We originally planned this trip to be about 5 weeks after returning home from Machu Picchu. But...that voyage was cancelled by Grand Circle Cruise Line and they offered us the same trip if we would go in mid-June, which was 4 days after returning home from Machu Picchu. With the incentives they gave us (a free week in Prague and Vienna) it didn't take us long to say, "We'll do it!"
So, our trip includes: 4 nights in Transylvania, a 12-day river cruise through Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia and Hungary. We then leave the ship for to go to Prague for 4 days and 3 days in Vienna. Back on a ship in Vienna we then cruise for 19 days through Austria, Germany and the Netherlands. There are 22 posts on this blog for this trip; each post highlighting one of the cities/towns that we visited.
The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and the first order of business was to figure out how to get a cup of "Americano" coffee. There was a self-service coffee machine, but Terry served as our group's "barista" and helped out with the many choices.
After breakfast we enjoyed a guided tour of Bucharest. This is an old city that has served as the capital of Wallachia and later Romania since 1659. Today it is noted for its broad, tree-lined boulevards, well-kept parks, and a mix of architectural styles that combine Neo-Classical structures with monumental 20th century buildings that are huge.
The latter built for the most part to satisfy the late communist dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, who ruled just prior to the Revolution of 1989.
The Arc de Triomphe commemorates the achievements of World War I soldiers.
At the Military Academy there is a relief Monument depicting the military history of Romania.
Our next stop was Revolution Square. Formerly known as the Palace Square until 1989, it was later renamed after the 1989 Romanian Revolution.
The memorial features as its centerpiece a 25-meter-high marble pillar reaching up to the sky, upon which a metal "crown" is placed.
There is also a wall listing the names of those killed in the revolution.
We talked with local Romanian, Stefan Egmont, who was in the square on that December day in 1989. He told us of his experience and showed us bullets he recovered and pointed out artillery damage in the building behind him.
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| Our Program Director, Irina, and Stefan Egmont |
This building next to the square has one portion of the exterior left untouched, which shows the bullet holes from the revolution.
Built by Communist Party leader, Nicolae Ceausescu, the colossal Palace of Parliament is the second largest building in the world after the Pentagon.
It is an immense structure that took 20,000 workers and 700 architects to build, and it cost billions. It has 1,100 rooms, a 328-foot long lobby, and four underground levels including an enormous nuclear bunker.
Started in 1984, the dictator intended this building to be the headquarters of his Communist Government, but it was still unfinished when he was executed in 1989. Widely viewed as a personification of his obsession with grandiose things and actions, the construction entailed the demolition of a quarter of Bucharest's historic center, including 26 churches, and the relocation of 40,000 people from their 19th century homes to new developments on the outskirts of the city.
Today it houses the seat of Romania's Parliament and is an international conference center.
The science building was built for Elena Ceausescu. Shortly after Nicolae Ceausescu became the Romanian supreme leader, his wife, Elena, became the head of the Institute for Science after quickly having obtained a Ph.D in chemistry with little education. She used children for horrific experiments in this building. She was a very nasty person.
Romanian gold medalist Nadia Comaneci supports a clinic in Bucharest, as well as a Foundation that provides encouragement, support and promotion of exceptional performances in any field of activity including sports, education and improving the quality of family life.
Chocolate is widely sold in Bucharest. Irina gave us a taste of her favorite chocolate treat.
It was then time for lunch and we dined on local Romanian dishes.
The Kretzulescu Church, originally built in 1722 and was last restored in 1933-39 using as much of the original material as possible.
After lunch we headed to Transylvania, where we stayed for 3 nights in Sinaia, "the Pearl of the Carpathians". It was the historically favored destination of Romanian royalty and a region rich in palaces.
As we check into our hotel, we get our first taste of the local welcome tradition of bread dipped in salt before tasting and tuica, an extremely strong alcoholic drink (40%) made from fermented plums. Both were difficult to swallow.
We take a little walk around the park in Sinaia before dinner.
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| Painted tree stump "art"? |
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| Sinaia casino |
Prince Vlad Tepes, the son of Vlad Dracul and the person who inspired Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula, used this castle as headquarters for his incursions into Transylvania. This 15th-century ruler became known as "Vlad the Impaler" for his practice of impaling enemies of the kingdom.
Stoker's work of fiction drew inspiration from this bloody practice, the family name, and the castle-dotted mountain landscape of Transylvania.
The castle was built in 1377 to protect nearby Brasov from invaders. In 1920 the people of Brasov offered it as a gift to Queen Maria of Romania, and the castle soon became her favorite residence.
Narrow winding stairways lead through some 60 timbered rooms, many connected by underground passages, which house collections of furniture, weapons, and armor dating from the 14th to the 19th centuries. The castle overlooks the picturesque village of Bran.
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| One of the "knockers" on the main entry door. Remember the Mel Brooks movie spoof? |
After going through the castle, we had time to browse the local flea market before heading to lunch.
For lunch we had a very good soup, polenta and pork in a tomato sauce and crepe pancakes filled with Nutella for dessert. It was fun to try the local dishes.
During lunch three local ladies demonstrated weaving.
The evening tour was wine tasting and dinner at the famed Azuga Wine Cellars. We first walked through the wine cellars, where an excellent sparkling wine is produced and bottled, paused for a wine-tasting, and then sat down to dinner in a dining room across the courtyard from the wine cellars.
On our final day in Transylvania, we visited Peles Castle, the summer residence of Romania's first royal family, King Carol I and his German-born wife, Queen Elizabeth.
The castle's sculpture terraces, art displays and historic armories make it one of Romania's most important and beautiful museums.
The palace is ornately decorated inside and out, with intricate wood carvings and paintings. Built in 1873-83, the castle had its own power generation on the property, and was the first castle to have electricity and central heating. It also had an elevator and vacuum system.
No photos were allowed inside, but, of course, plenty can be found on the internet! Here's just a couple.
Pele's Castle is one of the best-preserved royal palaces in Europe.
We headed to the town of Brasov and walked by the Black Church, built between 1384 and 1477.
It is the largest Gothic church in Romania and one of Eastern Europe's finest.
Irina walked us to the town square with suggestions of where to eat and browse for 2 hours.
We went to a Romanian restaurant she recommended and had a lunch outside of wine, bread, chicken noodle soup and chicken schnitzel. The cost was 61 lei or about $15.
Then in the evening, our program directors, Irina and Stefan, invited our group to a BBQ, Romanian holiday style.
We rode in buses to a park outside the town alongside a river.
Waiting for us was a table full of chicken skewers and bread. There were 3 chefs tending to a BBQ full of sausages. They explained that you place a sausage with mustard between 2 slices of bread and enjoy. They also served us homemade brandy and wine.
We had music provided by 2 accordian players and we all joined in for a little traditional dancing after our meal. The BBQ party was a fun surprise.
The next day we left Sinaia and headed back to Bucharest where we would board the ship to start the river cruise.
To continue reading, scroll back up to toward the top of this page, then click on the link in the column on the right entitled, "We begin the river cruise in Constanta by the Black Sea".
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