This was the first meeting in the new Rotary year chaired by President Don, and he made particular mention of the very pleasant Changeover Night that we enjoyed, with special accolades to Jan Puddey for all of her hard work. Max Puddey then was introduced as Guest Speaker, and he talked about his and Jan’s trip to Romania in April this year. That country is surrounded by Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Ukraine and Hungary, and its geography is dominated by the Carpathian mountain range. There are 10 Provincial areas, and the Puddeys spent much of their time in one of the larger ones – Transylvania. The Capital of Romania is Bucharest – the Paris of the East – and Max gave a comprehensive history of the Country from 106 AD right through to current times. The Royals abdicated in 1947, and the Communists took over, lasting until 1989 when Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena were executed. The Country is now a democratic, semi-presidential republic. Max showed many pictures of amazing buildings in Transylvania, including Peles Castle, Bran Castle, the Towns of Brasov, Viscri, Sighisoara (where there is a 64 m high tower), Sibiu, and Biertan to name but a few. He also revealed some amusing times, such as at the Libearty Bear Sanctuary at Zarnesti (the largest brown bear sanctuary in the world) where they encountered a bear called ……… Max!!