…and Away We Go!

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!

Sibiu is a cute town with lots of charm and a well preserved medieval center.  The town was founded by German settlers in the 12th century.

Many of the buildings have “eyes” on the roof tops – there is a legend that says that the “eyes” were meant to frighten people into believing that they were being watched.  The real reason for the “eyes” – the openings provide for a ventilation system for the buildings.

Parking spots in this city are hard to find so we parked the car on Sunday and it hasn’t moved.  There’s a sophisticated parking app that lets us pay the fee for parking from our phone each day. The cost for a day of parking is about $2.20.

We spent some time at the History of Pharmacy Museum. There was a nice display of tools for making early plant-based medicines.

Larry got a chance to work behind the counter!

A landmark in Sibiu is “The Bridge of Lies” – the first cast iron bridge in Romania.

There is a small market along the river.  Strawberries are in season and so ripe that the sweet fragrance is pervasive.

…and if I could, I’d take these Dalia plants home for my garden.

The Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church is on the Main Square.  It’s described as having an “exuberantly decorated interior.”

We’re staying at Casa Luxemburg. It’s a comfortable place to stay as the room is large and nicely furnished. The downside is…no elevator here.  We’re stronger for having to carry luggage two floors up a winding staircase.

The temps are chilly but we’ve only had one rainy day here. Tomorrow we’ll retrieve the rental car and head for our next stop – Cluj Napoca!

We had a really nice time in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria and felt well taken care of at the Gurko Hotel. The owner made these small spring bouquets for each table in the dining room.  Our last evening there it was cool enough for a fire in the fireplace.

We left the coziness of the hotel feeling a bit anxious about making transportation connections for our journey to Romania.  The first step was to catch a bus to Ruse, Bulgaria.  We waited at the bus station (shown below) for a minivan/bus to Ruse, Bulgaria.

We arrived safely in Ruse and walked a short distance to catch a train to Bucharest, Romania.  It was a slow train and we had to give up our passports twice – once as we left Bulgaria and again when we crossed the border into Romania. We were nervous giving up our passports but there was no other option and both times, they were returned to us after about 30 minutes. The train was slow, hot, and sometimes stinky but we arrived in Bucharest after about three hours.  Larry called a Bolt (ride share) and it arrived a minute later and we hopped in.  Several miles into the ride, the driver discovered that we were not the passengers that he was supposed to pick up.  He pulled over and let us out of the car – he was very nice about it.  We got another ride-share car and made our way to our hotel  in Bucharest. Old Town Bucharest has many grand buildings and a mix of architectural styles.  There is a lively cafe scene and many families out for dinner and a stroll on a Saturday evening.  Later in the night, boisterous party goers took over the streets and we were kept awake by wild Romanian dance music!

We only spent one night in Bucharest but we’re looking forward to spending a few more days here at the end of this trip.  Sunday morning, we took another ride share to the Bucharest Airport to pick up a rental car.  Our kind driver Vasile pointed out Bucharest highlights along the way and gave us a mini Romanian language lesson.  He dropped us off and we walked down a gravel road to the WLC (We Love Cars) office.

A couple of wrong turns and we were on our way to our next stop…Sibiu, Romania.  Larry is a fearless driver, the car is comfortable, the highways are well maintained and with GPS, easy to navigate.  The drive was beautiful with snow capped mountains, rivers, greenery, and gorges.  We arrived in Sibiu five hours later.  It’s a cute town and we will spend the next four nights here.

Larry suspects that this Banca Transylvania is probably a “blood bank”!

So we’re finally settled in Sibiu for a few days.  We hope to do some day trips from here and we might even make a trip to Dracula’s Castle!

Veliko Tarnovo is a lovely town with panoramic views and gorgeous scenery. We are fortunate to be here in the spring when the weather is good and the crowds are light. We are enjoying spring blossoms…iris, columbine, and redbud trees and blooming now.  The location and comfort of Gurko Hotel has worked well for us.

The hotel breakfast is delicious with a variety of choices. We like the Bulgarian yogurt with fruit, the muesli, the muffins, the flaky cheese pastry, and the good coffee.

This morning we walked along the Arts and Crafts street and met a local ceramic artist. She has worked with the Archeological Museum to study the patterns on pottery pieces excavated nearby and adapted the designs to create her own images. She uses clay from the hills nearby to make her pottery. She has some lovely designs.

With some difficulty, we eventually found the Archeological Museum.  The collection is limited but we saw some interesting objects found locally.

We’ve covered many miles here and strengthened our calves walking the hilly streets of Veliko Tarnovo.

This is our last full day in Bulgaria and we feel that we have barely scratched the surface of all that there is to see. We’ve enjoyed  learning about the complicated history of this country, the delicious food, and the hospitality of the people.

We’ve had a wonderful stay but tomorrow, we’re heading for Romania!