From Paradise to Perdition and back again...a Chase family tale...the trip part 2

On the train w/ grandpa! Draculas castleWe saw so many stray dogs while in Romania! It was hard not to take one home!

Dad in Romania.

Ok, as it was told to me, my great grandfather Nicolei walked over these mountains when WWI broke out. He knew that because of the way the country was divided with the Allied and the Axis powers, he would only be fighting other Romanians and so he just walked over the mountains to the Black Sea, caught a boat and set out for America. He later sent for my great grandmother Mary. Both of them came through Ellis Island.

At dinner our last night in Sibiu.

All of us!

Ben happy....finallly.

On the paddle boat with dad.

Thomas doing some traditionall Romanian dancin moves!

Denny at the reception after the wedding.You know how the baby gets passed around.....

and around....

and around.Dancing with Daddy!

Thomas trying out his new moves with the ladies!

He is getting it down.

Stealing the bride on the dance floor!

He likes the spins!

Dad and Uncle Nick. I would never look at them and think "brothers", but they are.

Eric and Aunt Lynda

Uncle Nick and Aunt Diane, celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary this year!

Dad and Denny

The Happy Couple

The Chase family after the wedding

Eric with mom Lynda and new wife Rebecca!

Her mom made her dress! How talented!

The Catholic Church in Sibiu

Some stained glass art work...here is St. Michael the Archangel.

view from the back of the churchEric, his best man Bryan and KC, all the boys in uniform!

"Don't be late to your own wedding!" Eric says to the bride!

Denny and KC at the hotel

Denny and I posing for the camera!

"Mom, why are there two toliets?" Ben, sick in bed.

Ok, sorry, it has taken me a bit of time to get back to my pc...but that is my life.

So we got back from Salzburg and caught the train to Frankfurt. Which in hindsight wasn't the best of ideas. We had all our luggage and two kids car seats to take. Dad just had surgery for his heart in March so we couldn't really book it. When I say the German railway systems are VERY NOT handicapped friendly I don't lie. So we had to get our tickets for the train which were three times as expensive as we had thought, then when we got to the airport, we had to take taxis to our hotel only two miles away. The taxi driver in my car was rude to the boys because he was driving a mercedes and so I literally had to yell at him to stop shouting at my kids. That ride alone-two taxis to drive two miles to the hotel-was a small fortune, so I was not thrilled. The hotel we stayed at wasn't very friendly-I don't think they have any idea what 24 hours a day service means. The next morning despite KC leaving his dress blues in the closet that we had to go back and get, we managed to get on the plane and make it to the airport where we boarded first (yeah families). We had a stop over in Vienna and Ben fell asleep in the coffee shop on a couch. Then when we got on the other plane, it was only a two hour ride to Romania. We met up with my aunt and uncle and found my cousin Eric who rode his motorbike to his apartment where we spent the night. It was very nerve racking for me. My family didn't get a chance to go to dinner until 10 at night. I opted to stay behind because of the kids, who were already falling asleep. Erics place is beautiful, but not baby proofed or kid friendly. Yeah, chords, knives, chemicals, glass decor and books and cds within reach everywhere! So I had a great time keeping that at bay. But Eric was a sweetheart and gave kc and me and the kids his bed so we did good that way. But the next day we were off to Sibiu.

I say again at this point I was stressed but not bad. Ready to go check into our five star hotel and take advantage of the pool and spa. Then, as we are entering Sibiu, Ben throws up. All over. And while we made it to the city, we took almost two hours to find the hotel. I assumed it was the bumpy car ride there. But even after three hours, Ben was still not better. But the entire time, he still was drinking water. So I wasn't too worried. But I didnt leave the hotel room. The kids slept all night long with little sickness. On Saturday, the day of the wedding, Ben seemed a lot better. Still somewhat wobbly, but we managed to get it all together and make it to the church. The make up and hair guy Rebecca hired did my hair in a beaufont due. So don't laugh when you see pictures.

The wedding was done in Romanian but it was the most gorgeous church! I bribed the boys to stay quiet with a chocolate bar. Abby fell asleep in the sling and after 45 minutes Eric was married and Rebecca was Mrs. Suciu. So it was nice. Afterwords we attended an awesome reception at the Rubin Club. There was dancing, drinks, food, food more food, dancing, drinking...drinking....drinking...some dancing and more food. Thomas even got to dance with the girls of the party and stole the bride, who he fell in love with!

But just as I thought things were getting better, Thomas threw up all over the bathroom. We said our goodnights to the new couple (who I hear didn't go home to 2 am the next morning...oh yeah there was some table dancing involved as well). We missed some major food courses, which was ok because were full of the great appetizers and soup and ice cream and coffee and more appetizers...wow, they can party in Romania!

So Thomas kept throwing up but slept most of the night. On Sunday morning, Ben kept complainig of ear problems and Abby had started throwing up as well. We headed to the pediatric ER. Ben had a double ear infection. And then while we were there, they were trying to tell us Abby needed to be in the hospital for two days and then we needed to get tested for swine flu and were ready to revoke our passports. You can imagine my terror as they were telling me this. Just to let you know, we did convince then we didn't have swine flu. None of us had fevers or coughs or anything like that. But I did let them give Abby some IV fluids for a few hours. Then we did go back to the hotel. Surprise, Ben throws up all over again. So KC and I were literally trapped in a hotel room with three sick kids. And we packed only kid movies for the trip. There is only so many times one can watch Wall-E and Cars. So we missed the bridal BBQ at Rebecca's mothers home. By Monday, we were able to get out of the hotel and walk around to the local zoo. They were all keeping down liquid and needed the fresh air. While there KC and Thomas were able to rent a paddle boat for the lake and had a good time. Everyone in Romania is so sweet and they are all family friendly. Its so nice to see that. On Tuesday we checked out and headed to Bran, in Transylvania. We were able to visit Draculas Castle actually based on Vlad the Impaler. Romania is a great country, and its beauty astounded me. I can see why my family talked about it all the time. They finally overturned the communists in 1989 and are in the middle of getting their economy off the ground with new found freedoms. One glimmer of hope we learned while in the hotel was the EU elections were held and all the candidates voted into office were those of conservative parties. I find it ironic, the US is going more socialistic and the EU is going more conservative capitalistic. I may very well end up one day taking my family and fleeing BACK to europe to escape!

We visited the Bran market place. If you ever have a chance to go there, go! The market places alone are worth it. They were awesome. Lots of goods to buy and fairly inexpensive. Also, the hotel was great with a wonderful view. They still farm with horses and carts there so its like a different time. I think they just need to refine their water and boom, they'd be in buisness.

We drove to the airport in Bucharest the next day and with luck, caught the earlier flight back to Frankfurt, with no complications from sick kids or rental cars. I was relieved when we touched down. We caught the train home and when we got home, it is no lie that I popped open a bottle of good lambrusco and went to bed early.