Visiting the Lavender-Lady

English version below.

Have you ever wondered where the lavender in your soap, perfume, or the little bags in your closet come from? For example, from a small lavender farm in Capusu Mare, near Cluj Napoca, Romania.

Six years ago, Kriszta and Katju left behind city life and chose to live in the picturesque landscape of Romania. They started planting lavender in the hills. It sounds romantic, but it's hard work, as we found out while removing weeds and harvesting potatoes.

We also accompanied Kriszta to an alternative market where she sold her products, and we bought homemade beer and vegan pasta.

On Monday, the two took us to an abandoned clay pit, where there is now a turquoise lake for swimming. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, including a mudpack. In a wellness hotel, we would have paid a fortune for that. Conveniently, we were able to take some of the clay with us and use a small portion of it the next day to make salt soap.

While Stefan spent a lot of time chopping wood on the lavender farm, Mary learned a lot about Hungarian and Romanian cuisine. We will definitely cook some dishes at home. The stuffed grape leaves and the dumplings filled with plums are unforgettable.

Surprisingly, Fiona, a former foreign language assistant of Mary's, was in Romania for a short trip, too. So we spent an afternoon together in Cluj Napoca, filled with cocktails, a guided city tour, lots of laughter, and an extensive visit to the Soviet Pub.

Stefan, who doesn't really like cats, made friends with Kittycat, who has already made an appearance on our blog (much to the delight of our readers). Unfortunately, she couldn't join us on the hike in the Carpathian Mountains because her little backpack, in which she would have carried her food, wasn't finished on time.

https://levendulas.com

Ever wondered where the lavender in soap, perfume or the tiny bags in your closet comes from? For example from a small lavender farm in Capusu Mare, outside Cluj Napoca, Romania.

Six years ago Kriszta and Katju decided to leave the city life behind and start anew in the picturesque Romanian countryside. In the hills they began growing organic lavender, which sounds romantic, but is actually hard work. This we experienced ourselves while helping with weeds on the field and harvesting potatoes.

We could also accompany Kriszta to an alternative market in Cluj where she sold her products and we got some vegan pasta and home-brewed beer.

Katju and Kriszta also took us to an abandoned clay mine. The lake there had turquoise water and we could have a proper clay bath. Any fancy Spa would have charged us a fortune for this treatment. Here it was totally free and no one else was around. Conveniently we took some of the clay back to the farm and used it for making salt soap the next day.

While wood chopping was reserved for Stefan, Mary learned about Hungarian and Romanian dishes. We will not forget to cook some of these at home. Especially the filled grape leaves and the plum dumplings are still mouthwatering by the thought of it.

As a special treat we met Fiona (former language assistant at Mary’s school) in Cluj. We spent with her a great afternoon full of laughter, cocktails, city walking tour and extended visit to the Soviet Pub.

Even though Stefan does not like cats he fell in love with Kitty the cat, who has already made an appearance on our blog (and delighted our readership). Unfortunately we couldn’t take her with us on our hike through the Carpathians as the manufacturing of the small backpack in which she was supposed to carry her own food wasn’t completed in time.

https://levendulas.com