Mystery tour Autumn 2024 - Post 4Tantalising Transylvania!

Finally, we can start our overland explorations! Next morning we left Bucharest by train from the very old, somewhat faded but bustling Bucuresti Nord station, once a stop on the Orient Express route from London to Istanbul.

We had been warned about erratic train services in Romania, but most were leaving within 10 or 15 minutes of departure time. Ours was scheduled to leave at 9.57 for the 2.5 hour service north to Brasov. The platform was packed. It arrived at 10.00. Everyone piled on, and although most had reserved seats, so many were in the wrong carriage, or in the wrong seats and everyone was trying to pass in opposite directions, welding rucksacks, cases, babies, pushchairs and even dogs! Suddenly everyone was sat down and we left at 10.15. Not too bad.  After an initial burst of speed, it slowed to walking pace for the middle section, and we finally arrived in Brasov nearly an hour and a half late! The most incredible part was that no-one in the packed train seemed in the slightest bit concerned. It was obviously a regular occurrence.

Brasov is a city of 300,000 people which felt like a village compared to Bucharest. As the train journey had progressed (slowly) north, the landscape had changed to hills then the Carpathian mountains, which form a natural barrier between north and south Romania.

The architecture here was more like Austria or Germany, which is not surprising because this area was ruled by the Austro-Hungarian Empire for centuries. Brasov old town is enchanting.

It reminded me of my time living in Switzerland. Our super air bnb apartment was right on the main square, apparently in the Polish Consulate building and with a great view!

We had a huge bedroom / lounge, a good kitchen and a bathroom. The square has a good mix of shops, restaurants and delicatessen, plus a church in the centre. Even here in the mountains, the temperature is still 28°C. Gorgeous. We dashed out to have lunch at Ogados in the square.

Again, very meat based, but really delicious. The sharing starter of 4 dips was huge! I will be making Zacuska at home! Chris then had a huge ham hock braised in black beer, and I had a beef casserole.

Perfect, but we couldn't hang around as I had booked an intriguing excursion at 4pm. A trip into the Carpathian mountains to see wild bears. There are around 8000 bears in Romania. Too many since the EU made it illegal to kill them. They are a problem because they come down into the towns, and can be deadly. The Government Ranger service have set up feeding stations across the mountains,, where food is put out at the same time each day. This aims to keep them many miles from the towns. We went, with a ranger, to one of these stations, and were quite shocked to see two huge bears outside the observation shelter. They soon ran off as we arrived, which is what the rangers are encouraging. They do not want them to habituate to humans. The ranger piled some pears about 40m from the hide. Gradually the bears appeared. The guide said that in total about 25 bears use this station, but they vary all the time, and you can see anything between 0 and 7.

We were so lucky, and saw 6. 5 males and 1 female. And a mountain fox.

The dominant male is 18 years old, and the guide thinks this will be his last year as boss. The female is 6 and had her first cub this year. Bears are solitary, so the mum should keep her cub away from other adult bears, as adult males will kill it, as the female only comes back in season when she stops feeding a cub, and the male wants to mate with her. That happened to the cub of this young female. We learned that after mating in June or July, the fertilised egg then remains static until November. Then, if the female has built up enough fat to support them both through the winter, the egg implants and begins to grow. Incredible. Seeing the wild bears (and fox) so close was a humbling experience. They were beautifully scary! They climbed the almost vertical valley walls with such ease and speed. A real wow moment, only improved by the scenery and the lovely sunset as we drove back, but we were pleased we hadn't planned any mountain hikes.

A good night's sleep was followed by a pick up by a minibus for a guided tour. We headed south of Brasov to Sinaia monastery. What a stunning place. Founded in 1690 the old church has original frescoes from the late 1600s , some of the oldest we have seen.

The gardens were lovely too, and full of dahlias!

The 'new' church founded by King Carol I in 1846 was holding a service. One of the icons has given Chris a worrying new target for beard growth!

Next we drove up the road to Peles castle, built by King Carol III and Queen Elizabeth to celebrate Romanian Independence.

It was incredible and drew on designs and styles from all over Europe. Built in 1873 it had electric lighting, central heating and a centralised vacuum cleaning system! In particular, the woodwork was exquisite, especially in the Hall of Honour and the grand staircase, where there are over 4000 handcarved faces, with no 2 the same.

The detailed marquetry pictures were beautiful, and these columns looked like marble but are a type of beechwood.

There was a library with secret doors and a hidden safe, grand rooms designed in florentine, venetian and arabic styles, and an armoury collection which included a German executioners sword with the inscription ' May God give eternal life to the sinner whose head will be cut with this sword'!

Queen Elizabeths friend, Dora Hirz painted some beautiful artworks, there are some early Gustav Klimt works when he was working as a portrait painter, and wonderful Murano glass mirrors and chandeliers!

Add a lovely terrace cafe and we enjoyed a drink in the shade, as it is 29°C today. The flowers were full of hummingbird hawkmoths, which were delightful.

Then into our minibus for another 40 minute drive to Bran Castle. This is a true mediaeval castle, built in 1372 on an impossible rocky outcrop.

It is the castle that has been used in many films about Dracula, but he never actually lived there. In 1897, Bran Stoker described a similar castle in his book Dracula, and the rest is history.. or not! There are some rather tacky displays of horror stories, and torture instruments, but the actual history of the castle is interesting. It was built here because it controlled the mountain road between Transylvania and the southern part of Romania... then a separate country. Initially it was guarded by Teutonic knights who were actually English! Eventually, it fell into disrepair. Queen Marie, who was born in England and married King Ferdinand I, took the castle on, and sympathetically restored it in the early 1900s. She was a very popular and amazing woman.

She worked as a nurse in WWI, and used her money to buy medicines and equipment for the care of the soldiers. She even went into the trenches, and inspired Red Cross volunteers. After the War she was the only woman at the Paris meetings, and argued convincingly for the reunification of Romania, which was included in the Treaty of Versailles. After the conference came a wonderful quote... "There is only one man in Romania, and that is the Queen". The castle still belongs to her family who are its custodians.

We then had a nice lunch in Bran village before returning to Brasov. Once there we deposited our bags in the air bnb, and set off on a self guided walking mystery trail around the village. The old town was heavily fortified in the 15th century. There were seven forts each occupied and manned by a different guild, connected by 4.5 kms of high wall. There was an old weavers workshop from the 1600s and lots of lovely buildings from different eras. The seven towns had 4 turrets on their towers. This signified they had the right to execute criminals!

The black Church is so called because it was damaged by fire in 1679. Rather uniquely it contains over 500 Ottoman prayer mats which were traded or gifted by merchants passing through the town.

Arriving back in the square, we decided we were too full to go for a meal, and bought ourselves some delicious icecreams instead!

Our last day in Brasov was spent on another day trip arranged through Active travel based here. This was to go deep into Transylvania to explore the historic villages and countryside. We were in a group of 7 and our guide was brilliant. This area was the southernmost part of Germanic settlement by saxons. German is still spoken here and is on the signage. Our first stop was Rupea. In mediaeval times, villages had fortified churches.

The whole village could move inside with their livestock if danger approached. They were well built, high on a hill, usually with 3 rings of defence, portcullis, crossbow slots, boiling oil holes and lookout towers. Villages were about 7kms apart as this was the longest distance you could hear the bells ringing their warnings. Rupea castle was built in the 13th century, in the shape of a snail winding up the hill, and had a well and a bacon store! Villagers would bring preserved meat here and other foodstuffs so it would be here in a seige. It was very organised. They have records showing the store was opened one day a week for people to retrieve bacon and add fresh stock. The castle was only taken once, and was quickly won back.

Next we drove north to Sigisoara, another of the fortified towns like Brasov. It is much hillier, and it's walls and gates are almost complete. It too has the 4 turrets signifying the right to execute prisoners.

The hilly streets were charming, and the steep entrance  into the city has a roofed old ladies passage, designed to stay dry and therefore not slippery in ice and rain.

The city includes the house where Vlad the Impaler, immortalised as Dracula, was born. There is a music school here where Brahms played! A covered staircase dates back to 1642 and climbs 200 steep steps to the monastery, church and cemetery on high. As we reached the top, a guitarist was playing Stairway to Heaven!

The monastery church was fascinating. Built as a Catholic church in 1488 this area experienced a reformation in 1544 and it became Lutheran which it remains today. Traces of wall paintings remain, along with old grave slabs.

The hole was made by grave robbers searching for jewellery or precious goods. The pews date from 1530 and there is an underground chapel from an earlier church, later used as a crypt. One wooden coffin had disintegrated, revealing the intact hair of it's 17th century occupant!!

This is a positive place. A weather vane depicts the pied piper of Hamelin because they changed the story to a happy ending. The piper leads the children of Hamelin in Germany into the cave... and takes them to Sigisoara which is why there are so many Germans here! The beautiful revolving clock is being restored.

A super late lunch at the Alte Post restaurant was filled with great conversation with our fellow travellers... including a lady who lives 5 minutes away from us at home!! Small world. Next a drive to the village of Viscri... a step back in time. A long broad cobbled street of very old, traditional cottages.

They are long buildings, with one room behind the other, and mostly smallholdings. It is not a secret that King Charles has owned a cottage here for nearly 20 years and loves to come here to relax and paint. He has set up a trust and helps to sympathetically restore other cottages and is very popular here. There is a village shop / bar and, at the top of the hill, a beautiful fortified church.

Saxon German is still spoken here. The church had wonderful naive paintings dating back to the 16th century, including the angel of death, placed in the area of the church where the older people sit for services!

Chris braved the rickety steep stairs for a view from the top of the tower. A little museum had a wonderful bunk bed where the children slept in drawers under their parents on top.

A very sad sight was the war memorial. As a small village, quite a lot of it's men were killed. However, after the War came communism, and those whose names were listed after a small cross were deported to Siberia and never heard of again. It included several women, and 7 names from one family.

On a lighter note... meet a Transylvanian bare necked chicken, an enormous stork nest and the most famous house in the village!

The day ended with another sunset, but change was on the way. Heavy rain was forecast for the next day, and we were embarking on a 12 hour train journey to our next destination. We stocked up with a picnic before getting an early night ready for our 6.20 am departure. We have really loved Romania, and would be happy to return, especially to a place that has Oktoberfest in August and September, and book vending machines at the railway station!