Romania is a land of a thousand faces.
The crossing point between the Occident and the Orient
and a melting pot of different cultures.
It is also a country unlike any other in Europe.
With over 60 percent of the Carpathian Mountains weaving through it,
Romania is the custodian of Europe's last great wilderness area...
its largest remaining forest
and two thirds of its surviving alpha predators.
But increasingly this unique country's natural and cultural heritage
is under threat from reckless development
and a race to modernize
which is often destroying the very things that could ensure prosperity
and a sustainable livelihood for generations to come.
Welcome back to our eight part road trip of Romania's historic regions
in which we discover fabulous treasures,
natural wonders, medieval marvels,
mouthwatering dishes
and meet the people that make this one of the warmest
and most hospitable nations in the world.
We will also be finding out how this hugely misunderstood country
is emerging from post-Communist chaos...
and identifying some of the challenges it faces
and how tourism could provide one of its best hopes for the future.
This week we are heading east to Dobrogea.
It's a region rich in history, and modern ethnic diversity
not least because it incorporates Romania's only stretch of coastline.
Here the Danube Delta, Europe's largest wetland
fans out into the Black Sea
creating another vast and fragile eco-system
interwoven with myriad waterways reed beds and lakes
meandering for over 300 squared kilometers.
On the edge of this watery kingdom sits Jurilovca,
a small fishing community founded in 1826
by Lipovans who fled Russia following religious persecution by Peter The Great.
It is now experiencing a renaissance thanks to cultural tourism.
I'm here to find out why
and see what this sleepy backwater has to offer the intrepid traveller.
Hotel Bella Marina is a converted cruise ship,
moored on the edge of the picturesque harbor,
looking out over Razelm Lake.
It offers cozy cabins
and provides a good base from which to see the local sights.
Foremost of these is the ancient Greek fortress of Argamum,
one of the oldest settlements in Romania,
mentioned in documents dating from the 6th century BC.
Today most of it remains hidden
beneath many meters of earth and coastal grasslands.
But even the little that remains above ground is an arresting site.
I am here to meet local guide Marius
who I hoped could shed more light on this eerie, windswept ruin.
Charlie, imagine that 7,000 years ago this was just the Black Sea
and the Danube brought so many sediments
and created this amazing and very strategically important gulf
that was very appealing for the Greeks
when they came and created the first settlement here on the Black Sea.
So this was really to supervise the trade routes.
Yes and to create some connection with the local tribes.
And this was a city in itself wasn't it?
It was a huge city
imagine when the boats they were coming over the sea
and they were seeing the big fortress.
Are there any plans to excavate or restore parts of the fortress?
Plans are always but we have to wait for the implementation,
because here they've discovered so many tombs
and this was the oldest Greek tomb from Romania.
Now it's in Tulcea museum.
Now we can use only the imagination to think how it was before,
because we know that underneath our feet there are so many things to discover,
but besides that it's an advantage also
because for the tourists
when they are coming in such a beautiful and huge place like this
they enjoy it, it's a peaceful place.
They don't stay in a queue
they are just enjoying the view and imagining how the world was before.
And of course you decided to join the people here
by setting up your own place, haven't you?
Together with my wife we lived in Bucharest
we were working in corporations, in companies
and we decided to come here,
to establish a guest house for the people
because we believe that tourism is offering so many things.
It can educate people, it can make people more relaxed,
it can bring together people.
And also to have a sustainable tourism, an eco tourism, an agro tourism.
Well it seems to be working.
Yes is the beginning but we have many places that are close to us
and this is our vision.
Jurilovca is a pretty little town.
Its dusty streets are peppered
with a growing number of traditional guesthouses
in distinct Lipovan style,
with brightly painted walls and wooden timber frames.
I have an appointment at one of them with resident chef Angela Luca
who'd kindly agreed to show me how to cook a colorful local delicacy:
Rulada de Peste or fish roulade.
-Hello! -Dobrý den! Hello!
Welcome to Jurilovca!
This is a beautiful house.
Yes, it is a traditional Lipoven house.
There are tourists who come here because they like traditions,
to see how our parents and grandparents lived,
because this is how we maintained the house,
as it initially was, as people used to live in it,
it was just slightly renovated.
And the rest we kept exactly as it was.
As it was. Fantastic.
Welcome to our kitchen.
So what's on the menu?
Today I will prepare you a three colored roulade,
stuffed with fish.
Roulade is normally a sweet dish lined with fruit or chocolate.
To create one with a carp filling, certainly makes for an intriguing take
on the more conventional recipes.
First of all she separates the eggs
and places the whipped egg white into three bowls,
while combining the yolks with oil, flour and baking powder
into three separate bowls.
To these are added white cheese, spinach or tomato paste and cream.
This generates three colors that make up the roulade,
which after being sifted back in with the egg white,
are poured onto a baking tray.
Following ten minutes, at 200 degrees,
Angela flips out the base and rolls it up in a damp towel.
Lastly she creates the filling
by mixing filleted carp with soured cream.
While waiting for the base to cool,
Angela told me a bit more about the Lipovan community.
It is a very strong community, very united, very religious,
close to God, and to our culture, close to what's beautiful, to nature.
Our celebrations are held 13 days after the Romanian Orthodox calendar.
We follow the old Julian calendar,
and the services are held in the church, in old Slavonic.
And the people speak Russian?
Yes, the people are still speaking Russian.
Young people talk more in Romanian,
while the old people still follow the tradition,
trying to speak only Russian.
Back indoors the base was ready to unroll.
The filling is then added before being rolled up again
and chilled for five more minutes in the fridge.
The finished roulade.
Let's see our roulade.
Let's cut it.
Angela that looks amazing!
Well this segment because all three segments are going to taste different,
there's a slightly cake like quality.
Also you can taste the fish and cream.
I wouldn't say it's a low fat option
but it is fantastic and it's something you can easily cook at home.
Well it's clouded over a little bit but hopefully by tonight
when we have the music and the dancing and the fire
we will get some stars as well.
Anyway that was beautiful,
it looked beautiful and it tasted beautiful
and as far as I'm concerned
this is one of my favorite flavors of Romania so far.
On the far side of lake Golovita,
a great sandy bar runs north and south along the coastline,
separating salt from fresh water
and forming an integral part of the Danube Delta Biosphere reserve.
Visitors can come here,
and marvel at one of the most unspoiled stretches of coastline in Europe.
This is very unexpected,
I've travelled all the way across the lake,
the reeds have opened up here's this channel thatched rooves
and lots of people in paddle boats wearing life jackets, safety first.
This is Gura Portitei resort village.
During the summer months a group of Lipovan singers often come
and serenade guests around the campfire,
performing songs and dances so specific to this region,
they can't be heard anywhere else in the world.
Unfortunately it was too late to run by the time I realized
our musical troupe required some audience participation.
Well, that was a slightly embarrassing end to a wonderful day
here with the Lipovan community in Jurilovca.
It's only our first day in the Danube Delta
and already I'm feeling like I'm in another country.
But of course that's the beauty of Romania,
there are so many different cultures within one country
so it feels like you are travelling the world
but you are really only in one place
and tomorrow we go deeper into the Delta.
The night's excitement was not over however
as we encountered the first crack of thunder on the way home to Jurilovca.
And there are few more exciting meteorological spectacles
than an electrical storm over the Danube Delta.
This is what's amazing about the Danube Delta,
there's no average weather here, it's either very cold or it's very hot
or you've got the raw elemental power of lightning and thunder.
I was going to go to bed
but this is better than Guy Fawkes night or fireworks displays,
just standing out here with a beer watching it all.
The next morning it dawned dry and bright
and it was time to leave the Lipovans behind,
and drive an hour inland
to visit another one of Romania's diverse ethnic groups.
The Aromanians, sometimes called Macedonians,
originated from the Southern Balkans,
Greece, Macedonia and south west Bulgaria.
Many came to Romania during the middle ages
to escape the Ottoman Empire,
but more recently in 1925,
King Ferdinand appointed them land and privileges to settle here.
I wanted to see how the Aromanian culture differs from the Romanian
and how they have built their own society here in this remote part of Dobrogea.
-Hello. -Welcome to the Aromanian community.
It's a bit early for palinca, no?
-No, it's their free time. -Perfect.
When we drink, we drink. When we have fun, we have fun.
When we work, we work. We don't mix them.
How do people make a living in a place like this?
Our main source of income comes from breeding animals.
Because when we came from Bulgaria this was our number one concern.
Where should we go?
Where there are green pastures for our animals.
The second one is agriculture. Many people are farmers.
And the third source of income is trade.
Romanians have been trading for a long time,
and some say that they even topped the Jews.
What about the young people?
Are they still keeping the traditions, the Macedonian traditions?
This is a very good question.
Mass-media and the entire technology had an impact on Aromanians, too.
But in order to keep these traditions,
we contacted the Romanian Government through the Government,
the minister of education,
and we managed to get for the young Aromanians, who go to school,
an optional course on language and tradition.
Through this course we can slow a bit the assimilation,
which is very fast in the case of every ethnicity.
Is everybody in this community Macedonian?
If we refer to this village, the percentage is about 90%.
When I started first grade, I couldn't speak any Romanian at all.
But step by step we overcame this obstacle,
and everyone prospered.
In sports for example,
Hagi, when he started something, he finished it.
Not to mention Simona Halep, who is also Aromanian,
born from this very village.
Her parents come from this place.
-Her parents are from here? -Yes.
And she made it where she is today.
Why? Because she followed the tradition and the education she got home.
Being a hospitable bunch, it was hardly surprising
when the local mayor invited us back to his house for a quick bite
and a further insight into Aromanian society.
-Hello. -Hello.
Lunch consisted of Piperchi tzargasiti
and cheese pie among other delicacies.
What's specific about Macedonian cuisine?
What's specific is the fact
that every Aromanian woman knows how to prepare this.
Until now, every girl was taught everything by her mother.
The pies, the dough, every ingredient was homemade.
No one bought them.
Everything was homemade.
How are we going to eat this?
By hand?
Yes, by hand.
Usually, by hand.
Thank you so much.
Charlie, we usually mix business and pleasure.
After a good meal, you need good music, too.
It helps with digestion and cheerfulness.
We didn't plan it, but we also happen to have traditional music.
Let the music play! Maestro!
I didn't realize you brought dancers as well.
That was totally brilliant
I love the music and how unexpected to get dancing as well.
Romania's got talent.
There is just one thing left to do,
I was told this is a delicacy, the eye of the sheep.
I saw this done on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom I think,
so I promised myself before leaving today I'd also give it a whirl.
The eye.
Strangely very nice.
Heading north east towards the sea the low hills melt into flat lands.
Thanks to its proximity to the spice routes,
this region, more than anywhere else in Romania
has witnessed thousands of years of colonial history.
Wherever there is a hill or vantage point
you can often find evidence of bygone civilizations,
like this fortress at Enisala.
Eventually, even solid ground itself dissolves into a labyrinth of lakes,
channels and reed beds.
This is the Danube Delta,
a place as beautiful as it is inhospitable.
Yet here, man continues to co-exist with nature,
through harsh winters, mosquitos, blazing summers
and constantly shifting waterways, mud banks and fickle peninsulas
that creep right to edges of the Black sea.
To enter this harsh but magical kingdom,
you have to leave the road behind and take to the water.
My destination is the coastal town of Sfantu Gheorghe
perched at the very mouth of the river Danube;
an unlikely but breathtaking place
to spend a few days getting back to nature.
Welcome to Green Village, an eco-resort on the edge of town.
Traditional wooden lodges cluster around a restaurant, spa and cinema,
affording guests a comfortable basecamp
from which to explore Europe's largest wetland.
Rooms are comfortable and stylish plus a short walk from your front door
and you can take a boat just about anywhere in the delta.
To immerse myself in this amphibious lifestyle
I recruited local and guide Anca Simeon for a trip down the leafy backwaters.
How do you know how to find your way through these channels
'cause there are thousands of them.
Yes, I think you should be born here.
-Yeah, like you. -To find... Like me
So you've grown up here in Sfantul Gheorghe?
Yes I grew up and my parents grew up here,
I have a little brother,
my father is a fisherman, my brother is also fisherman.
Every so often these isolated waterways emerge from the reeds
to reveal one of the hundreds of lakes
that form a vast network across the delta.
The water is so clear you can see all the plants coming up.
It's like skimming over a forest.
Yes, this it is like a forest because in this period the water is not so hot,
the vegetation starts to grow and it is not so deep.
What do you think can be done
about keeping the Delta pristine and preserving it?
We have to discuss with people
and to make very powerful messages for them to understand
that they are living in a town through which goes the Danube River
but here is the end and we receive everything that...
-That they are chucking away. -Yes.
It's kind of treated like Europe's toilet.
We have a very natural beach in our village
and when there are stormy days
all trash from the sea comes to our beach.
It is a fragile ecosystem here.
Beautiful, you know, very beautiful but fragile.
Still, still fragile.
On the way back from our water born safari,
we spotted a makeshift fisherman's camp perched on the banks of the Danube.
I couldn't resist taking a closer look.
-Hello! -Hello! Welcome!
Luckily we were welcome with open arms.
And the promise of some campfire cuisine.
So we've timed this rather well.
I was getting a bit hungry actually
after travelling around those waterways for few hours.
I love this little community here.
Do they come here just for the summer because it looks like a makeshift camp,
it's not all year round?
They come just for the spring Herring season,
they are coming from Mahmudia 45 km up on the river, yes.
-So these guys have Turkish ancestries? -Turkish and Ukrainian.
-Ukrainian? -Yes, it is a mix of cultures,
you know Dobrogea has more than 12 minorities.
And so how long would they be here?
The season starts in March or April
and now we are almost at the end of the season.
Where do they go after that? Do they fish for different fish?
Yes. They fish for different fish in different channels.
If it's not frozen they are fishing all the time.
I see why, it's that simple.
Gut and prepare your herring and put it on a stick.
Fish sticks.
Yes and they put it in the fire they will cook for us and that's it.
This is what I mean about fresh Danube cuisine,
caught just there in that river,
three hours later it's being prepared,
stuck on a stick put on the fire and eaten by us.
So if you want to experience this
you're going to have to come to the Danube Delta
and do it first hand for yourself.
Natural.
It is put with the tail down and with the head up.
And that helps the moisture to go through.
-Yes. -OK.
Very good. And we have herring roe inside.
Even better so we have a bit of caviar in the middle.
Having eaten my fill of herring,
I headed back out onto the water
in time to join local fishermen, Emanuel, and his friend
as they were finishing their second shift of the day.
Do you know how many fish from the weight?
No.
So it's a surprise. Every time.
This is a big net, how long are the nets?
-About 150 m. -OK.
This is a good catch? You expect more?
Mornings around 40 kg. Now about 15-20.
Do you think tourism is taking off here in Sfantul Gheorghe,
do you think it's good for the town?
It's good.
It's like the sole source of income for the local people. Besides fishery.
Fishery and then tourism.
Hauling in your catch is only part of the day's routine,
even with a boatload of herring
there was still plenty of work left to do.
It's a delicate business because the net can get stuck in their teeth,
you have to get it off the fish without damaging or breaking it
because a lot of time is spent mending the nets when they break.
A big sturgeon will put a hole straight through your net
and that's happening thankfully
because of the ban on sturgeon fishing they are growing again
and the numbers are going up,
and some of the guys have told me that
they have actually had their nets holed by large sturgeon heading upriver
which is an encouraging thing to hear.
So the herring season is almost finished and then you go up the river further...
On the Danube, and we fish carp, catfish, with a different type of net.
And in September, on lakes.
Thank you very much.
Well I've got my three fish here
and I'm going to take them to the collection point
and see what they're worth...
I suspect not a huge amount.
FISH COLLECTION POINT
Hello. How much is this fish?
Not much, right?
0,8 kg.
-Ten Lei. -Ten Lei.
Ten Lei. I think I will be taking these home in that case
and cooking them back at base.
Thank you.
That was a waste of time.
Although the fishing industry is the lifeblood of this community,
tourism is providing a more and more tempting alternative
to the early mornings and day to day existence of feast and famine.
During the season,
a procession of floating hotels converge from all over Europe,
funneled down the Danube until they wind up here,
unloading a steady stream of visitors,
pockets laden, looking to commemorate the culmination of their two week cruise.
So here is a thought.
Big cruise ships come past Sfantul Gheorghe all the time
with loads of tourists with loads of money
and yet there's only one supermarket, a pharmacy
and a kind of couple of restaurants
although I'm not 100 percent sure about that
and very little else.
This town is missing a trick.
You know that a community could benefit from some tourist development
when one of the biggest shows in town is frogs mating.
Round the corner at Green Village, it was time for lunch.
So I collared head chef Sorin
to show me two versions of Dobrogea's famous fish ciorba,
the traditional recipe and his own off-piste variation.
What I love about this sort of cooking is that it's so simple,
you've got your tripod, you've got your cauldron,
you've got your water and then you just need your ingredients.
This is good food made with local produce:
fish from the Danube and the vegetables from our garden and that's it.
And that's it.
I guess is easier to grow your own than it is to bring it all the way here.
Yes, it is expensive to bring vegetables here.
-Let me show you what we've got here. -OK.
Tomato paste, we have catfish, a big one.
-That's somn in Romanian. -Yes, somn.
-Literally sleepy fish. -Lazy fish.
'Cause they hang out on the bottom and eat what floats down.
They grow quite big, don't they?
-Yes, last year we had one 100kg -100 kg?
That's larger than me.
Almost like me.
Almost as big as you. So what else?
We've got the vegetables from our garden
and here the vegetables for the traditional soup.
And the head.
Do we eat the head or is that just for decoration?
We eat the head as well, alright.
The traditional way to cook is to use the head and the tail for flavor.
Nice, also the plan is that
Anca is going to be cooking the traditional fish ciorba from here
and Sorin, you are going to be doing your own version, aren't you?
My own version, the same ingredients, with a twist.
Which we will find out a little bit later.
Yes.
-OK, so proceed, please. -OK.
I imagine it's quite hard to catch one of these things, isn't it?
Cause I mean it might pull you in?
Here you will not catch it with your line...
with a boat and a big net...
We will take the fish and put it in the boiling water.
So far so good...
We will put some oil.
-Vegetable oil, yes? -Yes.
You wouldn't use and olive oil, only vegetable oil.
The same ingredients like the traditional ciorba.
OK.
Anca will start to make her own ciorba, the traditional way,
onion, the peppers, in big pieces, not very small.
She will put the potatoes and after this she will put the fish.
A little bit of tomatoes, a little bit of vinegar.
-And that's all. -And then we are done.
OK. She's racing ahead, I better let you catch up.
You're using pretty much the same vegetables...
Just with parsley and the garlic.
There are quite a few people from the village working
here at Green Village, aren't they?
Yes, almost thirty or forty people.
It would be better for us and for them to be all from here.
The fishing offers them the money without the commitment,
but you here you have insurance, a pension.
Part of them understand this and come to us.
This is the real reason why I'm saying this
because the population is getting older and older
and people don't want to fish, the young generation,
they want to leave, don't they?
Yes because they don't understand that tourism here in Sfantul Gheorghe
can give them a nice life.
We will put the salt.
A small handful of salt and that's black pepper, yes?
Yes, black pepper, it will be a little bit spicy.
After that we put some tomatoes.
-Some tomatoes? -Yes.
That's quite a lot of tomatoes.
But this is not a paste this is your own chopped tomatoes?
Yes, chopped tomatoes.
Yes is starting to disintegrate a bit.
I'm getting more and more hungry watching this.
How long ideally would you want to let the soup cook for?
One or two hours.
Let it cook while you pitch your tent.
Take your palinca and after that you eat.
Forget about it for a while and then come back.
-Cheers! -Cheers!
Life is better now.
-Life is always better after a palinca. -Yeah.
Well, since we've made enough to feed 5,000 people
I thought we better have the whole team and guys you are going to be tasters
so we can compare and contrast.
Thanks very much Sorin. Thank you Anca.
-You are welcome. -Bon appetite.
-Thank you. -Enjoy.
Sorin that's really good it's like a lobster bisque.
I don't know how you've managed to achieve that
without the use of seafood.
Yes, I've managed to do this with catfish, garlic and some herbs.
But it does taste like a crab or lobster.
Almost the same taste.
I'm slightly reluctant to part with this one
but I'll do you a swap.
The traditional soup is a bit more watery and stronger flavour of the vegetables,
but it's extremely nice.
Anca, congratulations, thank you!
OK, there's just one thing missing, excuse me a moment.
Well, you did said it was traditional didn't you so.
In for a penny, in for a palinca!
You understand the tradition.
I do, I'm learning the tradition very quickly.
Cheers!
To Sfantul Gheorge, to the Danube Delta and to hospitality,
and thank you to the team for making it all look so beautiful.
It's not a difficult job this bit, really...
-It's quite easy. -It's very easy.
Cheers!
Hard as it was to say goodbye to this wet and wonderful corner of Romania
it was time to venture south
to explore one of the more commercial regions of the country
and experience a bit of Black Sea beach culture.
The south eastern tip of Romania is full of large seaside resorts,
many of which date back to the Communist era.
Hugging the shoreline you pass towering hotel and apartment complexes
with Olympian names,
but my destination is a counter culture cul de sac
close to the Bulgarian boarder.
A few miles from passport control and you reach Vama Veche,
the hippy capital of Romania,
where beach bars vie with seafood restaurants and rock cafes.
This is a place that exudes cool.
People from all over Europe come here in their thousands
for the antithesis to the euro trash club scene.
The main street is filled with hawkers and buskers
and stalls selling bracelets, t-shirts and memorabilia.
The seafront like everywhere has deckchairs for rent,
but it's low key, without the obvious VIP areas.
This is much more my cup of tea.
Relaxed, a little bit hippy, live music, creativity,
laid back beach, volleyball, yeah.
Vama Veche is quite cool.
After an evening checking out the sites, and hitting the bars
you might feel in need of a detox.
Luckily, there is a lake on the way back north
that provides the perfect antidote to a night out on the tiles.
Lake Techirghiol is renowned for its healing mud.
A composite of Jurassic sea life and rich silt.
It derives its name from the story of blind crippled old man called Tekir
and his ailing donkey,
who once stopped here
and were mysteriously healed of their afflictions.
According to exhaustive research,
sapropelic mud is good for a number of things,
it's great for skin complaints like eczema,
it also rejuvenates the elasticity of the skin,
it's been suggested that it can even be an alternative form of energy
and of course it contributes to the well-being of the organism,
which in this case is yours truly.
Slight technical error.
The mud appears to be at the bottom of the lake right out in the middle
so I can't exactly go and jump in it.
Luckily though for us they are selling it.
Cheers.
Smells a bit fishy.
Not really relishing the idea of rubbing this all over my body, but when in Rome...
Now all I have to do is wait for half an hour
and go in the water.
I feel it actually drying as I'm speaking.
It's tightening up the skin.
It's quite an interesting effect
it's like having a piece of elastic band or something
constricting your skin.
I'm walking like this again.
Not sure about this.
Well, I think that was about 20 minutes,
all right let's see if I can get this off.
After a quick rinse off in the lake
as there are no showers and I wouldn't recommend the toilets,
it was time to head north for one final stop on my Dobrogea odyssey;
a rendezvous with friend and media pundit Dani Otil
at the ancient Greek ruin of Histria, another historic outpost
stranded from the black sea by the shifting sands of the Danube.
This thriving community once covered 60 hectares, now, as with Argamum,
only a small section of it
has been reclaimed from coastal grasslands.
It nevertheless remains
one of the most important archaeological sites in Romania.
So how came you are walking like a cowboy?
Yeah...
I think that's probably because
I've been driving the bike for about seven hours yesterday
and you get this sort of John Wayne-itis.
-So you've never been here before? -Never been here before.
It's amazing to think this was a thriving city for over a millennium,
there were 37,000 people living here.
And there are so many sites like this you know across Romania,
a lot of them are just ignored.
I mean this place has only just popped up on the tourist map.
Histria you know a year or two ago had no-one visiting it.
And no-one protecting it.
Yes and I'm the barometer,
I'm 37 and I found out stuff about this place from you
and from the guys here today, that's a pity.
And there's so much patrimony, so much heritage in Romania,
I think that just gets ignored or left and it's not being saved,
it's not being protected.
It's like you have this really, really nice bike
and you never use it but you go on foot everywhere.
Do you think that this is to do with the lack of interest
on behalf of everyone in the country,
they don't care about the patrimony or do you think as I do
that it's just the fact that the Government make no funds available
to actually protect iconic buildings?
I think the last 50 years affected us
and we are not that interested in art, culture,
and we care less and less about that
and more and more about what we eat and what we drink and where we sleep
and unfortunately the new wave comes, but it comes really slow.
I have people around me that care about that
but they don't have the power still or yet.
And Ceausescu convinced people
that concrete and cement and straight lines was a sign of power.
That's a hard thing to shake off.
People still think that living in an old house is somehow uninvolved.
That's true, my parents for sure believed that,
maybe half of me believed that until ten years ago.
If you can involve money or business in these areas,
if one or two communities start to make money from this
I think everybody is going to wake up and say,
"Hey we have this in the back of our yard, let's do the same like those."
But you've got to do it in the right way,
that's the key thing.
Let's face it, a six story concrete pension next to this place
because then people can then come and stay and see Histria will ruin it.
And that's a major problem cause it means again cultural tourists
who are the ones with the money
won't want to go and see these places any longer cause they'll be ugly.
There is a hope I just talked to one of my friends
that is a really, really young business man,
he just told me
he wants to make some traditional houses in the North of the country
and make a small village there.
So him, his partner,
maybe 50 guys like him can bring back the hope.
Maybe if we can do this shooting in 50 years from now
we can have some conclusions,
otherwise, right now, we are on really thin ice,
because this is not going to stay here.
Look at this mosaic,
this is 2600 years old and we are allowed to walk all over it.
I mean that shouldn't even be a walkway there,
that should be sealed off and this should be under that much glass.
In Rome you always see glass and you walk on the glass.
In any other country this would be completely protected
and look at it here, it's just falling to pieces.
Now I feel bad. Let's go.
Let's go I know we're walking on it. We should... gingerly, but carefully.
A thousand people are going to come maybe this year here.
OK, so if you do come here, please don't walk on this.
One of the ways that you could bring visitors to a place like this of course
is to hold a celebration of the old traditions.
Of course this would be qualified as domestic abuse in today's modern age.
In today's modern age.
Bravo! I think we do this don't we? She can live.
No, this.
Do you think they do this at home?
No.
I think he is with the potatoes and she's...
This is quite a workout.
This gets you fit, right? Very fit.
I've noticed you've got scars is this from...?
Yes.
Or is that alright?
-That looks sore, is that OK? -It's OK.
Right. You just have to operate on the basis
that they are not actually going to stab you in the face.
I work with my face, you work with your voice.
Yes, this is true, I need my face less than you do.
Yeah.
You see, you flinched.
Me? No. Not at all.
Yeah, true... See you in 50 years, man.
Yes it's already catching up on me.
-Bravo! -Thank you!
Join us next time as I drive north to explore Moldova,
where I'll be seeing how wine tourism
is providing a tempting alternative to traditional attractions.
Plus we will be visiting the historic city of Iasi,
perusing ancient castles,
learning more fabulous local recipes
and experiencing another less promoted area
of this largely undiscovered country.
All that and more in Flavours Of Romania.