Timisoara has a beautiful center square, and there are even a few other large squares in town. The sides were lined with cafes and restaurants. We enjoyed the best Mediterranean pizza there and also the best raspberry smoothies. The revolution of 1989 started there because the communists were trying to forcefully evict a Reformed pastor and the people protested. We went to a great museum where we learned the history of the revolution. We also went to the art museum and enjoyed looking in the various old buildings. We stayed next to a mall and we saw Cars 2 which we really enjoyed. Timisoara was a great because we had a nice mix of the old town history and the modern convenience of the mall nearby.
We then flew to Iasi, which is all the way on the eastern side of Romania. We saw this palace of culture but unfortunately couldn't go to any of the museums inside because it was being restored.
From Iasi we headed over to Suceava which was our base for seeing the world renowned painted monestaries of Bucovina. We started off our tour by seeing an old fortress.
The monasteries we saw on the first day were all very nice in their own ways. One was painted inside by Romania's best painter, another was very new so the paintings inside were really vibrant. They all were in beautiful settings.
I don't think I mentioned before that we were on this vacation with our German intern, Carolin. When we decided we wanted to tour around Romania she asked if she could come because she had the same idea. We had a great time together.
The second day of the tour we went to the painted monasteries, all of which are UNESCO world heritage sites. They were painted on the outside so that people who couldn't read would be able to understand important events of the Bible. They were built around 1400-1500 and the paintings have survived outside for that long. They are so beautiful and the pictures don't even come close to capturing it.
The Voronet monastery is called the Sistine Chapel of the east because of the vibrant colors and the uniqueness of the blue color used. This is a scene of the last judgement, in the middle on the top is God the Father, then under that is Jesus, and under that the Holy spirit, each performing their tasks.
More of the paintings. I would encourage you to click on the picture so it comes up in a full sized window so you can see the detail.
This is another similarly painted monastery.
All of the monasteries are surrounded by huge walls and defensive towers. This is typically where the monks and nuns live.
After seeing the monasteries we came back to Bucharest and showed Carolin some of the sights there. We had a really fun time on our vacation and are so thankful that God was with us and watched over us. It was a great opportunity to see the country we're working in and we were able to find so much beauty here.
We were also reminded about the immense needs in this country, seeing kids and older people begging just about everywhere we went. God didn't want us to forget why we're here, to help the people in the greatest need. We had several opportunities to share the gospel with people and to help them out. God broke our hearts again for a people that is hurting and largely without hope because they don't truly know their savior.
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