on a visit with some of my family and friends in June 2005.
The Putna monastery (Romanian: Mănăstirea Putna) is a Romanian Orthodox monastery, one of the most important cultural, religious and artistic centers established in medieval Moldavia; as with many others, it was built and dedicated by Prince Stephen the Great.
martha pfeil 
That really is a great to enjoy some peace and quiet, outside the city. Great church, great scenery and lovely people.
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it is so beautiful!
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Wow, beautiful. Romania’s a very interesting country! Lovely
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it is a very lovely place outside of the cities. The Carpathian Mountains are enchanting!
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Ahhhh I need to go there!
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you do, I agree! I took one sister and her family to this area of Romania and another two of my sisters on another trip to the Danube Delta to see the migrating birds. It is a wonderful place. I especially love the “biserica” I worked in Romania over a 15 year period so my friends made sure that I got to see most of the things that make the country special. I still have several areas I would love to go back to visit.
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Wow! That’s amazing you were there for so long. Did you ever go to Transylvania? Just asking 😉 :D. I need to read up on more about the country and furthermore I need to visit it when I have the finances to do that. But it’s great you got to go around a lot. I feel it must be a wonderful country.
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well i traveled back and forth, sometimes there for a month or so at a time; sometimes for six months or nine months, depending. I started going right after the revolution in 1989 and so I have seen all of the changes that have happened. It is a wonderful place but it has certainly lost some of its charm with all of the westernization…which i am not knocking, it is great to have all of your creature comforts…but the charm that you used to find everywhere is now outside the cities for sure. I will be posting more pictures of romania from 2005 so you can keep checking back.
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I can completely imagine. It would have been way different in 1989 during the Revolution, with all the signs of being part of the USSR. I get the feeling that like most former USSR countries, it’s trying very hard to Westernise. Obviously that has its own side-effects. The charm you speak about will definitely have faded away a bit, especially in the cities. But I think it’s amazing you got to witness all the charm before the country changed. Would love to see more photos :D. Thanks!
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you get the whole deal. Don’t want to give the impression that it is not a charming, wonderful place. you just need to travel to the mountains and to the sea and out in the country. In the area where the monasteries are, it is difficult to see more that two per day because the roads are so indirect through the mountains. very beautiful adventure!!!
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That part sounds incredibly wonderful. I love going to these secluded places on mountains and seeing old monasteries and ruins. Heaven! I really need to make it to Eastern Europe some time to experience all this! Are those places not easily accessible though?
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they are by car, and it is different now, with a GPS, i am sure you could do it on your own, we had a driver and a guide that knew everything about the monasteries with us to tell us all about each place.
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Wow, sounds great. Wonder when I’ll get to go there. I guess it’s good to have a guide too.
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you can still find them, it used to be a very good job to have in a communist country!
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Hahah yes I can imagine! The former communist countries are also coincidentally the ones with some great, great monasteries and history
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very great places became “communist” without being asked. In Romania when we visited after the revolution, they said that they had been waiting for the Americans since 1945. it made me feel very ashamed.
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Oh boy. That’s sad. And now I think they’re sort of hanging in the middle – with traces of a Soviet past and with growing Westernisation. Must be a very difficult transition.
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yes, i have watched it all. with communism, one thing you were sure of was your job, they westernized and they had 45 people working at the McDonald’s….as far as learning how to be western, and make profits, it was a long road, but they are doing better with this now. But someone in the “turistic” industry is a serious person with a wealth of knowledge in history, art history and the culture of all of the different areas in the country. that was something that i had to learn and appreciate.
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That’s an interesting point. Those kind of people are the ones who have the best knowledge about their country. Well I do hope Romania reaches a point where it can balance a growing economy with its own traditions and culture. Lots of countries have unfortunately lost those in the face of modernisation.
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you are right….I am rooting for them! they are part of the EU now, so they have new growing pains to contend with!
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Yes, I wish them luck!
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me too! ; ]
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