Tolvaj Hill, and Sea Sick in the Carpati

1 November, 2009. Universitatea de Nord din Baia Mare, camera șase, cāminul trei.

Last weekend there was an international conference here on Edgar Allan Poe, celebrating the bicentennial of his birth. Although I know/knew next to nothing about Poe, I was invited to attend on the basis that many of the conference participants were foreigners like me. As it turned out, I had a good time at the conference, and even learned a little bit about Poe (I can say almost certainly that except for an awareness that Poe wrote "Murders in the Rue Morgue," I was/remain rather ignorant of the man - but I do now have a greater appreciation for the Iron Maiden song of the same name). The conference was unfortunately plagued by last minute cancellations (I guess participants couldn't quite make the connection between Poe and Baia Mare, Romania), but folks did arrive from Turkey, Italy, France, and the U.S. I had some interesting conversations with most of these folks, at least two of which were foreigners working/teaching abroad (one an English woman teaching in Turkey, and the other an American teaching in France). I can't say much with regard to the academic achievements of the conference, but I can say it was a great social event. Although I teach on Fridays and Saturdays, and thus could not attend much of the academic part of the conference, I was pleased to attend (at the organizers' insistence) their dinners and a tour of Maramures on Sunday.

But before I get ahead of myself...  Baia Mare from above...

After my class last Saturday, I was invited by a few students to enjoy the last day of daylight savings time in Romania (the clocks fell back here on 25 October), and the nice weather, to climb Tolvaj Hill to get a look at Baia Mare from above (the city is surrounded by the Eastern Carpati Hills). With Cosmin, Anamaria, Robert, and Raluca, I climbed Tolvaj (it took about 30 minutes) and shared a few sips of wine while taking in the view.  If you're curious where the main university campus is located, look for the little cluster of bright orange buildings in the panoramic view, pretty much right in the middle of the photo.

Back to Poe.  On Sunday I was invited to join the conference participants on a bus tour of the Maramures region.  I took a similar tour when I was here a year and half ago, but this trip promised to show me new places.  We departed Baia Mare at about 9am, on a rented city bus.  Very soon into the trip, as we crossed the Carpati hills, several of us began to feel sea sick - me included.  The road through the Carpati hills is very, very windy, and the city bus was not the best vehicle to experience such curves.  I felt very sea sick, and unfortunately this put a damper on an otherwise wonderful trip (I never really "recovered" the whole day, even after we returned to flat ground).  The trip took us to the small city of Sighet, on the Ukraine border.  At Sighet we visited the Memorial of the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance . This museum is located in a former Communist prison, where many people suffered and perished (including the relatives of some of our hosts, who although they suggested we go there, were visibly shaken being there).  Unfortunately we did not have a lot of time to take in all the museum had to offer, due to time constraints, but it was an informative visit nonetheless.

After Sighet, we visited the village of Budesti, which includes a traditional Maramures wooden church (Budesti-Josani Church). The cemetary surrounding the church was active with old women and thier granddaughters (mostly) cleaning and arranging the graves. Last weekend, and this weekend, are considered "days of the dead," when living relatives visit and clean-up the graves of their relatives who have passed on.  Budesti-Josani Church was first constructed in 1643 and the inside is covered in wonderful/simple religious murals.   We were also all-too-briefly entertained in Budesti by a traditional children's choir and dance troup, before crowding back onto the city bus to head once again back over the hills.

Our last stop was in Baia Sprie, just outside of Baia Mare.  Here we visited the "Potter's House."  And small world, I'd already met the potter, Daniel Les, at Raluca's cottage a few weekends previous.  Mr. Les operates a pottery studio and small hotel in Baia Sprie. Before getting a demonstration of Mr. Les' skills in pottery (he's considered the best in Romania), and touring his workshop, the organizers of the tour treated us to a banquet of traditional Maramures foods.  Unfortunately I was still woozy from our trip through the hills, so I could not fully appreciate the bounty that we were presented. 

I hope to return to each of these sites (and others) in the future - but preferably not by rented city bus!