A day trip to the Danube Gorge

There is something I forgot to tell you about me in my first post. My parents-in-law are from Pojejena, a village close to the place where the Danube enters in Romania. It's close to all the landmarks that made the Danube Gorge so attractive. So, when we visited them for Whitsuntide, it was natural that we would want to make a little trip over there. 

Ours was only a day trip but to those less fortunate, those who don't have relatives in such a picturesque place,  there are plenty of accommodations offering rest for the night along the way. The location is perfect for a weekend of peace and quiet. For those of you who like fishing, such a trip could prove extra fruitful. 

Even if fishing is not your favorite activity, as it's not mine, the Danube Gorge has plenty of things to offer. What we were after this day was only sightseeing, but we plan to return as quick as possible for a boat ride. 

We didn't go on this trip alone, as we usually do. We took our mother in law and her sister with us, offering him a much-welcomed breath of air from their daily activities.

Since we didn't have many activities planned, we left Pojejena after lunch. My son loves to sleep in the car, so it saved me from the tiresome task of putting him for his afternoon nap - he usually bustles about for an hour before finally falling asleep and I have to sit next to him the whole time. In the car, he falls asleep fast, one moment being a ball of joy and the next moment closing his eyes and ignoring everything around him as he passes into the land of dreams. 

As we expected, we barely left the village and he was already fast asleep. We already decided that we would travel for as long as he would be asleep, then we'll make the return journey, stopping in a few places to take pictures. 

My husband drove for about an hour, a slow drive at 50 km/h, allowing us to take on the sights around us. Then our son woke up, and we turned around. First, we stopped at what is known as 'The Floating Village' in Berzasca. It is a complex of several little houses built on pillars above the Danube, a place I wanted to see for quite some time. 

It was beautiful and peaceful and quiet over there. There's a tranquility always coming with places so close to the water. Since we were thirsty, we decided to sit at one of the tables on the deck and order us some cold beverages. Maybe some ice-creams too. 

Of course, initial considerations don't always prove true. After we set at the table for over ten minutes and no one came, we asked the waitress for some menus. 

"We only serve food to our guests," she replied, referring to those who spend the night in the little houses.

We told her it was all right, we only wanted drinks, anyway. She nodded and left but instead of returning with the menus, she continued to serve other customers, ignoring us until we got bored of waiting and left. There are many beautiful places along the Danube; no need to waste our time in the one spot that doesn't make us feel welcome.

We made another stop on the road, not for drinks this time, just for the view and some pictures. The view was of the Golubac Fortress on the Serbian side of the Danube. The pictures, you can see below.

Once our souls satisfied, we got back on the car. Because our thirst didn't decrease while we watched the view, we stopped in Moldova Noua for the - by then - well deserved cold drinks. And, of course, some ice cream. While we relaxed at a table, George was happy to use the slide and the trampoline offered by the owners of the bistro we stopped at. 

We returned to my in-laws home with still some time on our hands, and we took advantage of it to create a small adventure for our son in the yard. We brought him a tent the previous week - well, my mother did - and decided it was the best moment to use it. 

We had a nice time and it was proved to us, again, a venture doesn't have to be expensive to be fun. Sometimes, simple things can enrich your soul in strange ways. I discovered this while watching my son bate in the small river at the end of my in-laws' yard, smiling and holding his father's hand. There's nothing in this world more valuable than a child's smile, trust me.

Who we are and what we do

My name is Teodora and I intend to write this blog with the help of my husband, Marius. Together, we have a three-year-old boy, George, who already loves traveling as much as we do. We live in Timisoara, Romania, a beautiful town full of history.

Our passion for travel is an old one. Actually, for me, this love began in early childhood, when my own parents took me on trips. One of my earliest memories is swimming in the waves of the Black Sea, clutching my father's shoulders. I must have been three at the time.

At five, I conquered my first mountain peak in Retezat Mountains. It’s true, my legs were far too weak to carry me the long distance, that’s why I made the journey riding the donkey of one of the shepherds in the area. An experience I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

With time, my love for traveling only grew. I won't bore you now with every detail of every trip I've made because there were a lot of them. I will jump directly to saying that this love played an important role in me choosing Geography as my field study at the University. Seeing the world with my eyes was no longer enough. I needed a deeper knowledge of it.

There, at this faculty, I’ve met my husband, a man sharing my passion to the fullest. As it’s only fitting, we hooked up on the first trip our teachers took us on, and we’ve been together ever since, traveling whenever we could.

We followed our Bachelor degree in Geography with Master studies in GIS (Geographical Informational System), something that enabled us to blend our love for spatial with the newest technologies. I started working for a local cadastre company, where I work ever since.

My husband had been more adventurous. He started working for the same company as me, then moved to an environmental protection NGO, then we opened our own company, TM GISCONSULTING SRL (you can check out our services here), which functions under his patronage. With it, he gained experience in a variety of domains.

2016 was the most wonderful year because that's when our son was born. Our present from the Easter Bunny because he first glimpsed the world on Easter's Sunday.

George's birth didn't slow us down. The first time we took him out of out home-town for the night he was two months old. Since then, we've tried to go somewhere at least once a month.

George was eight months old when he made his first trip abroad: Barcelona - the town of out honeymoon. Returning there so soon after the birth of our son felt like the best choice for us. My baby enjoyed it as much as we did. Yes, an eight-months-old baby smiling as he was watching the buildings from the special pouch we were carrying him in, with a sea breeze in his face. Hard to believe he could have a preference at such a fresh stage in his life, but trust me, he loved it.

Since then, we’ve been in various city-breaks as Berlin, London, Bristol, Bari, Szeged, etc., as well as various destinations in our own country (Deva, Sibiu, Paltinis, Maramures, Borsa, Oradea, Retezat Mountains, etc.). My son spent his first birthday in Retezat. He spent his third birthday at the gates of the Danube Gorge. We love the cities, the mountains and the sea equally and don’t pass down any opportunity to see something new.

We plan each trip ourselves, from choosing the location for spending the night to picking the landmarks we wish to see, planning the route and discovering the perfect places for lunch and dinner.

From our passion and our knowledge arose the idea of this blog. Here, you’ll see stories from our travels (past&future), get various tip$tricks useful when traveling with children, get help in picking the best landmarks for kids in various towns across Europe. Also, for each location from our stories, we’ll give you an example of a route with a few destinations, fit for a day of visiting, arranged so that one can maximize the available time, together with ideas for places to lunch and dine. If you want more or are interested in routing the landmarks of your choice, you can contact us, and, in exchange for a small fee, we can offer you alternative routes. We do this for cities that are not featured on this blog, too.