Bucharest & Sighisoara
Of course, I hadn't had time to blog before I left - and as I didn't take my laptop with me, it wasn't practical to blog abroad either! Not to mention the inconvenience of having to work, now that I'm back. Hence all the delay..
Anyway, our first morning in Romania dawned bright and sunny, if cool. In fact, throughout our trip, we were to have pretty hot days, with cool mornings and evenings. I was damn glad I remembered to pack a short-sleeved top, though. I found the view from my room interesting:
We had a rather good buffet breakfast - after which I decided to head out early and try to get a decent photo of the Palace of the Parliament before we left. Now, this is a massive building.. and it took some time to trek around to where I could get a good shot of a main entrance - but I persevered. I tell you something, I was impressed with the courtesy of Romanian drivers - the pedestrian crossings at busier intersections are light-controlled, but at the others, drivers immediately gave way to pedestrians! Very much alien to my previous experience.. Anyway, my first photo was of the cathedral (still under construction), in the building's grounds:
This was our hotel, BTW:
And this is as far around the Palace of the Parliament as I got:
At 8.30 (!) we headed off on a whistle-stop driving tour of the major sights of the city. It seemed we should have done that the day before, but there was some miscommunication, and our guide thought the Stansted flight would get in a lot earlier - by the time we did, of course, it was dark, and a tour was a bit pointless. I guess that was why we headed out so early next day - we needed to fit the tour in early, if we were going to get to our next stop, Sighisoara, in time! Romania is a big country..
As we crossed the river, our guide explained that Ceaucescu, during his 25 years in power, banned boats from the river - he had a phobia that he would be killed by someone on a boat. And sure enough, to this very day, the river remains deserted..
We had one photo stop - appropriately, at Revolution Square (formerly Palace Square). This was where the revolution took place in 1989 - Ceaucescu had arranged to give a speech, a few days before Christmas, from the palace balcony: but he didn't count on the reaction of the people, finally realising that there was no way he could stem the groundswell of fury. That was the beginning of the end for him.
The former palace is now an art gallery:
Several other historical buildings surround the square - there's the university library, with a statue of the first King of Romania, Carol I, in front:
And just down from that, the Athenaeum concert hall:
And there's a monument to the revolution. No, apparently the locals don't like it much either!
And so, out to the countryside - passing, on the way, a statue dedicated to pilots:
Our guide assured us that traffic is always terrible here - at least we were going against the bulk of it!
We tended to stop every 90 minutes or so for a comfort break - gas stations mostly, where the toilets are free. But our next major stop was in a lovely little town running along the road - as our guide said, this is a popular skiing area - and the scenery was lovely as we climbed into the mountains. We stopped for lunch in a charming restaurant, where we decided to sit outside, and our guide summarised the menu for us, and interpreted with the waiter. We were on the clock, so were warned not to have anything major - I had chicken noodle soup, and a glass of wine. Which came with a charming little jug!
Now, unfortunately, we were sat right beside a large floral display. Where there were wasps. Which love wine. We ended up with not one or two, but a veritable swarm of them.. to the extent that I didn't get much of my soup eaten, what with trying to fend them off (note the covered jug in this photo, which was as much as we could do)..
And so, on we went.. en route, coming across fortified towns on the hills..
Our guide came up with a family tree, showing King Charles' descent from Vlad the Impaler, on whom Dracula was based!
Of course, he does enjoy hiking in the region, and has a holiday home here. Charles, not Vlad..
Well, we finally made it to Sighisoara!
We were headed - rapidly - for the medieval citadel on the hill, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We were on a deadline, you see - our guide phoned en route to check, and it turned out the clocktower, with its history museum, was closing half an hour earlier than she anticipated: winter timetable, unfortunately. Well, we couldn't take the minibus all the way - we were dropped at the bottom of the hill, and she had the bright idea to take the fun train up, which would be faster for us!
For herself, she ran ahead to make sure they kept the place open for us, and shooed us in as soon as we arrived.. and for sure, it was interesting:
This turned out to be a soap press!
The very top floor was closed for renovations - some people went as far as they could, but a couple of us, bad with stairs, cried off after the first floor, and came back out to join the guide in the sunshine.
See that yellow house on the left? If you look very closely, you can see a sign outside in the form of a dragon. That's where Vlad the Impaler was born - they were of the order of the Dracul - the Dragon.. we were all fascinated, but she wouldn't let us go in just yet; that was for later!
No, first we were headed to the adjacent church - where a local guide was waiting for us! This was a monastery church, we were told - although its Saxon community, responsible for the fortified towns, and much of the architecture, of Transylvania, mostly cleared out after the Second World War, and there are hardly any there now:
The wooden plaques decorating the gallery depict various guilds:
And there are some lovely Baroque features:
The oldest item in the church is the 15th-century baptismal font:
One of the more striking features of this church is the large quantity of rugs adorning the walls - as we had explained to us, these were gifts from merchants returning from trading trips to the Ottoman Empire, who were grateful for a safe return!
Outside once again, we admired the view over the town:
and then headed down past a Catholic church - this one built by Hungarians (I have never felt so much as though I was at the crossroads of Europe!):
Yes, the rooves here do have eyes!
And so, at last, to the Dracula House! Where we were directed upstairs to a bar area, where we could go to the toilet if required, and we had to wait for another group to head upstairs before us to "Dracula's bedroom".
There's a restaurant here too - all a bit kitsch, but I did like the furnishings: very solid..
Someone ordered brandy, which came in a tiny glass.. and was strong as hell! (We all had a sip.) You have been warned..
The time duly came, and we traipsed upstairs. At the turn, caveat, something drops on you (not liquid, don't worry). We were forewarned by watching the group that went ahead of us. Unfortunately, one of our group had it land on her head, and apparently it hurt..
Safely upstairs, we were in Dracula's lair for sure:
Great sound effects, I have to say. Around the corner and into the main bedroom, and we meet our host:
And yes, there is a bloke in the coffin. An argument started between two of our group about whether he was real - which was resolved when one started pushing on the coffin to prove he wasn't, whereupon he jumped up, ripped off his mask, and yelled at her to leave the coffin alone.. you have been warned..
Safely outdoors once more, we walked to the hotel - passed, on the way, by a bloke with a horse and cart. We were to see a lot of those:
Our rooms had lovely, 19th-century-esque decor - actually, what I intended to capture here were the electric lamps in the style of oil lamps, which went so perfectly with the theme! Ironic they were the one thing I left out. Anyway, as with all the hotels, the rooms were massive - but uniquely for this one, the minibar wasn't stocked! Ah well..
Most of us had dinner at the hotel - we'd had a rushed day, and weren't in the mood to traipse around town. I had Transylvanian goulash soup to start, which I felt met with the waiter's approval.. spicy, a helluva winter warmer, it was more of a stew. My schnitzel was less interesting, but ok. And throughout, we were gazed upon by this lady, who when I looked her up later, turned out to be Elisabeth, wife of the aforementioned Carol I, whose portrait was on the other side..
Early to bed then - particularly as I couldn't find anything in English on the telly..
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