Severin to Timisoara

Tonight, instead of looking at Serbia, I'm looking at the city of Timisoara. I have a very nice view of it, because I have a balcony, and the weather is warm enough (not warm, but warm enough) for me to sit on it, and the flat that I rented is pretty much right in the heart of the city. That's where I am now, here's what the day looked like:

I had the best of intentions of being out to see the sights of Severin by 7am. But having a warm, comfortable hotel room all to myself proved hard to resist. I got rolling a little more slowly, and finally got down to eat breakfast at about 7:30. My breakfast was included in the cost of my room, but I had no idea what to do. The American in me was half-expecting a serve-yourself breakfast like I'm used to, but I opened some giant metal serving trays in the breakfast area and found nothing. Embarrassing. I then took my seat and waited for a waitress, which was apparently what I was supposed to do.



a very safe place to take a selfie, because there was nobody around

After breakfast, I tried to be a tourist. I think I was the only tourist in the entire town, actually. I went to a tourist spot and found literally nobody, and I went to where a museum was supposed to be and found nobody there either (and no museum entrance, either, for that matter). I took loads of pictures at the one spot (the walls and tower of a medieval citadel) and otherwise mostly settled for just walking around. This was still fun except I wore shoes I shouldn't have worn and got a blister that has made walking a bit less appealing overall...

 medieval citadel

small memorial in the park, to victims of Romanian communism

 After packing up and leaving my perfect room, I managed to catch the right train to take me to Timisoara. No friendly young companion this time, but an older man did help me with my suitcase. I didn't get a window seat this time, which was hard for me, but I still had a decent view of some gorgeous scenery. Yesterday's train ride was nowhere near as scenic as today's! The sun came out during the journey, which was the first I'd seen of it, and I took a picture of that too.



Sunshine!  And sheep!
 

foggy and beautiful

I was embarrassed to take pictures,
until I saw that the Romanian girl
across from me was taking more

I've decided that the scariest parts of my trip are when I arrive in a new city and have to get my bearings. My airbnb host, Ioan, had told me to take a cab from the train station. I've only taken a cab a handful of times in my life, and never in Romania, and have been warned about taxi scams here, so I was crazy nervous. But God provided an honest driver, who only charged 9 lei (just over 2 dollars) and he got me here safe and sound. Ioan met me at the door of the building, and I was thrilled to learn that the building has an elevator (I was preparing myself to carry my suitcase up 6 flights of stairs).

Ioan was another blessing. His flat is beautiful, and he was excited to tell me about all the places to see here (I'm already wishing I had more than 2 days!) We also talked about the history of this area a little (this part of Romania has only been part of Romania since WWI), and about the current immigration crisis in Europe and how it's perceived in the states, and we even got to talk about the Bible. He's not a Christian, and said he has concerns that there are so many different translations of the Bible, but that he wants to do more research because it seems crazy to live life without a purpose, just to work to make money to buy things. I've been so encouraged this whole trip about how the message of God's word is consistent, even across languages and translations, so it was perfect timing for that convo. I had lots to say and he was super engaged, and I'm hoping to get to follow up more with him later.

one of many gorgeous parts of Piata Unirii

I explored the city very briefly this evening, before meeting a woman named Dawn for dinner. Dawn works for Greater Europe Mission, the organization I had hoped to partner with 7-8 years ago, and I'd emailed her weeks ago in the hopes of connecting while I'm here. She works with children with disabilities here in the city, which was so cool to hear about. We ate delicious pizza, and she put me to shame with how well she speaks Romanian. It is so sweet how easy it is to connect with other believers I've never met. We talked for awhile, and when I got back to my place, she called me to make sure I was doing okay and to make sure I have connections in other cities since she knows people elsewhere as well. I feel so very cared for!

Dawn and I after a satisfying dinner of pizza and lemonade

I walked back after dark, barely missing the before-sunset curfew that I've set for myself during this travel-alone portion of my trip, but I felt very safe. Not naively safe, but cautiously safe. :-) Tomorrow, I will try to go to Dawn's church or another, and I have about half a million other must-see spots that I need to narrow down. There are so many beautiful buildings here, and so much history – I know I won't be able to cover even a fraction of it! And since I haven't sat in a coffee shop since March 4^th, that definitely needs to happen soon as well!

Ok, that's all for now! Until next time...