Sunday, June 15 – Werschetz to Temesvar

We left Stasa behind at the bus stop in Werschetz and headed for the nearby border with Romania. The border crossing went pretty well, about an hour for exit and entry. We picked up our Romanian guide and translator, Sorin Fortiu, at Morawitza, the first town after the border, and made our first stop just a few km ahead at Deutsch Stamora. We skipped our stop at Offsenitza because Carol, who had ancestors from there, was not feeling well. Pat and Kathleen had a good stop at their village of Dolatz. We backtracked to Detta at lunchtime. As it was Sunday, most everything was closed, but we managed to load up on Romanian currency at ATMs and grab some snacks from a gas station. Then we drove through the city of Timisoara (Temesvar) on our way to Josefsdorf for George. It was pretty emotional for him. From there we returned to Temesvar, dropped off Sorin, and found our hotel by 5:30.

When I planned the trip, my main concern here was avoiding getting stuck in traffic in the city, so my main criterion was finding a place near the north side of the city. As in Metz, I knew this was a budget place and was not expecting much. As in Metz it was even less than expected and eclipses Metz as our worst stop yet. The main issue is that the rooms are tiny, but it also lacks an elevator, only has AC in some rooms, and they have a charge for the controller. It does not have a breakfast, and there is not much nearby to choose from.

Anni Lorenz and her husband Willi met us at the hotel. Anni is a genealogical friend of Mary Ann's from near Sindelfingen. They were in Budapest and came here by train. They will ride with us on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday until we drop them off in Budapest for a train ride home. We all walked to a nearby restaurant for a good meal, but they refused to split the bill, causing some difficulty.

Weather was again sunny and warm, but not uncomfortably so.

I received a comment from someone who was following our travels that they lost track of us in Serbia. I am using the German names for the villages because those are the names that our ancestors and we genealogists know best. Unfortunately you won’t find these names on today’s maps.