Roaming in Romania: Day 2

December 14th

Most of us got together and decided to take a castle tour today.  We piled into a bus and picked up five other Americans to go out into the Romanian countryside.  We had a guide, Alin, who spoke very good English.  He informed us that Romania is the largest producer of corn in Europe, but they also have the best/fastest internet (in the cities) in all of Europe.  Many software companies have offices in Bucharest.  Along the corn lines, more that 50% of Romania is rural and there are parts of it that have not been touched by modern technology.

This was a long day, so this is going to be a long post.

Go get something to drink and maybe a snack.

Peleş Castle -

The first castle is Peleş.  Peleş is in the Carpathian Mountains near Sinaia.  It was the summer residence of Carol I.  He's the guy on the horse from yesterday (not the first guy, but the second guy, though he might be the first guy as I don't know who the first guy is).

Blurry Romanian countryside!  It was also foggy out, so it might not all be blur.

Our first view of Peleş Castle and the Carpathians.

Outside and up close.

Inside the courtyard.

A smug statue.                                               Looking up from the courtyard.

       The detail on a lamppost.                                     A very ornate bell frame.

TO THE INSIDE!

Looking up from the Grand Staircase.  So much beautifully carved wood.

A spiral staircase that was only for decoration.  I would have used the heck out of that staircase.

The central skylight.

Looking back down the Grand Staircase.

We left this main room and headed to the Armory.

Royal Jewels (left).    Carved bear (right).  Romania actually has a lot of brown bears.

All the stabby and smashy things!

This is a lovely fireplace with some lovely wood carvings and a lovely sword that was reserved for chopping the heads off of nobility only.   You wouldn't want to mix your peasant beheading sword with your nobility beheading sword now would you?

Armor for rider and stead!  Also another beautiful window.

A distracted lion (left). Extremely intricately decorated guns and blades (right).

Some fun stained glass (left). The queen's room (right).  The painting at the top shows Spring, Summer, and Autumn.  She refused to have Winter.

The stained glass from the Queen's room.  It depicts traditional Romanian fairy-tales.

Large Italian glass chandeliers.  They remind me of the ones in the Caserta Royal Palace.

This is the Moorish Salon (I think).

And you can't have a Moorish Salon without having a Turkish Salon.

These are the stained glass windows from the Turkish Salon. Flash was not allowed, and it was difficult to get the Salon AND the windows. I opted to just get two photos.

Ladies in the castle!

Callie, Sandy, Amy, Jana, and Me.  Finesse, Brittany, Meagan, and Savannah.

Photo courtesy of Sandy.

Okay, prepare for a barrage of outdoor photos.  The castle is beautiful, the location is beautiful, the weather was great, and I took a lot of photos that turned out well (in my opinion).

                     This is Carol I again.

Our last view of Peleş Castle.

Pelişor Castle is next to Peleş Castle and was built for Carol I's nephew, who would become his heir.   We didn't tour this castle, but I liked the orange roof.

This concludes the Peleş Castle portion of our adventure for today.

Now would be a good time to get a refill on your drink, get snacks, go to the bathroom, and generally take a break from this post.

Bran and "Dracula's" Castle -

More Romanian countryside.  Photo courtesy of Savannah.

On top of this mountain is a giant metal cross that was erected in the late 1920's in memory of those who died in World War I.

We made it to Bran.  Lunch was the first priority, so some of us went off to this charming resaurant to have various dishes made of polenta and cheese.  They also had a garlic sauce that would peel paint. I like their vampire sheep mascot.

First look at Bran Castle. Before you get too excited, the reason this is called Dracula's castle is because it best fits the description from Bram Stoker's novel. The location described in the book is an empty mountain top in the Carpathians. Although this castle is in Transylvania, it has little to no connection to Vlad the Imapler (Vlad III). It is still a very neat and winding castle.

Looking up the steps to the guard's room (left). The central courtyard (right).

Traditional Transylvania dress - Men's (left) and Women's (right).

Sandy and the secret stairs (left). A view of the secret stairs (right). Photo courtesy of Sandy.

This is the best reading nook ever.  I would totally have a pot of tea, a blanket, and a book with that fire going.  I would never leave (left). A view from the terrace above the courtyard out into the countryside (right).

 The beautiful Transylvania countryside.  In case you were wondering, Transylvania isn't currently technically anything.  It is considered a historical region within Romania. 

More outfits and armor.

Meta photo!  (with Meagan and Jana)

Meta photo again!  (With Jana and Sandy - Jana's everywhere in this castle)

Looking into the courtyard from the walkway.  Finesse, Jana, and Sandy.

Looking back up and the castle from the inside of the courtyard.  

So if she weighs the same as a duck......she's a made of wood?  And therefore?  A witch!

According to the sign about these scales:

The practice of weighing convicts comes from the belief that followers or apprentices of Satan would be lighter than their physical appearance suggested.  

The accused was stripped and searched for any extra weight they may have tied or hidden on their body.  They were then weighed against an amount judged to be appropriate for their size and shape.  If they were too light, they would be tortured until they confessed to their crimes.  If they weighed the correct amount, they were cleared of charges and allowed to walk free.  

During the 18th century, if an accused was cleared, they were given a certificate to protect them against further accusations of witchcraft.

Another view out into the countryside.

There was also a Christmas Market here.  I ended up getting a wool shawl/wrap/thingie.

This concludes the Bran portion of our adventure.

Now would be another good time for a break.

Braşov-

Braşov was the next major town up the road from Bran and an easy place to get back on the highway (I think).  It is the birthplace of Romania's national anthem (Wake up, Romania!).  It sounds about how you would expect an eastern European anthem to go.

Driving into Braşov, we caught a glimpse of this church dome and this cute couple in their matching fur hats.

The town square with its beautiful tree.  Also they have a Hollywood style sign up on the mountain (it's off to the top right).

A close up of the tree.  It's kind of a conical decorated net that they just shoved over the tree.

Such a charming town square.  I really liked the street that is all lit up as well.

This is the Black Church and it is the largest Gothic church between Vienna and Istanbul.  It was originally Roman-Catholic but it is now Lutheran.  It was erected during the late 1300's/early 1400's.  It has the heaviest mobile bell in Romania (it's 6 tons).

I don't know what this building is, but it was all shiny and glowing like Cinderella's ball gown.

This concludes the Braşov portion of our adventure. 

We drove back to Bucharest and for a good chunk of the trip back, most of us slept.  I was amazed by the number of stars I could see out the window.  I really wanted to stop the bus and just take 10 minutes to enjoy them.  After awhile our driver started playing music, but I don't think he enjoyed our singing along.

Christmas Market -

There was a stage where each night different performances would happen.

This is a person puppet that I think is supposed to be a horse of some kind, but I'm not sure.  

It's very colorful and fluffy.

Some sort of traditional song and dance.  The men hopped, the women sang.

So much candy.  I later purchased one of the wafer/marshmallow looking things in the middle.  It was very good.  I want to figure out how to make it.

This kind gentleman sold me a skirt.  I caused much trouble as the skirt I originally wanted he didn't have in my size, which made him dig through all his bags and piles next to him.  We found a different skirt that had the same trim, which I was happy with.  He graciously let me take his photo.

This concludes our adventures for today.  I hope you enjoyed them and they were too long or boring.

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.