Enchantment of Eastern Europe

Today was an awesome day, but first I just have to share this picture because it is EXACTLY true when using a new, unfamiliar shower! I turned the shower on without checking where it was pointing, and a huge blast of water came out onto me and the floor. It also took a long time for the water to get hot, so I didn’t know if I had it turned the right way!

Our hosts Daniel and Cristina picked us up bright and early at 7:30 and we headed for the Carpathian Mountains.

As we were driving, an alert came over our phones! Christina commented that this was happening where we were going!

It was about a two hour drive to the Carpathia Mountains in their very comfortable van.

Our first stop was Pele’s Palace, which was built as the summer palace for the first king of Romania, Carol 1 and his wife Queen Elizabeth. King Carol built it using his own money so it took about 40 years to complete (1873 to 1914).

There were many innovations in the building, such as central heat, electricity, running water and a telephone. After 1900 two electric elevators and a central vacuum system were installed. Rooms were decorated in different styles such as Italian, French, and Moorish.

Cristina did a wonderful job of explaining what we were seeing, providing the history and interesting anecdotes. For me the most stunning thing about the building was all the rich decorations in wood.

Back in the van and on to our next stop, which was Bran Castle. Cristina suggested we view this as a medieval fortress as opposed to Dracula’s castle. It really has no connection to the vampire stories. It was built between 1377 and 1382 as defence of the Customs House and the commercial roads passing through the Bran Gorge.

We followed the arrows up and down narrow, steep staircases, throughout many rooms and low doorways!

Next stop was the medieval city of Brasov, which was settled by German immigrants in 1211. Again, Cristina provided a wealth of interesting information.

As we drove back to the city, Daniel stopped and let Sharon out to take pictures of the poppies we were seeing in the ditches. We tried to get a picture of Sharon in the ditch but were not successful.

We really enjoyed our time with Cristina and Daniel and she gave us so much interesting information about Romania and its history.

We got back to the apartment at 9pm! What a long day, but it wasn’t over yet. At Cristina’s suggestion, we found our way to this huge and happening restaurant called Hanu lui Manuc. It was too late for me to be able to eat a full meal, so Gary and I shared an order of Mici, which were very tasty sausages with mustard, and fries.

We ordered Papanash for dessert to share. They are small Romanian donuts (like Timbits), served with sour cream and blueberry jam and really delicious.

Dinner was finished at 10:30 and of course we had to sit around in the kitchen for awhile with a nightcap, so it was a late night!