2006 TRIP TO GERNIK

After the SVU conference, a small group of four traveled back to the Czech villages of Gernik and Eibenthal in Romania, where the Virginians again found their family connections.  Gernik was "quieter" than during the 2005 festival and the travelers experienced daily life in the villages -- a trip to the bakery, the sounds of cowbells in the early morning and late afternoon, the sights and sounds of numerous haywagons traveling through the village lanes because it was "haying" time in early July.

"Haying" in Gernik Romania July 2006

We even attended a funeral of a family that shares a Virginia surname.  The traditons were old and sacred -- we knew we were observing the customs of our own great-grandparents' funerals.

There was also some time spent at the local pub -- listening to accordian music and dancing!