Uzice is a town hewn from the harsh vertical rockface of the Detinja valley. That rock is still being hewn, mountains ground into stone chip for construction use by Piteve. It is a simple trope that such hard ground produces hard people, but I feel there is something in it. Uzice is also gateway to … More Day 20: Uzice to Cetinje
24 hours cut off from the interweb, alcohol and meat – I should do this more often. I was staying at Putna monastery, 3 km from the Ukraine border, just as I was on 20th August 1968, when the Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia to put down the Prague Spring. Troop trains were moving through the village … More Days 16 &17: From Suceava to Putna Monastery to Sighisoara
Sitting beside a large table of young Suceavans tonight, I realised that not only am I revisiting a stage in my evolution, but that these young folk are at a similar point. In 1968, us post-War Baby Boomers were the first generation free of oppression, struggle and austerity and loudly enjoying the freedoms that … More Day 15: Nun But the Brave
So I am now back at the heart of the region which initially attracted me, and have started revisiting the painted monasteries I first saw 47 years ago. This is Voronet, built in just sixteen weeks in 1488 to mark one of Stefan cel Mare’s key victories over the Ottoman Turks, which has been restored … More Day 14: More Monk-y Business
I needed today to remind me what a staggeringly beautiful country – at least in some parts – Romania is. Having spent one night in Transylvania, with my neck still intact I drove over the Valea Postei viaduct: and then along the side of the massive reservoir Izvorul Muntelui, the largest artificial lake in Romania. I … More Day 13: Lacu Rosu to Suceava
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