The Edge of the Austro-Hungarian Empire

Last Saturday, after recovering from the stomach flu (thus the gap in blogging). I was finally able to get out and about. I rode the train up to Ghimes, a town that was once a border between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Moldova, with Julie and Mil. We lucked out and had the first sunny and warm day that we've had in weeks. Ghimes is about a two-hour train ride from my site and is the east side of the Hungarian speaking region of Romania.

The train station and a fruit and veggie stand.

Mil's tutor, Crina, lives in Ghimes and was an amazing tour guide for us. First she took us to a small museum in town. The museum was created by a former school teacher and is two rooms in her home. She has been collecting items from the community to try capture what rural life was like in the past.

There was lots of weaving equipment.

Ornaments from the old school.

A machine used to separate honey from the combs.

Lots of butter churns.

More interesting objects.

Crina then took us back to her house for coffee. She then took us to see more historical sites in town. Below are the ruins of the quarantine site for the town. Crina told us the Catholic priest in town has been working to preserve the site and had recently built structures to try to prevent deterioration.

There are also memorials for community members killed in World War I and II.

The final stop on our tour was the ruins of one of the Austro-Hungarian border watch towers. We climbed the hundred stairs up to the top. I can't imagine what it would have been like to climb these extremely steep and dark stairs at night.

The climb was worth it because the view was beautiful!

The view of the Romanian Orthodox church on one side.

The Catholic church and cemetery on the other side.

Crina told us the above path was one a cannon route. They pulled cannons up to high points on the hills.

We also could see a potato harvest in progress.

We had a great day and look forward to many more adventures this autumn.