ROMANIA
July 17- 23
Although we had loved Eger & Szentendre, it wasn't all that hard to say goodbye to Hungary. It was goodbye to all the waiters who looked at us with disdain when we ordered “water, tap water”, with dinner. It was goodbye to the graffiti and trash in the streets. It was goodbye to a hotel who did not have air conditioning on three out of 5 very hot nights. It was goodbye to dirty, run down train stations. It was also goodbye to an excellent metro and tram system, delicious strawberry and raspberry beer, beautiful monuments & a satirical park, but all that was not enough to keep us. We saw “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” at the mall and then took our place on the overnight, 13 hour train ride to Brasov, Romania.
We were a little concerned about the overnight train. It had been so miserably hot in Hungary and we recalled all too vividly the sweltering train ride from Sarajevo to Budapest, that another long train ride was met with some angst. We had hoped to book first class accommodations which might have offered us a compartment with bathroom and shower facilities ensuite. However, the ticket agent advised us that there would be no first class on this train. We were resigned to 2nd class travel and hoped it would at least be no worse than our overnight train in Croatia.
Fortunately, this 2nd class travel turned out to be on a newer train and although our beds were still stacked three high, the compartment was air conditioned, larger, and offered a nice wash basin with towels, soap, toothbrush, and even some storage. We were delighted. So Bee on top; Cee in the middle; and I on the bottom bunk. The beds are too close for one to sit up, so pretty much you're horizontal once you've committed to be in the room. At least the position is conducive to sleep and for me, I had no problem. I love the sound and the rocking of the train.
When we awoke we were in Romania & it was Cee's 25th birthday. A song, smiles, hug, and a gift preceded our exit from the train by only a few minutes. We were in Brasov. It was a 20 minute walk before we found our hotel: 3-star Hotel Ambient, a business hotel. The staff was very friendly and helpful with directions and suggestions during our entire stay. We deposited our bags, got busy with internet stuff, took showers and Bee & Cee napped while I went exploring.
The Old Town, the historical part of Brasov, is very charming. Parks, cobblestoned streets, remnants of the wall of this once walled city, beautiful old buildings and churches, the narrowest street in Europe, the Black Church, a cable car to the top of Mount Tampa which towers above the city, lots of open air restaurants, a central square with fountains and popcorn stands, all make Brasov worth visiting and well worth remembering.
We took day trips to Bran Castle and Raznov, another to Sighisoara, and enroute to Bucharest we stopped off at Sinaia, our favorite with Pele's Castle (Palace) and the wonderful mountain scenery. Much of Romania looked like the High Sierras and Yosemite with the rocky face of El Capitan. The Carpathian mountains are beautiful. We didn't have time to visit the north east, near Moldova, but have saved that for next time when we can come back and visit the painted monasteries.
Sighisoara is a UNESCO World Heritage site, deserved by its very well preserved Old Town, once again with a walled city, citadel, towers, churches from the 15th century, torture chamber, cobblestoned streets, and wonderful old buildings from the 14th - 18th centuries. The town was founded by the Saxons in the 13th century and was the birthplace of Vlad Tepes (Vlad, the Impaler), Bram Stoker's inspiration for Dracula. It was a quick visit, being about 3 hours from Brasov, but worth seeing and had we known, we would have tried to stay here a couple of nights.
Bran Castle and Resnov were also interesting and entailed a fair amount of walking. They were not as impressive as Sighisoara, nor as impressive as Sinaia, which is famous for Pele's Castle (the summer residence of Romania's first king) and a 17th century monastery named after Mt. Sinai. Pele's Castle was built in the 1800's and has beautiful carved woods, a wonderful medieval arms collection, with suits of armor and even a taxidermied horse covered in armor. We decided the castle was really more of a small palace and one of the most beautiful places we had ever seen. It's location was also wonderful with a park-like setting in the mountains, with fountains and statues. It was really, really beautiful.
We spent 2 nights in Bucharest at the Rembrandt Hotel. This was a very nice boutique hotel located within the historic district, on a cobblestone street, surrounded by beautiful buildings from the 1800's including the National Bank of Romania and the National Library. Bucharest was once referred to as “Little Paris” as they patterned many of their streets, monuments, and buildings after Paris. Cee and I went sightseeing while Bee got her hair cut and colored. The Parliament Building, also known as the People's Palace, is the 2nd largest office building in the world (the Pentagon is first). It was impressive, but to Cee & I it looked as though it needed a dome. We decided even flags or colored Styrofoam noodles would help finish it off. The architecture is very interesting – neoclassical right next to the stark bareness of the communist era. We asked one cab driver how the people feel about communism, where they were vs where they are now. We heard a message we've heard throughout Eastern Europe. Some people preferred life under communism because everyone had a job and they could buy a house. Now not everyone can find work and it is hard to afford a house. Our taxi driver told us the average wage is just 200 euros/month. Many people work two jobs and the size of their families is dependent on how many children they can afford.
In addition to all the beautiful buildings, new shopping malls, wide boulevards, and fountains, we will remember Bucharest for changing hairstyles and eating sushi two days in a row. With both girls even more beautiful than when we arrived, it was time to head to Istanbul.
Bye, Bye Romania.
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