Brasov

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Day 4-Royal Palace & Brasov
20 August 2010

Yet another perfect weather day. It is no wonder why this village was picked for summer get-a-ways from the heat in Bucharest.

Before reporting on today, Jackie just reminded me to tell about the dogs. We were warned before arriving in Sinaia that there was no air conditioning in the hotel. But as nights were cool, it would be fine as you could just open the windows and get a cool breeze in the room. “You might hear some dogs during the night but nothing to worry about,” said our guide. If it troubled you then you could just close the windows. Right!

On the first night we were still recovering from jet lag. So, while traveling in the bus we would nap. That meant that sleeping soundly after a day of napping could be a challenge. So, we got to bed in our separate twin beds, about 11:00pm. We both said that the cool air from the open windows felt great. Then we went to sleep.

Then about 2:30am, I thought I heard a werewolf nearby. Not just one. Maybe 100! I could not believe what was going on just outside my window. Then I remembered….the dogs!

So, following our guide’s advice, I closed the windows. I could still hear the werewolves (dogs) but guessed that I would just go back to sleep. In about 30 minutes I was missing the breeze. Jackie was still asleep and I knew she would soon wake up and complain about the heat, so I opened the windows again. The dogs were now at a high pitch. We were told that brown bears would come down into the village at night and the dogs would react. I’m guessing a bunch of bears were roaming the streets of Sinaia.

Now, on to day 4. We started with a visit to the royal palace known as Pele’s Castle. We discovered that in 1866, Romania invited a Royal German family to send a prince to bring royalty to this country. A prince came and in 1881, he was named King Charles I, of Romania. The official palace was located in Bucharest. And, after a few years the royal family decided on Sinaia to build a summer palace. That is now called Pele’s Castle.

The tour was very impressive. I could not believe the art and woodwork. This palace was built around the end of the 19th century so it had a few modern conveniences such as an elevator, dumb waiters, and a few smart ones too. Apparently, the King was fond of ancient weapons and had one of the world’s largest collections in the castle.

Next, we were bussed about 30 miles north into Transylvania again to Brasov. It is the home town of Hunor, our guide. It is also the location of a major national uprising in 1987 against the communist party and the overall conditions of the country. It started when workers at a truck factory went on strike after they were denied a promised quota (food coupons). There were 20,000 workers at this factory. Word spread quickly to another nearby factory (tractors) and these workers joined the others. As they marched to the center of town towards the headquarters of the communist party from two directions, Hunor can remember hearing a roar (similar to sounds from a stadium). The crowd was not stopped by the authorities. Instead they hid among the trees and other things and filmed the event. Two days later after all had calmed, the secret police came and arrested many of the participants. Those that were considered the ring leaders were beaten and some even irradiated Today, these people are considered national heroes..

We toured the old town section and had lunch then were introduced to Demer, Hunor’s 10-year old daughter. She spoke perfect English. She said her father had insisted on this since she was a child. She rode with us on the bus to a mountain top where we stopped for a short wine and cheese stop.

Then we returned to Sinaia for our last evening. Jackie and I went for a walk. We wanted to ride the sky lift to the mountain top but got there too late. So, we did a long walk around the village. We retired early and I tried to catch up on my blogs. We had good internet connection in the hotel lobby. I found out later that it did not work on the following morning so this blog could not be sent that morning.
Tomorrow we are bussed back to Bucharest to meet up with the other travelers on our tour. The trip to Transylvania was a “pre-trip.” The river cruise will start after we reach the ship. We will drive all the way to the Danube in Ruse, Bulgaria tomorrow afternoon.

Stay tuned….

Tom

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Photos

Royal Palace
This was worth seeing. I've seen a few castles and this was one of the best.

Modern transportation
Yes, we saw these everywhere. This one had rubber tires. Not all did.

Medieval Gate
The gate to Brasov

Hunor and daughter
This is our guide from Romania and his 12 year old daughter. She was cute and spoke great English.

Comments

[patty]

This is wonderful...great commentary
Now I want to go...hummmm I can dream xox

[Irene]

One question - did Jackie sleep through the dogs howling?