Two perfect afternoons

Because the pandemic is not over, on this trip, we're staying close to home. (Yes I realize we've just flown nearly half way around the globe so to say that I'm staying close to home is a bit of a contradiction but bear with me on this.)

That means no flights to Barcelona, no road trips to Italy, not even a jaunt to Budapest. Other than Istanbul, (because that's where our connection is) we're keeping ourselves strictly within the borders of Romania. A simple itinerary is for the best, considering we're only here for three weeks and we have a lot of business to take care of in Viştea.

But it's also been affording us the opportunity to spend some quality time with family and friends, people who, on our last two trips, we only crossed paths with briefly.

After some rain and cool temperatures, the weather improved and we had a few days with bright, crisp mornings that developed into hot, sunny afternoons. It's the sort of weather that's perfect for 1 or 2 hour drives past fields full of tractors harvesting corn, and shepherds bringing in herds of cows and sheep.  They are short trips for the purpose of lunching. laughing, lounging, and generally catch up with folks we love, folks who are well deserving of our undivided time and attention.

The first perfect afternoon began with a drive to Horezu to pick up some pottery. I love the pottery in Horezu and I would gladly buy enough to stuff a suitcase full but, you can imagine what a suitcase full of pottery would look like once I picked it up in San Francisco: a suitcase full of pottery shards. So I have to settle for a couple of tiny pieces that I think might make it safely. 

(I have no photos of the actual pottery I bought,  just the pottery section of the town.)

Then it was a 10 minute trip down the road to Vaideeni to have a much-needed, long-awaited visit with Vali and Simona. 

In their lovely yard we lounged for the afternoon, thinking about the hundreds of wonderful memories we have from this place. 

We admired the garden, sipped Simona's homemade vişinată, and let Vali entertain us all by trying to jump road with a grape vine.

It felt good to know that after all these years, some things (and some people) never change.

The second perfect afternoon was spent at Tatni Miora's house in Goicea, having lunch with her and Ligia. 

It was a hot afternoon but we were comfortable and content under the canopy of grape leaves while we enjoyed ciorba de pui, warm, fresh baked country bread, some more homemade vişinată, and other delicious treats while in the company of dear friends.

More than a year into this terrible pandemic, we felt especially fortunate to be able to spend time in the physical company of loved ones. Such a simple pleasure, and yet after the travel bans and unrest of the past year, we realize more than ever how we should never take for granted the opportunity to embrace our family and friends and tell them face to face how much we love them and how much, when we are apart, we miss them.