Mark and Lauren's Romantic Romanian Adventure

Okay, don't get too excited. Mark came over to visit on 29 October, and stayed for about 10 days as we travelled around about 70% of the country. We started our adventure in Bucharest, visiting the People's Palace (2nd largest building in the world after the Pentagon), dining at an authentic Romanian restaurant, and meeting up with Angela and a friend before heading out of the city in our shiny red BMW rental. :-)
We tried in vain to locate the supposed burial place of Vlad Dracula (a theme for this adventure), an island at the local monastery in Snagov. However, signage was awful, and after a number of attempts that resulted in us driving down one-lane dirt roads in the middle of the forest, we gave up. Most frustrating, as it was marked on the map, and had numerous signs from the main road indicating where to go. An adventure for the next time around, I suppose.
So we continued on through Ploesti, an old oil city about 45 min north of Bucharest. Mark really wanted to see this town, as its destruction was vital to cutting off Nazi Germany's oil supply in WWII. Grandpa Bohatka was the tail gunner on some of those US bombing runs, so we were interested to see what was left. The oil factories were still there, rebuilt along with the rest of the city in that grey, demoralized, unaesthetically-pleasing style. After realizing that everyone else was right, there wasn't much to see, we continued on to Targoviste, one of the old Wallachian capitals, to spend the night.
Targoviste had some interesting restored ruins in the city center, as we discovered the next morning. We walked around a bit and then hit the road to continue heading northwest to Curtea de Arges, another of the three Wallachian capitals. We both really liked Curtea de Arges, as it had an old Princely Court and Church from the 13th century still standing, at which we received the most delightful tour in French from a tour guide. Truly, it is meeting people like this, who are so devoted to the sites they work at, that makes my job so rewarding. This woman had taken it upon herself (with permission, of course) to offer tours of the Princely Church for a small fee. She spoke slowly enough so that Mark and I in our fumbling French could understand and ask questions. Unfortunately, this lovely lady is not in her youth anymore, and it makes me wonder if generations to come will be able to get such an experience at this site in the future. Curtea de Arges is a lovely town, and I highly recommend a stay there before going further north along the Transfagarasan Highway.
What is the Transfagarasan Highway, you ask? It is a highway that crosses through the Fagaras Mountains, open only 3 months a year in summer. So then, you inquire, why are we attempting to cross it in late Fall? Well, because we're daredevils and we wanted to see what all the fuss was about! So, there it is, from the car window. Was I a little nervous driving? Nah! (But that's just my pride talking...)
We were able to make it up partway up the road, to a huge dam, where we got for a bit before turning around. On the way back down, we stopped at Poenari Castle, the REAL Dracula's castle, hidden the Fagaras mountains. This this was imposing! Overlooking one of the many mountain passes, it took us 35-45min to climb up to it. However the Turks took this thing is beyond either Mark or I! Legend has it, that Dracula escaped the attacking Turks by seeking refuge and help from the local townspeople or Arefu. As a reward, he gave them their land, untaxed. Unfortunately, thinking her husband had been killed or captured by the onslaught of Turks, Dracula's wife threw herself from the towers of the castle to the ravine below, refusing to fall herself into Turkish hands. Poetic, n'est-ce pas?
After our Dracula stint, we headed "home" to Sibiu, where we stayed for a day or two, showing off my digs (and my *boyfriend*) to all my colleagues and stakeholders. :-) We threw an awesome mexican night at my house, and were blessed to have Brian, a PCV in Sibiu, come over and help cook it! Well, we did more helping, and he did more cooking! Earlier in the day, we visited a fortified castle and church in Alba County, called Calnic, a UNESCO site. It was neat, and again, we had to seek out the key from someone's home to be able to enter it. But at least there were signs telling us what to do! We then headed further west towards Hunedoara, a large castle in the original Dacian lands. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time (or the right directions!) to locate the Dacian sites. Bummer. Hopefully, we'll visit them on a return visit! But we did get to visit Hunedoara, home to Iancu de Hunedoara, a contemporary and rival of Vlad Dracula. The castle was huge and imposing, even though it sat in a town riddled with factories. There was so much to explore, and one could even still see 16th-century paint on the castle walls! It was easy to get lost in the castle...I was lucky to find Mark again! Doesn't he look so cute? :-)
While in Sibiu, we visited the ASTRA museum, one of the country's best attractions, if you asked me. Then we went to Sighisoara for a night, staying in a frigid room in a guesthouse that was in the midst of renovating. They could barely spek French or English, so it was an interesting night. Of course, Mark was able to befriend the old man at once, smoking with him outside on the porch. :-) We spent the morning niking up the spooky covered staircase to the church on the hill, and wandering around the beautiful cemetery up there. We even had a little furry friend who escorted us on our journey! Since I've seen her in Sighisoara before, I think this doggy is the official ambassador to Sighisoara!
From Sibiu, we headed north to Maramures country, home of the Merry Cemetery and UNESCO Wooden Churches. We made our way north through Cluj, where we drove round and round, trying to find this restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet. Oh, we ended up all over the place. But we eventually found it. Our perserverence paid off, and we enjoyed a nice meal in a traditional setting, away from the hubbuhb of downtown.
The road on to Baia Mare (capital of Maramures county) was not a good one, but once we arrived there, we met up with my colleague Ioana, and enjoyed a pizza dinner with her. She made reservations for us at a nice guesthouse in the mountains and we made our way there in the middle of the night. It was the scariest, and most tripping experience we have experienced! It was truly a dark and lonesome road, winding its way, switchback after switchback, over the Carpathians to the small villages of Maramures. Mark cracked open a beer (completely legal in this country), and we began singing Tenacious D's "Tribute" a cappella from memory. It was an entirely unforgettable experience!!
The guesthouse in Maramures was very nice and newly renovated. We stayed the night and then made arrangements to have sarmale cooked for us for lunch. The next morning we left for the Merry Cemetery in Sarpanta, where all of the tombstones are brightly painted wooden crosses. A neat little place. We then stopped at the Sighet Prison Memorial, where political prisoners were held enprisioned during communism. It was done very well, and I highly recommend it to anyone visiting the area.
After our delicious lunch, it was time for the wooden churches. We saw two of them, Bistrita and ...another one. I'll have to look up the name later. But it was a beautiful day, and from the number of photos I took, I just couldn't get enough of the churches! In the church that I can't remember the name of, we were able to track down the keykeeper and get inside. Tracking down the keys is the hardest part of any travel in Romania -- once you get there, you can't get in! But we perservered, and enjoyed it most thoroughly.
From Maramures, we headed east overnight to Bucovina, home of the painted monasteries. We stayed in a sports complex in Gura Humourlui, and got up to see the local monastery bright and early. It's amazing that the paint on the outside of the monastery has not faded to terribly in the past 700-800 years!
We continued on to see another monastery, and then took off south to drive through the Bicaz Gorges, a magnificient display of nature's majesty. We tried to stop in the Hungarian part of the country on our way south towards Brasov, but things were so odd in Miercurea-Ciuc that we decided to keep going all the way to Brasov. We rolled into Brasov in the evening, spent the night in some old couple's house (with paper thin walls, I swear!) and woke up the next morning to see Brasov. Brasov was beautiful in the morning, and we wandered around the town, seeing it from the sites on the hillside. We tried to go into one of the monuments, but there were guards there, who said they "could arrange" for us to go inside one of the museums, plainly asking for a bribe. Mark and I would have none of it and politely excused ourselves to see the rest of the city. On the way back to Sibiu, we stopped at Sambata Monastery for an hour, and then spent the night in Sibiu before heading back to Bucharest to take Mark to the airport.
Sorry the end of this is so choppy -- I've been adding to it continously since mid-November, and now I just really want to get caught up with my weblog!! If you have any questions, or want to see more pictures (there's 158 of them from this trip!), I'd be happy to send you the link. Overall, it was a memorable trip and I will always remember it. :-)