Maria goes first since she turned 7 today! Has it really been seven years? Wow!
I made her favorite breakfast this morning. This is a little tricky since there isn't an "easy" way to make pancakes in Bucharest. No pancake mix or even bisquick. So those that know me well can probably guess what I did first...went to my recipe website and looked up pancakes. They actually turned out great!
Next we headed to Bucharesti Mall to go bowling. This was Maria's first time bowling and she got one strike! Somehow I managed to win - don't ask me how! It was fun and I even took a picture of the score board because I will NEVER bowl like that again!
Next we ate lunch at KFC. Yes, I know, not very "Romanian" but it's Maria's birthday, remember? After lunch we went in search of roller blades. This was what Maria wanted. She owns some in the states but hasn't gotten to practice much and they weighed too much to bring with us. Roller blading is very popular here so we headed to the park to try them out. She did great. The park was Cismigiu. There were flowers in bloom and we found a nice little loop and once she got the hang of it Steve and I sat on the bench and watched her and the other kids go around.
We also went to tour the "People's Palace". The last Communist leader built this place for his office before he was "removed". It is the second largest building in the world in square area. The first is the Pentagon. It was absolutely stunning inside. They had marble, crystal, silk, and wood carvings everywhere. The entire structure was built of Romanian products with Romanian labor. It was 70% complete within five years. Some of the Romanians do not like the building because of the time in history that it represents to them. We liked it and Maria loved the view from the balcony.
We're home now and plan on enjoying the last of the flat birthday cake for our night snack! Part two of her birthday is our trip to Paris the end of this month. What a way to turn seven!
Love,
Dana
