Romania

Greetings! During our stay in Bucharest, we decided to take a one day tour to Sinaia to see Peles Castle, Castle Bran in Bran, and the city of Brasov.

Peles Castle is located in the Carpathian Mountains near the city of Sinaia. The castle was commissioned by King Carol I in 1873 and completed in 1883. It was the first European castle to have electricity, hot and cold running water, central heat and central vacuum system. The stain glass roof of the foyer opens mechanically and there was a small elevator installed for the royal family. The rooms in the castle are said to have inspiration from various parts of the world. For instance, there is a Turkish inspired room, a Moorish inspired room, and French inspired room, among the various rooms in the castle. King Carol enjoyed collecting weapons and he displayed them throughout the castle. There are also a few secret doors around the castle.

The city of Brasov is about 40 miles from Peles Castle. It is a city in the Transylvania region of Romania, ringed by the Carpathian Mountains. It's known for its medieval Saxon walls and bastions, and the towering Gothic-style Black Church. We were able to go inside of the Black Church but photos were not allowed and externally, the church was surrounded by buildings. We had lunch in Brasov in the square and had Papanasi, which is a traditional Romanian desert of donuts with cream and jam. They were delicious and disappeared before I could snap a picture, ha!

Castle Bran was the inspiration for Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. Although Stoker never visited Bran Castle, it apparently matches the description of the castle Stoker writes about. In my opinion, it has less of a castle feel and more of a fortress feel. It was definitely cool to see though, especially the views!

Fall colors at Bran:

We really enjoyed our tour in northern Romania. Peles Castle was very interesting and in a beautiful area. It was one my most favorite castles we have had the opportunity to visit. We are glad we made the trip to Romania and we certainly learned a lot.

Onto the next adventure!

Greetings! Our next adventure took us to Bucharest, Romania! Like Vilnius, Bucharest was not originally on our must visit list, but again, we had heard from several colleagues who really enjoyed Romania. Bucharest is in southeastern Romania and is the capital city. The city is probably most famous for the Palace of Parliament, which is the second largest building in the world; second only to the Pentagon. Bucharest was a very cheap city to visit, most of our meals were under 80 RON (Romanian leu), which was about was $20. Romania is part of the European Union, but retains its own currency the Romanian leu.

We stayed in a lovely AirBnb situated behind the National Theater Bucharest. We also walked everywhere in the city and used Uber to and from the airport.

AirBnb: https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/plus/15984949?source_impression_id=p3_1572181231_j9Azw27So9aO0IVY

National Theater Bucharest

Some fun facts about Romania:
-The Romanian language is 1,700 years old.
-The first ever perfect 10 awarded in the Olympic Games went to Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci, for her performance on the uneven bars in Montreal, Canada in 1976. She was also the only person allowed to marry in the Palace of Parliament.
-According to legend, Bucharest was named after a shepherd called Bucur who was in love with a young lady named Dâmboviţa, like the name of the river that flows through the city.
-The name “Romania” comes from the Latin word “Romanus” which means “citizen of the Roman Empire.”

Views of Old Town Bucharest:

Famous Bookstore in Old Town Bucharest, Cărturești Carusel:

Food from Bucharest restaurants:
Caru' cu Bere, one of the most famous restaurants in Bucharest.

Traditional Romania dish of Sarmale (Cabbage Rolls):

Trofic:

Boutique du Pain:

Sushi Room:

Palace of Parliament. Palace of Parliament took over 13 years to build (1984–97). The palace was commissioned by Nicolae Ceaușescu, the last communist dictator of Romania, for his family to live at, but communism in Romania was overthrown in 1989 and he never used the building. Most if not all, of the materials used to construct the building came from Romania, including all of the marble. The palace has over 2800 chandeliers and cost $3 billion to build. Michael Jackson infamously said, "Hello, Budapest!" from the balcony in 1990. Today, the building is used by parliament and I think spaces in the building can be rented out for events. For instance, a wedding expo was underway while we were on our tour.

Back of Palace of Parliament

View from Palance of Parliament balcony looking onto the promenade (modeled after the promenade at the Palace of Versailles).

A few of the many churches around Bucharest:
Kretzulescu Church

Saint John Chrysostom Church

Stavropoleos Monastery Church

Cișmigiu Gardens:

Izvor Park:

Memorial of Rebirth (commemorates the struggles and victims of the Romanian Revolution of 1989, which overthrew Communism):

Onto Siniai, Brasov, and Bran...