Transylvania

We have joined Steve and Rita on our next adventure starting our trip to eastern Europe with a tour of Transylvania.  Beyond being where Bram Stoker based his infamous protagonist, this is an land filled with hundreds of years of invasions and incursions.  Romans, Tatars, Magyars, Turks, Germans and Russians have all fought in Romania.  The other major influence has been the Orthodox Church.  We had opportunities to visit churches, fortifications and museums that represent this history.

On the evening of our arrival, Jerry and Anna Lee took a walk-about and wandered through a park where people were running, skating, and playing ball games.  It was late but the evening was most pleasant.  On the unspoken (we do not understand Romanian) recommendation of a guard we went to see the capital building, the second largest building in the world.

Christian, our tour guide for the next three days, first took us to Sinaia.  The drive there from Bucharest went first through flat agricultural land then up into the mountains.  Along the way we saw numerous gypsy carts.

Minastire Sinaia is a small church filled with icons and beautifully carved columns.


Peles Castle was built in 1845 by King Carol.  We had to put on shoe covers in the weapons room before entering the castle.  The carved woodwork transfixed Jerry.  The chandeliers were from Marano.  It was the first castle in Europe to have electricity and central heating.  The King included an Arabian sitting room, a smoking room, a library filled with books of many languages and a door to a secret passage. The dining room was lavishly set.  There are hundreds of stained glass windows. His wife,  Queen Elizabeth, was an artist and author and influenced the collection of paintings by major artists.  Photography was limited but we did get some pictures of the entrance rooms.  

Our lunch at the Rhein Winery consisted of an appetizer course of chicken croquets, cheese, meatballs, vegetables then trout with potatoes (chicken for Steve) and chocolate crepes.  We also sampled three lovely local wines.

Our next stop was the setting for Dracula.  Vlad the Impaler, aka Vlad the Draculs (Dragon or Devil)  spent a couple of days in prison in Bran’s Castle, a more modest 14th century castle which no longer has its furnishings.  Stoker never did visit Romania but based the setting of  his story on legends and reports from a friend who traveled here.


Both of the castles we visited are royal family owned but serve as museums today.

A tram took us up to the Rasnov fortress which  served as a tax collection station.  It also provided a lovely view of the Carpathian mountains.

We ended our day with a Romanian dinner.  Our choices included schnitzel, chicken liver, and a chicken and dumpling soup that bore a strong resemblance to chicken soup with kneidlach.

Our second day began with a ride to Prejmer, site of one of the only remaining fortified churches in Europe.  Built in 1218 the Gothic church is ringed by 270 rooms that were used by the townspeople when the town was under siege.  Each person was assigned a room number where they found safety and shelter. 

In the town of Sighisoara we visited a Medieval Weapons Museum, a Museum of Torture,  the Clock Tower,(which we climbed) and a museum of ancient medical artifacts.  That was a lot of museums even for us.



We returned to Brasov to wander the city center where we found a multitude of shoe stores and gelato shops.  The book store was very interesting if only we knew what the books were.

Our dinner at Bella Musica was delicious with lamb, schnitzl and paprikash and topped with a shared chocolate mousse.