Just Start....Anywhere.

How about we begin with pictures from the bus window?  Reflections and all?
Because these were my first glimpses of where we were headed when we first landed in Romania - Transylvania!
And were there mountains? YES!  There were beautiful mountains, some still snow-capped and looming above us.

I met up with our Craftours group at JFK international airport. Everyone made it.  Well, except for Sandie's luggage, but that was another story for another day.

Still in good spirits luggage or no luggage, we boarded our overnight flight to Bucharest.

Upon arrival in Bucharest, we met with our Romanian travel guide, Alex and our fantastic bus driver Gaby (He also owns the company but wanted to drive us himself to be sure we got the VIP treatment) and boarded our bus on our drive to Tansylvania.

I think I slept much of the way.  Most of us did.  And when we started to rouse ourselves as we got closer to our destination - WOW!

We were un the mountains in a ski resort town - this is the view from my balcony.

We freshened up, met i the restaurant for a sumptuous meal -

I don't think any of us made it to dessert. We were in bed before it even got dark outside.

If this looks like dinner, you'd be wrong!

There's eggs under there.

This is breakfast!

Of course, in the mountains, everything is up up up.

Our hotel from further down the drive.

Do I look like I've had enough sleep yet?

We had citadels and castles on our itinerary this day.

Stopping at an overlook to see the town of Poiana Brașov

Citadel on the hill!

This was not the one we were visiting the inside of, but we decided to stop for a photo shoot -

Transylvania is home to hundreds of defensive structures, with over 150 well-preserved fortified churches and dozens of medieval citadels and castles spanning the region. Originally, the German name for Transylvania (Siebenbürgen) translated to "The Seven Citadels" representing the seven major fortified towns built by Saxon settlers.

Our fearless group!

Right after we took our photo, we noticed a herd of sheep was coming down the hill to greet us.

Of course, cameras came back out of pockets, and we were all heard exclaiming "SHEEP!" as you do when you see sheep.

 

From the citadel looking the opposite direction.

More beautiful Transylvanian countryside.

Wildflowers on the roadside.

More views from the bus.  Farms and fields and so much green.

Row houses entering a small town -

Another citadel on the hill.

(Must keep the townsfolk safe, you know?!)

Little churches dot the countryside and towns everywhere.

All different shapes and sizes.

Sorry for the skewed angle, trying to minimize window glare and fit it all in.

I love the orthodox onion dome ones!

Busy little town, historic buildings, and so much journey ahead of us!

And yes, hexies came out during long drive bus time -

I nearly finished 3 large motifs on this journey - almost enough for the next decreasing diagonal row.

I'm just settling into home having arrived around dinner time last night.

Body clocks need adjusting but I am happy to be home, ready to hit the ground running (Retreats resume tomorrow as we welcome Cotton To Quilts & Irene's Sewciologits!)

There has been much work done around the retreat while I've been gone and I'm anxious to see the improvements the menfolk have made, as well as go see Hazel & Flash.  They've been well taken care of while I've been gone as have the dogs and cats at home.

I'm going to need a nap.  And groceries.

Laundry has already been through the washer and dryer - now to find the fortutude to fold it and put it all away.

I'm so glad to be home!

TOMORROW -

The release of STRING RINGS!

Shown here on the queen bed in Bedroom 5 - it fits perfectly.  I can't wait to share this with you.

Yes, there's a gift-away.  And we'll be giving away SCRAPPY fabric rolls from Cotton To Quilts in that gift-away as well.

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Remember life without having to carry a phone around with you wherever you go?⁣
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Remember dinner tables where no phones were present? Remember standing in a line where NO ONE was face down into their phone? When actual people around you meant more than what was on the screen, be it a text, an email, a social media post or a YouTube video? ⁣
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Let's dig into some scraps and forget about our phones for a while!

I need some machine time!