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Published: October 21st 2006
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Tired after a long day driving----Cabana Mai near Paltinis In October 2004, I took a solo trip to Romania. When I told my friend Per (who is himself half-Romanian and whose family still owns land there) that I was going to Romania he asked me if I knew just what the hell I was doing going to Romania. The answer was yes.......but as I was to find out later, also no. Romania was surprising in some ways and disappointing in others. Surprising that it was so beautiful and has so much potential. Disappointing in that there is still a lot of poverty and pollution and that the people aren't really overly warm and cuddly (though I guess I might be a bit dour myself if my country had spent the last 45 years under a harsh communist dictatorship). The food was also really,
really bad...
September 15, 2007
I recently stumbled on my travel journal from this trip so I thought I'd post some of it here for those who might be interested....
October 18, 2004-----------Well, I am on day three of this thing and I'm in Brasov. Things started out badly as I missed my connection in Paris and had to get the
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Barsana Monastery next flight out. Then my bag didn't make it to Bucharest so I had to stay in an airport hotel (Hotel Confort------I spotted it from the air as the plane was landing) and luckily, I got my bag the next day.
When I got to Bucharest, the car rental place was in a little booth and noone was home but luckily the girl running the exchange booth next door called the guy who ran the car place and he came to meet me. He also charged me US$20 for his taxi ride as I was supposed to have been there several hours earlier. I knew this was a rip-off because a taxi into Bucharest should've been about $7 or $8 but I was tired and really didn't give a shit at that point. Next day (the 17th) I stayed in Sinaia---a decent enough place but forgettable. Stayed at the Irish House which was very nice. I ended up thinking I would take a nap about 5 pm but ended up not waking up until 12 am. So much for trying out Sinaia's nightlife...
Now I'm sitting in Pizza Roma---a really nice place just off the square in Brasov.
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I think this was in Ieud... Brasov is very pretty---kind of what I was hoping for. I still haven't developed a feel for Romania yet. I haven't been able to feel relaxed--I don't know why. I haven't really seen the overwhelming friendliness that Romanians are supposed to possess, though I have seen a few people who are friendly. To tell the truth, most folks seem kind of dour... When I leave this restaurant, I have to brave the gauntlet of fierce barking dogs I passed when I was walking to the square down this little cobble-stoned lane. They looked like they could jump their fences if they really wanted to and eat me alive. The walk down was in daylight and now its dark. I really hope none of them actually
do jump the fence because they were all big and bad and mean-looking as hell...
October 19, 2004-----------Well, I chickened out on walking back last night and instead got a taxi back to where I'm staying. Tonight I drove down into Brasov instead. The bad part about that is that in Romania, you are allowed 0%!a(MISSING)lcohol in your system if you're driving. That means I can't even have a beer...
I
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Vatra Dornei-----after a bad couple of days and being in Sighetu Marmatiei (which I think just may be the most depressing town in Romania--- if not the world), Vatra Dornei was just what I needed. Its a nice little spa town with a faded-communist-glory type vibe. Nothing there to see or do there really other than have a walk around the park and a bite to eat but I liked it... called Per tonight. First time I've spoken with him in 9 or 10 years. He sounded the same but.......different. I wonder if he thinks the same about me. I guess we
are different. Getting older tends to do that to a person...
Today I got out and meandered about the countryside a bit. I went to Prejmer and Harmon and saw the fortified churches there and then went to Rasnov and Bran to see their castles. This country really does have some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. I can't get over how much the hills here look like the Appalachians at home. No wonder they shot "Cold Mountain" here...
October 20, 2004-------------Today I arrived in Sighisoara and I guess I should get the bad stuff out of the way first. as I was coming into town this afternoon, I saw a police car, a big orange semi-truck, and a big crowd. As I got closer, I realized that there was a body lying in the street behind the truck, covered with a sheet, and a crushed bicycle. Apparently the poor soul (I couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman) had been
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In a world of disgusting toilets I feel that this little squatter at Moldovita Monastery deserves a little special mention. I think the liquid fecal matter and the bit of TP on the side was a nice touch... run over by the truck just before I arrived. Even though the body was covered, there was a large amout of blood flowing from underneath the sheet onto the street. It was a grisly and disturbing scene and it really has kind of darkened my mood tonight.
October 21, 2004-------------I got pretty well trashed last night at dinner and I paid for it today.......bad hangover. I finally got some guts (or was it just the wine?) and tried to check out the local scene in Sighisoara but couldn't really find it. I could
hear it, but I couldn't ever find out how to get into this (I think the only) club. I ended up going back to this little internet cafe/bar place and drank a beer. The people there were not exactly warm and friendly------they basically just sat and stared at me a lot------so I found a place in the corner and just mulled over how I'm finding Romanians to be just so damn dour and withdrawn. This is definitely not what I expected or was led to believe about Romania.
Now I'm in Sibiu staying at this very small, plain but nice little place called Hotel
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Sucevita Monastery-------I think everyone who's ever been there has taken this exact photo. Hell, its even in Lonely Planet... Podul Minciunilor. I haven't seen much of Sibiu yet but the people here do seem maybe a little sunnier-------or perhaps I just want them to be at this point...
I didn't do or see much today because my hangover had stolen my enthusiasm but I did walk around a little and I went to this little village called Biertan to see the fortified Saxon church there. It was pretty impressive though it seems that Romania isn't really well set up for tourism. Places like this are everywhere yet they are all just crumbling----no maintainence is done at all and there is rarely anyone manning any kind of entrance or charging a fee.
One incident that kind of brightened my day a bit was when I was driving through this little village to get to Biertan. I was driving fairly slowly to avoid the usual hazards when I saw these two kids----maybe 2 or 3 years old----running from the front steps of their house towards the road. I slowed down, afraid they were going to run in front of my car but they stopped at the roadside and threw up a big 2-handed wave each. I waved back and
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One of the many horse-drawn wagons you see everywhere on the roads in Romania they had these huge grins on their faces as if seeing some foreigner driving through their village was the coolest thing they'd ever seen. It made me smile...
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Heather
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The toilets!
My husband and I were contemplating visiting Romania after reading about it in Wanderlust magazine. Your photos and comments were very helpful especially the one of the toilet which I think has just put me off for life!!!!!