Here we are in Targu Mures!

My home for 3 weeks

View to the right of Bod Peter: I do love these green houses everywhere!

All of us taking a Sunday stroll into town

Let's just say going to church today was an experience. Seeing there's a lot of steeples around
here I decided to do some research and pick a protestant one. 11am saw me enter the "fortress citadel" and find I had already missed advent. Not to worry, church is church and anyone is welcome! I snuck in the back and there I remained while: the pastor spoke, every single person in the buildingbar me stood and circled past the communion administrators and back to their seat, half the congregation left, people stood and sang, the proprietor threw me numerous strange looks
and a pastor came and hung his fancy black coat right behind me. From start to finish I
understood not one single word (it was Hungarian) and realised I'd basically selected the coatrack as my seat - oops! As all the congregation filed out and added to the offering bowl, I jumped up, snapped a couple photos and prepared some cash - not wanting to be a stinge I thought 20 lei and moved towards the offering bowl myself. Holding out the purple note very conspicuously, I reach the bowl and as I peer in my eyes meet a sea of green: everyone else evidently put in mere 1 lei notes. but alas it's too late! I give up my 20 lei and realise some more cultural education would be worthwhile! A couple of eyes followed me as I left the building and i considered trying out the couple hungarian phrases i learned but chickened out for worry I'd get tongue-tied! Afterwards I had a peek inside the doors of the Orthodox church which, let me tell you it was incredibly ornate and foreign! Free bits of bread were handed out on exit -  I declined not knowing if there was an expecation associated with the gift.

"The Citadel" Fortress church

Fortress church interior

Erno took the 6 of us (James, Hannah, Jason, Amanda, Tori and myself) on a city orientation walk after church which included seeing shopping sites, coffee spots, historical education, and a wonderful traditional hungarian lunch in a  beautiful cafe. Of course this lunch, being in Romania, was accompanied by local beer and people smoking inside all around us!

Lunch :)

Myself  and Jason by the church

As Jason, Amanda and I walked 'home' we took the "romantic walk" route which had been pointed out as an attraction. At the dismal dusky hour of 4.30pm we could only imagine that the romance must come in summer when Turgu Mures is famous for blooming roses...
Aushi is a lovely 3rd year physio student at the medical university down the road who is acting as cultural guide & interpreter. Tonight she showed us a very nice "non-stop" (24hr) dinner place.

Beginning of the "Romantic Walk"

My initial impressions of Romania: it's cold, they like drinking, they like smoking - inside! - , and they like partying; yet at the same time they are quite proper and conscious of their history which demands respect.