Romania Reunion Tour
2007

Aristide Sandu, only child of Ileana (one of Maria’s daughters)	Cousin Doina (glasses), only child of Maria’s daughter Manda. Also, Doina's daughter Monica, husband Adrian, daughter Ana & son Serban	L to R: Dora (Tonita) Hordenchuk, Ana Calimente, Anna-Maria Gallan (Ana's grand-daughter)
Dumitra (Calimente) Romanovschi, sitting with her seven children  Front: Elena, Maria, Ecaterina, Dumitru,  Ana.  Back: Victorita, Danut	Sisters, Elena (Calimente) Dumitrescu (left) & Aurelia (Calimente) Coada (right), daughters of Alexe, Maria's youngest child	George's daughters Georgeta (pink shirt)  and Ana (glasses) and daughter-in-law, Iulia (far right), with Ana’s sons Corneliu and Mircea, Corneliu’s wife, Fenea (left) and their daughter Anna-Maria
	First Cousins: Dumitra (Calimente) Romanovschi and Dora (Tonita) Hordenchuk

September 2006, and I am dreaming about Romania and all our family there. Will we ever meet them, will we ever get to hug them, sing with them, dance with them?  The phone rings and my lovely niece, Jodie Tonita, from White Rock, BC has called to chat – a visit I truly enjoy.  As usual the subject of visiting Romania comes up and within a few minutes we decide that the end of September, 2007 would be a good time for a trip to Romania.

Word of mouth brings 9 more family members wishing to join us, so I started researching travel tours in Romania and connected with Andrei Nicolau – an experienced tour guide there. He developed an itinerary that promised many wonders of Romania.  On a whim, I sent out an email to all of my Tonita family telling them about our plans, and also to my Yorga family.  Within weeks, and 45 people committed to the tour, Andrei was telling me “No” you cannot take any more…please!  I was excited, elated, nervous, happy and basically unbelieving that the trip was really happening.

More researching, to find family members in Romania, produced telephone numbers for cousins from Aunty Maria’s daughter, Dumitra’s family. I enlisted the help of cousin Vera Fontaine in Regina – to call them (she speaks Romanian – I don’t.) Vera, having been to Romania 14 times previously was joining us for her 15th trip to the homeland of our ancestors. One of the 5 numbers was the right one – hurray,hurray!! She established email contact with Dumitra’s granddaughter, Estera and let them know that we would very much like to meet with as many of our family as possible when we come to Constanta. She also had a contact for a cousin from Gheorghe Calimente’s family – Corneliu Gallan, who she emailed to let him know that we were coming to visit and that we wished to meet with his family too. The emails were flying back and forth – burning up the internet – along with pictures of them and us. 

The internet was sizzling with emails between family members going on the tour too – some I knew and a few I did not.  But family is family and the love and excitement came through in the messages from everyone.  Excitement was building to a fevered pitch – we were actually going to Romania!!

September 24th,2007 finally arrives and at 4:00 am the alarm goes off, our feet hit the floor and we are checking the suitcases one last time before closing them.  It is dark when my son, Troy arrives to drive us (my sister Sharon, Myron & I) to the airport where we meet cousin, Gina Cena and her daughter, Erin-we are all on the same flight from Edmonton.  Four hours later, finds us at the Toronto Pearson Airport where many people from the tour are also joining us or making their connections there. What excitement!! My Uncle Jim Beach, from Regina, spots us first and his is one of the many, many hugs received and given for the next 10 days. The seven of us gather at a lunch counter near the escalator to watch for other family members arriving.  The next 3 hours were filled with many shouts of “there’s Dan & Gail” or “Hey, isn’t that Elaine & Merna?” – “look, look – there’s Dora Hordenchuck, from Assiniboia, and her daughter Myra and her two granddaughters, Tanis & Hope!”  I’m sure the hugging and laughing and numerous group pictures were a pleasant distraction for passengers waiting for their next flight. Soon it was time to go to our separate flights - some going to Milan, Italy others to Frankfort, Germany before our final destination in Bucharest.  Six and a half hours later, feeling a little bedraggled we disembark in Frankfort to spend 2 ½ more hours wandering around the airport waiting for the next leg of our flight…..more group pictures …..lots of giggles.  Then once again, we are shepherded out to a small Luftansa plane which will take us the last part of journey to Bucharest.

At 1:00pm, Romanian time, we see the country below us – a hushed silence falls upon us.  Would our expectations be met – would we fall down and kiss the ground, would we be emotional? Within a few minutes we would walk on Romanian soil for the first time (except for Vera and Cliff Fontaine.)  The plane lands, taxis and we begin to disembark – go through customs and head towards the luggage carousels.  There the hugging and laughing begins once more when we meet up with the rest of our family who have flown in through Milan and Matt and Joyce Evans from Salt Lake City.  Our tour guide, Dan Bucur is waiting for us and directs us to a “very small” elevator which takes us all (after many trips) to the ground level where our big blue tour bus is waiting for us – with our driver Jerry at the wheel.  Dan explains that our original tour guide, Andrei, is ill and has asked that Dan be our guide in his place. We are so busy loading our luggage onto the bus and finding a seat – and no one has a chance to think about being “Home.”

The bus leaves the airport and merges into a sea of traffic – and no road rules, as we know them in North America.  Our tour guide, Dan, begins to give us a history of Bucharest as we travel for 2 hours to the Central Hotel in downtown Bucharest.  We quickly learn that we have a tour guide who is very knowledgeable about Romania! After what seems like an eternity we arrive at the hotel and another “Tiny” elevator.  We eventually find our rooms and fall into bed for a quick rest before we prepare for our ‘Welcome Dinner.”  And boy, were those beds hard - just like sleeping on a box spring!
The tour bus takes us to a lovely Romanian restaurant where we meet up with cousin, Heather Vonbleodau , from Edmonton, and her husband Hans, who were the last tour members to arrive. We are treated to a wonderful Romanian meal, Romanian dancers and great Romanian music – including the Chicken Dance!!  By the end of the evening we are all so tired and ready for a good nights sleep – those hard beds hardly made a difference that night.

The next morning we begin our busiest day of the tour, with a sightseeing trip around Bucharest – the Romanian Patriarchal Cathederal, the Palace of Parliament, an astoundingly beautiful 330,000 sq meter building decorated in marble and gold gilt trim, silk carpets and crystal chandeliers of grandest opulence. After the Pentagon it is the second largest building worldwide, made up of 6 floors and 21 sections.  One of the reception halls was named after Nicolae Iorga –  the same name as my grandfather on my mother’s side. Thinking of all the Romanian people who lost their homes, so that Ceausescu could build his palace made us all so grateful for the freedom we all know in North America.  Knowing that he was deposed and executed before the palace was finished seemed to be a fitting ending to his reign.

Next stop was the historical village museum, a collection of early Romanian dwellings, churches, wheelhouse,etc, all set in a beautiful park. Soon after we were looking for somewhere to lunch, but because of the shortage of time our bus driver suggested we stop at his favorite MacDonalds’ for a quick bite before we head out to our next destination for the day.  With many jokes and gratefulness for an opportunity to eat, we all disembark and order our lunches.  After half an hour we are on our way to Pele’s Palace – the former residence of the King and Queen of Romania.

What a beautiful palace – we are overwhelmed by the beauty of the country around it, the opulent gardens and the grandeur of the palace itself.  We all feel the pull of our ancestral roots and enjoy just being in the beautiful surroundings. The afternoon ends with some shopping in the local tourist shops or a beer out on the terrace of a restaurant overlooking the palace.  Our tour guide, Dan, regales us with the 1st of his many “Bula” stories, which leave us all laughing until the tears roll down our faces. Bula is a name used in many Romanian jokes. A short journey later, and admirable driving skills by our driver, Jerry - which produced cheers from all- we arrive in the town of Brasov at the Capitol Hotel and another “Tiny” elevator.   The beds were a bit better and the small rolls of toilet paper were pink!  That night we al enjoyed dinner on the Promenade – trying to decipher menus written only in Romanian.
The next morning many of us rush to the internet café to check our emails and send messages back home, before we begin the walking tour of the city.  Brasov is compiled of many traditional Romanian style buildings, many showing the Roman influence from past centuries of Roman occupation. We tour the central town square – finding a beautiful Orthodox church through a small walkway in the wall around the square. Bonnie White & Dan Dobrescu lead us on a hunt for Rope Street – the narrowest street in southern Europe and we are all very excited when we finally find it.   Little Joshua stands in the middle of the street posed with his hands touching each side of the street – what great fun!!!
 Then we are off for a group tour of the Black Church, the largest Gothic Church between Vienna and Constantinople (Istanbul), which began construction in 1383. The church bell is the biggest bell in Romania weighing 6300 kilograms. The organ with almost 4000 pipes was played for us and we experienced the sound of music never heard elsewhere.

The beauty of the church was inspiring in its longevity and the workmanship that preserved not only the history but the architectural stylings over the many centuries for all of us to enjoy.
After lunch we drive to the Bran Castle – the summer home of Queen Maria and her daughter Princess Ileana.  Built in 1378, the castle was meant to be a fortress for the Royal family. Legend has the castle as the home of Vlad the Impaler (Dracula) but the story is fictional. Many, many steps of climbing up the hill bring us to the base of the castle. Inside we are treated to more stairs, narrow winding stairways, ceramic stoves, and turn of the century restorations.

The next morning we drive to Sighisoara where we check into the Casa Wagner Hotel- reconstructed with rooms imitating the architecture of the Bran Castle. Much fun was had by all as we formed a chain running from room to room checking out the different stylings and furniture. And the beds were in the same period too – hard. Sitting outside under a canopy of branches from huge chestnut trees, we enjoyed another warm 27 degrees, cold Romanian beer and tasty Romanian food. One had to be aware of falling chestnuts, which made loud cracking noises when hitting the ground. In Sighisoara we explored the remaining walls of the fortress, climbed the 210 covered steps to the school at the top of the hill, and further on up brought us to a 600 year old Lutheran church – filled with beautifully decorated “dowry” chests and an underground crypt for ancient nobles of the church.  Here the graveyard was terraced to encompass the hillside location, and overgrown with mounds of emerald green ivy.

That evening we all gathered together for dinner in the hotel dining room, arranged for by our tour guide for a price of 47 lei ($18 CDN.)   The meal was deliciously prepared, the Romanian wine full of flavor and many stories and laughter were shared by all.

In the morning “Laugh In” Romanian style happened as each person awoke and leaned out their windows to greet the morning and their fellow travelers. We were fast becoming one big happy family – looking forward to another day of being in Romania together.

After a tour of the Clock Tower and some souvenir shopping we are on the bus to Sibiu, stopping on the way to visit a 700 year old Lutheran church, where we were once again treated to amazing organ music. The church was very historical and also at the top of a covered 240 step stairway.  We were definitely getting our exercise.

Upon our arrival in Sibiu, our driver, Jerry had to once again perform miracle feats of driving to maneuver our big tour bus through streets filled with cars parked half on the sidewalks and half on the street, with a row of cars angle parked on the other side. Alas, the expected happened and the bus jammed up against one of the cars and could no longer proceed forward.  The guys, immediately jumped off bus, picked up the car and two others, moved them out of the way and we continued on our way to the hotel. Lots of cheers for them and our driver and a big scratch down the side of the bus, which Jerry polished out with some very hard labour.  Our accommodations were at the Romilar Hotel, supposedly visited by Prince Charles.  A beautiful hotel, tiny elevators, and soft, comfortable beds. Dan, our tour guide, escorted us on a walking tour of the central town market where we saw the Orthodox Cathedral , build in the style of St Sophia’s in Istanbul. An amazingly beautiful church, which brought sighs of wonderment from many of us.  Lighting of candles is a must for us. That evening we are treated to another scrumptious Romanian meal at a cellar restaurant in the square.

The next morning, as per usual, we are up, having our breakfast, and bringing our luggage down to the reception area to be loaded on the bus. My husband Myron, and cousins Vicky & Vivian Vaselenuick, and luggage experienced 20 minutes on the “tiny” elevator waiting for the repairman to get the elevator moving again.  More fun and laughter, as we welcomed them to freedom.  Several of our group enjoyed attending Sunday services at the Cathedral – in Romania this consists of walking in, saying a few prayers, lighting a candle and leaving. There are no pews or benches and people enter and leave on an ongoing basis.

Today would be a very long day on the bus as we travel to Constanta on the Black Sea. Our route took us through some of the most beautiful mountain scenery we had every seen.  Shepherds tended their sheep and cattle all along the road, keeping the landscape nicely groomed all the way up onto the side of the mountains.  We enjoyed a stop at one of the many ancient monasteries in Romania where Sunday services were still in progress and we were treated to the most beautiful choir music – all outdoors.

Arriving at the Royal Hotel in Constanta we were surprised to be greeted by four members of our Romanian family – who were waiting for us with flowers, hugs, tears, and many smiles.  Oh how excited we were to meet each other – it was wonderful!

Monday we toured the Historical Museum in Constanta and the mosaic ruins of ancient days.  A quick stop at the Carrefour mall to shop for picnic items, and we were off to the village of Cuza Voda, where our family immigrated from in 1907, and we were joined by four of our Romanian family members, who had never been there before, either.  The mayor, Dumitru Eugen, welcomed us with open arms, a small reception and generous offers of help in tracing our family history. We toured the church our family had helped to build in 1891 – each of wrapped in our thoughts of grandparents who married in the church and the sacrifices they all made to begin a new life in Canada. Tears were shining in the eyes of many who were overwhelmed by the enormity and magic of standing in the walk of our ancestors.  The kindly priest, was rewarded with many sales of crosses, books, etc – also giving us permission to search through church records in the attic.  After half an hour of wading through mounds of records, cobwebs and dust we reluctantly took our leave without finding any records from our grandparents era – with a promise to come back and look through more of the records another year.

A quick stop in the country side, a hurried picnic and we are on our way back to the hotel to put together gift bags for each of our Romanian family at dinner that evening. Everyone brought wonderful gifts to bring, making huge mounds of items that were distributed amongst the 20 gift bags. Another stop where we can purchase flowers for everyone to hand out to our Romanian family and we finally arrive at the restaurant where they have arranged a traditional Romanian reception, with much, much food, sweka (plum homebrew) and lively music.  We are in awe, excited, trying to find someone to translate, hugging, dancing, laughing and taking tons of pictures. Our Aunty Maria’s only living daughter, Dumitra, (86yrears old) arrives and the room falls quiet as we watch the introduction between her and her  cousin, Dora Hordenchuk  They are first cousins meeting  - Dumitra, daughter of Great Grandparent’s 1st born child, Maria Calimente, and Dora, daughter of Great Grandparents youngest child, Bill Tonita. There are tears and smiles everywhere, and cameras flashing in unison.  Cousin Caty Prodan, from Constanta has arranged for PRO TV from Bucharest to film the event and the meeting of the two first cousins, Dumitra and Dora.

We exchange names and addresses with many of our family with promises to keep in touch and to come and visit again – and inviting them to Canada. The bartender gifted my husband, Myron with a full bottle of sweka, which we had to leave behind with one of our cousins as we could not take it with us on the next leg of our journey.

A Tonita History book, published in 2005 was gifted to the family along with address books for each of them. Eventually the evening ended and leaving was very difficult for many of us.
The next day we toured Constanta, walked in the Black Sea, picked sea shells and shopped for more souvenirs. The waters of the Black Sea are cool at this time of year, but little Joshua Balius and his dad, Ken, brave it out and take a plunge into the waters.

Our last day on tour together sees us on the bus back to Bucharest, but first another stop at Cuza Voda.  The Mayor welcomes us once more and is sorry to tell us that they are unable to find any records dating back to pre 1907, when our family left there. He asks if we would consider twinning the town of Assiniboia with Cuza Voda, where so many of the people settled from his village, and we left with promises to propose the idea to Mayor Paul Topola in Assiniboia. One more venture to the graveyard to search out family name tombstones, bring cries of surprise at finding family names in headstones (Ionescu, Radu, Stefan, Topola, Lipan and Musat.) One headstone for the Badea name is discovered, but all the deceased are quite recent names.

One last stop in Bucharest at the Carrefour for people to buy last minute souvenirs before we check into our hotel rooms (with hard beds.)  We gather together at a small Romanian restaurant for our last dinner together, where a small three piece music ensemble and songstress treat us to lively Romanian music.  The spirit takes my husband Myron and I as we head outside to dance on the sidewalk, with the musicians following us, and before long we have a whole bunch of people dancing outside in front of the restaurant –laughing and enjoying the pureness of being alive in Romania.

Many hugs and tears are to follow as we all say goodbye to one another and wish everyone safe journeys home. Our tour has come to an end and no one wants to leave all their new found family and friends – the bonding is strong, loving and will be forever treasured.  We have come home to Romania, one hundred years later – met our family – seen this beautiful country – the circle is complete. We are rich in memories which we will cherish for the rest of our lives. We feel the presence of our grandparents smiling down on us, nodding and saying “Multumesc – Thank You.”