Romania

Being in Romania was interesting to say the least. I was pleasantly surprised by the increasingly decent looking buildings in the city center. The example bellow is not one of them. It is Ceausescu's hideous 'House of the People'. Geordan was just musing that the size of this building would barely be appropriate for a UN headquarters building, not suitable for one country's government building and most certainly ridiculous for Romania's government building. But alas. There it is. Visible from EVERY angle of the city- a monstrosity present around every corner.

Here are some of the nicer views from the city center:

The churches were absolutely beautiful. It was really interesting to go in and watch people going through their Sunday rituals. Some prayed and kissed every icon. Others did an intricate dance of weaving their way through only certain stations. Others sat solemnly at the back of the churches in the shadows of the pillars. I find the darkened interiors interesting. I like the smells of the incense. I even like the ritual of lighting candles for the living and the dead. What I don't like is that MARY is at the head of every church. Jesus is sometimes just a small mosaic on the side. How frustrating. This idea that one must go through MARY or the priests to get to God is so upseting and untrue. And yet it is such a pillar of the Orthodox Church in Romania- that there is something beyond the shadows of the church, beyond the black veils- a place where the common man cannot reach without the help of priests. Strange, mystical and altogether in many ways not what the Bible teaches. But still, as a study it was beautiful. The times spent wandering through churches was was the best and most impformative.

The unofficial patron saint of Romania : St. Nicholas!