Romania is not a place that most think of as a top vacation destination, but with the amazing part about living over here is that we can choose to go to more "off the beaten path" locations with ease and affordability. As mentioned in the last blog, Deanna had always wanted to go to the Transylvania region for both the beauty and the "Dracula" history.
We arrived in Bucharest around 10pm after leaving Istanbul. We booked a cheap motel right next to the airport because we weren't getting our rental car until early the next morning. It was only a 10-15 minute walk from the terminal to the motel, so we decided to forego a taxi. However, on our walk we made a new "friend." We first heard barking behind bushes, and then a large, white, wild dog came out of a parking lot and began following us. After being in Istanbul, we were used to seeing stray dogs wandering around, but they always minded their own business and rarely came up to people. In Romania, however, we had read about packs of wild dogs that follow people and beg for food, and these dogs are not tagged and vaccinated like the ones in Istanbul are. He seemed harmless, but Kevin was worried and kept waiting for him to howl and have the rest of his "pack" join him and follow us. Of course, nothing happened, but he did follow us all the way to the highway (our motel was on the other side over a pedestrian bridge) and then finally went on his way. This was the first, but certainly not the last, wild dog encounter we had, and Kevin realized by the end of the trip that his fear might have been a bit exaggerated. :)
The next morning we walked back to the airport (without our wild white companion), picked up our rental car, and were finally on our way! Our first stop, Poienari Castle, otherwise known as Vlad Tepes' (aka, Vlad the Impaler's) castle. It was located in a remote area, so getting to it any way other than a car would have been a rough journey. On the way there, we stopped in a small town called Curtea de Arges for a lunch break. There was a beautiful monastery we passed by and unfortunately couldn't stop to take a photo, but later learned that it is actually quite famous, so this photo is courtesy of Wikipedia:
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Vlad's castle was in an extremely remote area. Once we parked our car (and were greeted by more wild dogs looking for handouts), we began our approximately 30 minute hike up a mountain until we came to a small house in the middle of nowhere. There a man came out to collect our 10 lei (about $2) as the entrance fee to the castle ruins. Outside the entrance were dummies impaled on poles, and a few placards telling the history of Vlad. From one we learned that there was a rivalry between his and another family. While Vlad was away in battle, his father and brother were murdered, with the other family being responsible. As revenge, when he got back he invited them all to a fancy dinner/party at his castle. They arrived dressed in their best, but Vlad instead imprisoned them and made them perform manual labor until their clothes fell off!
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We finished our first day by driving to Sibiu, where we stayed for the next two nights. We stayed at an awesome apartment just steps away from the city center, but for a fraction of the price of what you would spend in countries that use the Euro. Sibiu is a smaller town, but rich in history. We learned that this is one of the main cities in this area, in German called the Siebenbürgen, which part of the history includes German settlers (Saxons) invited to defend the area—in English, this area is called Transylvania. Our second day we took a break from driving and wandered through the town on foot—including afternoon coffee and cake at a café while watching school children play during recess outside the entrance to a 14th century church—something you just don’t see in America. For dinner one night, we ate in an old, beautiful cellar of a 15th century building.
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Day 3 we continued our journey by car and headed towards Sighisoara. A Unesco World Heritage site and birthplace of Vlad Tepes, the town was both beautiful and intriguing. We explored the widning streets, checked out the views from towers, went up a museum in an old clock tower, and had lunch at Vlad's home. The restaurant itself thrives only on tourists going there, as the food options and service are less than desirable. However, that day it was freezing outside, so we ordered soup, which was surprisingly good, simple, and just what we needed. Up on the hill above the city lies a church and a school. To help the kids get to school safely despite harsh weather, they built the students’ tunnel--it looks interesting and has this interesting and unique functional history.
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After visiting Sighisoara for a half day, we continued on to Brasov, where we spent the next two nights. When we arrived, the weather was nice—much warmer than where we just were, and the sun was shining. The next morning, however, we woke up to a complete white-out blizzard! We bundled up and headed outside to the town square, where there was supposed to be a free city tour. We were unsure if anyone would show up, but sure enough, there was a girl with a yellow umbrella and 5 other people already there! Two quickly dropped out, but the small tour was perfect for the city and the weather conditions. The city even boasts its own Hollywood-style Brasov sign on the mountain, which was just visible through the snow. The end of the tour offered a nice view over the city.
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Romania’s landscape is littered with dozens of fortified churches—these are a unique combination of structures used to worship God combined with a fortified wall, sometimes including towers or turrets for defense. The idea was quite simple and practical—for a small town, the church is probably the largest and most central building. Additionally, it is the tallest and most important. The towns can then store their weaponry, food, and valuables inside in times of conflict, and only worry about defending one building rather than an entire city. It must have been quite effective, as there are many of these buildings standing intact today.
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Romania is well known as being a country full of brown bears. Unfortunately, establishments such as restaurants used to cage up bears as an attraction to draw in business, but would treat them terribly and hardly feed them. A wealthy French woman saw this and created "Libearty," a bear sanctuary that would rescue all the abused bears (and a few other animals.) To get to Libearty, we had to drive on a frozen, dirt, pot-holed country back road for about 15 minutes. (Definitely not possible to get here without a car, and difficult enough for our little rental!). Once we got to the top of the road, there were some cars parked and people standing out by a closed off gate. Here we had to wait for a tour guide to come get us, before we were allowed to walk to the entrance house where we paid. Afterwards, we walked about an hour round-trip along fences where the Bears (and one wolf) were all hanging out. Some of the bears were in trees, but the majority were hanging out right next to the fence, either sleeping, eating, or just pacing back and forth. They all looked extremely happy and peaceful, and didn't mind the people taking their pictures only feet away.
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Visible on top of a hill from many kilometers away, we also took at quick stop to visit Rasnov Fortress, which is the ruins of the Rasnov Citadel. This fortress was used for many centuries as a defense fortification in the area, particularly against sieges—many nearby villages could fit inside to hole up. It takes a bit of imagination as it is not entirely intact and is undergoing renovation, but the steep hills surrounding it on all sides would make for a pretty impenetrable base. The area around it is also pretty well guarded—this area is where Kevin got pulled over and got the first speeding ticket of his life. While he was driving somewhat faster than the posted limits, he hit the brakes one time as one of the stray dogs roamed across the road—apparently right in front of where some cops were doing speed trap work. After getting pulled over, the first cop didn’t speak English, and only wrote a number on a piece of paper, supposedly how fast Kevin was driving. The second cop came a few minutes later and wrote a ticket, asking for a cash payment (wink wink). As we were nearing the end of the trip, we didn’t have that much cash on us, so he told us to pay it at the airport on the way out—just ask any cop. Well, we tried to do the honest thing and do that, and it led to 4 people: a police officer, airport security guard, staff member, and military member all talking about the ticket for 10 minutes, before handing it back and calling it a nice "souvenir" to bring back with us.
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Bran Castle is best known as being "Dracula's Castle," although it actually has nothing to do with him. The connection comes from Bram Stocker's description in his book (he never actually visited Romania himself), which most closely resembles that of Bran Castle. The castle itself is beautiful, but is unfortunately surrounded by touristy booths selling Dracula-related and other items. Inside the castle even has a room dedicated to all things Dracula, just to keep in line with the tourist myth. The Castle itself was built in 1377 and used as defense by the Saxons—these are again the German descendants who have a lot of history in the region.
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Our last stop was in Sinaia, where we stayed at a hotel which was the former guard house for Peles Castle. The outside of Peles was spectacular, but touring the inside was absolutely astonishing. We paid the extra few Lei to be allowed to take pictures inside, which we very much felt was worth it. Peles was built in 1873 and was the residence for King Carol I, who was the first ruler as Romania became an independent but united country. It is really more of a country summer palace than a castle, and this adds to its fairytale-like charm. The pictures really speak for themself to show the decadence of this place.
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Our last morning we woke up and drove straight back to the airport in Bucharest. After nine nights away we were ready to be back home, but so grateful for having the opportunity to visit these two extraordinary countries.
