Blogs from Romania, Europe - page 12

It's been a lovely day with sunny spells and some scattered showers. We decided to head off to MUZEUL GOLESTI which is a breath-taking traditional Romanian village with small traditional cottages, a church and school and horse stables, all gathered around the old mansion which used to belong to Dinicu Golescu (1777-1830), a wealthy and wise Romanian landowner who lived in the 18th/19th century. It is on account of many social and political enterprises and projects which he undertook and due to his thinking and understanding of the surrounding world that were far ahead of his time, that his life and enlightened attitude remain as a true landmark in the Romanian history. He founded a school on his property where children were given the opportunity to study free of charge and he took active part in ... read more

So I arrived in Bucharest at 6am after a somewhat uncomfortable overnight train from Sofia (there weren’t any couchettes and didn’t want to pay extra for a bed, and was woken up about 4 times for passport checks) but felt ok when I arrived. I dropped my bag at the station as I was taking a 1pm train to Brasov. Bucharest isn’t as bad as what people say, but I suppose its hit and miss with everyone, but I think 7 hours is enough to see the important bits. After a quick bite at McDonalds I started walking around the city, checking out the massive Parliament building, and next to it what seemed like the biggest playground in the world (just underneath was a nuclear bunker). I then went to Revolutionary Square, where the revolution of ... read more

The Palatul Parlamentului. The Palace of Parliament. After the pentagon, the largest administrative building in the world - using square footage for the measure. And the third largest in the world by cubic footage, right behind Cape Canaveral. Right here in Bucharest. And visible from the balcony of my apartment! In the 1984, the former Romanian dictator, Ceaşescu, had a vision of this immense Casa Poporului (House of the People). But at the time it was more popularly known as the Casa Nebunului (Madman’s House)! Ceaşescu had one fifth of the historic heart of old Bucharest razed, housing the former inhabitants of the district in tiny apartments that forced them to turn their dogs out on the street - a problem to this very day as packs of dogs still wander the streets. But the project ... read more

Sighisoara is a cool place. I spent the early morning avoiding the cold by attending a mass at a very nice Roman Orthodox church. I think that this was the first Roman Orthodox church mass that I sat through from beginning to end and it really was an interesting experience, as well as a toe thawing one. After that I walked around for a bit and checked out what is a beautifully set city. Sighisoara has only been a part of Romania since the end of World War 1 when it was transferred from the Austro-Hungarian empire. It still has a heavy German influence. The first people to settle there were the Saxons, having been invited by the King of Hungary during the 12th century to settle in Transylvania with the mind of defending his realm. ... read more

Having arranged accomodation through couchsurfing again, I found myself in Sibiu's main sqaure waiting for my host to come pick me up after finishing work. Alexander was his name and sales was his game. He was also a fairly high standing member of the Romanian Orthodox church as I was to soon find out. Unfortunately due to committments I had only one night and day in Sibiu. As Europe's cultural capital in 2007 you should probably allocate more time to the place than I did. However through good fortune god, the universal power, luck whatever you want to call it sent me Alexander along, who had been responsible for hosting European dignataries when they came en masse during 2007 to visit Sibiu. Thus having walked around the city during the day myself, trying to take in ... read more