Breakfast today was a light affair of egg, salami, bread, cheese and radish. On our way to Select, while it was pouring with rain, we noticed May bugs forlornly crawling across the pavement. We saved one from the pavement as many of its friends had been trodden on already. It seemed like such a strange occurence as we came across more and more as we were walking!

Back to the apartment for a rest and a nap (since we'd had such a hard day already). Laszlo came for us at later in the morning and drove us to a nearby village called Praid, where the main attractions were its salt mines and a butterfly house. The butterfly house was where we spent the rest of the day, helping out with its construction.

It is funded and built by the local Geography Society, whose aim is to introduce people to nature and conservation in Romania. When we arrived, they had four days to completion. This meant that there was a sense of urgency in the air to work hard and get the project done. Our task was to transfer mounds of soil across the floor to level it out and create pathways for the visitors. So far, the wooden structure of the house had been finished, as well as the roof, so there was a little way to go! The Society president informed us that they're hoping to bring in 500 species of butterfly which will in turn attract 40,000 visitors a year.

Over lunch, Kate and I went to explore the farmyard, where the butterfly house was being built. As we were walking around, curious sheep and lambs gave us the eye, while the chickens and cockerals clucked around their pen. There was also a little dog that was tied up - he got incredibly soppy with Michael when he went over to pet him! The rest of the yard had barns of hay and buildings where the family live.

We worked until 3.30pm in the stifling heat. On our way out, I noticed a ram's head had been hung on one of the outside walls! It looked a little intimidating, with its huge curly horns. Another oddity we saw were a number of 'christmas trees' which had been placed outside some of the houses in the village. Laszlo explained that these trees were for the ladies of the house, who the village men admired. So the more trees there were outside the house, the more attractive the girls were!

On the way back we spotted a buzzard circling the air so we pulled over to observe it through the binoculars. Eventually we got back to the apartment, where we were able to browse the internet for a short while thanks to Laszlo. It made me realise that I loved being cut off from it and it was something I could definitely get used to.

Dinner was at Select, where we had pickled cucumber soup to start, which tasted exactly how my Polish grandmother used to cook it! This was followed by mashed potato and stewed pork, with a side dish of fresh cucumber and onion salad.