Come Take a Walk With Me

During the weekends I try to get some exercise. Codlea sits at the foot of a 1300 meter mountain (approx. 4500 ft.) called Magura. Luckily for me, I live near the foothills leading to the mountain itself. Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday I try to take a walk to the trailhead leading to the peak of Magura, hike up as fast as I can for 30 minutes and then go back down. It's a good workout and the fresh air can be rejuvinating. This flatlander is going to miss having a mountain, albeit a small one, in his backyard. So, here's a photo narrative of my hike last Saturday...oh yeah, and don't forget to click on a pic if you want to see a larger view.


I live at the top of my street and about 25 yards from an open field that leads up to a large pasture hill. An orthodox cemetary has been placed in this area recently (about a year ago). When I make a left out my front door and turn the corner, I come upon the cemetary. Romanian Orthodox graves have little patches of soil on top in which people plant flowers, plants and grass. Quite frequently I see people tending the gravesites, taking out dead flowers and plants and replacing them with fresh ones. I go to Ica's parents' grave (in a different cemetary) once in awhile and help tend the little garden on top of the grave.



This is the street that I make my left turn on to get to the trailhead. Many streets in Codlea, including mine, are not paved. As you can probably imagine, it can get a little muddy around here. The cemetary is to the right. A horse-drawn wagon or "cartuţa" passed me by on its way back from gathering wood in the forest. Many people in Codlea have caruţas, as they come in handy for hauling stuff around. For some, it is their primary mode of transportation. In the winter sometimes, the tires come off and the sleigh blades are put on. Yes, I've seen the Romanian Santa, as he's sleighed by my house before...reins in one hand and a bottle of god-knows-what in the other.



Hot car right? This is a fine example of the ubiquitous Dacia. They're everywhere. My guess is that this is an early 80's model. It's hard to tell because the body style hardly changed from about 1972 to 1989. My friend Ovidiu has a white one just like this. Her name is Margareta. The Dacia is based on an old Renault body and Renault engineering. Rumor has it that Romanian spies posing as engineers stole technology from the French over a number of years while working at Renault during the late 60's and early 70's. Good work. After the revolution, Renault bought Dacia from the State for about 50 million dollars. That's when the body style changed. Things are going well for Dacia as of late, as the demand for the Logan in Europe (Victor has one, see previous posts) is greater than the supply right now. Forza Dacia!



Continuing down the street we find some neighborhood chickens out for an afternoon walk, just like me...


Some local art adorning the side of...

some blocs. These are nicer than most in Codlea.


Now I've made a turn up an old street and away from the blocs into the neighborhood by the trailhead. This is a good example of an old Transylvanian peasant home. If I made this photo grainy black and white, took the tires off of the caruţa and got rid of the car in the right-hand corner, maybe this photo could pass for late 19th century? Oh, I forgot about the big, nasty industrial smokestack in the background. We'd have to get rid of that too I guess.


A useful sign. A rarity in Romania. If you look closely, you can see that it was put there by a German. Go figure. Where would Codlea be without its Saxon heritage? "Spre" means "towards" and there are three different colored trails leading to three different places. I've only completed the yellow trail, which leads to the "Strand" complex, a large mountain spring-fed swimming pool. It'll get the blood pumping, let me tell ya. I do plan on taking the blue and red next spring to the Black Castle (Cetatea Neagra) and the summit (Vf. Magura), respectively. It's about a 10 minute walk from my door to the trailhead. It's nice. I like.


Up the trail we go. As you can see, it was a bit foggy. However, as I climbed higher....



the sun started to show itself through the trees. As I hiked above the fog the temperature began to rise. I had to take off my winter hat and gloves and un-zip some layers. Higher and higher I went and then the payoff...



A spectacular view. It was sunny and warm up here as I looked down into the cool, foggy valley below. I had this exact same view the day before and brought my camera this time, hoping that the weather conditions and view would be the same. They were, and I got the photo I wanted.



The fog had cleared by the time I made it back down. This is a shot of Codlea from atop a hill near the trailhead. In the background and to the right we have the 15th century clocktower and Saxon fortified church complex. On the right is an old neighborhood, the way Codlea looked before, well, you know. It is so sad to think of all the nice old houses that were destroyed to make way for those ugly monstrosities on the left.

I hope you enjoyed your tour. Come visit me and see it for yourself....