Saturday, 12 May

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="044d4c00dduajq.gif"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="95" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 46 WIDTH="91"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="46" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="91" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <A HREF="id145.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Friday, 11 May"><U><IMG SRC="0450b0b0.gif" border=0 width="11" height="11" ALT="previous" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A>   <A HREF="id147.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sunday, 13 May"><U><IMG SRC="0460b0b0.gif" border=0 width="11" height="11" ALT="next" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A>       <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="11" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="11">   <A HREF="id133.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="May"><U><IMG SRC="0480b0b0.gif" border=0 width="11" height="11" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> <IMG SRC="205afc90.jpg" border=0 width="175" height="201" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Romanian Orthodox Village Church in Martinesti, Romania</div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#003333" FACE="Arial" ><B>The Gastropod's Trail</B></FONT>     |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Gastropods Trail"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> Saturday, 12 May</div> <div> Martinesti, Romania to Hortobágy , Hungary</div> <bR> <div> In our hurry to find a spot to spend the night we had rushed through the little village of Martinesti last night. This was about as rural Romania as it can get - a small brook running down through the middle of the village with geese and their little ones enjoying the fresh water. Every house neatly fenced with a small vegetable garden. But it was the church with it's shiny metal roof that attracted our attention. We parked the Gastropod and approached the man <IMG SRC="247c8960.jpg" border=0 width="200" height="150" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="5" VSPACE="5">sitting at the gate to ask permission to visit. He rushed off and came back with the man who had the key and we were allowed to visit. We were amazed by the details of the frescoes inside, which from all appearance, had been painted in the last 10 years. Unfortunately, once again, our inability to ask questions and understand answers left us wondering how this small community of less than 200 souls had managed to maintain and renovate this beautiful church. They pointed to the details and  with warm smiles and explained the Icons and paintings as if there was no problem at all and Nicole was not allowed to leave without a couple of flowers from the churchyard.</div> <bR> <div> We crossed the border from Romania to Hungary between Bors and Biharkeresztes without delay or complications. Entering Hungary was a bit of a shock to us. We had gotten used to slow traffic, vague road signs, and traffic signals that sometimes worked. Now we found ourselves on brand new roads, and were only left to try to decipher the incredibly (to us at least) complicated place names - should we go to Hadjdúhadház or Hajdúböszörmény ??? Well, for better or worse we choose to go through Hajdúböszörmény and Balmazújvaros to Hortobágy - the heart of the Hortobágy Puszta. </div> <bR> <div> Ever since my European geography lessons some 45 years ago I have wondered what the steppes and plains of eastern Hungary looked like and hoped someday to see this incredibly flat and windy plain. I was not disappointed - grassland from horizon to horizon so level that you can actually see the curvature of our planet, with low, thatched sheepfolds, cattle barns and draw wells here and there. Quite a change after driving for weeks mostly through mountainous country.</div> <bR> <div> The bonus of the day was that Hortobágy has a nice campground with all the amenities, including a couple of thermal pools to soak and relax our tired bones.</div> </td> </tr></table></body>