Last night we walked to our airport hotel. Our Google directions had us going through dark alleys and unlit parking lots. I would have been happier to walk this path during daylight hours.
We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn at the airport and the bed was sooo comfortable. Most places that we stay don’t have top sheets but this one did. We miss top sheets!!
I had a hard time sleeping. Tea, Coke and chocolate do that to me.
I plan to stay away from these from now on since they rob me of a good night’s sleep.
The taxi picked us up today and brought us to the train station. On the way I tried to put on my seatbelt, but I couldn’t find the latch. The driver said that seatbelts were not necessary. I beg to differ and prayed that we would survive the harrowing ride.
When we got on the train, we didn’t know where the seat numbers were. A man showed us the numbers and then put our bags up in the overhead shelves. What a nice man! Then he demanded that we give him money. He said something about helping children and showed us an ID card. Rob gave him some money. We learned a lesson: Don’t let strangers handle your bags!!
On the train ride I read more about Christians who have been persecuted or, on the other hand, have been persecutors. Christians were persecuted until 313AD.
(Today Christians are persecuted more than any other time in history.)
Once Constantine issued his Edict of Milan recognizing Christianity, soon it became a state religion! So next, some Christians became persecutors!!!
In learning from history, I think that freedom of religion is absolutely necessary. Of course, religions are made man, not God made!
Better yet is God given free will to decide who or what you will worship and serve. God makes a great case that it should be Him, but HE would not force it on anyone.
So many needless deaths have occurred in the name of religion…and Christianity sadly is certainly near the top of the list. How can this be?
And, furthermore, genocide is present in the Bible as a direct commandment of God. Again, how can this be? Here is an article that I found helpful.
The Violence of the Biblical God by L. Daniel Hawk is a comprehensive book that takes a hard look at this difficult subject. I haven’t read this book, but it might give me some insight.
I think followers of Christ should gain deeper understanding of this topic as this is a stumbling block for many who consider becoming followers of Christ.
Here is a pretty exhaustive Wikipedia article that brings up issues that I had not heard of until now. No wonder people bristle at the word Christian. Today, we Christians try to separate ourselves from violence from misguided Christians who often used the Bible to further their own agenda.
We arrived in Brașov, Romania. I don’t really know where Rob is taking us on this journey. He makes plans; I just follow him and then write about it. Sometimes I interject a place that I would like to visit, but Rob picks good places so I am content.
Our daughter, Amy Street, recommended that we come to Brașov, Romania. It is billed…a very charming medieval city, and it is.
The city has a sign much like the Hollywood sign.
In the past Brașov was chosen as one of the cities to display the larger than life word STALIN on the mountain. They planted specific evergreens spelling out his name.
When Communism fell, the city wanted to get rid of it…but if you cut the trees down, it still says STALIN. With some forest management, over time they were able to remedy the hillside to its natural environment.
Our apartment is off of a charming courtyard with a view of “the sign”.
The apartment has left many brochures of things for us to do. The first one that I saw was going into the wild to see bears!! I don’t think so. I am scared of bears. The ride is about 20 miles away!!! Wear camo clothing, don’t take food….Rob calmed me and assured me that bears were not in the city. Ok, so I read on for some additional info.
Most Important Words to Know
Servus=Hello
Noroc=Cheers or Good Luck
Merdi=Thank you
Ajutor! Ma urmareste un urs!= Help! A bear is chasing me!
YIKES!!!…Maybe I’ll just stay inside.
We see that there is the final organ concert of the year at the Black Church (so named due to a fire), so we risked going outside to the nearby church. Rob says that the church has five organs!! We are the first ones in a long line of concert goers.
Once inside we scurry up to the front row. An orchestra comes out. Boy, is this going to be good!!
Well, it was good, but they didn’t play the organ!!! How can it be called an organ concert?
Anyway, it was a group from Poland of 8 violins, 2 violas, 2 oboes, 1 bassoon, 1 cello, 1 bass, 2 French horns, 2 trumpets and a timpani drum. They were very accomplished and received a standing ovation.
The musical group did two things that we have not seen before.
1) There were no chairs…they did not sit down for the entire performance. Their playing was very animated.
2) There was no director. The first chair violin would start every song with a raise of the bow. He was called the concert master.
Afterward we went out for dinner. It was 8:00 and we were the only ones in the restaurant. Rob learned that 10:00 is the dinner hour here!! But we are hungry!!!!
They brought out a greeting from the kitchen. Even though it was fish eggs, it reminded me of bubble tea!
I had pumpkin soup drizzled with maple syrup together with hot fresh croutons made for a yummy fall treat!!
Rob had meat, okra, and rice that was formed into a rectangle.
We learned to eat out on the first night and bring home leftovers for later nights. Now if only our apartment had a microwave!! Ha! We are learning many ways to do many different things.
Where did you eat that ? At that fancy restaurant opposite your flat ? It is good you are not driking ….he would have ripped you off with the wine ….