Forts — Fun for Everyone?
Somewhere in the middle of a rainy Romanian morning, snuggled up in the Blue Gnu, I had a realization.
We're travelling around Europe in a fort.
A ridiculously cozy little fort on wheels that goes wherever we go.
And suddenly it made perfect sense.
On the very first day Cotty and I met, we found an excuse to build a fort together. The act of building forts seems to have become the basis of our relationship.
Every day I do something in the Gnu and wonder how many women my age would voluntarily choose to travel around Europe sleeping in the back of a little VW Golf.
I'm guessing approximately zero percent.
Perhaps they just never discovered the joy of forts. LOL.
Romania had other plans
We arrived in Romania hoping for some spectacular sightseeing, a little sunshine and perhaps a few improvements to the Gnu.
Instead, we got rain.
Lots of colourful rain. Yellow, orange and red weather warnings!
And temperatures a wee bit cooler than we'd have preferred.
Still, the weather gave us an excellent excuse to spend more time hanging out in our fort, which, as it turns out, isn't much of a hardship, especially now that we have everything so dialled in for ease and comfort.
Our first big attraction was the Turda Salt Mine, an enormous underground world carved into ancient salt deposits.
The mine itself was fascinating, but we'd come with a particular ambition: to ride the underground Ferris wheel.
BROKEN!
Of course it was.
Apparently, even underground, our plans aren't entirely safe from disappointment.
The next day we headed for Bran Castle, famously associated with the fictional Dracula.
It was REALLY raining, so we did our best to appreciate the castle through the weather.
At least the autumn colours were beautiful.
The unexpected highlight
Our third day turned out to be our favourite.
We visited the beautiful Peleș Castle, where we met two lovely young Germans who shared our enthusiasm for travelling.
They were curious, interesting and delightful company.
They were also apparently on a schedule.
"Okay, we really have to go."
But Cotty had another question.
A little more chatting.
"Okay, now we REALLY have to go."
Cotty thought of something else.
This happened at least four or five times!
Watching Cotty find new reasons to keep our new friends with us was ridiculously cute.
Eventually, of course, we had to let them escape.
But of all the things we saw in Romania, that lovely little encounter might be what we remember most.
A few Romanian observations
Romania has been full of interesting little surprises.
We saw THREE actual horses and buggies, some wonderfully shaped metal roofs, enormous stork nests perched high on poles, and beautiful autumn colours.
There are grand old buildings showing their age, which gives some towns a rather haunting charm.
And there are SO MANY MK4 VW Golfs!
We'd hoped to find a replacement wheel emblem for the Gnu, perhaps visit a car wrecker, and even investigate a little cosmetic dentistry while we were here.
Did we accomplish any of that?
Nope.
But we did discover something extraordinary.
Clean, FREE bathrooms!
After our experiences in other countries, this deserves recognition.
Back to the fort
Eventually, the weather warnings persuaded us to hunker down and wait out the rain and wind.
Fortunately, we have a cozy fort.
A warm, comfortable little home where we can make food, read, sleep, laugh and watch the world go by.
And as we finally make our way towards Bulgaria, the weather seems to be improving.
We didn't ride the Ferris wheel, fix the Gnu's missing emblem or accomplish quite what we'd planned.
But we met some lovely people, saw some beautiful places and discovered something about ourselves.
All these years after building that first fort together, we're still happiest tucked up in one.
Only now, ours has wheels.
And a diesel engine. :)
