Dachs Thoughts

Wednesday morning I headed to the airport for my long flight home. As the travel direction was westward, the 10 hour time difference was recaptured during the 16 hour trip, so I arrived in the afternoon on the same day I departed in the morning. My flight again passed through Istanbul, Turkey. Even though I had gone through security in Bucharest, they had additional security at the gate in Istanbul for the US bound flight. Carry on luggage was opened up and searched, and we were all patted down. I don’t know if all US bound flights do this, or if this is just a Turkish thing. Luckily on my long flight home, I was on the aisle by a wide point in the back and I was able to frequently stand and stretch my legs. Unfortunately I didn’t sleep much, and ended up watching 4 movies. By the time we landed my rear end was sore from sitting on a not-great seat for so long (and it stayed sore a couple of days).

Upon reflection, I had a great time visiting România. I was traveling a full two weeks. I owe great appreciation to Maddy who was my chauffeur, tour guide, and translator — particularly as it was later diagnosed she had a herniated disk in her back. I got to experience the local culture and food in a variety of areas in many cases away from where the typical tourists go. I got to see a lot of diversity, from the big city, to the seaside resorts, to the mountains and smaller towns; from warm spring sunshine to an alpine snow storm; from wading in the Black Sea to walking in the snow on the top of a mountain; and multiple beautiful castles, and other historic features. It is really a very beautiful country, and much more agrarian than I realized. Things I wasn’t expecting included lots of free roaming dogs, people riding wagons and horses along the roads, modern shopping malls indistinguishable from those in the US. I was also surprised when people spoke bits of English to me (even before they heard me speak), so I must have really stuck out as an American. I would definitely consider returning to see more of this beautiful country.

Monday, my last full day in Brașov, was another easy paced day. Maddy was still a bit under the weather. In the afternoon we ran a couple of errands. Then we went up past “gypsy area” to a nice restaurant up in the hills, right next to a lake which is the water supply reservoir for Brașov. Apparently the “gypsy area” has a pretty bad reputation for crime and other activities, so no stopping there. It was interesting though that at various points throughout Romania, you’d see people riding wagons (with car tires) pulled by horses, that were identified to me as gypsies, and that was the case here. The restaurant, Popas Brădet, had one dining area that was covered, but open on the lake side, so it made for a beautiful setting for a late lunch/early dinner. We were able to eat and look at the scenery and even watch a rainstorm pass over the lake.

Tuesday morning I packed up, and Maddy picked me up after taking her Dad to a medical appointment. On the way out of town, we stopped by her modular to feed her dog, and grabbed some brunch at La Mav, then headed out of town. A polar storm had moved in, so it was rainy when we started with the potential of flooding. As we passed through the mountains I got to see a nice, somewhat heavy, snow storm as the temperature declined to 1 °C. It was beautiful to see snow again in the mountains. We eventually made it down to the last Airbnb, not far from the airport. It was a brand new apartment in a new building and I don’t think anyone had stayed in it before. It looked nice, but it also seemed like it was just finished building and needed a little break in time. After resting up a bit we headed to a late dinner at a traditional Romanian restaurant near the airport, Casa Romaneasca.

On Saturday we drove up the mountain adjacent to Brașov to get some nice views over the city. Then we traveled further up to Poiana Brașov, which is a place where the mountains flatten out for a bit and the forest clears. This is a focus for tourist hotels, and it is the base for some ski areas up the mountain. We took a gondola up to the top which was at about 4500 ft. There was still snow up here which was an interesting contrast to having been wading in the sea just a few days before. Maddy’s back was still acting up and my shoes weren’t built for snow, so we didn’t walk too far and just ended up having a snack in the cafe at the top. There were some great views of the surrounding mountains, and it was nice to spend a little time in the snow.

After we returned to town, Maddy had some family business to take care of, and she dropped me near the historic old town center in Brașov. This is a very tourist-centric area, and features many of the popular views associated with Brașov. I walked around and took pictures of the town square, the BRASOV sign up on the mountain, and the Black Church. Afterwards I walked over to the municipal park and took some pictures. There were some people singing religious songs in English there. Afterwards Maddy picked me up and we went back up the mountain near Poiana Brașov to a restaurant, Stâna Turistică – Sergiana, that was decorated as a traditional hunter’s lodge and that featured traditional hunter’s food, served by waiters in traditional costumes, and there were people also singing traditional Romanian songs.

On Sunday we were going to attend a traditional parade but decided to skip the crowds and peek in on it via a webcam near the old city center. Afterwards we saw some sights around town including some of Maddy’s haunts such as her home neighborhood, her studio and her modular. We also stopped into the largest shopping mall in Transylvania to pick something up. After that we went back past Bran into the mountains into the heart of Transylvania to have dinner at a new restaurant, Amfiteatrul Transylvania, that was on the top of a hill way back off the beaten track. Very beautiful location by itself on the top of a hill, but the last 4km to get there was a very bumpy road through the forest, past pastures and traditional shepherd’s huts. We were almost the last people to eat that evening, but the food was great and the staff was very friendly and welcoming. I really felt I was in the true country of Transylvania.

By the time we were coming home, it was rainy, and after dark, at which point we had to pass by Bran Castle again. Under those conditions, my blurry cell-phone photo made it look pretty creepy, living up to its hype.

After touring the 3rd modern castle of the trip, we made our way to Brașov where I would be staying for most of the remainder of my time in Romania. Brașov county is stretched out along a fairly flat valley area which is surrounded by the Southern Carpathian Mountains. From here I would be able to visit various sites around Transylvania. The first half of the trip was fairly briskly paced moving and seeing lots of different places. In Brașov, the pace slowed a bit as I didn’t need to keep changing lodging, and we were able to just take in some highlights. The Airbnb was actually a small apartment in a relatively new apartment building development, so I was able to get a feel of what the typical people were living like. Unbeknownst to us, Maddy’s friend Doina lived in the same development and she actually spied Maddy’s car as we were driving around looking for the building where my Airbnb was.

I survived my queasy sickness at the beginning of the trip, now Maddy was suffering from a bad back and was a bit under the weather. Friday morning started out at a very relaxed pace, taking care of a few local errands including exchanging some currency. Then we headed out for what is probably the singular, iconic, tourist destination in Romania, Bran Castle — sometimes referred to as Dracula’s Castle. On the way, we stopped by a very nice restaurant D.O.R. (Delicious. Organic. Romanesc.) that had great food, a wonderful view, and a tree growing in the middle of the dining room.

We got to Bran in the later afternoon, and it was filled with people as I’m told it always is. Upon subsequent reading, I learned that the actual connection of Bran Castle with Vlad Țepeș (Vlad III Dracula, Vlad the Impaler) is more loose and its depiction as Dracula’s home was likely a marketing ploy developed during the communist era when they were trying to develop tourism. Nevertheless, it certainly looks the part, and was definitely worth visiting. Interestingly, the tour of the castle didn’t really play up the Dracula angle, focusing mostly on the recent royal residents. It did, however, have some references to Dracula in the movies and literature, and there was an additional tour where they had collected various medieval torture devices. In contrast, at the base of the hill leading up to the castle, there was a large collection of stalls aimed at tourist trinkets, and this place was all about Dracula and vampire souvenirs. The castle itself, whose origins date back to the 13th century, has a very genuine medieval look and feel, with a crumbled rock structure at it’s base that easily fulfills the image of the home of the king of the vampires. It was the most interesting of the castles I saw on this trip. The interior passages were small and narrow to enhance it role as a fortress and defense in fighting. We did the two additional side tours, the torture device collection, and something called the Time Tunnel, which was a way to exit the castle which provided an elevator down a shaft to a tunnel at the base which was used as an escape route in ancient days, but now was fitted with a bunch of audio-visual multimedia features that was kind of fun to see.

After the tour we had a snack at a cafe at the base of the hill. I was glad to head out before it was completely dark when the monsters might be coming out.

Leaving the seaside in sunshine our good weather ran out as we made our way towards Transylvania. We had originally planned to visit the Slănic Prahova Salina on the way, an underground salt mine, but it closed earlier than we were expecting and we headed on our way. We got hit by a pretty heavy rainstorm as we were driving, but it weakened as we finally got into the mountains. As we got into the mountains near our first destination, the hills were sprinkled with mist and fog, which gave the atmospheric feeling one might imagine for Transylvania.

The first destination in the Carpathian Mountains was the city of Sinaia. This has the appearance of a classical European alpine city. It is a resort town and the home of the Peleș and Pelişor castles which date from the late 19th century. Peleș Castle was the summer residence of the first king of Romania, and Pelişor Castle was built close by as the residence of his son and successor. Sinaia is quite beautiful, with the town running up the steep hills surrounding the main road passing through town. It was very reminiscent of what I think of as a ski town. The Airbnb was a nicely made ski guides hut; the room, though small, was efficient and cozy. After settling in, we walked down hill to the main business street, and after getting some medical needs at a pharmacy, we got a meal in a fairly mediocre restaurant. The main objective of our stay in Sinaia was to visit the Castelul Peleș. It was a very beautiful and fairly modern castle, surrounded by beautifully laid out grounds with gardens and sculptures, and surrounded by the Carpathian mountains. It is considered one of the most beautiful castles in Europe. The insides were richly appointed with lavish furnishings and art work. I took lots of pictures. The smaller Castelul Pelişor was also nice, but seemed more like an ornate residence. After touring both castles, we had a nice meal with some local style food, and I again got a delicious soup.

After departing Sinaia, we visited the Cantacuzino Castle in Bușteni, which had an even more modern feel than Peleș. It had been built in the 20th century by a Romanian prince and statesman. It was a beautiful location with mountain views, but it was fairly bare inside. Apparently much of the original finishing had been stripped during the communist era. It did have a quite interesting art collection and the tour ended up in a modern art multimedia room. After touring this 3rd castle, we headed to Brașov, the base of operations for most of the remainder of the trip. After a week in this country, I had already seen a lot of variety.

After lunch in Bucharest, we headed out for the next area for my Romanian adventures, the city of Constanța on the coast of the Black Sea. It is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Romania, being founded around 600 BC. We really lucked out on the weather as it was originally projected to be cool and rainy, but it was decent weather and even sunny for parts of the visit. We were staying in an area called Eforie Sud, which was 20 min south of the main town. We crossed over the Danube River going back and forth into Constanța. As it was Orthodox Easter weekend followed by the national holidays surrounding May 1, apparently lots of people go to the seaside, and what restaurants weren’t closed were fully booked. We found a seafood place that was open for dinner Saturday night, Popasul Pescarilor. It was located out in the middle of nowhere and situated between train tracks that you had to walk over and the beach. It was a nice location during the daytime. I had a bony fish soup to tide me over. The restaurant warned us that if we wanted a spot to eat on Easter Sunday we’d need to make a reservation then, so we did.

Eforie Sud, where the Airbnb was located, was apparently created as a resort destination with hotels during the communist era for families to come to the seaside. Many were now decrepit or abandoned, so the area appeared a bit sketchy. The actual place we were staying was a room in a small hotel type place that seemed to be under development. The host was an easy going guy who provided various goodies during our stay, and offered some hand made refrigerator magnets when we left. A nice feature was that it was a short walk down to the seaside. It was an interesting contrast of a beautiful natural location with hotels and buildings that had been abandoned due to economic circumstances. But there were signs of new development in the area too.

On Easter Sunday, we went into the main part of Constanța to visit an old abandoned casino and walk along the seaside walkway with the tourists. Constanța appears to be a very nice city that didn’t seem to have the decrepit buildings like Bucharest. Along the way we found a pharmacy that was open and picked up some medicine for my stomach, so I finally was able to get that settled down. The casino was a very picturesque building, but there currently isn’t any planning of funds to open it. This area was quite a tourist attraction as many people were out walking. Where we parked was next to an orthodox church, and you could hear them singing prayers, which was quite nice to hear. We went back to the Popasul Pescarilor seafood restaurant and had a nice lunch with a great view of the sea. We then spent some time out walking the beach, collecting shells, and enjoying the nice weather. Then we went back to the restaurant so Maddy could have another soup at dinner before leaving.

On Monday we went back to Constanta and had lunch at Bueno, a restaurant that had been recommend by one of my friends. Then we went to walk along by the Casino area again. We then headed back to Eforie Sud so we could explore the beach near the hotel. Here I waded in and got a feel of the Black Sea, which wasn’t too cold, but which wasn’t warm either so I didn’t try swimming. In only a few weeks I had waded in the Pacific Ocean off Kauaʻi and then into the Black Sea off Romania, traveling roughly 9000 miles. (Interestingly it’s actually shorter to go from Hawaii straight to Romania traveling west, only about 7800 miles). For dinner we went back into Constanța and bailed on traditional food and went to a shopping mall and had some KFC.

On our last morning at the seaside, we went to brunch at a nice seafood restaurant, Golful Pescarilor, which Maddy had been trying to find on her last visit. We had a nice relaxed meal overlooking the sea, then we left the Black Sea and began our trek towards the mountains of Transylvania.

The first couple of days of this adventure were spent in the capitol city of Bucharest. I arrived on Thursday evening before the Orthodox Easter weekend. Maddy has brought some traditional Romanian treats for the Easter season so I got to get in the spirit of things. Unfortunately towards the end of my flight I started to get a bit of a queasy stomach (didn’t wait till the end of the trip to hit me this time), so it took me a few days to robustly get into adventurous eating. In addition to being right across from the Dâmbovița River and Old City, we were also right next to a small church, and Easter weekend provided lots of bell ringing.

Friday was spent walking around the old city, basically sightseeing, seeing many old historic looking buildings and interesting walkways. I also finally got to visit an umbrella covered street, the type of which I’ve seen in a few pictures, but never actually discovered one before (like in Turkey). We stopped there and had some refreshment. We passed by banks, museums, universities, theaters, and many restaurants. We had lunch at a well known restaurant, Hanu’ lui Manuc, in the oldest operating hotel building in Bucharest which dates to the early 19th century. Maddy ensured that I had some traditional Romanian food including Sărmăluțe and mămăliguță. Definitely a meat heavy diet. I also discovered very delicious Romanian soups that they put sour cream into. I had several on my travels around the country. After all our our sightseeing, we took a little break to rest up at the apartment.

In the evening we went to a nearby restaurant, Linea / Closer to the Moon, which is known for having tables on the roof, each covered in their own bubble to protect the diners from the elements. Unfortunately that part was closed for renovation, but it was a nice dinner anyway. After dinner one of Maddy’s friends came by to visit. Though it didn’t seem like an unreasonable amount of walking, we went over 6 miles and I got more than 13k steps. That and the fact that the clock was flipped for me made me ready for some sleep.

Saturday morning we did some additional sightseeing in Bucharest. We went to the Dimitrie Gusti national village museum (Muzeul National al Satului “Dimitrie Gusti”) which is a large park area that has examples of houses in styles from the various regions of Romania and from various periods in history over the last four centuries. It was really quite interesting to see the different styles of houses and different methods of construction. After walking around the museum park for a couple of hours, we grabbed some lunch at a not too traditional place, the Hard Rock Cafe — Bucharest, where Maddy had “the best hamburger she ever ate.” After lunch we headed off for our next destination, the seaside town of Constanța.

With only a few weeks to recuperate, finish my taxes, and reset after my marathon traveling in March, I took off for my first ever trip to Europe. I flew via Istanbul, Turkey to Bucharest (București), România. The first leg from the west coast to Istanbul is a killer 13 1/2 hour flight. Luckily I slept a bit on the way. A nice bonus was that I got an upgrade to business class for the last leg of the trip, but that was only for the short hour and half flight from Istanbul to Bucharest. I left home a little after noon on Wednesday, and arrived in Bucharest Thursday night. Passport control to enter Romania was quick and simple.

Upon arriving in Bucharest, I was met by my friend Maddy who had agreed to be my tour guide, and we drove through town to the first Airbnb. Even with the (obscure Romanian) address, it took some iterating and calls to the host to actually find the place. The building was located near the old city center, and from the outside looked a bit decrepit (like many of the communist era buildings in the city), but the apartment itself was very nice, and had two balconies and a beautiful view over the Dâmbovița River towards the old city center.

Subsequent reading indicated the decrepit condition of some of the older buildings was a direct consequence of urban planning under the communist regime of Ceaușescu called systematization, which was inspired by some North Korean idea, which sought to demolish older (including historic) buildings and replace them with socialist style ones.