The Mountains

Anyone who has lived in a large city for an extended amount of time knows that a trip to the countryside to  breathe fresh air and have some open space around you is much needed from time to time. Thankfully I had a chance to do just that this past weekend along with approximately 35  high schoolers and seven other adults. We took a bus four hours away from the city and into the refreshing beauty of nature for the annual secondary retreat.

We stayed at a retreat center near the tourist city of Bran. This city is famous for being the setting of Bram Stoker's book Dracula. Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to explore the town, but I didn't feel like I missed out on too much! On Friday we spent basically the whole day rock climbing and hiking with the kids. I definitely got my exercise in, and the scenery was incredible.

I know it's a lot of pictures, but I thought it was too beautiful not to show you ;)

The retreat was a lot of fun for me, as well as the kids as far as I could tell. We enjoyed being in the mountains, having fun together, and listening to some great speakers. Unfortunately late Friday night and early Saturday morning about half of the group, including me, started feeling the effects of some sort of food or water poisoning, and by Saturday afternoon it was time to return to the city. Riding a bus through the mountains with a load full of sick kids is not fun, but we made it! By the time we got back to Bucharest, pretty much anyone who hadn't gotten sick yet did. So, Monday ended up being a no-school day for all of the secondary students as we were all still recovering. I hope I get a chance to visit this area again...but next time without getting sick.