The most enjoyable walks are those that, besides relaxation and movement, bring unforgettable images to your eyes. One such walk was for me, for us (my wife and I) in Astra Park in Sibiu.
Actually, Astra Sibiu is not a park, it is an open-air museum, a museum that includes forest, lake, and village houses in Romania. Old houses, saved from destruction. Torn to pieces and rebuilt in this ethnographic museum.
Astra Sibiu is the largest ethnographic museum in Europe and the second largest in the world!
ethnography
The science that classifies the peoples of the world, studies their composition, origin, and spread, traces the evolution of their material and spiritual culture, the mores and particularities of their way of life, and their cultural-historical links with each other.
source
Basically, this museum recreates the way of life of the Romanian peasants from a century ago and even longer.
Visiting the museum lasted almost a day. It is a 120 ha space where houses from all regions of the peasantry are on display. It was a very hot day and I was looking more for the coolness of the forest...
Measurements were taken and it turned out that the temperature in the forest, in the shade of the trees, is 10-20 degrees Celsius lower than the temperature in open places under direct sunlight.
That's why I extended the walk in the forest as long as possible...
... but this could not be carried on indefinitely, because the pathway led to another part of the museum.
The blue color of the house and the boats that are exposed make me think that the area dedicated to the Danube Delta is next. Because the river that crosses 7 countries in Europe flows into the Black Sea through a large delta where people have lived and live.
I love the Danube and the delta, I like to eat fish, but my wife doesn't like this. She wouldn't really want to leave the forest behind but in the end, she won't leave me alone on my walk.
The blue colour is specific to houses in the delta. I don't know why. Most of the delta's inhabitants were and still are refugees from Russia, who fled because of religious persecution.
They're called Lipovenes. Their household was supposed to provide all the necessities of life for their family members. They mainly raised animals...
... fishing and baking bread. For fishing, the most important were the fishing nets and for baking bread, every house had a clay oven. Such an old model, I think it is identical to those used many hundreds of years ago.
The most important means of work for fishermen are boats. That is why boats are the most carefully maintained tools they possess.
The representative house for the delta could only be located near the water. On the lakeshore in the middle of the museum. We continued our walk by the lake and had a pleasant surprise. I was greeted by some swans.
Now that was a meet! I've never been so close to a bird like that. It was a surprise. I had no idea the swan is so big.
There were three swans that immediately came ashore when they saw us. They are probably used to being fed and expected the same from us.
Of course, they were disappointed, because we had nothing to feed them. We didn't even know they were there. Disappointed, two of them left.
The biggest and most beautiful swan stayed close to the shore.
Patiently, she waits for the next ones to come. She knows she will eventually get food (from the park keepers, no doubt).
This museum is enormous and extremely interesting. Especially the constructions and tools used in peasant households. This encounter with these wonderful birds was a great addition to this place and this pleasant walk.
It's the first time in my life I've walked next to swans!
As I said, I am drawn to any place where there is water. I would have stayed in that part of the museum for hours but the wife doesn't vibe the way I do. Eventually she couldn't resist and showed her eagerness to go and visit other places.
Especially since he saw the windmills nearby. Here follows her interest, as she is a great admirer of windmills! I like them too, but not with the same intensity.
We then saw that we are not the only ones attracted to windmills. Photographers are naturally interested in their photos.
Moreover, even a couple getting married chose the image of the windmill to be the background for their wedding photos. I hope it brings them luck in their future life together.
The walk through the museum continued for many more hours and their story will surely follow in a future post!
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