Bucharest Romania

Well, after driving the Transfagarasan mountain road which was 90km of spectacular twisting and turning, on an adrenaline high we set our sights for Bucharest. We had read that driving in Bucharest is to be avoided if possible as it's a like "raffety's rules". Booked a five star hotel (doesn't mean that much) a few kms out from the old town. It was on a tram line for easy access to our 'home' and into the old town. My expectations were a little high as I had read that Bucharest was like "little Paris". NO IT WAS NOT... I'm, trying to be fair to the place...hence taking a few days to reflect before I write this. It was VERY HOT, DIRTY, SMELLY and very run down. The tram was an experience. Old, filthy and very hot. Drops of sweat fell on the steps as I got off.
As you can see by the empty seats...I don't think this was the preferred mode of transport (we did catch a bus the next day...very modern and cool).
We headed to the old town and it was old...but really lacked the beauty and grandeur of other places. Maybe because it was Sunday morning (about 11am) and nobody was awake yet. The place was dead. Which would have been nice for photos, but there was not a lot to photograph. We walked around and saw some really lovely old churches, services were on so we didn't enter. (The  most memorable of these was Stavropoleos Monastery and we did visit the next day and it was beautiful).  The Romanian Orthodox Patriarchal Cathedral was also a real find and made the day. It was beautiful inside and out.

We also came across the Parliament Building...which was grand (but not like Budapest) and the Arcul de Triumf. I've got to confess that I had my first real meltdown...literally and metaphorically. After kms of walking my knee was over it...it was sooo hot I was over it...and after walking forever to a monument which ended up being a pissy little statue I just wanted to sit and cry.
A second day into Bucharest and  stopped at Carol Place and looked at the Shrine of Remembrance. The old Roman Baths ruin were another highlight, right near a very modern shopping complex. Irony. Note lots "girlie shows" and "lap dancing.

 

 Anyway, we ventured on and headed home for a rest. It was nice to come back to our hotel...and I indulged in a swim in the very posh spa centre. We must confess here that during the day we took salvation in McDonalds... who would have thought...but the aircon was amazing and the café frappe a godsend. Actually the Maccas was quite posh and had an older clientele. Interesting. Overall, there were some lovely thing to see, but not on the bucket list.

Transylvania: Brasov

 Set off for Brasov. The tourist info man suggested we stop at Viscri and visit the church fortifications which were built in the 1100s on the way to Brasov. We did this. It is 8 km down a tiny part dirt, part made, part destroyed road. The first kilometre was quite scary. There were people on the road (gypsies???) and something was going down....everyone was outside and staring. We dove very slowly through and I must admit I really thought we would be car jacked. Anyway, we got there and walked to the church. A tiny old lady was yelling from the entrance steps as a few of us rocked up. One couple turned away and left. We followed a cyclist up...and they do wear bloody Lycra here as well....we finally determined that it shut at 1pm and as luck would have it, it was 12.45. She was trying to tell us all we only had 15 minutes....not to rack off as some thought.  We had driven on 8 kms of shite "road", there was no way we were not going in for the 15 minutes. She ushered us in, gave us a discount..and we did the quickest run though. She actually let us stay till 1.05. It was really old and very different to what we had seen. It's name means "white church" in German. .....there is a very big German influence in the area.

Continued on our journey and a little while in we saw another significant castle atop a hill. Why not we thought and detoured for a visit. Arrived in Basov. The drive in went quite well...no crazy drivers. Brasov is a lively town. Bigger than the others over the last few days. Was nice to be back in a big hotel...a bit plush. 

Spent the first day around Brasov old town. There is a lot to see. The City Square is delightful...but pigeons everywhere. BR calls them flying rats, but the locals love them and everyone feeds them. Visited the Black Church...huge...the blackness comes from a fire in the 1600s, but the church has been there a lot longer that that. When I say church, it is huge. There were a lot of statues honouring those who gave outstanding service. One that struck a cord with me was H........can't remember his name. He gave service to education and in one year spent more on books for the library than what it did to buy a house...my kind of guy. Walked to Catherine's Gate and the up to St Nicholas and the first school building in Romania. This was set up in the early 1400s and each village got to send one student to learn....music, manuscripts etc. unfortunately it was closed, so we will try and return before we leave. Headed back towards the main drag via the Synagogue....just as about 3 tours buses of Jewish people arrived. Just got inside to see the simplicity, but beauty of the whites, blues, the black menorahs, before the tranquility was broken by the hordes of people entering. It was really beautiful. We then walked the thinnest street in Europe??? Would you call it a street? Was like a walk way between two buildings...but it had a street name. Made our way to the outer walls on both sides of town. Remains of fortifications, towers, walls were in abundance. Again saw a wedding...we are the wedding whisperers. It was hot, we had walked up hills, down steep long steps from the hills and covered quite a few kms. Decided to take a break so headed back to hotel for a rest, air con, and lunch...even though it was about 3pm. 

Rested we set out again. Different direction, looking at the Town Hall...nothing like Pearcedale Hall let me tell you. Very grand. Headed up a hill...not keen initially to walk up a road, on a hill, in the heat. But, when we got round the corner it was nice. The Tampa mountain is there. Looked at more fortifications, then decided we would take the cable car up to the top and look at the Hollywood style Brasov sign...and the great views. It was 5.15 at this point. We purchased our tickets...then decided the last ride down was at 6. Hmmmm. Asked the no English lady, if we could use the ticket the next day...think she said yes. Although her hands over her ears was a clear sign she did not want to talk or hear us. A late dinner...it was good to eat grilled salmon and veggies.  No sauce, no oil...nice.....

Next day we headed out to see more castles....there are sooo many very cool ones. (Reminds me of when BR and I took the kids to Vietnam and Beijing and at one point they all said...not another temple....... It's getting close to ...not another castle, but they are so good and so different). Our first stop was  Peles Castle. Thought this would be a good drive....but one road in ensured that we got stuck in a traffic jam....in and out. When we got close  to the castle we looked for parking. Did laps around this mountain and headed back to our starting point to try our luck for a parking spot again. Pulled in and a very stressed man told us to wait. We did. BR got out of the car....to supervise parking and queue jumpers....god they are bad over here...I had to laugh...he is such a controller. Someone left so BR stood in the spot and I had to drive the car around and park it. Anyway we were finally parked after a very long time. Lovely palace...the summer residence. Because it took so long  to get there and park, we went on a tour inside. Really nice, comfortable and not over the top. Next leg was the famous Bran Castle...Dracula's Castle. Traffic jam again, but this time got a park straight away...probably because it we 4.00 by now. Walked past the stalls...very kitsch selling Dracula stuff. Got tickets, stood in line. Again BR went to stand near the ticket office to stop all the queue jumpers. They couldn't cut in because he blocked their access and would not move. The castle itself is compact, imposing and very unusual. Very little is made of the Dracula myth in the castle(unlike outside) which is good...though it was unbearable for most of the time as you have to walk in single file and are in one big long line through everything. No time to browse or look closely. It sadly was just too packed....but still good to visit. By this time it was too late to see the Rasov fortress, though it did look impressive from the road. 

Final day in Brasov started with BR getting a haircut from a Romanian barber...who had some English. She did a really good job...really...though I'm not too sure how often the razor is cleaned...luckily BR had a no.2 so any foreign bodies should be obvious. I had to silently laugh when she brushed BRs back with the same broom she had been sweeping the floor with. We also went in to a pharmacy and I pointed to my knee and then showed her my codine based tables.... Unlike Lithuania where they pharmacist said I needed a "recipe", I was able to purchase as much as I wanted. (I only bought 24 tablets...just in case....haven't needed anything for ages). Headed back to the Funicular and made our way up to the sign. Looked at the views...amazing and came down. Headed back to Sibiu before heading down the transfagaan road to Bucharest. Stopped at Fagaras and toured another castle. Also saw the gold cathedral that was pretty impressive. Looked at the markets and bought a few things. All in all a good day. Gotta say...the drivers are absolutely insane, crazy f.....kers. They pass cars and cars coming the other way just move on to the shoulder to accommodate them at times. Saw so many near head one collisions. Very scary. Final night in Sibiu then on the Bucharest