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Published: February 10th 2010
Poienari Citadel
almost there... That was a quick week of travel, as in two weeks I have been in four countries (We've decided against Kosovo). Mostly just seeing the capital cities, though, as there is no time on this journey to see the 'good stuff' although city life anywhere is interesting enough... So, from my last entry, leaving Macedonia, the train left early evening so went to watch Avatar to pass the time. It was a decent way to spend three hours. Packing up at the hostel, the owner's MASSIVE puppy stomped on the bag of pizza-flavour crisps saved for the overnight train journey and they exploded all over the main room... no more midnight snack for us 😞 ... We sat in the most uncomfortable, budget-looking seats as we didn't know where our tickets were good, then spent the night with one eye open as it was in an area full of seats and only a few shady looking men (and one nice Greek woman) sat. Actually, i slept pretty soundly though waking every hour or two to adjust or show my ticket and Step stayed up on guard all night. I guess someone has to be sensible... In Serbia, we got the hostel
(in Belgrade, Serbia) at 8am and went out to town immediately so as not to waste time.
Immediately i noticed the graffiti artists put a lot more time into their works, covering most walls, bridges, buildings, etc with a very artistic picture or symbol or name. Our dorm room was a bit big, but so many bunkbeds crowded together you couldn't tell. It resembled a war-era hospital or an old orphanage the number of bunk beds in the space allocated. The hostel workers even slept in the dorms with us on their own bunk beds. They offered us soem Serbian peach brandy which was homemade and tasted as if it were 200% alcohol. All these large Serbian men were sipping it from glasses they filled with only millimeters of liquid. Strong stuff!
Seeing another Aleksander Nevski church, but this one was quite impressive. We circled around the perimeter to see the whole of the church, which the exterior wasn't as extreme and ornate as the one we saw in Sofia, but the event that was happening definitely took the cake... We saw tables in the front of the church with massive white barrels full of gallons of water
with brown crosses stuck to them. The church's outdoor hose was filling up these barrels and at the bottom of them were spouts to get the water. Locals were pouring in the gates with old pop and water bottles, waiting in line to get their bottle filled up with the water, which, under the circumstances, must then be Holy water. They would take in turns filling up their bottle, then toss some money in a bucket on the ground under the big water barrels. It was quite amazing to watch for a few minutes, and to see passer-byers lighting candles in a sheltered section outside the church or cross themselves as they passed the church.
Side note: Belgrade's traffic light system needs major improving as the timing is ridiculous and gets mobs of pedestrians stuck on a tiny median in the middle of the road to wait for the next green-man to allow crossing.
The next day we took a train from Belgrade to Bucharest, which was another overnighter but this time, got a separate cabin to ourselves. When we crossed into Romania during the evening, the ticket taker told us by signaling and using a few English
words, for us to tie our door shut and not let anyone in, as they could steal our stuff... a bit scary. But it worked out just fine. At first it was pretty cold in the cabin but during the night warmed as there was an individual thermostat in the cabin. The heat came from under the seats and i woke up absolutely roasting and sweating and not very happy. I eventually got the gist of it and slept great through the night, despite the train feeling like parts were falling off constantly. Ah, the Eastern European transport system...
Basically spent a few days wandering Bucharest, saw a few museums, lots of churches, amazed at the hoards of stray dogs in the streets, which all look well fed and healthy.. well, most do anyway.
Yesterday was pretty amazing; saw a castle built for Vlad Ţepeş in Poienari. The guide book was pretty vague on how to get there and wasn't sure if the only road would be open due to the snow. But it was easy enough to find. Took a maxi-taxi from the town of Curtea de Argeş where the accommodation was at a 'Pensiune Roxi', a
guest house with the friendliest Romanian family serving the most incredible filling egg and fried-cheese breakfasts. The maxi-taxi stopped at a split in the road in a small village called Căpăţânenii, where we walked about 2 km down a paved road toward a power plant. We had a small pack of three dogs follow us practically from the stop, all more interested in Step and sniffing his pants- always walking behind and beside him. We later discovered that he had left a chocolate cookie in his pocket, thus the dogs' enthusiasm to his left leg...
After 2 km and seeing a very beautiful view of snow-capped mountains, a half frozen river winding under us, and loads of trees covered in a powdery, undisturbed snow, we got to where "The Real Dracula's Castle", otherwise known as Cetatea Poienari. The ruins of the castle were up on a hill and at the bottom of the hill we were joined by five more dogs. With our entourage of stray pooches walking along side us, we all walked up the icy 1,480 some steps to the castle. Being the only ones there was nice, we got to walk around inside, see the valley
below, take pictures of the stunning landscapes. All the while the dogs played, fought, ate snow and waited for us to descend. We immediately lost all but two of the first three we started out with, and they walked with us back to their original starting points.
We took maxi taxi to Arefu, a tiny village allegedly populated only with descendants and minions of Ţepeş. It was a cute village but nothing to do but be stared at by curious locals wondering why strangers are at their village in the middle of winter. Found it interesting most of the houses had a small wooden 'chapel' built outside their property where pictures of Jesus or Mary hung, along with crosses, candles, and other preying memorabilia. The structures reminded me of a shorter wooden outhouse without a door.
Been in Romania a few days now, spending time in Bucharest and Curtea de Argeş, which is a quiet town, but unfortunately the one time we desperately needed the internet to secure accommodation in a cheap hostel in Bucharest, there is no internet access in the whole village, and all the payphones require you buy a card from the post office (which
Selling Holy water
If the hose comes from the church faucet outside, does that make it holy water? was closed) and wouldn't let you use coins to call! There was also a very nice monastery we went inside, where there were tombstones for King Ferdinand I and the loved Queen Marie. The architecture was phenomenal with such intricately designed columns and pillars, all the walls were painted of religious figures and kings. There was a massive golden chandler above an intricate design mosaic tiled floor that if you stared at, got dizzy.
Anyway, if we make it past all the stray dogs tonight (they form packs in the night in the streets to find food and there are literally hundreds of dogs wandering the city alone!) then should be off to Galati, a dog sanctuary in the east of Romania. Apparently it is quite an ugly town with nothing to do and when we've told people we are going there, they cringe their face and ask "Why would you go there??!" so this should be pretty interesting. At any rate,
^Út Í Óvissuna^
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JohnUSA
John K.
At least you stopped off at the "real" one. My knees took months to recover from the climb. If you're ever in Bucuresti again I suggest "The Funky Chicken" across from the National Radio Theatre on B'dul Gen'l Bertolet. Walking distance from the Gara d' Nord. (And, yes, I knew the chicken the place was named after, but he's looooong dead by now.)