Fantasy novel with 40 year old protagonist

Chapter 9

The following three days went by fast. Between getting used to her new surroundings, fighting against jet lag and functioning as a normal human being trying to nurture their basic needs, Daciana had little energy left at the end of the day.

Luckily, her new job was not highly demanding. She had been brought over to help with a project researching the Carpathian Edelweiss, a protected species in Romania. As its local name, "floare de colţ" implied this plant grew at high altitudes of over 1600 meters. While Daciana would not have minded doing some hiking field work right now, the flower could only be found during the warmer months in Romania, between May-June and September. This reduced her contribution to office work, either interpreting the results obtained so far, looking over articles already published on the topic or, at times, helping correct translations for the international partners. Back home, she would have rebelled against doing the assignment of a glorified secretary. This time, however, she found the tasks a well-deserved break for her brain in overdrive from all the novelty and welcomed any undertaking that required her to work exclusively in English.

After the two days reserved for travel and the three at work, the weekend finally gave Daciana the time to explore her neighbourhood during the day.

Like many other European cities, this one had a unique charm and a completely different style than anything she knew back home.

The newer areas had apartment buildings up to ten stories high, massively broad constructions whose length was larger than their height, that housed hundreds of people.

Yet the majority of people still lived in houses with one or two stories and gates at least two meters tall that protected the inner courtyard from any unwanted onlookers. Walking down the narrow streets, one could notice some of the original architecture and details that nowadays constructions would eliminate for practical reasons. Many homes still had old-school shutters and geranium boxes on their windows. Beautiful window sills and frames sculpted directly around the windows, a tablet below the edge of the roof with, Daciana guessed, the initials of the person who first built the house and wooden fences darkened by the many rains over the years, all gave this place character and allowed this temporary resident to glimpse into a time before her time.

And then there was the old town. Retaining many of the elements it had during medieval times, this remarkable place allowed the traveller to enter through gates that were once the only passage towards the citadel and likely heavily guarded at the time. Here, many streets were still in cobblestone. All buildings on a block were glued to one another in an array of neutral colours mixed in with greens, pinks and yellows, all with immense wooden doors that were a work of art in itself.

Some of these buildings had been converted into small restaurants and hotels that made use of the inner courtyards and surrounding establishments. Others housed little shops and stores, usually hidden on the first floors, because there was no place to build anything new. A guitar shop, an old school bookstore, a place that made pies and pastries, a place that sold only fruits and vegetables called simply "Alimentara," all adorable and all survivors from a different era.

Daciana had lunch at a place that looked neither fancy nor elegant but teeming with people who seemed to be having a good time. To her surprise, the server had no trouble speaking to her in English, pointing out the more traditional menu items specific to the area. She opted for a salad and a hearty bean soup in a bread bowl, served with red onion slices and a red hot pepper on the side. For dessert, she had a fuming hot, just-baked dish of crepes filled with soft cheese and raisins with a sweet vanilla flavour.

After this, Daciana passed the old defence wall and took the serpentines to the summit of the hill. She snapped a couple of photos for her parents, and when her watch showed 3:30 PM, she hurried downhill for her most important mission of the day.