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There are lots of things to do in Breb. If your with family and younger children, exploring the swimming in Ocna Sugatag, or hunting out the farm animals that are every where in the village is a great way to spend the afternoon. Below are some ideas of what there is to do within the village of Breb. To see what there is to do with an hours drive have a look here.
Holinca - if you like your spirits, of the alcoholic kind, your in for a treat. Almost ever house in Breb makes its own apple and Prune brandy. In 2009 there was a bumper crop of apples and prunes and so this means there will be an abundance of Holinca in the village for many years to come. If you walk out of the villa your staying in and walk around the village, sooner or later you will meet someone sitting outside their house and you will be invited inside. As in many parts of the world it is tradition to offer your guest a drink upon entering the house. In Breb, you will be offered holinca, and you will keep on being offered it until you fall off your stool or learn to leave your last glass full - no matter how hard they try, they cannot top up a full shot glass. If your visiting Breb in the winter, this is the main pass time of the local men and so someone new to talk to - or just to talk at, will be of great interest.
Textiles - This is a woman thing. If your interested in cloths and in particular embroidery and how they are produced, walk around the village or go and visit the family you met yesterday and ask to see their sewing set up. Many women still spin their own thread. There are many wooden looms in the village and most women still make their own clothing in the winter months and love nothing more than to show it off to friend and 'strauns' (strangers). You can have your own hand made traditional clothing made up for you or you can buy cloths and rugs directly off the families in the village. Remember there are no fixed prices on the textiles in Breb and so you will need to barter well.
Walking - There are probably several kilometers of dirt tracks and paths within the village of Breb. Walking around the village is a great way to see what's what and how every one lives, the barns teaming with life and people milking the cows. The houses in the evening are busy making dinner or preparing wood for the fire in the cold winter months. The paths are the best way to walk around the village of Breb as that is where every one else goes. The roads are for horses and the wide loads of hay and wood coming down from the mountain. The walking is easy. It is flat and there are wooden bridges over the streams and boggy bit. You can easy get lost but every one will know where your villa is and so all you have to do is ask where Casa Mic is and you will be pointed in the right direction. Their is plenty to explore, the old wooden church of Breb.
Rambling - Walking out of the village and up into the meadows above the village where people spend their days in the summer cutting the hay by hand is something that a lot of people enjoy doing in Breb. There are many paths and we are slowly learning our way around and logging the route with GPS. If you want to put on your ruck sack and pack your lunch and go off for the day walking along the paths of Breb to the outer lying fields you will meet people cutting their hay or weeding the potatoes depending on what time of year you are visiting Breb. Life has not changed up in the hills as much as it has in the village. Half an hour out of the village you will meet people working their fields like their fathers before them. If your feeling energetic and want to join in, your will be welcome to help out turning the hay or helping to stack the hay on the stacks that look like little African huts. It's a great way to spend a day or two around the village experience the last true peasant culture left in Europe.
Trekking - We're not experts, but we know several very good experts who speak good English and who will take you off up to the top of the Gutai Mountain. It takes around 4 hours from the village and is an easy climb until the last hour, where the path gets steep and your climbing boots will come in handy. You have to watch out for the Bears, Wolves and Sheep Dogs at this height and so it's best to climb the mountain with a local who knows their way or a Sheppard who is not currently working with the flocks of sheep that live ' dosuse' as they say.
Stream damming and swimming - There are many places around the village where you can go swimming in the steams, paddle in the clay bottomed stream bed or dam the whole thing with the many stones and broken branches washed down from the mountain over the years. Great for kids on the hot summer days we have here in July and August.
Woodworking - Romania is famous for wood, Maramures is famous for wood carving and Breb is well known for its sculpturing kills within the county. If you have an interest in wood carving - making a mask, a hand carved walking stick, bow and arrow or sword, if you've heard of chain saw sculpturing and want to have a go, your in the right place. Just make sure what ever you make is small enough to take back home with you. We can post things but best to aim for something small, unless you want to do some sculpturing on the trees on our land and leave it behind for prosperity.
Reading - We are slowly building up a collection of book, fiction and non fiction relevant to the area. Each guest went staying Somewhere Different in Transylvania will have access to the book Dracula. It's perfect to read here on a full moon and you here the dog bark in the distance, was it a wolf? William Blacker is an Englishman who lived in Breb for several years and published Along the Enchanted way in 2010. It's all about Breb and the peasant lifestyle. We have many guide books on the area and are slowly building the collection. Make a picnic, walk up the hill with a family who is cutting hay and sit back read about Maramures whilst watching in action.
Horse and Carriage - As of yet we do not have a good offering for horse riding in the village. You can get hold of a horse and take off up the mountain, but there are not used to being ridden and we don't want that sort of responsibility. We can arrange easy for a pair of horses and carriage to take you off up the mountain. It will cost but, it's fun and worth it just for the video;)
Chilling - Of course if all the above is too much for you, you can sit in a hammock all day and do absolutely nothing.
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