In my previous post, I mentioned arranging to collect my Dacia Logan MCV and the problem I'd had finding out about trains to Odorheiu Secuiesc. In the end everything worked very well. On Friday 23rd I drove the 10kms to Danes station in my Audi and parked it on the station forecourt. Train arrived bang on schedule and away we went. I had a chat with a young lady who spoke very good English and was travelling the short hop to Sighisoara with her boyfriend (who didn't speak any English). The train conductor came along to collect the fares - tickets for this privately operated train are not sold at stations - and I handed over the huge sum of 5.70 lei (£1.15) for the 75km journey. Amazing value!
The train consisted of a fairly modern two-car diesel unit and was well utilised. Most seats were occupied as people got on and off at the twelve intermediate station stops and at one stage, for a few kilometres, it was standing room only. If my fare was only 5.70 lei, those making shorter journeys can only have been paying a fraction of that amount, literally a few pennies. No wonder the train was full for most of the journey.
We arrived in Odorheiu two minutes early (British train operators please note) in the middle of a thunderstorm! Luckily for me, Attila the Hun(garian), sales director from the used car lot, had told me to call him when I was at the station and within 15 minutes he arrived in his posh Mercedes. He took me to where my new car was being washed and valetted, gave me the key and asked me to follow him the rest of the way to his office. Once there we checked over the car together and after a couple of missing items were replaced from other Dacia MCV's in the compound, I handed over the 32,000 lei (€7,400) collected from the bank the previous day. The documents for the car were handed over and I was on my way back to Roandola, via the filling station next to Attila's office to fill up with diesel. At the same time I zeroed the settings on the car's computer display so I would know just how much less fuel this car used compared with the Audi.
I soon got used to being on the left hand side of the car and changing gear with my right hand! The best bit was being able to see to overtake trucks and slower cars! The drive back home was interrupted only by one stop to take a photo of a tall pole in someone's garden which was a deliberate attempt to get storks nesting on their property. There is a superstition in Romania that storks bring good luck (as well as babies!) and presumably it works for that particular house.
Back in Roandola I checked the fuel consumption. I was very pleased to see the figure 4.6 litres per 100kms - equivalent to 60mpg and considerably better than the 25mpg I got from the Audi. All that remained was to collect the Audi from Danes station and I did this with the help of my new friend Adi from Laslea. I drove the Audi back and he followed me, driving my Dacia which he said he enjoyed very much.
Three days later - 26th July - I had an early start to get to Sibiu airport for 7am flight to Luton and at one stage during the journey I caught up with two more MCVs making a nice little convoy!
Blue Air flight was on time as usual and we landed at Luton about 20 minutes early. I had booked a hire car to pick up at 9:30 but actually got to the car hire centre at 8:30. Needless to say my car wasn't ready so I had a sandwich and waited patiently. It wasn't too long though before I was called to the desk and by 9:10 I was on my way to Hindhead to visit my son Rob, daughter-in-law Ali and new granddaughter Daisy. Slow progress on the M25 (not unexpected while widening work is carried out) but arrived at my destination within ten minutes of my predicted ETA.
New granddaughter Daisy had grown and become even more gorgeous since I last saw her at five days old in May. Rob came back to work from home for the afternoon which I thought was very good of him. I stayed with Rob and Ali that night although Rob had to go to work the next day to prepare for a business trip to Canada. Ali and I went to the shops with Daisy, then had some lunch and I left for my daughter Louise's home in Newbury on Tuesday afternoon. Ali was going to stay with her mum in Highworth while Rob was in Canada and I was invited to join them for lunch on Friday so I would get another opportunity to see, and cuddle, Daisy before returning to Romania.
Wednesday was my birthday and I went to Lambourn with Louise and my other two lovely grandchildren, Noah and Martha. We had a picnic lunch then back to Newbury with a stop at Sainbury's to get some BBQ food for that evening. A very pleasant and relaxed birthday for me!
On Thursday I drove to Wantage for a visit to the bank to arrange the transfer of more money to Romania. For security reasons, I can only make a transfer from my UK bank to my Romanian bank account by visiting the branch in Wantage in person so I made sure that sufficient funds would be in Romania for the impending building work which I hope will finally start this month. After the bank visit, I went on to Grove for a prearranged lunch at Cornerstone with John and Margaret Willemsen and Trevor and Margaret Dodd. It was John who first introduced me to Romania back in 1992 when I joined a team of drivers in a small humanitarian aid convoy organised by churches in Grove and Wantage. Trevor was a driver on my second trip in 1993 and all of us had visited Romania many times since. Next month John and Margaret will be visiting me in Roandola.
After lunch I visited Michael Wenham, a new friend from Vale Elim Church. I had only met Michael and Jane a few months before I left the UK and now we are following each others blogs, I thought it would be good to meet for a chat outside the church environment which had previously been the only place our paths crossed.
Friday came too quickly but it was a day I had been looking forward to as I would be babysitting Martha while Louise went to work at her new job in Lambourn library - and I was also going to see Daisy again in Highworth. It was a most enjoyable day with Martha behaving impeccably (she kept her mischief to annoy mum and dad and big brother Noah!) and Daisy just kept smiling at us!
At the end of a wonderful few days, I got back to Sibiu at 2pm and was relieved to see my new car was in one piece with four wheel trims and the radio aerial still in place! It was a hot afternoon, 37C according to a street display in Medias, and I was very glad to have air conditioning in the car. I stopped at new Billa supermarket in Medias to stock up with some fresh food and arrived back in Roandola at 4pm - tired and hungry but happy.
My next visit to family in England will not be until Christmas and I have decided that now I have a car capable of 60mpg, I will make the journey by road. For a two week visit it will be cheaper than flying and hiring a car, especially as these will cost more during the holiday period. Plus I will have plenty of room to carry presents for the family and lots of cheap Romanian beer and wine for the festivities!
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