Brasov & Sighisoara

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The second leg of this trip was Transylvania. We planned to fly into Bucharest and take a train to the central city of Transylvania, Brasov. Our flight to Romania was quick and easy but crowded and tight. We bought tickets from Istanbul to Bucharest Romania on Blue Air, one of the small budget airlines that are everywhere in Europe. The plane was clean and on time; of course our knees were jammed into the seat in front of us but you get what you pay for. Cost: about $100 round trip each.

There are 2 airports in Bucharest, the main is Otopeni and the 2nd is called Baneasa, which is used by charters and a couple of other small airlines. Once there, we decided to get some information before blindly jumping into the first taxi. When we came out of customs we found the information closet (well, that’s what it looked like) with a stout woman sitting on a small stool inside. She was protected from the public by a plexiglas window with a small hole about chest height (at least my chest). I had to stoop down to speak into the hole and then line my ear up to the hole to hear the answer. It was worth the effort. She steered us clear of the taxis outside the airport door and advised us to walk outside and across the street/boulevard to the bus stop and get a taxi there, it would be cheaper. She also told us the taxis use meters (make sure he turns it on!) and the cost is 1 lei (30 cents) per kilometer and it was about 12 kilometers to the Gare De Nord train station. This was good advice. When we came out of the airport we were offered many taxis rides into the city for only 40 lei! Yeah right. It turned out to be only 9 lei to the train station.

The train ride to Brasov was great. We were on an express train which means a newer train and less stops along the way. You have to be observant when riding the trains in this country. We were accustomed to Germany where each car has a sign telling its destination and class. These trains had 1 sign about every 4th car. Also coming into the stations there was usually only 1 city sign and that was on the station itself. No signs on the platforms telling you which stop you were at. Our tickets were about $9 one way to Brasov. It was a sunny day and the landscape was beautiful. We saw an interesting mix of abandoned factories, forest and green farmland. Farmers worked in the fields with horses and carts, flocks of sheep with their shepherds and sheepdogs standing guard.

When we visited Paris we got hooked on staying in apartments and out of hotels. We found a nice place in Brasov very easily on the internet, called eastwestcomfort.com which has lots of places to choose from in both Brasov and Bucharest. For about the same price as a nice hotel (60 Euros) we had a large 1 bedroom apartment in the old city just about a block away from the Black Church. Full kitchen, satellite TV, very clean. When we arrived in Brasov the company picked us up and got us settled in the apartment and gave tourist advice at the same time. Our first thing to do was head to the supermarket to stock the kitchen. We had good directions to the market and found it easily. Also found an internet café along the way; have to remember that for later. The supermarket was in the basement of a department store and was much the same as other markets with a few exceptions. In the produce area you choose your produce and hand it to the stern looking produce lady who will bag it, weigh it and slap on a price sticker. In Paris you did this yourself. Then we found the meat and cheese area. Romania is crazy about salami! There are stores that sell nothing but salami. All kinds of salami which tastes nothing like the salami we’ve had in the USA. It’s harder, drier and much better tasting. We usually do pretty well in the grocery stores but I have to admit this time we were beaten. Twice we tried to buy some milk and ended up with yogurt.
Since I’m talking about food so much I’ll just get it all out now. This place has the best pizza ever! There are pizza restaurants everywhere! Even across the street from each other (can you say Starbucks?). Our favorite beer: Sinia Bruna, reminded us of Newcastle Ale. They have another dark brew, Ursus Bruna which reminded us of Guinness. Sinia and Ursus are like the Budweiser and Miller of Romania.

Recommended restaurant: Bella Musica. This restaurant is part of the Bella Musica Hotel located across the street from the main square (Piata Sfatului/big yellow building and tourist information) and is housed in a 400 year old wine cellar; with the entrance next to the hotel. Go into the passageway, about halfway back you will see a doorway on the right and some stairs going down. It’s easy to pass by the doorway. If you go all the way to the back of the passage you’ll end up in the Ischia Restaurant, which serves decent Italian food (we thought this was Bella Musica at first). The menu has both traditional Romanian and Mexican food plus music. You can order up a CD along with your meal, and if you stay long enough you may hear it play. Mike ordered Sting with our first meal but didn’t get to hear it until we came back a few days later (it just happened to be playing when we sat down). This place was very popular, our 2nd trip there we arrived for supper at 10PM and couldn’t get a table. I recommend the bean or goulash soup, but it’s all good. It opens for lunch at 1200 and is mid priced. We paid about $25 for a full supper for the 2 of us.

One of the big sights in Brasov is the Black Church; just a few minutes from our apartment and the largest gothic church in Eastern Europe. Built in the 13 and 1400s it’s called the black church because it was burned in the past. The church is beautiful on the outside, especially at night with the spotlights, but the interior was a bit of a let down. There has been a lot restoration and much of it looks fairly new.

And who can go to Romania without visiting castles and the odd fortress? We did the most popular and wisest thing and hired a taxi to take us around. We went to 3 castles in 1 day. Hiring a taxi is the best way; they charge by the kilometer and don’t charge for waiting for you while you tour. The cost for the cab was about 150 lei (150 kilometer round trip), about $50. You can do it on your own and on the cheap, either by taking a bus to the different towns (but then you end up walking up the hills to see the castle) or renting a car and driving yourself (expensive to rent a car in Romania, they drive like maniacs and you don’t know where you are going). Our driver knew exactly where to go; end result: much less travel stress.

Our trip to Bran Castle (the famous Dracula’s Castle) was a HUGE letdown. I’m not sure what we expected but what we got was walking a gauntlet of souvenir stands (all selling the same thing for about the same price) to reach the castle. Tourists are only allowed in part of the castle, which were the family quarters. It was last occupied in the 1930’s and the walls are covered with photos of the Queen. Bran castle was the only place in Romania set up for tourists and very commercialized. Out of the 3 castles, I would have to say Bran was the most boring. Everywhere else we went, we were just another person on the street, no souvenir shops, or someone trying to get you into their shop or take you for a tour. Very refreshing.

A castle we strongly recommend is Peles Castle, in Sinaia. This was built under the direction of the first king of Romania and completed after his death. It’s very young (completed in 1883) and small (only 160 rooms) as castles go, but very impressive. If you have ever seen the Hearst castle in San Simeon California you can get an idea of what Peles is like; but add better taste and class. The architecture, furnishings, art, objects and decoration were breathtaking. We had to wear shoe coverings before we could enter. Admission is about $10 and they provide guided tours in different languages at different times of the day. We were lucky enough to be able to join the English language tour just as we bought our tickets. There is also a smaller building next to the castle, called the Pelisor and also worth visiting. A bit of a mini castle (70 rooms), it was built as a summer residence. Photos and filming are not allowed inside so sorry, no inside pics. It’s our opinion Peles is more impressive than Hearst and more beautiful than Versailles. They also have a small café on the grounds, which has great strudel.

We’ve had enough time at Brasov, back on the train and north to Sighisoara.

On the train to Sighisoara. Not a new train this time. One from the soviet era, yuck, stay away from the restroom. They are rebuilding the train station so everything was a bit jumbled. No one was using the passageways which go under the tracks to get to the main station. They were all just walking over the tracks…okay, no other trains coming so we just followed. An interesting quirk about Sighisoara, are the old ladies who are the touts for room accommodation and are always waiting for the tourists and backpackers to get off the train. They all have a book with photos of the rooms in their houses and advertisement flyers. How can you say no to a nice little old lady? If you take them up on it they will usually put you in a taxi, tell the taxi where to go and turn around and look for the next client. When we told them we already had rooms they quickly lost interest in us. Once again we stayed away from hotels and chose to book a room in a private home in the Citadel. The big draw to Sighisoara is the Citadel (a stone fortress on the hill overlooking the town, built in the 1300s) and the birthplace of Vlad the impaler (the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula character). The place we stayed was great and much nicer than the hotels we looked at. We liked the place so much we posted some reviews on accommodation websites and I’m just going to stick the same write up here.

Rooms to Rent
Maurius Adams
St. Tamplaritor #6
Sighisoara Citadel
[phone]
[e-mail]

Located next to the Citadel wall and just meters from the Cizmarilor Tower. Between Marius and his teenage son they speak English, German, Romanian and French. We paid 20 Euro per night per room. There are 4 rooms in a newly built wing with comfortable furnishings. The place is spotless and smells like fresh air all the time. The 4 rooms on 2 floors share 2 bathrooms (1 on each landing). The rooms offer different combinations of different size beds and each has a TV. Breakfast is not included, but you can pet the family dog for free. We were very comfortable and would definitely stay here again. To truly experience the Citadel and Sighisoara properly, a stay in the Citadel is recommended. Walking the Citadel at night is great; very different from day time, when the place is crowded with tourists and the place is in full swing with the souvenir stands, shops and outdoor cafes doing a booming business. The Citadel is only 3 kilometers from the train station (but it’s almost straight up) and a taxi was about $1 to get there. We are in our 40s and not backpackers. We think we were much more comfortable staying here than we would have been in any of the hotels nearby. We checked out some of the hotels and our rooms with Marius were cleaner and more comfortable. We stayed for 2 nights in September 2006. Give him a call, you won’t be sorry. Many people who have homes in the Citadel earn their living by renting out rooms and there are signs everywhere for rooms to rent. I would recommend staying in a private home over any of the hotels in the Citadel. We found our rooms through a posting by another traveler who had stayed with Marius the year before. One thing we could not figure out: Why do they not use shower curtains in Romania?

A lot of the blogs and internet postings from other travelers, showed most people only stay in town for a few hours, long enough to walk around the Citadel and get back on the train. That’s a big mistake. The place is great. We stayed only 2 nights but could have easily stayed a few nights more.

The Citadel isn’t far from the train station, only 3 kilometers, but I don’t think we would have found it on our own and the taxi fare was only about $1. Once we checked in with Marius we dropped our bags and headed out onto the narrow cobblestone streets to explore the Citadel. The whole fortress is beautifully restored and maintained. Lot’s of restaurants and lots of souvenir shops but no one is pushy or obnoxious to the tourists, even the few beggars who approached us were polite. We saw very few Americans. After about 9PM the streets became deserted and walking the dark narrow passages hearing the echo of your footsteps on the cobblestones was eerie. You could easily imagine Bela Legosi emerging from a dark doorway. Another interesting thing to do: walk through the cemetery. We saw only 1 internet café and that was located in the basement of the Burg Hostel; easy to find.

Recommended restaurant: La Terace Jo is located just below the clock tower, heading down the cobblestone street as you leave the Citadel behind you. It’s a nice restaurant with a very large terrace and a great view. They have a big menu and (as usual) great pizza. We spent a few hours there with some cold Silva Bruna and delicious pizza.

On the way back we arrived by train to Bucharest and because of our flight times were forced to spend the night. We weren’t impressed with Bucharest, it doesn’t have a welcoming feel (and still had mosquitoes in October). We asked the apartment agency to find us a place to stay and we chose a very large studio apartment for 45 Euro a night. It was in a nice building with a 24 hour doorman. We had the evening to kill so we took a walk to look for a meal and after about 7 blocks of walking; we found an outdoor cafeteria near one of the metro stop. It took us a few minutes of observation to figure out how the system worked. You decide what you want, go to the cashier, tell her and pay for the food. She gives you a separate receipt for each item. You take your receipts to the counter that has your food item and trade the receipt for the food. The cafeteria was called Everest and the food was good with lots of variety. They had pizza, pasta, crepes, salads, sandwiches, main courses, junk food, espresso; yada yada yada. Lot’s of young girls working like crazy to keep everyone fed. We spent the rest of the night watching Romanian TV; their version of Wife Swap was pretty good. Later that evening, we watched a demonstration passing below our window which we could not figure out, but it was interesting to watch. Police everywhere, but only young men demonstrating. It lasted about 20 minutes.

So, as another travel adventure ends, we’ve come to realize that we are burnt out. We think we’re just tired of being tourists (it can be hard work you know!). We’re considering spending the next holiday doing nothing but vegetating in our favorite place. That means its back to Thailand for 2 weeks of being beach-bums on one of the small islands. The care free, laid back island life might be just what we need.

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Photos

Peles Castle
Taken from the gardens, on a very rainy day.

Bran Castle Gardens
A walk through the gardens; Bran Castle can be seen in the distance.

Stairs leading to Bran Castle
Bran, Romania

Peles Castle
One of the most beautiful castles.

Sighisoara Cemetery
Already a very grey photo, I decided to go all the way; for effect.

The Citadel of Sighisoara at night
Walking the cobblestone streets inside the walled fortress at night is an experience. Makes you think you'll run into Bela Lugosi around the next corner.

Black Church
Brasov, Romania

Comments

[Kate Hildebrand]

Great info
I'm thinking about going to Transylvania this Christmas. I loved your pics and info- thanks!