Roaming in Romania: Day 1

December 12th-13th

Off to Bucharest, Romania!

Shortly after arriving in Italy, my friend Amy, whom I had known in Norfolk, invited me on a ladies trip she and some of her friends were taking to Romania.  I was hesitant at first because one, I didn't know anyone else going on the trip, and two, I didn't know anything about Romania.  But, I figured I wasn't going to make friends by NOT going.

It turns out that by the time we took off, I had met everyone.  There was no itinerary, just get to Bucharest and check out the Christmas Markets.

Romania recently joined the EU but is not yet on the Euro.  They use the Lei or Ron. 

1 Lei ~ 0.25 Euro or ~ $0.28 USD

We left in the evening on the 12th and landed in fog like I have never seen before.

The next day, the 13th we all wandered off to do our own thing.  Savannah and I wandered off together.  We did a quick tour of the Christmas Market by our hotel and then headed off to some of the museums.

Christmas Market -

Savannah in a Dracula/Bat cut out.  I was trying to catch my reflection in the Dracula cut out, but it didn't work (left). I'm not sure whom this statue is of, but I feel like he doesn't like the Christmas lights strung up around his head (right).

These are traditional Romanian masks.  They were worn during ceremonies to ward off evil spirits.  I don't know about you, but if I saw a bunch of people jumping up and down or whatever in the dark wearing these things, I'd stay away too.

This concludes, for now, the Christmas Market portion of our adventure.

Wandering Around Begins -

This is from the Colţea Orthodox church.  It was consecrated in 1702.

This is some sort of military building.  Woo Military.

This is the Revolution Memorial.  It is in rememberance of those who died in the Romanian Revolution in 1989. The revolution ultimately overthrew and executed Nicolae Ceaușescu, which ended the communist rule in Romania.

I don't know what this building is, I just thought it was an interesting juxtaposition between the old stone building and the new glass one.

This is Carol the First, the first king of Romania.  He was also a German prince.  

This concludes wandering, for now.

The National Gallery of Art (MNAR Muzeul National de Art al Romaniei) -

The MNAR is housed in the old royal palace in Bucharest.  It has many amazing textiles from the 16th through 18th centuries.  They were in extremely good condition.  They also had many wood carvings and religious artifacts.   Photos were not allowed unless you paid the 200 Lei fee to take photos.  Considering it was all of 20 Lei to get in, I was not paying the fee for photos.  I misunderstood this and took a photo before I realized I had to pay for them. These are the wooden doors of the Snagov Monastery.  Legend believes that the body of Vlad the Impaler was buried here, though there is no evidence to justify this. Anyway, the doors are neat.

The museum also housed many more art pieces.  It was fun to go through the art throughout time, however by the end Savannah and I were mostly skimming through the galleries.  There was a lot of art.  Including the bust of a young girl which I have dubbed "Judgy McJudgerson".

This concludes the National Gallery of Art portion of our adventure.

Wandering Continues -

This is the George Enescu Museum.  Like many things in Europe, it used to be a palace.
Now it is a music museum and concert hall.

This concludes wandering, for now.

Natural History Museum (Muzeul Național de Istorie Naturală Grigore Antipa) -

The Natural History Museum was quite extensive and mostly entertaining for some of it's derpy taxidermy.  Whoever did all the big cats gave them all deeply concerned expressions. This is a Northern Stoplight Loosejaw.  It is the things nightmares are made of (left). This is a Greenland Shark.  He is king of the Derps (below).

We found another cut out for Savannah to be in!

This concludes the Natural History Museum portion of our adventure.

The Peasant Museum (Muzeul Taranului) - 

The Peasant Museum is loaded with traditional textiles and costumes from all over Romania.  It also has many examples of arts and crafts from the various regions of Romania.  It is, however, against any photography.

This is the only photo I took in the Peasant Museum before being chastised.  

It may be my favorite photo from the whole trip.

This is the outside of the Peasant Museum.  The colored 555 is to celebrate the 555 anniversary of Bucharest being a city.  The fives are in the color/order of the Romanian flag.

This concludes the Peasant Museum portion of our adventure. 

Wandering Continues Again -

Entertaining Noah's Ark sculpture.

The above two photos are opposite views of a sculpture called Caruta cu Paiate.  It shows characters created by the Romanian playwright Ion Luca Caragiale.  Off to the side is a statue of Caragiale looking at his creations.  There is an urban legend that body of Caragiale's statue belongs to an old Lenin statue and that they simply changed out the head. 

The tall glass topped building in the middle is our hotel.  At night this intersection lights up with brightly colored Christmas lights.

This concludes our wandering for today.

Christmas Market Part 2 -

The entrance to the market.

Christmas stall and people walking around.  At some point we got hot mulled wine.

These are Kürtőskalács or chimney cakes. They are quite delicious, but you need about four people to eat one. They take dough and spiral wrap it on these spits. They then cover them in sugar and roast them. Then they cover them in more sugar. Then you eat it. Nom!

This is the spunky lady who sold me a salad axe.  She had all these hand carved wooden kitchen/eating type things including a wooden axe.  I tried to ask what it was for, and she said it was for salad.  I'm guessing it's like using a ceramic knife so the green don't oxidize, but either way I like the idea of hacking away at salad with an axe.  I now own a salad axe.

This guy made extremely delicate and intricate glass pieces.  I am not careful enough to get something like this home.  I mostly liked that his torch comes out of a dragon/lizard thing.

Nighttime view of the Christmas Market.

A view of the Christmas Market from our Hotel's glass top restaurant. 

The above two photos are the view from our hotel room.

We got together and tried to go to one place for dinner, but they were packed and then their system for ordering food went down.  We drank some beers but ultimately ate elsewhere. Beer!  Cura' cu Bere for those wondering.   Photo courtesy of Sandy. The Ladies' Bucharest Trip: Emily, Finesse, Me, Callie, Sandy, Amy, Brittany, and Jana.  Savannah and Meagan. Photo courtesy of Sandy

This concludes Day 1 of our adventure.

San Marco: Nougat & Crunchy

December 6th

Dan and I took a short trip up to San Marco dei Cavoti for the Festa del Torrone e del Croccantino, which translates as the Nougat and Crunchy Festival.  We didn't really have a plan and ended up getting there at a weird time.  Dan spent a lot of the little bit we were there being hangry.  The hanger is real.  The town was little but cute and had an amazing view.

The main street with the Sassyfunk band (I swear it was called something like that)(above). A small alleyway with Christmas decorations (right).

The little church looking out into the countryside (left). A map of the view and what you are looking at (above).

I told you the view was amazing!

We did not stay long, but we acquire nougat and crunchy.  

Below are just two photos I took from the drive home.

Frolicking in Florence: Day 3

November 29th

Today was mostly about hiking around Florence.  We went to the Bargello, Piazzale Michelangelo, and the Pitti Palace & Bobili Gardens.


Bargello Museum -

The Bargello started out as a prison and is now a sculpture museum.  It had many of Donatello's sculptures including several variations on David.  I took a handful of photos, but was getting a bit Renaissance Art'ed out by this point.  The Bargello is definitely worth going to, don't let my lack of photos deter you.  It's an overlooked gem in a city of amazing museums.

I took a picture of these dolphins because, well Dan's a submariner, and you know, dolphins.  Woo.  They were sculpted in the 18th century.

This concludes the Bargello portion of our adventure.

A collection of funny grafittied street signs:

We got sandwiches at All'Antico Viniao, which is supposed to be the best sandwich shop in Florence, and hiked up to the Piazzale Michelangelo.  These are some silly signs we saw on the way.

The hike up to the Piazzale was a bit unpleasant.  As usual, Dan grumbled a bit.  I took some photos and we sat and ate our sandwiches.  I will say, the sandwiches were quite tasty.

The lovely view of Florence from the Piazzale Michelangelo.  

Alright, remember when we climbed the dome of Il Duomo?  Well here's the opposite view comparison (Il Duomo view on the left and the Piazzale Michelangelo view on the right):

This is the San Miniato al Monte, which we found as part of a geocahe adventure (we found it, in case you are wondering).  It's a beautiful little church with a cemetery behind it.  The cemetery has some fascinating memorials.

The lovely view from the San Miniato al Monte church.  That's Dan sitting on the wall.

Look!  It's us!  In FLORENCE!

This concludes the Piazzale Michelangelo portion of our adventure.

Pitti Palace and Bobili Gardens - 

We walked from the San Miniato al Monte church to the Pitti Palace (after finding my geocache of course).  We had been doing quite a bit of walking today an Dan's feet were starting to hurt him.   We went through a costume exhibit at the palace which was a bit disappointing, but it was cool to see some of the Medici clothing.  I wanted to continue on into the gardens, but Dan was done.  So he sat and had coffee while I explored the gardens. This is some more amusing graffiti we saw on the way to the Pitti Palace (left).

This is a view looking out from the palace into one of the main avenues of the gardens (above). This is a view looking back down the same avenue as above, but toward the palace (left). It's another Same but Opposite View!  Weeeeeee!

The gardens were massive, and I only explored them a little bit (partially because they were down a massive hill and I didn't want to have to climb back up it).   I also accidentally wandered into a Natural History Museum or something and saw a mineral and gem display.  (It was off to the side of a courtyard).

This concludes the Pitti Palace and Bobili Gardens portion of our adventure.

Wandering around the city at night -

The Palazzio Vacchio lit up at night with the Christmas decorations lit as well.

The boar is the symbol of Florence.  Apparently you're supposed to put a coin in the boar's mouth and make a wish.  If it falls into the grate, your wish comes true.  At least this is what it looked like from the various people doing it repeatedly and being excited when it fell in the grate.

This more or less concludes our Florence adventure.  We tried to get all four artists who are also Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but Leonardo was elusive.

Today's Count:

• 1 Museum
• 1 Climb
• 2 Same but Opposite Views
• 0 artists who are also Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Trip Count:

• 7 Musuems
• 3 Climbs
• 5 Same but Opposite Views
• 3 artists who are also Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, though we were in the vicinity of Leonardo's work, so maybe we got all 4.

Final Thought:

After 3 solid days of Renaissance overload I have come to the conclusion that none of the Renaissance Masters ever saw an actual naked woman.  None of the breasts are right.  They're just hemispheres attached to a torso.  Also why is it that the nude males, whether painted or sculpted, get intricate detail applied to their pubic hair and genitals and the women get vague nothingness?  I'm pretty sure it's because all the artists dudes never saw a naked woman.

Frolicking in Florence: Day 2

November 28th

Today we went to L'Accademia, the Medici Chapel, and the Palazzo Vecchio.


L'Accademia - 

We got up early to get over the the L'Accademia to see Michelango's David.  Even though it's not the high tourist season, the museum was already getting busy by the time we got there.

We're starting with David's butt, because I know you always see the front and are really curious what he has packing back there.

I wish I had taken a photo of a gentleman who had the most amazing expression of awe on his face while looking at David.  I think I may remember that more than the statue.

The museum had other sculptures and a lot of religious art.  Dan and I started trying to figure out who all the saints depicted were.  There are some random saints out there.

This concludes the L'Accademia portion of our adventure.

The Medici Chapel - 

Photos were not allowed in the Medici Chapel, so this is going to be short.

This is the Medici Chapel courtyard!  And pretty much the only thing I was allowed to take a photo of.  Bask in the glory of the orange tree. Bask! We toured the crypt and saw Donatello's tomb (Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi) and did a audio/video tour of the chapel.  The tour was free with our ticket and was done on an ipad.  It was cool.  This brought the number of artists who are Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles up to three! The chapel was supposed to have some amazing front piece.  A contest was held and Michelangelo's design won.  He supposedly fallen in love with the project and thought it would be his greatest masterpiece.  The project was cancelled (below).

This concludes the Medici Chapel portion of our adventure.

We walked past the Il Duomo on our way to the Palazzo Vecchio. So here's another attempt at a photo of it from the outside up close. 

Palazzo Vecchio -

The Palazzo Vecchio was built in the late 13th/early 14th century.  It housed the the Medici family until they moved to the Pitti Palace.  It is now the town hall in Florence.

This is a map of the whole building, or at least the parts tourists can get to.

Outside view of the Palazzo Vecchio, home of the Medicis and the original site of the David (left). I don't know what was happening in this painting, but it's fabulous (right).

Something big and fancy was happening in the main room of the Palazzo Vecchio, so we couldn't wander around too much.  This is a view from the balcony (above).  They believe that there is a hidden da Vinci behind one of these massive wall frescoes.

Remember the tower in the photo of the Palazzo Vecchio from the square (a few photos ago)?  Yeah, I made Dan climb it.  He grumbled a bit.  But the view was great.

Look!  It's that two views of the same space thing again!  The left one is from yesterday (the top of Il Duomo's dome) and the right one is from today (the top of Palazzo Vecchio's tower).

And here's us!  Dan asked this nice man to take our photo and then pretty much everyone else asked him to take their photos too.

This concludes the Palazzo Vecchio portion of our adventure for today.

Random Photos -

Because who doesn't store their shoes and cologne on pink metal rams?

I am going to end day 2 with this wall of glass.  I thought it was pretty.  I hope you do too.

Today's Count:

• 3 Museums
• 1 Climb
• 1 Same but Opposite View
• 1, maybe 2, artists who are also a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle