Another Easter in Bucharest

Spring has arrived in Romania along with another Easter season.

Typical of every holiday, the street vendors are set up near busy intersections, peddling seasonal goodies. But the place to go is the artisan's fair at Park Herestrau.

Herestrau is a stunning oasis in the middle of Bucharest.

It hugs the lake where you can take boat rides, or explore the walking trails.

Swans and ducks grace the ponds.

There are beautiful exotic birds

We admired this gorgeous creature.

An heroic statue of Charles De Gaulle stands in a place of honor at the entrance to the park - homage to historical French/Romanian relations.

We were surprised to find Beethoven here, but then there is a section of town where the streets are named Tchaikowski, Mozart, Chopin, Bach, Garabaldi, Rachmaninov, Puccini and Strauss. But I digress....

There is also a large section of the park called the peasant village where replicas of rural homes are displayed.

During the Artisan's Fair, display tables of paintings, baking, leather works, jewellery, and more are set up in and around the various peasant houses, making for a feeling of authentic ambiance.

Randy admired the handiwork of this lady selling traditional Romanian costumes.

We thought she looked pretty in her tradtional dress.

This lady was making a woven container.

A young girl is shown how to play a homemade flute.

This beautiful lady was demonstrating spinning wool.

These masks were interesting. Randy particularly like the one with the curly ram's horns.

This lady tried to convince Vicky to buy an outfit by showing her how "beautiful" she looked.

Uh huh...

But the busiest area by far was the one where ladies were selling their Easter eggs.

How could we resist?

Adding to the festive atmosphere were the various musical groups performing in the peasant village square. This was a group of young priests singing in rich a cappella harmonies.

We were charmed by this group of girls in their lovely costumes.

The next act was waiting in the wings, having their picture taken with friends.

On the metro, this lady explained that she (and many others we saw) were buying fronds of greenery to place in their church in commemoration of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.  Romania celebrates Easter by the Orthodox calendar, which means this year, it is a week later than in Canada.

We invited eight young missionaries and a senior couple to share a turkey dinner with us on Canada's Easter Monday and will celebrate with the local members the week after.  Paste Fericit! (Happy Easter).

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