Drokpa Journal

Dates Traveled: December 2009 - January 2010

Brazov and Daytrips

We caught the bus from Chisinau, Moldova, to Brazov, Romania, arriving after dark and without any local currency. I’m too accustomed to traveling in countries where you can do a black-market money exchange with dodgy dudes at borders, haggling for a better exchange rate. I keep forgetting that doesn’t happen at European borders. In fact, we had stopped at a bus station along the route and both Rhona and I needed to use the toilet, but there were no ATM’s in site, and exchange offices were closed for the night. We ended up bumming some money off the bus driver. Once we arrived in Brazov we figured we’d simply hit an ATM at the bus station and then take a taxi into town. Except that there wasn’t an ATM at the bus station. Doh! We set out walking in what we hoped was the direction of town, and after a few starts-and-stops for directions, arrived at our hostel about an hour later. A lengthy orientation hike of Brazov - with all of our luggage.

We really enjoyed Brazov, and ended up spending a week there. It had some nice sites, beautiful architecture, good restaurants, and a festive Christmas atmosphere.

The first day we simply wandered town to see what was around – the air was crisp, and everything looked beautiful in a fresh coating of snow. Unfortunately, as our week progressed that fresh snow, with no new accumulation, turned into a muddy mess. We climbed high when we could – up the hill on one side of town, and up a couple of defensive towers on the other, to get a view over the compact older section of town where we were staying. Very picturesque.

On the second day we hopped on a bus and headed to Bran to see the castle – immortalized in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. In reality it was the castle of Vlad the Impaler. Hmmm…catchy name – wonder how he got it?!? We came to appreciate seeing some of the sites in the off-season – no crowds, and we could stand and read all of the information without being hustled along. We checked out the inside of the castle, then ran the gauntlet of souvenir stands as we circled around the back, trying to find a high point with an overall view of the castle. We eventually climbed up a nearby hill, found a few places where we could peer through the trees, and had the view we were hoping for – score! And we had it to ourselves…always a bonus.

Back in Brazov we went straight to a more upscale restaurant for dinner. It was December 24, Christmas Eve, and we were in the mood to celebrate with some good food and some wine. Along with the food/drinks menu we were also given the music list – we could set the ambiance for our dining experience. Nice. Several hours later after some great food, good conversation, much laughter, ‘our’ music, and three bottles of wine, we declared Christmas Eve a success and headed back to our hostel. As we climbed the stairs we found a party going on in the common area, and the manager wondering why we were late. “Uh, maybe because you never told us there was going to be a party?!?” We plopped down, introduced ourselves, ate some more, drank some more, and then we pulled out the bottle of Ukrainian chili vodka we’d been given by a friend in Moldova. And thus concludes my memories of Christmas Eve in Brazov….

Needless to say, we didn’t get much accomplished on Christmas day. We finally stumbled out of bed quite late and simply walked up to the local ice skating rink, where we bought some snacks and sat around watching people. Later we met another couple for dinner. They’d been at the hostel party the night before, so when the manager passed along a message that they wanted to meet us for dinner on the 25th we were relieved – we couldn’t have been TOO obnoxious the previous night.

After Christmas we spent three more days in the Brazov area, taking day trips on two of those. The first day trip was to the small town of Sinaia, and the amazing Peles Castle. An already impressive site when viewed through the falling, heavy, wet snow as we walked up to the castle, our tour of the inside left me speechless. The place was incredible. Built as a summer retreat for King Carol I back in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s, each room seemed to offer more extravagant, over-the-top flourishes than the preceding room. One of my favorites was the Honor Hall – the intricate wood carving extending through three stories was spectacular. After Peles we popped into the nearby Pelisor Castle. Its considerably understated and minimalistic interior barely registered after having just seen Peles. Maybe we should have seen the castles in a different order.

Our other day trip from Brazov took us to the small Transylvanian towns of Prejmer and Harman, known for their fortified churches. The churches, built in the 13-16th centuries, are surrounded by defensive walls, and are said to be some of the best examples of fortified churches in Europe – hence their inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List. We first stopped in Prejmer, found the citadel, and walked up to…a closed gate. Looking around we saw a notice stating the building is closed on Mondays. Our guidebook stated otherwise. Hmmmm. Well, the door wasn’t completely closed, so we pushed it open and boldly entered the compound. We were soon met by a fairly uncompromising woman who was on her way out, and wanted us to do the same. We finally convinced her to allow us 5 minutes to walk around. The church wasn’t opened, but at least we could get a feel for the place – the storage units in the defensive walls, the four stories of ‘cells’ where people lived, etc. It was rushed, but gave us a glimpse.

Prejmer had been the only town we were planning on seeing that day. We had hoped to get there by public bus, but didn’t have any luck with that, so we’d been forced to hire a cab (it’s only 18 kms from Brazov). Our cabbie had never been to the churches, but he must have felt bad that we’d come out there to see something and it was closed. He therefore took us to the nearby town of Harman on the way back to Brazov. Like Prejmer, the fortified church at Harman was closed on Mondays. However, we had more luck convincing that caretaker to let us in, so we checked out the church, noted the German bibles (still used today), and wandered the grounds.

Sighisoara

We really enjoyed Brazov as it was a great little town, and a nice place to spend a white/muddy Christmas. However, after a week it was time to move on. A bus took us to the UNESCO-listed town of Sighisoara.

Our days in Sighisoara were spent exploring the old town – wandering the narrow, cobble-stoned streets; taking photos of the brightly-colored homes; checking out the museum; and climbing to the top of the clock tower for birds-eye views of the town. As was the case with many cities of that time (12th century), Sighisoara was built to defend against attack – it’s a walled city built on a hill. There’s something about walking into a city through a large gate in a defensive wall that I’ve always liked – I don’t know why. We enjoyed our days of wandering aimlessly through the old town. A close second was all the time we spent huddled in cafes over hot drinks when we needed a break from the cold weather.

While wandering we came across a beautiful little pension with a For Sale sign. Hmmmm….Just for grins we popped in and talked to the owner. I’m sure she realized it was a bit out of our league, but she was nice enough to tell us about the place, show us the various rooms, and explain all of the renovation work they’d carried out. It was all beautifully done and adhered to traditional styles. Spectacular. And we were told that because it’s been on the market for awhile, the price had come down considerably. It could be ours for ‘only’ one million Euros. “Uh – do you take plastic?” It really was a perfect little place, though – no additional work would be necessary. You could simply buy it and be in business the following day.

Our New Years Eve was spent, like our Christmas Eve, drinking copious amounts of wine. We then wandered up to the old town, found a bench in a main square where many had gathered, and watched/toasted/kissed as fireworks were set off all around us. It had been a fantastic 2009, and 2010 was looking pretty good as well…..

Gura Humoruli

Or was it? The following morning we walked up to the bus station, only to find that none of the buses were running on New Years day – the place was completely deserted. We walked to the nearby train station and discovered we could take a series of trains to Gura Humoruli, but that we’d have to wait around for 5 hours before departure, and wouldn’t arrive in Gura Humoruli until well past midnight. With no other options we popped across the street to a small restaurant, ate, and killed time.

We finally arrived in Gura Humoruli at something like 3AM. However, as luck would have it the place we were thinking of staying was 100 meters from the train station. Sweet! We knocked on doors, rang doorbells, and tried to call them – all to no avail. I wandered through some back streets trying to find another pension, but didn’t have any luck. We tried knocking/calling again, and finally roused somebody from slumber – only to discover they were full for the night. Disappointed! We were pointed in the direction of the main part of town, started walking there, and came across a Best Western. They’re not really our style while traveling, but at this time of the morning we knew at least they’d be open, and they looked big enough that they’d have rooms. We were right, but we had to pay for that convenience. Ouch! Still, we actually ended up getting a discount, and then basically had two ‘sleeps’ there for the price of one, so it worked out in the end, though it was still considerably more than we’d been paying for accommodation.

After a lie-in we set out walking towards Voronet Monastery. We were in that part of Romania to visit some of the UNESCO-listed ‘painted churches’ - churches from the 15-16th centuries which were covered in beautiful frescoes. Seeing that first one, Voronet, was pretty amazing. The outside was covered in hundreds of scenes – biblical saints and martyrs, historical events, campaigns of war – you name it. I found myself having to look at it in stages. First the overall impression of the entire painted church. Then I’d find one wall and try to make sense of the composition, before focusing down to a much smaller area to appreciate the detail of the paintings. It was well worth the cold walk to and from.

The following morning we hitch-hiked out to Humor to see the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin. As at Voronet, the Humor church exterior was covered in frescoes. However, it’s more known for its interior paintings, though we’ll have to take the Lonely Planet’s word on that. We stood around in the cold for over an hour – taking photos of the outside, wandering around the small town, hoping to find someone to open the church. It never happened. Finally, the biting cold got the better of us and we retreated back to Gura Humoruli.

Vatra Moldovitei

A series of trains whisked us up to Vatra Moldovitei – a tiny commune in the north of Romania. The following morning we made our way, through a beautiful new blanket of snow, to the Moldovita Monastery. The church was enclosed within a defensive wall, and, like those at Voronet and Humor, had an exterior completely adorned in beautiful frescoes. I really liked the peaceful setting, as we had the place to ourselves.

We also enjoyed wandering around the small farming community – eerily silent in the fresh snow, though it did get a bit chilly!

Suceava

From Vatra Moldovitei it was a bus/train combination to our last stop in Romania – the town of Suceava. We went to check out another painted church, though it was much more faded than those we’d seen previously. We wandered the streets a bit, and popped into the market, but to be honest Suceava didn’t do much for us. As we also spent time trying to organize our onward transport, maybe our minds were already in the Ukraine, I don’t know, but given the choice we probably wouldn’t stop in Suceava again.

We enjoyed our time in Romania, though it was quick – only 2 weeks. We concentrated our time in Transylvania, and then in the north of the country to see the painted churches. We opted to skip the capital, Bucharest, this time around. We figure that when we live in Munich some of these places in Europe will be much more accessible – and we can hit them in warmer weather. I think it’s safe to say that we will be returning to Romania.

Romania Photos

Email This Post     Print This Post