August 19, 2025
The day started with breakfast at the hotel and Ollie practicing his Filipino words with Gabby. The kids then went upstairs to play in the room while Kyle worked on some blog posts. I stayed in the restaurant with Gabby and Mihai as we watched the Romanian news. I was surprised when an astrologer came on to the news show to go over the daily horoscopes for each sign, but Mihai said this was super common across the country.
After putting luggage in the car, we walked around Sibiu a bit and got a pre-lunch ice cream for kids. We stopped at Carrefour so Len could spend his “quiet game” winnings from Mihai. He ended up with 8 Kinder Eggs and decided he would keep 4 for himself and then give Hope and Ollie 2 each. After telling us all about his plans to dole out the candy, he had second thoughts and whispered to me he didn’t want to share. We discussed it a bit and he changed his mind again and wanted to share which he then announced to the group.
Since we had a 2 hour drive to Cluj ahead of us, we decided to have lunch in Sibiu before getting in the car. We chose a restaurant on the square that looked to have a bunch of people in hopes it signified that the food would be good. On the way to the restaurant, we walked past a Kürtőskalács tent where they were making the bread over open coals. The smell was incredible but since we were on the way to lunch, we figured we would get some bread afterward for a sweet car snack.
It ended up being a terrible lunch experience. It started strong with drinks coming out quickly and with tons of ice. Super rare for Europe! Then over an hour passed before any food came out. Mihai went up a few times to ask about the food and requested that they prioritize the kids’ food. 20 minutes later the kids food (Pizza and bolognese pasta) came out but still no food for the grown ups. We asked a few more times, and were either ignored or told they weren’t sure how much longer it would be. We eventually asked for the check and left without eating ourselves. The worst part, though, was finding out that the Kürtőskalács tent had sold out and they had no more bread to sell. We ended up getting focaccia sandwiches from a shop nearby and hit the road.
Len drove w Mihai and Gabby and Hope again, happy to miss out on the last leg of the Harry Potter audio book. He fell asleep for a bit and Hope had a great time messing with him in the backseat.
In Cluj, we checked into the Airbnb then met up with Mihai and Bună (who came into the city the day before with her sister). Bună took the kids to play at a nearby playground while Mihai took Kyle and I on a walking tour of Cluj. He shared about how much the city has changed since he grew up here and how the city evolved post the fall of communism.
We met up with Gabby, Bună and the kids at Central Park Simion Bărnuțiu for dinner and paddle boating. Since each boat could only take 4 people max, I volunteered to take the kids out. The ride was 30 minutes long so we used the timer on my phone to meticulously measure 7.5 minute increments for each kid to be “captain” and steer the boat. About 5 minutes into getting on the boat, Ollie let me know he had to go to the bathroom so we steered back to the dock so he could run inside the restaurant then rejoin the boat. I asked the kids what was their favorite part of our time together in Romania. They said;
Ollie: Playing World Cup soccer in Bună’s backyard
Lenny: trampoline! (the trampoline in Bună’s backyard in Negreni)
Hope: World Cup!!!
While leaving the park, we stopped at the park workout equipment briefly. Gabby and I hopped on the partner glider machine and started to sing this stupid ad-libbed song, “friendshippp, friendshipppp, friendship. Same bag, yeaaa yeaa” Or something like that. Then the kids get on another machine and start singing, “friendshippppp, friendshipppp.” Gave us a chuckle and made me grateful that they still appreciate, and aren’t yet embarrassed by, our stupid humor.
We walked toward city centre to get gelato for the kids and Kürtőskalács for me and Gabby. I was thrilled that the Kürtőskalács stand was still open and our family quickly demolished a cinnamon sugar flavored bread.
At the city centre, amidst a huge Hungarian festival, Gabby spotted a huge bunny in the field. Kyle had brought up Flemish bunnies earlier in the week after we learned how much Hope wanted a pet rabbit. We brought all the kids over to see the bunny and the owner offered to let the kids pet him (if we paid him a tip). Bună gathered “money for the bunny” and the encounter left the kids, Hope especially, feeling elated.
We said an emotional goodbye to our friends and thanked them for their hospitality and for planning a memorable week for us in Romania. It was such a gift to spend time with friends from our hometown (and to have all of the logistics planned for us!).
