Considering that I have a degree in Sculpture, I should probably have heard of "the father of modern sculpture," Constantin Brancusi, but I had not. It took a trip around the world and a stop in Târgu Jiu, Romania, to discover him! Thanks to Silviu, we had our walking tour planned. We left this afternoon and I led us (as the on-foot navigator) around town.

Besides the Brancusi sculptural ensemble for which this town is famous, there are many other artworks in public squares and parks, and in just about any small green space.

Here is a sculpture of the famous artist himself:

Brancusi's "sculptural ensemble" consists of three parts, The Gate of Kiss:

The Table of Silence:

…and the Endless Column, which, of course, is not actually endless.

Tyler and I had a lot of fun meandering around town, enjoying the beautiful spring day, and joking about the Cone of Silence and The Kiss of Death. It was such a nice feeling to walk through a city park, the sun filtering through the trees in a kaleidescope of greens. It felt like we were a normal couple doing things normal people do. It was very relaxing.

We strolled along the river hand in hand…

…and stopped in the art museum situated on one side of the city park.

It was nice to pay a (very) small fee, and take our time looking at works by Romanian artists. For me, it was especially enjoyable not having to analyze the heck out of each piece and come up with reasons why it was aesthetically pleasing, like I did in college.

I liked this wood carving. Why? Because I said so.

After our site-seeing was completed, we headed back towards Hotel Anna, stopping to run a few errands first. Along the way we saw yet another of the ubiquitous Romanian doggies, flopped out on the sidewalk…

…and this guy, approaching with a "vrrrrrrmmmm" noise. No parents in sight, this kid looked like he was cruising around town doing errands as well. At one point we saw him inside a shop, his car parked outside! We're not sure if his mom was working there or not, but we like to think he just ran in to pick up a couple things. Hilarious!

Back at Hotel Anna, we did some laundry and prepared to leave in the morning. Tomorrow we say farewell to pristine silky sheets and soft terrycloth bathrobes as we head back to the open road!