Romania Pt1

26/06/2017 -= 07/07/2017

When we started looking at Rumania no one we knew had visited. We focussed on Transylvania and the Carpathian Mountains. Tina offered to drive which opened up a lot more options.

We put together an anti-clockwise route from Sinaia back to Bucharest. Google Photo app is great for showing a route.

Sinaia

The first impression of Sinaia was a great location

some glorious buildings (with big ugly hotels).  

Peres Castle was special.  

Inside it was equally opulent

Brasov

“Brașov is a stunning medieval city in the heart of Transylvania. Famous for its blend of Gothic, Baroque, and Renaissance architecture”

This was a much larger town, with a lot of flats on the way in but a lovely town centre.  With a nice central square with streets filled with cafes, and with wooded hills as a backdrop.

Zărnești Bear Sanctuary (Libearty)

this place was glorious.  It was a bit off the beaten track.  This was a sanctuary for rescued bears. 

The bears had been transformed into social animals, whereas naturally they were solitary creatures. 

There were large enclosures where the bears were mainly left to their own devices. But they were fed they emerged from the woods.  It was glorious seeing so many bears appearing from the woods.

Bran Castle

This was as touristy as it got.  There were a lot of stalls selling tat between the car park and the castle.

The castle was imposing from the outside sitting atop a rocky outcrop.  Inside it was relatively small and quite simple.  The inside was all in good condition and the rooms well furnished.

Rasnov Fortress

This is a huge imposing hilltop fortress with views for miles over the surrounding area.  
“a stunning 13th-century medieval citadel located in Transylvania, Romania. Perched on a limestone hilltop 200 meters (650 feet) above the town of Râșnov, offering panoramic views and insights into medieval history”

The buildings inside the fortress were all craft workshops.

Sighișoara

This was probably the nicest place we visited.  The centre did not look like it had changed in years.  Cars were not generally allowed.

It was very busy during the day, but much quieter at night.

The town square and our hotel

The new church

The clock tower

The main gate

And a graveyard in Transylvania

Turda

Unlike the other places we visited Turda felt more a working city.  We didn’t see the big market square surrounded by cafes that had been in the previous towns.  It was not unpleasant, but not as nice as other places we visited.

The hotel we stayed in was fun, and totally OTT vampire / Dracula decorations.

Salt Mine

This is an absolute wonder.  The walk down was through the caverns until reaching a walkway around the main cavern, then a staircase to the floor and the attractions.  Going up was thankfully mainly by lift

The discussion must have been amazing, lets build a funfair at the bottom of a salt mine.  There were various rides including a ferris wheel, along with a 5 aside pitch

Oh and we can add a boating lake

This was taken looking up and gives a good idea of the scale. To the right of the photo is the lift shaft upto the gallery level

Turda Gorge

This walk looked great, but I saw recommendations that we needed good walking boots to do the walk.  We arrived and a group of ladies who looked late 60s came past wearing sandals and flip flops.  It was a nice walk through the gorge, with sheer rock faces towering over a narrow stream.  On sections where the path was particularly narrow, uneven or sloping into the gorge there were chains to hold onto