Romania

Bucharest, Romania    April 20- April 30, 2023

We left Podgorica, Romania at 8:30am and flew into Belgrade, Serbia around 9:30am. With a 4 hour layover, the plane left Belgrade, Serbia at 1:30pm and landed in Bucharest, Romania at 3:30pm.

Gabriella had a friend, Gabriel, pick us up. After going through customs and picking up our luggage and driving through crazy traffic, we arrived at Gabriella's home around 6:00pm. It was a full day of travel.

We passed by the Triumphal Arch going  to our friend, Gabriella's home.

Gabriella lives in a condo on the first floor. It was renovated three years ago. She was so proud of her home.  

Gabriella left fresh tulips out for us to enjoy.

Larry and I enjoyed riding the old trollies because we could see the city activities  opposed to riding the subway underground.

Number 40 was our most used tram ride.

A mixture of new and ....

old apartments are everywhere in the city. Most of the Bucharest residence live in apartments.

Floral shops are abundant.

Parks and playgrounds were placed frequently throughout the city. 

We visited the world famous Palace of  Parliament also known as the Republic's House or People's House. It is known to be the heaviest building in the world, as well as the second largest administrative building in the world. 

It's 12 floors cost 4 billion euros to build back in 1984 making it the world's most expensive  administrative building. 700 architects under the direction of one chief architect, the building holds the title as the world's largest civilian building with an administrative function.

 It houses  two chambers of Parliament: the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies as well as three museums. 70% of the building remains empty and unused. The costs of heating, electricity, and lighting alone exceeds $6 million a year.

Spectacular fountains in front of Palace of Parliament are lit up each night.

Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu ordered this colossal structure to be built. Clearing the area; monasteries, a hospital, as well as 37 factories and workshops were  demolished. 40,000  people were relocated from the area. 5,000 Romanian soldiers and 100,000  people were forced to worked on the project.

44 fountains are located in a1.4-km distance in front of the Palace of Parliament.

The fountains were built in the 1980's and underwent a revamping in 2018.

Larry and I felt like we were in Las Vegas.

The fountains have the title of the Longest Choreographed Fountain System in the World

Heroes of the Air Monument memorializing the Romanian airmen who sacrificed their lives.

Gypsy Homes

Larry and I rode the tram down to the Grand Hotel and met our tour guide, Luca who took us north of the city to...

 Transylvania with Travel Maker tours. We joined a small group of ten people. A two hour drive north took us to Peles Castle.

We passed  by many fields of canola.

Peles Castle

Artworks adorned the outside the castle

Castle courtyard

Carol I was the  Prince monarch of Romania from 1866 to 1881 (German decent)  and from 1881 to 1914 served as King.

In May of 1877, Romania was proclaimed an independent and sovereign nation. The defeat of the Ottoman Empire in 1878 in the War of Independence (Russo-Turkish War) secured Romanian's  independence.

 Carol I was proclaimed King in 1881. He was the first ruler of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen dynasty , which ruled the country until the proclamation of a socialist republic in 1947.

The house was full of ornate statues 

Extremely tall ceilings and ornate carvings were found throughout the castle.

Busts of the King and Queen

Detailed artworks

Long hallways and staircases

Extremely large paintings of himself and...

 the Queen Elizabeth  as well as their daughter, Maria, who died at the age of three. Carol never produced a male heir, leaving his elder brother, Leopold, next in line to the throne. 

Leopold renounced  his right to succession in favor of his son, William, who in turn surrendered his claim six years later in favor of his younger brother, King Ferdinand.

The weapons room had displays of ancient weaponry.

This sword was used to behead wrong doers.

King Carol was a cold man who was always focused on the prestige of the dynasty he had founded. His wife, Elizabeth, claimed he 'wore the crown in his sleep'. He was devoted to his job as Romania's ruler, serving 48 years of rule, the longest in Romanian history.

 He helped  Romania gain its independence, raised its prestige, helped redress the economy and established a dynasty. He built Peles Castle in German style, which  is considered one of Europe's most beautiful castles and is still one of Romania's most visited landmarks.

The ceiling in the king's office

Very ornate chimneys that were not used because they were too dirty. The king had a heating system installed in the castle.

Stained glass was throughout the house...even sometimes incorporated into the ceiling.

What an ornate door knob!

The music room

The King's throne in the ballroom...the Queen had one as well.

Ceilings in the Ballroom

The King had mirrors placed on walls to reflet the art work on the ceiling so he would not have to strain his neck looking at it.

Another long hallway

The dining room

The Queens after-dinner sitting room

The King had a vacuum cleaner system installed throughout the castle. Hard to believe that this kind of item was available in the 1800's and is still used today.

Castle grounds...they were not as extravagant as the interior of the castle.

On the way to Bran's Castle we passed several horse drawn wagons still being used.

We were able to view the snow covered Carpathian Mountains.

We drove about an hour to visit the next Romanian Castle...Bran Castle.

Various past rulers of the region

Vlad Tepes (1431-1476) 

He was commonly known as Vlad the Impaler or Vlad Dracula.

He is considered the most important ruler in Wallachian history and a national hero of Romania.

Bram Stoker, author of Dracula, researched in a London library for a castle that would be appropriate for the Transylvania, Romania setting of his book. He selected the above picture as the castle.

Many folks read the book and went in search for the real castle, although the book is purely fiction.

Many tourist knocked on the Bran Castle doors to ask about the castle. 

The owners then got the idea of 

charging an entrance fee for tourist to see the castle. It then became known as Dracula's Castle.

The owners today still live in a part of the castle that we did not tour.

 Written in 1897

The gas fire feels pretty good on this misty, cloudy day.

Bran Castle Courtyard

Queen Marie was the last Queen of Romania as the wife of King Ferdinand I. Marie was born into the British royal family. Her parents were Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Grand  Duchess Marie Alexandrona of Russia.

 Her grandmother was Queen Victoria of England.

Queen Marie's bedroom

This was left open to show what the original castle walls were made of.

The mountains in the area were covered in deep snow.

The last part of the house was set up to be spooky and capitalized on the spirts and ghosts that still roam the castle.

The Kings Bedroom

King's Crown

The breakfast room

Family coat of arms

It was interesting to note the massive rock that the castle was built on.

We passed a bakery on the way back to the van. The smells were delightful.

We drove about 30 minutes to Brasov.

         

This reminds me of the HOLLYWOOD sign.

Gates to the city.

Very old, well kept buildings

The City Center

We had lunch at the Dracula Cafe.  I had a Romanian Chicken dish and Larry had grilled Trout. It was chilly outside, so the gas heater was fired up.

We met our tour group in the Brasov Square.

The Black Cathedral could be spotted.

We walked to the Black Cathedral, a Lutheran Church.

It was large like so many of the  European  Cathedrals.

Fine Persian rugs hung from the second floor. Long ago, the wealthy people brought the rugs with them to church to sit upon during the Sunday service to prove that they were wealthy. 

The wealthy got to sit in the front of the church while the less fortunate remained in the back.

Sturdy organ pipes

Painting of the Virgin Mary

Two rooms of tombstones were found in the back of the church.

We followed our guide down a narrow alley. This small alley was left between buildings for the firemen to pass through. The city allows graffiti to be painted here. 

The city paints the walls white every two years to leave room for fresh graffiti to be drawn.

The Rope Lady points to Strada Sforii...the graffiti passage.

We walked through the old Town of Brasov.

We climbed a zillion steps up a steep hill on the edge of the city. From here we could see the ancient wall of the city and all the red roofs.

The Black Cathedral, the name that stuck after the church caught on fire.

Another entrance into Brasov. Larry and I enjoyed Brasov. It appeared to be a prosperous  place to live. We left Barsov with many good memories. We nestled into the van for a three hour scenic ride back to Bucharest.

Larry and I had planned to visit the infamous Romanian Transfagarasan Road. However, we will have to save it for another time because it is only open June through September. Three meters of snow and chances of avalanches didn't permit us to go there this time of year. Shucks!

Well, we will save that for the next time we visit Romania.

Gabriella took us to the airport. We said our good-byes. She promised to come and visit us sometime in the future. 

Larry and I boarded our plane to Paris at 1:30PM, ready for a new adventure.