Transylvania and more

OK, so what's happened since my last post? Well, we've been to Romania for an excellent long weekend (including chocolate fountain), I got rejected for the Skellerup demand analyst role, and Joanne and I have started packing up the flat.

The main thing in all of that was the goodbye to Bints, Reen and the hello/goodbye to sweet little Neve. What a gorgeous, good-natured little charmer of a baby girl she is, and loved by everyone who meets her. I wonder where she gets that from. I could post loads of photos of her here, but I'll restrict it to just the one and include a link to Bints' favourite pics instead. The weekend was fantastic (and the weather was superb too). The perfect time saying goodbye to some dear friends who live too far away and who will soon live even further away. They have promised to come and see us in Chch though, and I intend to hold them to that.

So, Romania, a strange country, and like so many others, a country of contrasts. Bucharest itself is a city of contrasts where communist pre-fab concrete blocks sit uneasily alongside more 'historical' architecture. And everywhere you look the occasional sparklingly clean BMW is surrounded by a hundred battered Dacias. In Western Europe the Renault 12 died long ago. In Eastern Europe, it survives in it's Romanian guise. Everywhere you look there are Dacias. Everywhere. There are nearly as many Dacias as dogs in Romania. The only difference is that the majority of Dacias have owners.

Over the weekend we drove to Transylvania. How cool is that? A weekend in the Carpathians, when we finally got there. I won't go into the almost slamming into a car waiting to turn left, the taking the wrong road or the getting pulled over for Rene speeding. While we were there we stayed in the Hotel Economat. I feared the worst, with the name sounding a little too like 'economy' for my liking. When we arrived on the Friday night it was dark, stray dogs were howling in the woods around us and the corridors of the hotel were deserted. It felt like a cross between Van Helsing and the Shining but when the sun came up on Saturday morning and we could have a proper look around we knew why Jo said we'd love the place.

Saturday and Sunday were spent either relaxing in the glorious Romanian sunshine or exploring monastries and castles or various ages and designs interspersed with eating. We saw some amazing and varied architecture. If you ever find yourself in Sinaia, a ski and mountain resort in Transylvania, don't miss Peles Castle. A jaw-dropping place, just like the Rough Guide said. It must been seen to be believed - a fairytale castle with themed rooms of exquisite artistry and craftsmanship. I wasn't quite sure about the lion on a lead though. However 'tame' it is meant to be, it's still a bleedin' lion!

One bit of news received while we were in Romania was a rejection from Skellerup regarding my application for the demand analyst role. It wasn't really a surprise though, so there was no threat of it ruining the weekend. After all, it's still three months until I can start work in Chch, and when I applied I hadn't had the work visa approved, never mind the residence visa. If I was them I wouldn't have risked employing me either. Too many variables. It's still encouraging there are suitable roles though. And speaking of which I found another job on Seek last night that I might apply for - a Customer Information Analyst with Telecom. I need to de-specify my CV first though. A chat with an employment agent on Tuesday showed me that currently I am not emphasising the skills I am hoping to use in the sort of job I'm looking for. Another task for the weekend then, although when I'm going to fit that in alongside the London Men's Convention, church and writing a Bible study on John 16 I don't know.

On Tuesday Joanne and I sorted out our stuff in storage and even began packing up books and cds and stuff in the flat. A guy from the shipping company came round that evening to evaulate quite how much stuff we've got to ship. It kind of all feels a bit more real with boxes stacked in the corner of the room. Watching what I realised was my final ever Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday was food for thought too. I'll tell you one thing though, I won't miss the 'friendly' voting. At least the UK didn't come last, although I'm not quite sure how Malta could justify giving them 12 points.

No other news I guess for now, although Joanne keeps finding gorgeous houses on the real estate websites.