw, en vervolgens gaan we naar bed.