I love drama, and I realize many people will find that statement alarming. In the world in which I live, drama has a bad reputation. People tend to equate drama with workplace or relationship conflicts and gossip, stirring up trouble for no logical reason, overreacting to anything out of the ordinary or even worse, making something up to elicit emotion.
That is not the drama I am talking about. Travel is the drama I prefer. The first thing that travel usually brings to mind for most of us is spectacular scenery. And what could be more dramatic than the scenery in Transylvania. Pine scented forests covering mountainsides as far as the eye can see, meadows carpeted with wildflowers, verdant green grasslands stretching towards the horizon, crystal clear lakes turned silver by sunlight, foliage turned infinite shades of gold in the autumn, alpine landscapes turned blindingly white during the winter.
That is the kind of drama people love to experience. And that is not the kind of drama I am talking about today. Upon Reflection β Mirror Images On a winter day in the early 20 th century, the Somes River Valley was about to be consumed by a snowstorm. There is evidence in fictional form that it did. That scene resonates with me because I love drama and what could be more dramatic than to be on a train through Transylvania in the middle of a snowstorm.
Add in a romance beginning to elude the grasp of a lover, and this almost true story must be told. I not only read the sentences with Kolozsvar in them.
I also read the passages for greater context. This was pleasurable if a bit confusing. I found it hard to keep the multitude of characters straight. It has been years since I read the three volumes in their entirety. This did not surprise me as much as the fact that I remembered how I felt while reading the passages. In any book where we find a reflection of ourselves, there will be certain passages that speak to us on an intensely personal level.
