© Jürgen Sauer

"The afternoon is dry and warm, and the people are dressed in their Sunday best. Nevertheless, most heads are prepared for the usual conditions—male versions covered with felt or straw fedoras, or tall black woolly cones, and female with dark kerchiefs—while the footwear of the elders looks particularly impervious: pointy-toed moccasins held up by leather thongs lashed to calves around white padded uppers. The older folks throw a few gruff looks when we stop to take photos, but warm up quickly when they see we are harmless..."

— pages 107-108, Into the Carpathians, Part 1
© Alan E. Sparks