After my flight from Orlando to London changed course and airline due to a delay that would have caused a 
missed connection in Chicago, I ended up in Frankfurt instead. Thankfully, as the previous itinerary would have left me stranded in Chicago, and taken me on a grueling route all the way to Kuwait, with an estimated 17 hour layover to then find my way back to Romania with little sleep. From Frankfurt I took the first available train to Arad, Romania and had a place in a couchette (sleeping wagon), sharing the cabin with just one other lady. After a nice, refreshing train ride I arrived in Budapest, where I changed trains after a few hours in the main station.
After visiting my father and his wife for only one night I then took another train to my grandparent’s. My dear sweet grandmother was very ill. My aunt is taking care of them and she was afraid that this time we have to say goodbye to our 85 year old grandma. Yet, as we learned not long after, she is not ready to leave and her plans were to get better and help my aunt around the house again.
The village where I spent all my vacations as a child now had knee high grass along the roads as it had been raining a lot before my arrival. The storks are still making their nests on the electric poles, but the village is changing as even more than before, children and grandchildren are making their life in the city. When a house loses its owner to death, the only interested party to buy it seems to be
the gypsies. They went to western European countries and did what they normally do. They returned with money and are now building big homes, sometime with the look of castles.
Passing through some places in Romania I seen huge homes with towers and roofs with unusual motifs. However in my grandparent’s village the gypsies that buy there do not seem to build that opulently. Anyhow, I spent five days there and my seven year old niece, Andra, accompanied me everywhere. She is a bright and 
affectionate child whose company everyone enjoys. She likes to help around the house and loves animals, just as her mother did as a kid. Last year she made a few funny reportage around the house using my cousin’s (her aunt) mobile phone. Unfortunately she moved the phone a lot so the image is shaky and of course… is all in Romanian. Yet, she sounds confident and like a true reporter, except for the funny comments. One example is the comment about the house as compared to her house in another village, as she said hers is not as rundown and is even funnier. In the view of the phone is my cousin and she presents her by her name, with all the marital history. On one of her “reportages” she began talking about my cousin but stopped abruptly. What happened behind the scene is that my cousin threatened to take the mobile phone from her if she continued. Maybe I will post the video here after some editing, but for now the quality is not the best as the phone is not an expensive one. Also the language is not English.
A few days into the village time I decided to take a day trip to Hunedora to visit the famous castle (Castelul 
Hunizilor-also Corvinilor) and Prislop Monastery (see post for description and photos). After a few days back in the village Andra and I set out to enjoy the sunshine and take in some swimming and Langoṣ in Arad and visit some other places.
My 20013 summer trip to Romania was a good one. I have been fortunate enough to see much of this wonderful world, and that alone rejuvenates my interest in exploring and revisiting new and previously known to me destinations in Romania. This trip included the ancient ruins of Sarmizegetusa Regia, Cluj and the salt mine of Turda, Arad, and Timisoara.
