We saw many horse-drawn buggies. Kenric usually slows down as a courtesy, and also for me to snap a photo. The farmers and their passengers always waved back and smiled, and one made our day. I didn’t get a good picture when we passed him, so Kenric pulled over slightly further down the road. I got out to wait. When the farmer saw me he reined in his horse. I was very surprised. Then, he saw me holding you-know-who in my hand, and gestured me to hand the little guy over to pose with him. I quickly snapped a few photos, and thanked him. He gave Kenric and me a big smile, waved, and off he went.

During the six-plus-hour drive, we saw a lot of Romania’s countryside and forests. Cows, sheep, horses and chickens kept the ride interesting. So did the roadside vendors selling all kinds of homemade jams, syrups, cheese, sausages, and souvenirs. We pulled over at a vista point to admire the view, and take some photos. There was a stall. The owner, an old lady, was sitting on a stone ledge nearby eating her bread. She nodded her head, and somewhat posed for me when I showed her my camera. She asked, “Italia? Espana?” “English, America.” She pointed to her merchandise, and said, “cheese”. Kenric is allergic to smoked cheese, and we really didn’t need to carry any heavy jars of anything. We shook our heads, and started walking away, but I told Kenric that we should buy something from her just to lighten the load that she had to take home, if nothing else.

Maybe no cheese

We turned around, and she quickly walked to her stall. She carved off a sample of cheese that was encased in a brown tube. I had a tiny bit and thought, “Nuh-uh”. Kenric’s face said it all. The lady proceeded to describe her other cheeses, but we were both shaking our heads. Kenric pointed to a jar with multiple layers of different colored pudding. She said, “fructe”. She took two 10-Lei notes out of her pocket and showed them to us. That’s more than what other stalls were selling it for, but hey, it’s USD $5.19 to try some fruit pudding we’ve never seen, so we paid. She was searching through her bag of plastic bags for a small one, and we told her no. Then, she raised a big bottle of syrup, and we immediately went, “noooo”. She beckoned me and said, “photo”. “Yeah?” She beckoned me again, put her arm around my back, and posed with the big bottle of syrup.

The GPS from the rental car company and Google Maps on the phone were giving us conflicting instructions, so we pull over. A stray dog, which is a common sight, approached the car while sniffing for food along the way. I apologized that I had nothing for him. Then, I remembered we have a days-old croissant. I tore a piece for him. He gulped it immediately. Fearing he might climb up the car window and scratch the rental car, I held another piece further away from the car. He jumped and three of my fingers were in his mouth. “Just throw the whole thing out for him!” I did, and it was gone in a second. Of course he came back for more. The only thing we had was a rock-hard sunflower seed bread roll which I couldn’t even break apart. “Just give him the whole thing to gnaw on.” I did, and it was gone very quickly. He lingered for a few seconds, I think he smiled, and continued on.