2024 September 30 - Romanian castles!

 

This is the view from my window at Upper Suites and More Hotel this morning - it is cloudy with a slight drizzle that is supposed to clear up.

Rather than the usual buffet, UpperHouse Suites & More offer breakfast off the menu - everything is freshly made and locally sourced. I ordered scrambled eggs with shredded sheep cheese on delicious seeded bread - it came with a small salad with balsamic dressing - it was delicious. 

JB had Eggs Benedict with ham that also came with a salad.

When I opened the drapes on the small patio, I found I had company. The receptionist told us that the cat belonged to the owners of the hotel but spent its time outside the hotel and the staff have adopted him.

Greetings/ad for a nearby children's amusement park - not today though because it was cold, windy, and rainy.

We arrived in Bran - home to Dracula's Castle - and we had the weather to match it.

The new main road into Bran that is being built now. It is very rough driving at the moment. It was difficult to find parking but after going past the castle and turning around, we found a space a short walk away. You can just barely make out the castle in the center of the photo

The vendors' stalls that you pass on the way to get a ticket. The gate opened at noon - we arrived about 11:45. We poked around the stalls for a few minutes then JB and Tina got in line for tickets. I had watched vlogs and read travel guides about Bran Castle so I already knew that I would never be able to negotiate the narrow windy steps in the Castle nor the steps up the hill to the Castle. So I didn't even get a ticket. I sent JB and Tina into the Castle, and I walked to a coffee shop to warm up - it was very cold damp and windy.

Stone steps up to the entrance to the Castle - JB said they were narrow and steep. Steps into the Castle below. 

Look at the door knocker! Is the monster on top eating or disgorging a fish or serpent? Is there one behind the sea monster as well?

Courtyard

Bran Castle was built in the 14th century as a defense for the border against the Ottoman Empire. It later was used as a customs point where merchants entering Wallachia/Transylvania had to pay taxes. The Castle later fell into disrepair. Queen Marie began restoration around 1920 when she began living there. During renovations, a hidden passage was found - it connects the first floor to to the third floor and was used as an escape hatch in an emergency. It was found when they were working on the room and moved an old fire place.

Bran Castle was gifted as a palace to Queen Marie in 1920 - she fell in love with it and spent many summer's there. In her will she requested that her heart be buried near the building and a sarcophagus was built there. An urn with her heart is on the southwest side of the building near a little creek close to the forest. When Queen Marie died, her daughter Princess Ileana inherited the castle. She converted it into a hospital to treat patients during WWII. She nursed the wounded until 1948 when the Communists took over the castle. 

In 2009 Bran Castle was returned by the Romanian government to its rightful owners - Dominic von Habsburg, Archduke of Austria-Tuscany and his sisters - Princess Maria Magdalena and Princess Elizabeth Sandhofer - they are grandchildren of Queen Marie - their mother was Princess Ileana. They in turn opened the castle to the public in June 2009 - the first private museum in Romania - it is popular world wide as Dracula's Castle based on Irish author Bram Stoker's book "Dracula" which was written in 1897.

Dracula the Vampire is believed to have been based on Vlad Tepes or Vlad Dracul which was a name associated with his family. Bram Stoker may have heard stories of Vlad impaling enemies - hence the name Vlad the Impaler. Vlad never lived in Bran Castle but may have been held captive there for 2 months. 

"Next to the King's bedroom, queen Marie prepared the Royal dining Room. In 1927 the ceiling beams were painted with geometric and vegetal motifs, and the coat of arms of the most important Transylvanian cities. Archduchess Ileana transformed this space into the children's playroom. The corner of the fireplace became one of the favorite spots of her children, today the owners of the Castle."

While JB and Tina were climbing through the Castle, I stopped at Gingerbread, a cute coffee shop between the entrance to the Castle grounds and our parking space.

Instead of a table and chairs, there are swings at a plank used as a table. There is another plank and swings in front of a window.  I was sitting at a long table with regular chairs.

I warmed up with a cup of tea, and of course I had to try the wares - the eclair was quite good. I asked the waitress if the ginger bread boys would last until Christmas. Unfortunately she said only until the end of October. That is a piece of gingerbread on the saucer with the tea - very nice.

Castle room dedicated to Dracula.

"The Terrace

Built in the fortress' old attic, the terrace has a crenelated rampart, reminding of the old firing holes, through which the soldiers would pour hot tar onto the assailants. From here to the south, one can observe the Customs House, the old commercial route, the defense walls and the electrical plant built in 1932. to the north , one can see the wooden structure of the watch tower, from which the guardsmen would look out over the Bran pass."

JB and Tina must have just missed me as they walked to the car - I had run back to the stalls to buy a few souvenirs - I thought I would see them and maybe stop back at the Gingerbread for coffee so they could warm up. But they were at the car so I headed back there. They were cold and wet but wanted to head on to Peles Castle. So with the car's heat blazing, that's where we headed. 

Just an idea of the weather altho pictures don't really do justice to fog and rain!

The rain lightened up as we drove through Sinaia again to Peles Castle. I love the architecture of this and the following pictures!

We finally made it to the Castle - JB drove thru as far as we could go - just outside the gate! The front of the castle is covered up for renovations.

This is the side you come in by - you get some idea of what the front of the castle looks like.

The Castle at one time had beautiful and extensive gardens - the front terraces and lawns could use some TLC - statues and sidewalks are chipped - maybe a good power washing would clean them up or maybe the power would destroy them!

This is an inner courtyard that we found.

Peles Castle was commissioned in 1873 by King Carol I, independent Romania's first king. He had fallen in love with the scenery and decided to build a royal hunting preserve and a summer retreat on the banks of the Peles Creek. It was the first European palace to be powered by electricity created by its own power plant! It was also the first to have central heating and elevators due to that power plant!

Enlargements of statues above.

Peles Castle is located within the Carpathian Mountains which we have been traveling through for days. It was built on a medieval route linking Wallachia and Transylvania

Statue of King Carol I of Romania in front of the Castle - he is responsible for Peles Castle. 

Statue of Queen Elizabeth, wife of King Carol I. When the Orient Express made its first stop in Bucharest in 1883, she invited passengers from Paris to Peles Castle to celebrate the completion of the construction - King Carol placed the last brick in place. 

Peles Castle remained in the hands of the Romanian Royal Family until King Michael was forced to abdicate in 1947 when the Communists seized control of Romania. They opened Peles Castle as a tourist attraction. Nicolae Ceausescu closed the castle after 1975 because he did not like it. It remained closed until the revolution of 1989 - it was then declared a heritage site and opened to the public. After a long judicial process, the castle in 2007 was returned to King Michael I who decided that the castle should continue to be open to the public.  

The lions had crazy looking eyes!

We were cold from being out in the damp cold wind so we walked over to Bar Regal for coffee to warm up - of course we could not pass up a sweet!

In the off season, we practically had the place to ourselves.

It must be nice here during the warm weather.

Statues guarding the bar!

Some buildings from Sinaia - I would consider staying here if I come back.

We were heading north to Cantacuzino Castle which served as the setting for the Netflix series "Wednesday."

Entrance to Cantacuzino Castle in Busteni, Romania. This castle served as the exterior backdrop for Nevermore Academy. The castle was originally built in 1911 as the summer residence of a Romanian Prince.

We parked the car a little bit away from this entrance -that is the ticket office. It was very cold and damp - and it was a hike to the castle. So I opted out and let JB and Tina enjoy seeing the castle without me slowing them down. I sat in the warm car and listened to my stomach grumbling.

We decided to find somewhere to eat so we drove back into the center of Busteni. We parked in front of the "Irish House Restaurant" but turned left and went into "ROA Pizza - Pasta - Grille."

ROA had 2 floors - the door was wide open on the first floor so we couldn't sit there in the cold. We went to the 2nd floor - there was practically no one there at about 4:30.

I had the best vegetable soup imaginable! And the warm bread was also spectacular! The rest of the meal did not compare to the soup which was a meal in itself. That is my glass of Schweppes Mandarin which was so much better than Schweppes Bitter Lemon but I never saw it again. 

I checked the weather app for Busteni and this is what showed up:

Busteni

I'm normally cold but this shows why my teeth were almost chattering!

We finished eating about 5:30-6 pm. We decided to head home to our hotel. It was getting dark and JB would be driving through foggy mountain roads - and there was still plenty of traffic. We had to pack our bags to head home to Bitola - we think we may be staying in Nis, Serbia tomorrow night to break up the 12 hour drive but we have no reservations yet! Oy Vay!

2024 September 29 - Swimming and downpours!

We had another wonderful breakfast at Hotel Berthelot and then checked out - we were heading to Therme Bucharest - the largest wellness center in Europe. Per their website "The entire place is designed for water sport, relaxing and food. Also, Therme Bucharest has the best spa in Bucharest." It is located practically on top of the airport - which is handy for anyone flying in for a day at Therme - a taxi or Uber is only a 5 minute drive - there are hotels nearby. So, many Europeans come for a weekend or for a couple of days mid-week because the airfare is inexpensive and the price of tickets is pretty reasonable as well. 

We headed straight for Therme as we still had to drive to Brasov in Transylvania this afternoon and there was a chance of rain. We noticed a lot of solar farms just like in Bulgaria - some houses had the solar panel on the roofs. Not many wind farms - solar farms are more popular. Romania gets almost 45% of its power from renewable sources. 

Heroes of the Air monument - we passed this monument about 10 am. It is a memorial to Romania's early aviation history.

I was surprised to learn that a competition was held to find a sculpter to design the statue. The Romanian people voted by secret ballot to determine the winner. The winning sculptor used Joe Louis, the American professional boxer, as inspiration for the aviator's body. Louis had visited Bucharest around the time of the competition. The sculpter picked a head for the sculpture from a book of famous aviators. On the pedestal are the names of the Romanian airmen who died before 1935 when the sculpture was completed. A miniature copy traveled into space with Romanian Cosmonaut Dimitri Prunariu who was born in Brasov.

The Triumphal Arch in Bucharest was modeled on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. It was originally a wooden triumphal arch built in 1878 so that victorious Romanian troops could march through it celebrating Romanian independence from the Ottoman Empire.

A concrete monument was built in 1921-22 to celebrate Romania's victory in WWI as well as Prince Ferdinand and Princess Marie's coronation as King and Queen of Romania in 1922. The monument was renovated in 1935. 

As we got closer to Therme Spa, the clouds got darker and darker. We parked the car and walked into this 'theme" park. There are 3 categories of tickets with increasing benefits - the lowest being Galaxy - the next is The Palm - the highest is Elysium which includes everything that is available including access to all 3 restaurants but food and drink are extra charges in all price ranges. The prices vary as well from the Galaxy at  3 hours at 63-73 lei for adults - 4.5 hours for 87-97 lei for adults - and all day pass for 119-129 lei for adults. One lei is worth $.22 so for an all day pass you only pay about $28.50. Actually admission prices are not too bad - the most expensive all day Elysium pass is less than $43.

When you enter, you decide on your pass - pay for it - then they give you a bracelet that includes a magnetic device to open and close your locker - it also is used to pay for any food or drink that you buy - and it also keeps you out of areas that you did not pay for. 

They make their money on the next counter where you buy the gear. Everyone must wear flip flops - we didn't have any so we bought 3 pairs. You must have a towel - we didn't have any so we bought 3 towels - bathrobes are available to keep you warm - so we bought 3 of those. JB had no bathing suit so he bought one. Tina and I brought ours so we did not buy any. The locker number is on the bracelet - we found our lockers - then there are changing rooms. Except that I only had the top of my bathing suit and my rash guard - no bottoms! I asked JB for the car key to go out to my knapsack to get my bathing suit bottom. Talk about klutzy but JB was very good about it and insisted on going with me. We told one of the supervisors that we were running out to the car to get my bathing suit - he said no more than 10 minutes. We were giving our bracelets to one of the cashiers and she said it would be 20 Lei for JB to go out. I was already pissed because I had forgotten it, but now I was really pissed because I thought that was a rip off. We ended up NOT going out to the car - I BOUGHT a one piece bathing suit that was too small so I wore my rash guard over it. I wasn't in the best mood needless to say.

We went in search of a chair - almost everything was taken but JB and Tina eventually found 2 recliners. We started outside - out through those windows below. The water was warm - very easy to get in - I just naturally started doing my water exercises - it felt good to be able to lift my right leg up to my chest! JB and Tina went to explore the place. I came out when I began to feel waterlogged. JB had found another recliner beside the first 2. I stretched out in my bathrobe and watched the sights. I then decided I was thirsty so I went to get up - the  recliner was so low that it took me 3 tries to get up off that fricking recliner! I was hoping no one was watching!

I walked over toward a bar but stopped at the mineral bath first then got a glass of the best pineapple juice I've ever had. I headed back to the recliner but looked for a higher chair - there were 3 small tables with 4 regular chairs at them but they were all taken. I went back to that recliner and plopped down. I was amazed at all the different people and body types that were there - so many body parts walked by me - exposed fronts and butts - guys and gals - old and young - way more than I wanted or needed to see. It suddenly dawned on me how comfortable and confident they all seemed - no one seemed obsessed about their size - they all seemed comfortable within their own skin - and with their partners' skin. One couple was walking by me - she did look good in a string bikini with her partner grabbing onto one of her butt cheeks as they walked by. It is me that is obsessed with size - I'm too fat and flabby - my legs are too fat - my stomach sticks out after a hysterectomy. That's why I wore the bath towel to get a drink. I sat there and pondered this for a good long while - I hadn't been really looking at people before this - they just happened to walk by and I couldn't help but see them - but now I was paying more attention to how everyone seemed happy, confident, comfortable with themselves. So when I went for a bottle of water, I didn't wear my bathrobe. It felt awkward at first but then I said that I wasn't going to see any of these people again, and I let it all hang out - it did feel different. Now if only that feeling would last!

One of Therme's indoor and outdoor pools from my recliner.

JB and Tina came around - they had explored the downstairs sauna and had massages - now they were going upstairs to explore. I was getting hungry so I got up - well not actually. I had to have JB give me a hand up so I was not humiliated like the last time I got up.  I walked down to the international restaurant - the vegetable stir fry looked good so I got in line at the kiosk and put in my order after standing there for 10 minutes watching how the kiosk worked as people were ordering their food. 

I was sitting at a table by myself checking Threads for some news when all of a sudden an alarm started blazing - no one even looked up at first - then it started again but this time everyone was looking at their phones - it was a weather alert!

No one moved - I was a little concerned - I had been checking the weather all day because there was a chance of severe weather this afternoon and we were heading northwest to Brasov. Some of the employees were bring in signs and loose items from outside. JB and Tina came by for something to eat - they had been outside and said the temperature dropped significantly and it was very windy. We decided to leave shortly after - we had been there for about 4 hours. When we were coming out of the locker area, I noticed it looked like it was raining. But it was actually pelting pouring rain! The ground was flooded. Good man that he is, JB rain to get the car. He pulled up but could not get close enough to us - we had to make a run for it - which for me a a slightly quicker walk. I was drenched when I got to the car. But JB put on the heat and we headed for Brasov which was about 2.5 hours away.

JB has gotten used to driving the winding twisting mountain roads and this drive was no different - except for the periodic rain - the fog is an every day occurrence. We passed through a few small villages. I think I said it before that they are building bigger and supposedly better roads right through the middle of these small towns - the expanded roads are sometimes right on top of the houses - open your door and you're on a highway. Lots of villages have no sidewalks - the poor people - and tourists - take their lives in their hands trying to walk along the road with cars, trucks and buses flying by. Some towns have pedestrian bridges to cross from one side of the road to the other - and this is everywhere - but especially in Romania. The trucks especially are often over the line and in the other lane - and they don't stop for anyone - especially on mountain roads. Cars, trucks, and buses are more important than pedestrians and cyclists.  JB was driving up a twisty mountain road - we came to a hairpin turn as a truck was barreling down the mountain side and almost ran right into us - the bus was partly over into our lane. I said to JB that these new roads are really ruining the appeal of the small towns. Whoever planned this out did not think ahead - maybe they should have considered bypasses so the heavy traffic would be on the outside of town and residents and tourists could safely walk inside the town.

The rain continued off and on - it was cloudy and dark. 

These pictures do not show the dark threatening clouds and the fog 

We ran into a lot of traffic on the mountain roads and in the villages - maybe it was Sunday evening and people were returning home after the weekend? Anyway it got too dark to take any pictures when we were near Sinaia with its gorgeous old houses - they were just what I had expected and looked forward to. I downloaded a couple from www.Almay.com to give you the idea.

I was amazed at how big some of the towns or villages were - somehow I had the idea that Transylvania was a rural area. So when we arrived at Brasov, even in the dark I was stunned at the size of it. When I was watching travel videos or reading guidebooks, they only mentioned the old town of Brasov - I didn't realize there was a big newer area! We thought the mountain roads were twisty, the road to our hotel was up narrow back alleys - some not paved - we finally found it about 8 o'clock. The receptionist was lovely - the rooms were great - especially mine with a view down at the old city. It was raining and dark so we just checked in and hunkered down for the rest of the night - I had my water and some biscuits so I was all set. We decided on breakfast at 8 before we headed out to Peles and Bran castles.