Day 6 - The Danube

My parents inherited a small house in Macin, which belonged to a couple of elderly people.  Although unrelated with the couple, my parents were friends with them and my father gardened in their yard, sharing the harvest with them. My mother looked after the elderly lady before she passed away.  When they moved into the renovated house, my parents also upgraded the chicken coop, built a garage and did a lot of improvements to the garden. Thus, this amazing garden my father has and which feeds them all year round!  Many goods are shared with friends, too.  My mom preserves veggies and fruit for the winter and seriously, her rose, sour cherry, bitter cherry, quince, green walnut, red currant, blackberry, strawberry, and apricot preserves are scrumptious out-of-the-whole-world YUMMY! They have chickens, bees, a dog and the young tomcat, Nelutzu.

Here are my beloved parents, the retired teachers and current farmers:

But I said this blog was about the Danube, since Macin is on the old arm of the river, on one side of the Big Island of Braila, I feel like it is a pillar of the town's charm and history.  I take a walk on the Danube's edge every time I visit home.  In better times, a boat went from Macin to Braila, the bigger city.  The river is beautiful, but the problem is that it cuts Macin off from the rest of the country, and I am certain this affects the local economy and trade, and thus prices and businesses.  A bridge over the Danube at Braila would improve life in Macin exponentially and more people would use this path to go to the Black Sea also... For now, Macin is a deeply dormant port.

Last but not least, today I had the emotional reunion with some high school mates at 30 years from graduation.  I was touched to share the bench again with the woman who sat next to me for the whole four high school years.  I had not seen most of these people in 20-30 years although high school was the time of most school adventures and growth...