Unfortunately, as older gates weather and deteriorate they are not being replaced these days only wealthier families can bear the cost of such an elaborate portal. During my walks around Breb I spied several of these hand-carved portals, which featured astrological symbols, flowers, animals, people, and in one case even a complete tree of life. In years past, almost every home in Maramures County had an ornate wooden gateway ( poarta maramuresana) at its entrance. Every home has a huge gardens, which provides all the fruits and vegetables for the family I felt like a sneak-thief but the owners of the hostel where I was staying, Babou Maramures, insisted that walking through private property was perfectly acceptable everyone uses the footpaths, including cows, chickens, and pigs. Stealthily, I opened a wire metal gate and crept through a farm yard, passing just a few feet from the front door of an old wooden cabin constructed from wide wooden planks, dovetailed together without the aid of nails. Ruby-red tomatoes were bursting their skins and green-black zucchini hung heavy on their vines. With only one paved road, I relied on footpaths that wandered through gardens overflowing with colossal heads of cabbage and fat ears of golden-tasseled corn. But my arrival was timed perfectly – temperatures had moderated to the mid-70’s, perfect walking weather.
A week earlier the village of Breb, Romania, had been sweltering in a heat wave that caused wells to run dry.
Puffy white clouds drifted lazily across the sky, allowing the sun to peek through just enough to make the afternoon comfortably warm. From the lush green floor of the valley I gazed toward the encircling dusky blue mountains.
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