We have been enjoying our time here although they have kept us quite busy at the plant. The weather has been cold here (30’s) especially compared to the weather in SC which we hear is in the 70’s right now. We woke up yesterday morning to snow and fog.
On Mar 1 (yesterday) the Romanians celebrate Mărţişor - a traditional celebration of the first of spring and means “dear March”. Mărţişor is the symbol of spring and the men offer the women in their life objects of affection. These gifts are usually flowers or small jeweled pins or objects tied to a red and white string. Women are supposed to wear the pins on the holiday and for days later. The red and white colors symbolize many things apparently – we were told it signifies: man and woman, love and luck, peace and war, and/or winter and spring. It is believed that the one who wears the red and white string will be powerful and healthy for the year to come. The decoration is a symbol of the coming spring. My colleague Beth and I got pins, jewels, and flowers from the thoughtful men of the plant. We felt very honored they would think of us. Too bad I got the red/white strings yesterday and not sooner – since I just came down with a cold yesterday and the healthy wishes Mărţişor brings could have come in handy sooner.
Cori & Beth with their Martisor gifts
We’ve really enjoyed the food in Romania. A usual menu for the day has included:
Breakfast – a very nice spread at the hotel. The selections include assorted meats and cheeses, fresh fruits usually arranged in beautiful sculptures or designs, pastries, omelets, and fresh juices.
Lunch – we have only eaten at the plant cafeteria for lunch and it has been surprisingly better than other cafeterias. This is usually the biggest meal for Romanians so we find the portions are HUGE! Meals are served with chiorba (soup) and a main course. There are baskets of bread (paina) on each table along with oil and vinegar for salads. I’ve mainly ate the chiorba (a broth usually served with some kind of meat) and a salad. Today’s chiorba was served with tripe (cow intestines) and David ended up with a few spoon fulls in his bowl without knowing what it was. He said it wasn’t too bad but I refrained from eating any and I am okay with that.
Dinner – All the ingredients are so fresh – from veggies to fresh feta cheese, to delicious meats and the tasty wine – it’s hard to pick a favorite. We’ve had Italian food, steak, pui (chicken) and also some traditional Romanian dishes. Not to mention that we’ve had a shot or two of the local alcohol Tuica (plum liquor).
The local currency in Romania is the Lei. The exchange rate with the US is 1 US$ = 3.3 Lei. David and I ate a meal (appetizers, drinks, main course, salads, etc.) and it was 100 Lei so basically $30.
During our stay we were in the city of Ploiești (where we stayed at the hotel and ate) and the Michelin plant was in a local village named Florești (about 30 mins from Ploiesti). Today was our last day at the plant. It was bittersweet – nice to be done with all our work but sad to leave all the new people we’ve met. We got done early with our presentations so we decided to take in a bit of the Romania country side with our driver Michelle. Michelle only speaks Romanian and some French and our friend & colleague Beth speaks mainly Canadian-English (eh!) and some French, so the conversations were mostly in French and hand gestures. Never the less, we had an enjoyable day with our new Romanian friend and guide. Michelle drove us towards the mountains in a town called Sinaia, there are lots of places to go skiing near this city. While in Sinaiai we went to visit the Peles Castle. The Castle was built in the late 1800’s and was the home of King Carol I of Romania. We were thankful the weather shaped up for today so we could enjoy the sight-seeing.
Peles Castle
Tomorrow, we leave for Athens. We are excited for the next leg of our trip but a bit sad to leave Romania. Everyone was so nice and gracious!
1 comment:
Glad you guys had a good time in Romania and had a chance to get out of the plant and do some site seeing! Have a great time in Greece! Miss you both!
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