Eastern Europe Part 4 - Castle Hopping Around Transylvania, Romania

Leaving behind bustling Budapest was hard, I could easily have spent a lot longer exploring the different streets and hidden bars, and it didn’t help that I didn’t really know what Romania had in store for me, but luckily I was pleasantly surprised!

View overlooking Brasov 

After a brief (16 hour) stint in an overnight train, where we experienced blatant corruption due to our tickets being printed incorrectly (tip: don’t buy from SNCF and do make friends with Romanian’s who will help translate your issues to the grumpy ticket inspector) we arrived at our destination- Brasov!

Church in Brasov 

When I was researching for places to go in Romania, I admit that I was quite taken with the idea of visiting Transylvania – I mean who hasn't grown up with stories of Dracula and vampires? So with this in mind I was quite keen to go back to where the myths started and where Bram Stoker allegedly set the scene for his infamous villain. What I wasn't prepared for was the astonishing beauty of this region, I don’t know many people who've travelled around Transylvania and I hadn't done too much research into the area, but the rolling hills and classic buildings made me certain that we had made the correct choice.

Brasov

Turrets to the city telling people they can apply the death penalty

If you ever find yourselves wandering through the hills of Transylvania – stop off here, not only is it a gorgeous little town with fantastic connections to the rest of the country, it’s also a hub of culture and history. A free walking tour provided us with everything that we needed to know, from the obvious yet somewhat out of place Germanic influences to the divide in the city which happened due to their presence. I learnt more in these two hours than I did on the whole trip and I would definitely recommend doing it if you can. To be fair I don’t know how much of it was fact or fiction, for example on the top of their imposing Black Church (named after a fire which left the walls blackened) there is a small statue of a boy, said to be a tribute to a real boy who was thrown off the top of the building by the architect. In addition to this we were told that the turrets on those fairy tale towers – yeah not so much about princesses and princes but more as a warning to travellers as they meant that that particular city has the right to use the death penalty. Charming. But it is a fantastic little town full of great restaurants and beautiful buildings.

Bran Castle

View from the top of Bran Castle 

After a half an hour trek in the snow, with the kitsch Hollywood ‘Brasov sign’ on the mountain behind us, we finally made it to the main bus stop, and paying roughly 11 Romanian leu (about £3) for our return to Bran Castle, the place where Dracula supposedly lived (in reality the old home of monarchs). Thinking of the western castles and the enormity of places such as Versailles and Windsor Castle, I was shocked to see how small and unimposing Bran Castle was. Yet this was home to Queen Maria of Edinburgh who was married off to Ferdinand I and left a lasting legacy and impact on the area. There was a lot of history in the castles, much of it to do with Vlad the Impailer and his destruction and terror.  After walking around the building and grounds we were met by the inevitable tourist trap of vendors selling their goods, and I would lie if I said I wasn’t drawn in – I bought a pair of woolly slippers for my sins!

Peles Castle

Peles Castle in Siania

Instead of heading straight to Bucharest from Brasov, we decided to take a pit stop in the small town of Siania, home to Peles Castle which was lived in by King Carole I of Romania. The outside of this castle is stunning – enough to make you want to take up residence there just so you can look at it every morning. Its located half-way up a mountain making the views around it stunning, and because it’s off the beaten track if you didn't do your homework you would miss it completely. The only downside to this beautiful piece of architecture was the obligatory tour if you want to see the inside. It was poorly organised with one tour guide in charge of roughly 100 people, making it difficult to hear any of the information said and because it was given to us in very broken English I would recommend reading up on the history beforehand and not waiting until you get there. On the flip side the cost of entering comes to about £2 so it’s not as if you lose out by going along.

Aristocratic House in Siania, Romania

Bucharest

I am going to be brutally honest with you and tell you that we only wanted to go to Bucharest for two reasons 1) to see the second largest building in the world and 2) to get the flight home. We were only there for a night and a few hours in the morning and as it rained the whole time, I don’t have much to report. However we did go and see the second largest building which is ridiculously big and apparently only a third of it is in use. If you do stop off here I would recommend that you stay in the Old Town, one of the few remaining areas which makes you think back to what it must have been like when Bucharest was called ‘Little Paris’.

Parliament Building, Bucharest - Second Largest Building in the World

Unfortunately that brings an end to my Eastern European travels, at least for now. Still I have some exciting things lined up for the rest of this year including a very exiting trip to the Caribbean!

Until next time!

x
Expat Diaries 
Twitter: @ExpatDiariesAfr 
Instagram: Amyshawza
Facebook: Expat Diaries Africa and Abroad