Transylvania, Brașov, and the southern Carpathian mountains
After driving to Brașov and getting checked-in to the apartment, we went to a nice traditional barbeque restaurant, Roata Norocului, and were entertained by a middle aged singer singing American pop songs, and also serenaded by Christmas carolers who came through the restaurant.
The bulk of my time on this trip in Romania I stayed in the mountain town of Brașov, which is a major tourist destination in the country, and used it as my home base. Most of my time in Brașov I stayed in a stylish Airbnb apartment reasonably close to the historic city center, but tucked up at the end of a valley right next to base of Tâmpa mountain. It was at the end of the developed land, but many people came up to hike up the mountain or into the valley beyond the apartment buildings. I was struck by how active the Romanian people were, as regardless of how cold and stormy the weather there were always lots of people out walking and hiking on their own or with their families. My activities on this trip included visiting around Brașov, helping my friend setup a new apartment as a business studio / Airbnb apartment, various sightseeing trips around the countryside, and some castle tours.
Bucegi Mountains, Bolboci Lake
After getting settled in Brașov for a couple of days, and having some nice meals, we took a trip up to the top of the Bucegi Mountains which stand starkly above the Prahova Valley and the cities of Buşteni and Sinaia. The peak reaches 2,505 m (8,219 ft). There are many conspiracy theories and folk legends surrounding these mountains. On the way up, we stopped at Bolboci Lake and had a snack at Cabana Bolboci, which sits next to the lake. We ate outside, and a nice mama dog came up and got our leftovers.
We made our way up towards the peak that held a cross that overlooked the valley below. Driving the TransBucegi the road was narrow and windy, and at the top got a bit snowy which seemed to confound some of the tourists who had come unprepared for driving in the snow. Up top there were many people out enjoying the snow. We got out to take some pictures and I was passed by a line of people on snow mobiles out on a tour. We traveled a ways further up the mountain, but decided to turn around as too many tourists were getting bogged down in the snow on a very narrow road. After coming down the mountain we spent a little time in Sinaia doing some Christmas shopping.
D.O.R. and Cheile Grădiștei
On Christmas Eve we decided to go out for a drive in another area of the mountains in Bran county. We started with brunch at the wonderful restaurant D.O.R., which at that time was only serving a fixed menu four course meal. It was delicious and gave me a chance to experience some special local (somewhat gourmet) dishes. Afterwards we went past the famous Bran castle and headed up into the mountains towards the mountain recreation and tourist resort area of Cheile Grădiștei. As we headed up into the mountains, it started snowing pretty good. We got to see some beautiful scenery in the fog and snow, and by the time we got to Cheile Grădiștei it was pretty socked in with fog. The ski area at the top has apparently hosted many international winter sports competitions. We walked around a bit and enjoyed the wintry weather, and then headed back down. For me, it was another nice dose of snow and mountains.
One big surprise about Christmas time in Romania is that they seem to love fireworks like the 4th of July in the U.S. Starting a few days before Christmas I started hearing loud fireworks going off in the valley where the apartment was, and it got louder on Christmas Eve, trailing off for a few days after Christmas.