Cluj-Napoca

Romania

June 26, 2001

My Dear Family and Friends,

I am sitting in the delightful Hubertus Restaurant, listening to a sweet musical trio (keyboard, violin and clarinet) while I wait for my main course of roasted quail with potatoes and tomato salad.

I am in a charming university town called Cluj-Napoca in the middle of the Transylvanian Mountains in Romania.

For the past two days I have driven in the far north near the borders of Hungary and The Ukraine.  The area is called The Maramureş where communities are living their lives the way they have for hundreds of years -- spinning, woodworking, and farming in beautiful and fertile mountain valleys alongside swift mountain rivers.