Category: Bulgaria/Romania

Our gardening friend Bill gave us a daylily last fall, and it greeted us with its first bloom when we arrived home last week.

Travel to new destinations feels like an adventure and we were surprised by how much we enjoyed this trip! There were many things to discover…unique museums, cathedrals, castles, city parks, interesting food, and so much more! We hope to make a return trip one day soon.

We love traveling but it’s alway exciting to return to our home base. It’s a taken us a week or more to catch up but we’re already thinking about the next destination – still undecided.

Thank you for your kind comments and for following along!
Best Wishes for a Happy Summer!

Sharon and Larry

We like cities and we’ve found that Bucharest is a good one to visit! Many of the buildings are grand! Bucharest was nicknamed “Little Paris” during La Belle Epoch because its architecture resembles buildings in Paris.

Someone on a travel blog suggested that Bucharest is “rough” but we’ve felt perfectly safe here. It’s true that we see many decayed and derelict buildings amid the modern and well-maintained ones, but it appears that the city is making progress. In fact, we’ve seen more bookstores, flower stands, coffee shops and bakeries than any place we can remember when we compare it to other European cities.

Looking for a barber shop, we sidetracked into one of the more undeveloped neighborhoods but these can easily be avoided.  Still, the geraniums on the balcony are a nice touch.

We ate dinner at a very popular touristy restaurant Caru cu’ Bere (means Cart with Beer). It’s lively with music and in a great setting that’s perhaps better than the food. It was a fun and unique dining experience.

Today we visited the suburbs of Bucharest for a tour of the House of Nicolas and Elena Ceausescu. It gave us insight into how the Ceausescu’s took advantage of the system to live in wealth while the rest of the country suffered in poverty and repression. We had an excellent guide who answered our questions and filled in the details of their lives.

We feel that we’ve just scratched the surface of this city – there’s still much more to explore but it’s time to head home. Tonight we’ll go to a classical music concert at the Anteneul Roman. We’ll be heading home soon!

Saturday in Brasov, we ate apple strudel in their Central Park and watched brides and grooms gathered with family to celebrate a marriage. The park is a lush green space with plenty of space and park benches for everyone.

Along the way, we passed a silver-domed Church,

And found the sign with an arrow that pointed us to the entrance of Strada Sforii a.k.a The Rope Street.

It dates from the 13th century, and is the only street in the city where the walls can be touched with both arms at the same time. It is also billed as the shortest street in Eastern Europe.

The walls are covered with graffiti!

We enjoyed Brasov with shops, mountains in the distance and nice hiking trails. Today we drove winding mountain roads (more fun for driver than the passenger) on our way to return the rental car to the Brasov Airport. The “We Love Cars” car rental agency gave us a free gift (pen and notepad) and a ride from the agency location to the airport. We are always grateful and amazed when we return a car without incident.  From the airport, a ride share driver took us to the Grand Hotel Continental in the Bucharest City Center. We accomplished all of that by just after noon!  Our room wasn’t ready so we stored luggage and went to Cismigiu Park.

Men in the park are sitting at tables playing chess, cards, and other games – some are participating and others observing.

As we settled in our hotel room, we be realized that the thermostat was stuck at a temperature of about 80 degrees F.  We eventually got the attention of the Front Desk Staff and they arranged for us to move to a room where the thermostat worked and delivered a tray with wine, cookies and fruit to compensate for the inconvenience.  We’re happy now!

We’ll spend the next two days exploring Bucharest. Today some of the streets were closed off so people could walk, bike and stroll on traffic-free streets.

Our Bulgarian and Romanian adventure is coming to a close soon. If we make our tight connection in Amsterdam, we should be home on Wednesday! We’ve enjoyed it all!

Today drove one hour south of Brasov to visit the royal summer palace of King Carol I of Romania and his wife Queen Consort Elisabeth. The castle is in a wooded area near the town of Sinaia with the southern Carpathian Mountain range as a backdrop.

Peles Castle has around 160 rooms with various themes including Florentine, Turkish, Moorish, French, and Imperial.  We found the Moorish room intriguing.  It was used to receive guests and served as a smoking room.

Dark wood and many art treasures are on display in the Castle.

Below is a photo of the royal couple.

We didn’t realize that Romania was so mountainous! In this part of the country, German or Swiss-like villages line the highway and it is quite a popular resort area.

So we’re on the final phase of this adventure.  We have one more day in Brasov and then three final days in Bucharest. If all goes well we should be home next week!  It’s been a trip full of surprises and lots of fun!

 

 

We left the hotel with a map and a guidebook to discover the sights around town. Brașov is the sixth most populous city in Romania with a population of about 400,000.  From the city square, we could see the white  “BRASOV’ sign high on the hill.

We took the cable car to the top of the hill for a scenic view. From the top (and next to the Brasov sign) we had a birds-eye view of the city.  We walked on some trails in the wooded area high above the city and admired the blooming wildflowers. The dandelions seem to attract butterflies and bees.  We also saw edelweiss and a type of wild geranium.

The view from the top is stunning.  The yellow arrow in the photo shows the main square of the city and the green arrow points to a prominent landmark, the Black Church.

Back down on the cable car, we went inside the Black Church.  Some say that the name “Black Church” is from damage caused by a fire started in 1639 by invading Habsburg troops – though neither the interior or the exterior look particularly black to us.

Today was “Free Museum Day” so we couldn’t resist a visit to the Ethnographic Museum.  There were many displays showing historical artifacts from Romanian daily life.  We enjoyed the colorful costumes.

It was day full of discoveries, a little hiking, gelato and some drone flying.  We returned to Hotel Bella Muzica shown in the photo below with the Black Church in the background. Dark clouds in the sky didn’t produce any rain today – hoping for more good weather tomorrow!

 

Tuesday we drove into the Transylvanian countryside to see some of the smaller villages.  The route we planned included Biertan, Criș, Daneș, and Malancrav.

We did a quick drive through the small village of Daneș but continued on to our next stop, Biertan.  The main feature of the village is a fortified church. We walked all the way  around the church (looking for the entrance) but did not go inside.

Biertan looks rather like an English country village.  Locals were selling souvenirs – the lady below is carving a wooden spoon with a hatchet!

Next stop was the village of Malancrav.  It is known for the beautiful landscapes surrounding the village, which is shown below.

The guidebook explains that Malancrav has the highest proportion of remaining Saxons in any village in Transylvania. This is partly due to its isolated location – the road literally ends at the far end of the village and we drove right to the end of the road. It’s rustic here! The photo below was taken through the car windshield.

The highlight of the day was the surprise “find” of the Renaissance-style  Bethlan Castle at Cris.

Julia, one of the caretakers gave us a brief history of the castle.  She explained that it was built in the Renaissance but suffered greatly during the Communist period.  Today it’s being slowly restored through the work of the St. Francis Foundation.

The interiors are mostly bare but there are some frescos that have been uncovered.

The land surrounding the castle is lovely. Julia told us that there is a 150 year-old ginkgo tree on the property.

We enjoyed our day trip as there are many interesting villages in Romania and the landscapes in between are gorgeous.

Today we’ve moved on from Sighisoara and we’re now in Brasov.  Along the way, we visited the hilltop fortress at Rupea.

We’re at Hotel Bella Muzica in Brasov’s city center.  It’s rainy today but we have a cozy place to relax.

 

We can’t get enough of the tulips blooming around town!

and, lilac bushes are full of blossoms. We saw this bundle at the market yesterday.

We’ve been walking around town to see Sighisoara’s  highlights. We passed by the Romanian Orthodox Cathedral but it was not open for visitors.

One of the most prominent buildings in town is the Clock Tower, a symbol of the city.  It was built in the 14th Century.

Later, we climbed the highest hill above the city to see the Gothic Church (unfortunately also closed) and to get a better view of the surrounding countryside.

Yesterday there was a military event in town with dignitaries, soldiers, a huge armored personal carrier, displays of military gear, and a marching band!

We can only guess at the purpose of the event.  Hopefully, this is as close to an Armored Personal Vehicle we’ll ever get!

In the Old Town, there is a plaque to highlight the birthplace of Vlad Tepes (a.k.a. Dracula).

We’re staying at Hotel Central Park in the Lower Town.  It’s a good location right across from the city park with lots of benches for leisurely people watching.  The hotel is built in a grand Old World style. Hotels in Romania have been very nice and very affordable.  Breakfast is nearly always included.

Today we’re taking the car for a spin to see some of the nearby villages.  Tomorrow we’ll go to our next stop, Brașov!

Travel in Romania has been a pleasant surprise!  Perhaps we liked the food, especially salads, a bit more in Bulgaria but, we found a salad that made us happy! Our last evening in Cluj-Napoca we had dinner at Olive Bistro – not a traditional Romanian restaurant. This salad with carrots, beets, sweet potatoes, greens and goat cheese was a nice change!  It’s sprinkled with beet root powder – something new to us.

We left Cluj-Napoca on Sunday morning (less traffic!) and enjoyed the 2.5 hour drive to Sighisoara. The Romanian countryside is beautiful with green forested hills, farmland, and yellow fields of canola plants.  The highways and roads are very good and even driving in cities is not worse than driving in Atlanta.

Sighisoara (pronounced “siggy-schwar-a”) is a UNESCO Heritage site in Transylvania. Some claim that it is one of the best-preserved medieval towns in Europe.

Sighisoara is a 12th-century Saxon town with a citadel, a clock tower and a Gothic  church on a hill.  All places we’ll explore during the next couple of days here.

There are some interesting small villages nearby that we plan to visit by car and Larry is taking some fun drone shots of the countryside.  We still have lots to see during our last week in Romania!  From here we’ll travel to Brasov and then end our Romanian/Bulgarian adventure in Bucharest.

We’ve spent the last couple of days in Cluj-Napoca.  Many times it’s overlooked by tourists but we’ve found some good museums, restaurants, and a lively arts scene.  We arrived on a sunny afternoon but the last couple of days have been cloudy, breezy and chilly.

The historical center of the city is lively and lovely.  Gothic St. Michael’s Church is in the main square, Piata Unirii.

Behind the church is a gigantic equestrian statue of Matthias Corvinus, a 15th-Century ruler.  It’s big and bold!

Nearby is the Art Museum housed in the 18th-Century Baroque Banffy Palace. The museum has a good collection of works by key Romanian artists.  The piece below is titled “Bluish Flowers” by a noted artist, Stefan Lucian.  We liked it because it shows brights flowers in contrast to a traditional Romanian ceramic vase.

Roata is a local restaurant with traditional Romanian fare.  It’s the type of food that we were expecting to find in Bulgaria.  Heavy on roasted meats, beans, sausages, and potatoes but, a bit light on salads and veggies.  We miss the delicious salads of Bulgaria!  The restaurant served local wines and Țuică (plum brandy.)

Partly due to Cluj’s Austrian-Hungarian history, we’re never far from a coffee shop or a pastry kiosk.  The pastries pictured below could be savory, filled with cabbage and potato or sweet, filled with cherry jam.

Cluj Napoca is a university city and we’re staying near the campus of the largest university in Romania, Babes-Bolyai University.  Classes are taught in both Romanian and Hungarian.  Our hotel, Capitolina City Chic is in a good location for exploring this city.

Last night we attended a performance of Romeo and Juliet at the Hungarian State Theater and Opera House. It was a wild show with lights, acrobatics, contemporary music, and wacky costumes.  Totally unique, clever, and entertaining!

One more day to explore this city…it’s raining so the day is off to a slow beginning.  Tomorrow, we’ll leave Cluj-Napoca and travel to our next stop…Sighisoara!  (Shown below in a painting be Romanian artist, Pericle Capidan – 1869-1966).

 

 

We had an abrupt awakening at 6:15 a.m. when our phones sounded an urgent alarm to warn us that a bear had been spotted in Sibiu.  This is the story from “Romania Posts in English”:

“A bear set the Sibiu authorities on fire. For more than 30 hours, the animal has been searched for in the city, but also in the surroundings. He was first filmed on Wednesday morning on a residential street looking for food in a dumpster. A day later, the bear was seen near the airport, but managed to escape just as it was to be tranquilized, the journalists from the Council Tower write.”

A first for us!  We learned from Wikipedia that Romania has 6000 European brown bears.  They can weigh as much as 1000 pounds and be as much as 8 feet in length.  Happily, we made a safe departure from Sibiu without encountering a bear.

We took the scenic route on our drive to our next stop, Cluj-Napoca.  The Romanian countryside is lovely and we enjoyed the drive.  We drove through the small villages of Cisnadie, Cisnadioara, and Sibiel.

We stopped in Sibiel to see Father Zosim Oancea Museum of Icons on Glass.  Father Oancea was detained for 15 years during the Communist era and when he was released in the 1960’s, he was appointed the priest of this parish.  He brought his collection of Icons on Glass to Sibiel and established the museum here.

We were fortunate to have a tour by a Romanian woman who didn’t speak English but she spoke French. Larry easily followed along and translated for me.  Our first stop was the Church of the Holy Trinity.

The walls of the church are covered with 18th century frescoes.  At some point they became darkened by smoke from candles and were painted over with whitewash.  Father Zosim Oancea led an effort to have the whitewash removed and the frescoes restored.  The church is Romanian Orthodox and still in use today.

The Icon Museum is in a building behind the church.  The icons on glass are beautiful and the colors brilliant.  Some of the early pieces were from the 1500’s such as this one of St. George (below) who is popular in Romania.  These icons were painted by folk artists from the region of Transylvania.

We’ve arrived in Cluj-Napoca and the car is parked.  We’ve heard that the restaurants are good here so we’re on our way to check them out.  We had a nice day visiting rural Transylvania – especially Sibiel!