Travel Day
Bucureşti – Sinaia – Braşov, all Romanian cities
We were off early, although there was a delay in the start due to a missing passenger. The first hour and a half were spent riding across open fields and low rolling mountains. We are heading up into the Carpathian Mountains to visit the Sinaia Monastery and the Peleş Castle. The name Sinaia comes from the biblical Mount Sinai.
Sinaia was named so after the Sinaia Monastery. The monastery was founded by Price Mihail Cantacuzino in 1695. He named to monastery after the great Saint Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai in Egypt. Today Sinaia is a mountain resort with skiing in the winter and other outdoor activities in the summer.
Sinaia is also a major tourist destination because of the Sinaia Monastery and Peleş Castle. The Peleş Castle was built in the late nineteenth century as the summer residence of King Carol I of Romania. There are a number of other tourists landmarks in the area as well – Pelişor Castle, Sinaia Casino, Sinaia train station, the Franz Joseph and Saint Anne Cliffs among others.
We are running late and Judit is somewhat concerned we will make our tour appointment at the Peleş Castle. As we arrive in Sinaia, we do so about a quarter mile above the castle, which is about as close as you can get in the bus, Judit is telling us to make some haste as the bus isn’t supposed to stop here, at a local bus stop.
As quickly as we can we make out way down the hill over cobble stones, then up a small hill to the fountain in front of the castle. Unfortunately, there is restoration work going on so getting a good view of the outside in impossible. What can can see is impressive. Judit quickly goes to the ticket office and is told we need to get into line NOW, as we are late. We quickly form up in a courtyard of the castle.
A few minutes later we are entering the castle. The castle was built between 1873 and 1914 on the existing medieval route linking the regions of Transylvania and Wallachia. The views for the castle shows the magnificent mountain scenery that King Carol I fell in love with in 1866 when he first visited the area. The King commissioned the construction of several buildings, including the Foişor hunting lodge, royal stables, guards’ chambers, the Economat Building, the later of which serves as a hotel for guests of the king, and probably more famous is the powe plant. Peleş is the world’s first castle fully powered by locally produced electricity.
There are three possible tours here. No. 1 is the ground floor only, our tour today. No. 2 included the first floor and No. 3 gives to access to the second floor as well. To call this a castle is probably wrong. It is more of a palace than a castle. Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria is a castle only because of where it sits. This places sits on the mountain side in the middle of a forest. It’s architectural style is an inspired blend on Neo-Renaissance and Gothic Revival, similar to Neuschwantsein.
There is a Saxon influence in the interior courtyard where we enter. The facades have allegorical hand-painted murals and ornate face work. The beautiful interior is mostly Baroque influenced. A lot of heavy carved wood and exquisite fabrics. This palace as over 34,000 square feet, over 170 rooms.
Similar to other Romanian palaces different rooms vary by function. Many are dedicated themes from different world cultures. There was a small armory with an impressive collection of Eastern and Western pieces covering four centuries. One room has Murano glass chandeliers and a beautiful Murano mirror. One was designed to reflect the Moorish palace at Alhambra in Spain.
We didn’t see as much or spend as much time as we would have liked. We did have a very good guide and will have to come back and see the other two floors. We will however come in the slow season, if there is one, so we can spend more time. Winter in a real possibility, skiers aren’t usually the proper market for castle tours.
After all the stairs in the castle walking back up to the roadway to the bus was painful. We only had twenty minutes and this was our lunch stop. We tried the small sandwich shop next to the castle but the lines were very long. The two restaurants at the bottle of the hill next to the castle were possibilities but we didn’t think there was enough time. So we hurried up the hill. There was one restaurant at the top which was attached to the Hotel Marami (three star, good location, although the Economat is a hotel down the hill closer to the palace).
We quickly chose something which shouldn’t take too long. A margarita pizza and two beers. It had a great outdoor seating area from which we could see the place the bus would stop. We had been there a while when other people started showing up. It was already 13:35, ten minutes before we were to leave. People were somewhat frustrated by the time we were allowed. Then Judit came along and told us because of where he had to park the bus, he wouldn’t return until closer to 14:00.
Just about then our pizza arrived. We shared the table with a couple bus mates. We shared our pizza as well. It was good and served its purpose as a quick lunch. After we got back on the bus, Judit told us because of the timing we would miss going to see the monastery. It would have been nice to see more than the outside as you drove by, but a rushed tour would have been worse. Need to return.
We would arrived at the Aro Palace hotel in the historic center of Braşov. It is supposed to be a 4-star hotel. From the outside is would hardly make 2-star in my book. The inside was a little better, but the staff was very nice. The location is very good, right across the street from a park. Near the Black Church and other landmarks. It was 16:45 when we arrive and we had to leave at 17:30 for “Brandy & Bites of Romania”. So, it was get to the room, put the luggage down and prepare to head out. All of this because someone, unnamed, was late getting to the bus this morning.
Back on the bus we head to to the town of Râşnov about 9 miles southwest of Braşov. It is on the road which leads to Bran, the road the links Wallachia and Transylvania through the Carpathian Mountains. Bran is the home of Bran castle of Bram Stoker fame.
Here we stopped at a Palincaria, a place that makes traditional Pálinka. Kind-of like visiting a winery. They showed us how they make Pálinka, which is just grappa, although it does translate as brandy. The explained that traditional Pálinka is made from plums, although now they make it from apples, pears, cherries, apricots and other fruits. We then retired to the tasting room. We tasted traditional Pálinka made from plums, another from apricots and the last from dark cherries. Hey, it was like drinking grappa. They did offer us the cherry version last. It was about half the amount of alcohol and was very good. They did explain that it was really just a digestivo not brandy. We bought two 40 ml bottles.
Outside we got to look up at Râsnov Fortress. This medieval Fliehburg type fortress sits on the hill overlooking the valley. It was built as part of a defence system for the Transylvanian villages exposed to outside invasions, the fortress was historically garrisoned by both the local Romanian and Saxon communities, with each providing an equal number of men. A decisive aspect for building the fortress at its location was the route of the invading armies which were coming from the Bran Pass and were passing through Râșnov, on their way to Brașov and other parts of the Burzenland region. The only chance of survival for the inhabitants of the area, including from Cristian and Ghimbav, was the refuge inside the fortress at Râșnov. Compelled to stay there for decades, the people of Râșnov and the nearby villages turned the fortification into their long-term place of residence.
Between 1848 and 1849, because the town of Râșnov lay on the way of both the Hungarian revolutionaries and the Austrian imperial troops, the inhabitants retreated to the fortress. This was the last mission of the fortress as a place of refuge and defense. In 1850, due to the political situation and the diminution of the fortress's defensive role, the fortification was abandoned, becoming a ruin. There was only one guard left who had to announce the outbreak of fires by tolling a bell.
After the two world wars and the takeover of the communist regime in Romania, the fortress was restored for the first time, but barely, in the years 1955–1956. During the period from 2000 to 2007, an Italian entrepreneur attempted to transform the decaying ruins into a picturesque tourist attraction by destroying and arbitrarily rebuilding parts of the archaeological remains. The Râșnov municipality has recovered the property in 2008 and better supervised work has ensued. Looks like you can visit it today, but unfortunately not for us. Another reason to return to the region.
Bites of Romania, ok forget the Dracula jokes, was at the Restaurant Promenada. The restaurant sits at the end of dead-end street, Strada Teilor, at the foot of the mountain under the fortress. It sits next to a beautiful park and playground. It was, in its own right, a beautiful building and restaurant. The dinner started with a shared plate of Romanian meats and cheeses, tomatoes, local bread, and sliced bell peppers. We ate too much of it, because this was followed by a plate of meat wrapped in cabbage, polenta, yogurt, and a baked tomato. We did our best to eat as much as we could, it was worth getting stuffed over. This was washed down with Bucur, the local bere de bulevard.
Now all of that would have been sufficient for a meal for anyone. However, there was dessert. A Romanian donut. A lovely donut and donut hole served on a plate with crème fresh, blueberry sauce, raspberry sauce and powdered sugar. Decided to try one bit. Ended up eating nearly all of it. If it has been at all possible to eat the whole thing we would have – it was that good.
Then it was back on the bus and off to bed. Tomorrow we go see the famous castle in Bran. The castle made famous by Bran Stoker and his novel Dracula.
Buonanotte e ciao, Enrico e Maria.
Râşnov Castle
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