Blogs from Transilvania, Romania, Europe - page 5

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Europe » Romania » Transilvania » Brasov October 6th 2017

One! One castle where Vlad Tepes, who rumour has it Bram Stoker based the character Dracula, stayed! Ahhh, ahhh, ahhh! Two! Two castles where Vlad Tepes, who rumour has it Bram Stoker based the character Dracula, stayed! Ahhh, ahhh, ahhh! The next leg of our journey has us heading into the Carpathian Mountains which are north-ish from Bucharest. We rented a car for this part and are glad we did. Getting out of Bucharest was a little frustrating but not more so than any big city at rush hour. Once out, though, it was smooth sailing to Peles Castle. It’s about 1.5-2 hrs outside Bucharest in the Carpathian Mountains. It was the summer palace of Romanian King Carol and was beautiful but insanely ornate. Like someone set of a canon packed with gold leaf in every ... read more
Peles ballroom
Bran Castle
souvenirs

Europe » Romania » Transilvania » Sibiu July 20th 2017

It was still drizzling as we walked into the Piata Mare on Sunday morning. The previous evening I had been intent on supper and had only fleetingly noticed the characteristic eye-like windows in the roofs of the houses on the square. Suddenly they were everywhere on every building both old and modern. I especially liked the ones on the older buildings which had the hooded look of a predatory crocodile! We thought we should try and see if there were any tickets left for the international theatre festival which ended that day but there weren't so we contented ourselves with a leisurely walk around the centre and the picturesque cobbled back streets with their colourful houses. There was a tour of German tourists being shown around the town and indeed Sibiu has a German mayor, Johannes ... read more
Sibiu
Sibiu
Sibiu

Europe » Romania » Transilvania » Sibiu July 14th 2017

Mention Transylvania and the first thing people think of is Dracula! In fact Bran Stoker never visited Romania and spun the best-selling story about the bloodthirsty vampire from elements he had heard about the life of Vlad Tepes, known as the Impaler, a warrior prince who held back the tide of invaders from the Ottoman Empire and had a particularly nasty way of dealing with his enemies! The Dracula bit comes from his father, another Vlad, whose moniker was Dracul which translates as "devil" and "little dragon" because he belonged to an order of knights which had a dragon on its shield. That is a preamble to our visit to Bran Castle, made appropriately in the lashing rain which leant a grey tinge to all our photos of that place. Built by those stalwart Saxons from ... read more
Bran Castle
Bran Castle
Bran Castle

Europe » Romania » Transilvania July 9th 2017

My Lonely Planet guide had warned us of the dangers of being ripped off by taxi-drivers and indeed one such rip-off merchant charged us 50 lei (£10), for a short ride from one area of Bucharest to another. It should have cost 15 lei max but we didn't know it at the time. It was only when Lynn and I took a taxi from the old town to the railway station, with a similar journey time, and were charged 12 Lei that it dawned on us. Romania is due to join the euro in a few years' time but in the meantime its own currency is the norm in everyday transactions although a lot of hotels are quoting prices in euros. One Lei is 20 pence and you can appreciate how low the cost of living ... read more
Brasov
Brasov
Brasov

Europe » Romania » Transilvania » Brasov July 1st 2017

Wednesday 21stJune Vampire Camping Bran Romania customs after crossing the Danube was a slow affair as each vehicle was thoroughly checked and our passport and van documents thoroughly examined. We bought a vignette for seven days and headed to the mountains and the small town of Bran. Initially the landscape of the Danube delta was flat with fields of sunflowers in full bloom interspersed with wheat and other crops. At the pretty town of Campulung, the road started to climb and deteriorate. Road improvements meant frequent stops at temporary traffic lights. Then the storm started and road flooded with the torrential rain. Impatient Romanian drivers and huge articulated lorries added to the excitement as did the fact that the temperature had dropped dramatically from 32 degrees to 14 degrees resulting in a very steamed up windscreen. ... read more
Castle Bran again
Monty the Carpathian mountain dog
Curmatura refuge

Europe » Romania » Transilvania » Cluj » Cluj-Napoca April 29th 2017

Cluj Napoca, orasul Transilvaniei care te duce cu gandul la faimoasa gradina botanica,cu frunzele imense de nuferi. Gasit cazare cu greu la hotelul Belvedere intr-un final, un hotel vechi, cu parcare generoasa 3 nopti- 456 ron, 188 fara mic dejun, camera matrimoniala, vedere panoramica asupra orasului.... read more
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Europe » Romania » Transilvania » Brasov » Brasov April 2nd 2017

Brasov, orasul atestat documentar in 1252 sub numele latin Corona sau denumirea germana Kronstadt, care inseamna "Orasul Coroana" sub numele latin Corona sau denumirea germana Kronstadt, care inseamna "Orasul Coroana", ambele denumiri fiind oglindite in sigla orasului. Oras fondat de catre Cavalerii Teutonici in 1211, iar urmele colonistilor germani pot fi observate in arhitectura gotica, baroca si renascentista, impreuna cu o multitudine de atractii istorice pastrate sau refacute/renovate cat sa ne atraga si pe noi sa le revizitam. Zona pietonala din centrul vechi ne-a intampinat cu o bogata varietate de terase de unde puteam urmari funicularul de pe muntele Tampa. Cazare gasita intr-un apartament stil garsoniera cu bucatarie si baie moderna inclusa, cu priveliste de vis, cu parcare gratuita, asta poate ca am ajuns in extrasezon. Strada CD Gherea nr 38-5star residence la 1,5 km de ... read more
interior
interior1
privelistea de vis

Europe » Romania » Transilvania » Sibiu » Sibiu October 20th 2016

We set off for Sibiu on back roads without hardly any traffic or people about as the bad weather had finally arrived. It wasn’t so bad though – just a light rain. We arrived at Biertan, our first stop of the day. Unfortunately the rain picked up during our visit and we had no umbrella, of course. So many umbrellas had been waved in my face every time a cloud appeared all through our trip but with blue skies and strong sun on our heads we never felt we needed one and by the time we did, there was not an umbrella to be found. So we were umbrellaless in the rain but not terribly bothered by it most of the time. The countryside was very pretty but mostly empty and misty. Every village has a ... read more
Sibiel
Sibiel
Sibiel

Europe » Romania » Transilvania October 18th 2016

We said goodbye to Brasov and set off on the road to Sighisoara where we would be spending the weekend. Almost immediately we saw the ruins of a large castle perched on a hill at the back of a small town. We drove through the town to a castle in the final stages of restoration. This scene was to repeat itself all over Transylvania. Every town and village has a castle or a fortified church, or sometimes just a beautifully painted shrine at the entrance to a tiny nondescript village. We drove on through the countryside to Viscri where there is a famous fortified church. We passed a colorful gypsy village but the people didn’t look so friendly and we were starting to get a bit nervous. Google maps was directing us up a very badly ... read more
Another impressive castle
Sighisoara has the best windows
Put your sunglasses on now

Europe » Romania » Transilvania » Brasov » Brasov October 13th 2016

We nearly went to Italy – again. Not that there is anything wrong with that but we were in danger of becoming serial visitors, automatically going off to Italy at every opportunity – well, it is pretty fabulous but then there are a whole lot of places that we have never visited that are also pretty fabulous. So we decided to visit Romania, Transylvania specifically. At Bucharest airport we collected our rental car and headed off for our first stop, Brasov, where we would be spending 5 days. We had intended to stay the first two days in Sinaia to be close to Peles Castle and the mountains but after reading that they were closed on Monday and Tuesday (the days we were supposed to be there), we decided it would be better to stay in ... read more
Portrait of a smiling goat
Goat herder with his sheep and goats
View from the hotel to Brasov citadel




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