Romania the Beautiful!

Romania – My travel buddy, Olivia, will attest to me having said this phrase a lot on this trip, but I’ll say it again: I don’t know what I expected of Romania, but this was definitely not it. When we arrived, we rented a car and drove north towards Brasov. Along the way, we stopped in Ploiesti and then headed up to Sinaia to visit Peles Castle. I had printed out maps to show us which routes to take all the way to Brasov in order to be able to stop in Sinaia and then at Rasnov fortress before making our way into Brasov, but my maps were not terribly detailed, since I assumed that once I arrived in Sinaia, there would be signs directing the way to the palace. Obviously, assumptions are bad, they make an… you get the picture. In Sinaia, we climbed up the mountain (in a car), but found no castle. Eventually, a nice family showed us the way and we were able to park and see its beauty. The family that had helped us find the palace, served as our guides as they were nice enough to share the history of the palace and of their country and gave us tips on what to do and see in Brasov and Bucharest.

Again, maybe I really do like winter, but seeing the snow covered fields leading up to the palaces, and the bare trees, made the scene seem to come out of a fairy tale.

Next, our adventure led us to Rasnov fortress: looking amazing as it sits on a hill overlooking the entire town. We found a sign directing us up to the fortress, and followed the narrow winding road. Unfortunately, before we knew it, we were in Brasov, having, obviously missed a sign telling us to turn somewhere to Rasnov. I vowed to return with better directions (which I never found online).

Brasov was beautiful. I know that’s not a terribly descriptive word, but it seemed like a little town that had been passed over by time. Old buildings, churches, a citadel on top of a hill and towers surrounding the city, made me feel like I had stepped in a time machine and was in a truly medieval town. It helped that when we climbed the hill to the citadel, it was closed and there was no one else in sight, making the citadel look slightly creepy and like time had stood still up on that hill.

As the day waned, we decided to drive out to Rasnov again (only 15 km away), and try to figure out a way to the fortress. We asked a few people and finally stumbled on a family that spoke no English, but between their Italian and our French, we were able to understand the directions they gave us. Apparently, while we had taken the right road the previous day, we were supposed to turn off behind a restaurant, 1-2 km up the road. Once we found the road, it was obvious that it was silly of me to have looked for signs the day before, since, well, there were none indicating the turn off, and apparently you just had to have a sixth sense about this. Alas, while we found the entrance, it was closed, and we chalked it up to the fact that it was Christmas day, and we would come back the following day.

The next day we headed back to Bucharest, and stopped in at Rasnov again, surely, this time, we would be able to finally see the fortress; surely the third time was the charm. And it was. Because we finally noticed a sign at the bottom of the road, where the road was closed off, stating that the fortress was closed for an unspecified duration. Truly, Rasnov 3 – Maria & Olivia 0 (Game, Set, Match). We stood and took pictures from a distance, and I vowed to come back here again, when I come to explore the country’s beautiful painted monasteries in the northeast.

We visited Bran Castle (aka Dracula’s castle aka Vlad of Tepes aka Vlad the Impaler, who apparently never lived at the castle). Something about these fortresses and castles being mounted on top of cliffs is quite cool and surreal and truly out of the middle ages.
I don’t know what I expected of Romania, but its natural beauty, the castles and fortresses and the kind people we encountered along the way was surely not it. It felt like a land lost in time.

I can’t say the same of Bucharest however, which, so far, is my least favorite stop of the trip. The buildings and churches were beautiful, but whether it was the fact that it was dirty, looked like it was falling apart, the fact that it rained for an entire day or that I got splashed by not one, but two cars as they sped by me and ran through deep puddles, or the fact that the city broke my heart with its endless array of stray dogs, something about it just had no appeal. Truly, Bucharest was just as lost in time as the rest of Romania (where men could be seen riding horse drawn carts or buildings looked like they had scarcely been touched since they were first built centuries ago), but unlike Brasov and all the fortresses and palaces we saw in the countryside, Bucharest looked like it was falling apart; like it might crumble at any moment. The Soviet era buildings stuck out like sore thumbs and the beautiful old buildings either looked like they had weathered a battle or were juxtaposed by empty lots full of garbage on either side. Even the streets in the old city center were barely walkable, covered with drift wood or swimming in puddles and potholes.

I can’t say what my expectations of Romania were, but Brasov and the countryside was the stuff that dreams are made of and a must see while Bucharest was a complete miss for me.
Will I return to Romania? Absolutely. There are so many beautiful nooks and crannies left to explore (not to mention a rematch with Rasnov!) Would I recommend it to others? Again, absolutely. Sure, there are traffic jams because someone decided to pull over on the side of the highway (if two lanes can be called a highway). And there are times when you have to stop on a street and get out to shoo a dog out of the way. But this is a small price to pay to witness the beauty of this magic country, with probably my favorite stop along the trip, thus far.