Remember when I demonstrated the extreme weather change from Thailand to Turkey? There had been unusually cold weather in Turkey and we encountered snow through half our trip. However, by the end, the days were warming up, layers were coming off and it seemed spring was coming.
Of course, I was being seriously swayed by Facebook posts from California (generally the place I go for weather reports- you can learn a lot by seeing how many people spent the weekend at the beach). I was convinced that spring was here to stay and I was ready for it.
Then we arrived in Romania.
We landed in Bucharest and immediately got on a minibus to reach our destination for the night, nearly two hours away. It was late afternoon when we reached the airport and as we drove into the dusk we could see the mountains ahead of us. Mountains that were covered in snow. I moaned a little about that.
We were dropped off in the dark along the main road of Sinaia and started walking up into the forested neighborhoods on the hills above the town. Even in the dark and on the slippery, icy street, you could tell it was beautiful. The mountains seemed wild and you couldn't help wonder what creatures were roaming around.
We finally reached our hotel and were greeted by a friendly dog. Then, we walked into the warmest room ever. And it smelled so good. It smelled like the Frazier's home, which is one of my favorite home smells ever.
Anyways, the hotel was a Victorian house. From what we could understand, it was the home of the architect who designed the summer palace that we were visiting the next day. So, that was impressive.
The loveliest thing about cold places, is that people know how to heat their homes. For example, I am writing this in a hotel surrounded by snow, but I'm wearing a tank top and the window is open. I think I've been colder inside on Californian nights than on Romanian nights...
Unfortunately, warm homes do not make warm streets. We had to bundle up a lot before going out to slip our way down the hill for dinner. A dinner of goose and potatoes and pickles, by the way, because that just seemed like the Romanian thing to do. Then we fell asleep in the warmest room ever, after having the window open for a bit. Miraculous heating.
The next morning, we bundled up and slipped even more along our way. We wanted to visit the Sinaia monastery and the Summer Palace of the Romanian king and queen that was built in the early 1900s.
It was so cold as we walked. I think the coldest it has been so far. But that's when we discovered the drink of Romania. We hadn't had breakfast or coffee yet (and it was cold and slippery, did I mention that?) when we passed a bakery. It wasn't open yet, but we returned later and it was delicious. But, next to the bakery was a drink machine. The kind that dispenses drinks, like the coffee machines at gas stations. These coffee machines were on EVERY CORNER of Romania. And the coffees cost 1 lei, which is like 25 cents. Hello life saving coffee machines. At that first machine, we only had a 5 lei and were about to use it when a man stopped us to tell us it wouldn't give us change. Then, he gave us 2 leis- isn't that so nice? Those kinds of drinks become the best drinks, don't they? Then he pointed us up the hill and we were on our way, with warmer bellies.
We found our way to the monastery and first visited the small, older church. Then, we went into the newer church (still quite old though). There was a midweek service taking place and it was lovely to sit and rest a bit. People were coming in and out, many of them unpacking what looked like a cake. It looked familiar, but I can't say for sure what it was. I suspect it was related to Lent. Whatever it was, I loved seeing the Romanian women in their coats and scarves and leggings in a small bit of their daily life.
After we left the monastery we continued up the hill to a path through the forest with signs pointing to the palace. We knew we were on the right track as we passed the tell-tale signs of a tourist site: souvenir shops. They are the same across the globe.
The shops (and the castle) weren't open yet, so we stood at the end of the snowy lane eating a snack. On a tree papers were stapled warning about the bears in the forest!
No need to dawdle at the forests' edge, so we walked up the lane to the castle. Every view of it was spectacular. Matt had read it rivals neuschwanstein; it's not sitting majestically on the edge of a mountain, but it was beautiful in its own way and inside was quite opulent.
Unfortunately, pictures inside cost money, so you'll have to google it, but you can trust it's incredible and opulent and royal. There were rooms that had been inspired by other countries, such as India, Japan, France, Turkey- we could have just come to this summer palace for our round the world trip!
The queen's room was decorated with stained glass pictures from Snow White, and her music room also had fairy tale-like illustrations on the walls. There were secret passages, libraries, electricity, running water; it was perfect. I found myself rather liking the king and queen who had it built for their summer palace.
After our tour (which was private- perks of traveling in the off-season and seeing summer palaces while there is still snow on the ground), we headed out.
Way back before starting this adventure, I told Matt I wanted to know where we would be sleeping before dinner time every day. I did not want to search for a clean bed after the sun went down. We did that some in China, and it was fine, but since then, we always know where we are going. We're flexible, but this is a bed and shower we're talking about- you don't want to settle when it comes to those, trust me.
However, this night we had no place to stay. Our goal was a bus to Brasov, another bus to Bran, visit Dracula, bus back to Brasov and find a place, so we could leave early the next day for our next city (which was reserved).
We finished the monastery and castle and headed to Brasov before noon, thanks tonMatt's excellent tie management skills. When we reached Brasov we had to take a bus to get to the other bus. As we drove through the city, we both independently decided we really didn't care to stay in Brasov. We hadn't been sure we would be able to make it back, but we decided that didn't need to be a priority.
So, we reached Bran and found a tiny town with a castle overlooking. It was afternoon when we arrived, so the sun was low in the sky, which definitely made Dracula's castle even more alluring.
We walked through the souvenir shops and then up the hill to the castle. It is a much older castle, as in Middle Ages, I don't remember the exact dates. However, the parents of the summer palace king were the last to live there, so it was decorated as they had it.
We walked into this castle that had bright white walls, domed doors, excellent textiles, simply framed art and a rather bohemian feel. I loved it. I think I liked their style better than the palace.
However, it was not what I expected from Transylvania. It did not seem like any vampires were sleeping in any corners waiting for nightfall.
Finally, we reached a few rooms that gave the story of Dracula. Of course it is just a story. Vlad the Impaler seems to get credit for inspiring the story, but, honestly, he didn't seem that bad. His punishments were a bit harsh (thus, the nickname the Impaler), but he wasn't running all over the countryside impaling anyone he saw. He seemed to actually be defending his kingdom from the Ottoman Empire (which was interesting, having just come from Turkey). He was eventually assassinated by his own people who were siding with the Ottomans.
There was also a small piece of information about a woman in the Royal family from about the same time. Apparently, she was the crazy one doing obscene things all over the countryside and was eventually walled up alive in her own castle. Dracula may have first been inspired by her actions, but the author felt it would be better to make a vampire a man rather than a woman. Bizarre, right? I sort of wanted to know more about that crazy girl.
Anyways, we made it out alive and still mortal.
The more pressing issue, rather than vampires, was a place to stay. We went back out to the town and came across the Pensione Ana. Looked charming and perfect to me. My husband, the researcher, wisely suggested that you shouldn't take the first place you see. So, we found a cafe (across the street from the pensione because the town was quite small) and got to researching. Well, Pensione Ana was #2 of 7 hotels in Bran according to Trip Advisor and that is good enough for us. So, we crossed the street and got a room. Easy peasy- but I'm ok with still planning ahead in the future.
The next morning we headed back to Brasov, then on to Sighisoara, a medieval town.
We were here for three nights, so we got to settle into our spacious hotel room, which was nice.
The town was a bit abandoned, as far as visitors, so we just wandered. We visited the churches and clock tower and cobblestone streets and old buildings. We went to the grocery store and made our own food, and as a reward for that, went to a fancy restaurant for dinner. It was a calm visit.
From there, we went to Sibiu, which was my favorite town in Romania. It is another medieval town, but bigger than Sighisoara. We stayed in a home through AirBnB. Matt was quite excited when we walked into our bedroom as there was a piano and a guitar just begging to be played.
We went for a quick run and just past their neighborhood was a ditch and an open field. In the ditch was a flock of sheep with their shepherd and his dogs. Those moments are so spectacular: shepherds and gypsies with horse drawn wagons and families from different cultures. Those are the moments you want to capture in a photo. But then, my photos never really capture it the right away, and sometimes a picture seems so intrusive. I wish I had a photo of all those moments, but most of them I have to treasure up in my mind, which is ok, maybe even better.
So, you'll just have to trust me when I say coming upon a flock of sheep is pretty wonderful.
That evening, we walked downtown and climbed up in the tower overlooking the whole city as the sun set. It was beautiful.
After dinner, we stopped at a bakery (there are so many bakeries, you just walk up and order from the window, and they're so delicious, granted, we usually got vanilla and chocolate croissants and deemed them appropriate for any meal, but whatever, they're so good!) and picked up croissants for breakfast the next morning.
Well, our host made a spectacular breakfast, so the croissants became lunch (see what I mean? Appropriate for any meal). After breakfast, we caught the bus and headed just outside town to a LIVING MUSEUM!!
Matt had found it and knew we would love it. It's a huge place with traditional homes from all over Romania. They usually have workshops in the homes so you can learn about the handicrafts and such, but unfortunately, they were closed for the winter. So, we decided whenever we are in Europe in the future, we'll just make a quick side trip to the living museum in Sibiu, Romania.
We were still able to walk around the museum and peek inside some buildings. A man who was working around some of the homes invited us into the oil presses and showed us how they worked, then showed us one of the houses. He eagerly took our picture for us and when we asked for his picture, he put his finger to his mouth and seemed to tell us it had to be secret- I don't think he was suppose to give us that tour. But he was so enthusiastic. He didn't speak English, and we certainly don't speak Romanian, so communication was a bit limited, but there was something about the way he joyfully showed the house and work areas. Matt and I both wondered if it had been his house once upon a time.
We enjoyed walking around outside before returning to town, and walking a bit more around the Old Town. There was a shop I wanted to go to. Fortunately, we made it back to the shop, I found a bridesmaid dress I need for this summer. A bridesmaid dress from Romania- who would have thought?
That evening we had the most amazing dinner. Our host offers dinner if you want and I'm so glad we did. She had it set up so sweetly for us with flowers and wine; nearly everything they served came from their yard, including the wine (it was homemade!) and the chicken.
She also had this sauce that was basically onions and garlic. It was incredible, but so strong. Thank goodness we were both eating that; we were well-guarded against Dracula on our last evening in Transylvania.
After dinner, we spent time with our hosts, who were just so kind. They liked teaching Romanian to Matt and laughed good-naturedly at our attempts.
When we told her about our long trip, she said bravo! Then told us we were building a "casa de piatra" which is a Romanian expression for building a good marriage, building a house of stone. Isn't that just beautiful? I get a little emotional thinking about the casa de piatra we are building as we travel along. I just love that.
The next morning we left (still with the taste of garlic in our mouths) and took the train to Bucharest.
That evening we saw a concert at the Atheneum, which was a superb concert hall. Matt had found this concert, which included a piece by Brahms, and had been so excited for it. We may have been a tad underdressed, but it was still a spectacular evening out.
On our last full day in Romania we wandered the Old Town area. We went by the People's Palace, which is ridiculously large. Then, we found the only non-smoking cafe in Bucharest (that was a pretty high priority) and visited many small churches scattered though the Old Town.
My addiction to textiles continued when I found a weaving from Northern Romania. We didn't have time to go there and visit the painted churches, but now I have a weaving to remind me to go back someday. I try to only buy things from regions we've been to, but what can I say? We had extra lei we needed to get rid of. And as much as we would have liked to have bought as many Milka chocolate bars as possible (they have one with Oreos in the middle, honestly) it's really best I spent it on an inedible.
And that was the close of another country. We left and took two flights and arrived in Zagreb, Croatia.
I cannot believe how quickly the months are starting to go by! On to new (and hopefully warmer) adventures!
