Bucharest – July 2010
Well, I never expected Romania to be so lovely – possibly Europe’s best kept secret. Even Bucharest is nicer than I’d been led to believe and the travel agent’s assertion that a day in Bucharest was more than enough is wide of the mark.
The centre of Bucharest has some interesting squares – not remarkable – but worth seeing nonetheless and despite the destruction during the communist era a lot of old houses and buildings still exist. There is certainly enough to hold your interest over a long weekend.
I didn’t get to see the acclaimed Romanian Peasant’s and Jewish museums nor did I get to wander through Cismigiu garden or Herastrau Park – but did get a tour of the depressing Parliament Palace and wandered around past the Romanian Athenaeum and further into Piata Revolutiei – where there’s a monument which the locals have dubbed “the potato” – it’s a marble needle that looks – well, it looks like it has speared a potato. It obviously has a far deeper meaning and considering what took place here it says a lot about the Romanian’s sense of humour and their ability to see comedy in tragedy…
I visited the open air Village Museum which is fascinating. It consists of a collection of old farm & village houses from around the country. They are all genuine and have simply been relocated here to show the regional variation in design; construction & heritage. There are houses from Banat; Crisana; Dobrogea; Maramures; Moldova (the region not the Republic); Muntenia; Oltenia and – of course – Transylvania. One thing I didn’t know was that Saxons settled in Transylvania and brought their own culture; architecture & (eventually) the Lutheran religion. The Saxons built lots of amazing fortified churches – many of which can still be seen.
So I had a fairly thorough driving tour of the city which makes me want to come back and explore. The Romanians are very friendly people, too, with English widely spoken & understood. As the language is a Latin-based one – albeit that 40% of the vocabulary is Slavic – it is also reasonably easy to have a stab at translating signs & menus.
The beer here is very good: Ciuc and Silva are brewed by Heineken-owned breweries and are both very clean & fresh with a refreshing bitter/hop character; Ursus is an SAB-Miller beer and a typical Slavic-style heavy lager – again, very good and anyone who likes beers with character will appreciate it. SAB-Miller also brews Timisoreana – which is ok, too.
And talking of cars, which we weren’t, the local car is the Dacia – the Roman emperor Trajan invaded this part of Europe and created the province of Dacia – the Dacian women were famed for their beauty and so the Romans soon found themselves at home here and what was true then is true today – anyway, Dacia is owned by Renault and they produce a small range of neat – if unexciting – cars – with less than exotic names such as: “Duster”; “Logan” and “Sandero”…
I have seen three Oltcit – and must admit I’d forgotten they existed. It was a strange thing that looks like it was based on the Citroen Visa. The factory was sold to Daewoo after the revolution but is now owned by Ford who are starting production here (they might already have started).
There’s a new Renault saloon here called the “Fluence” – and, no, I haven’t made that up. It looks like it might just be the new name for the Megane saloon.
Disappointingly I’ve hardly seen any Soviet-era cars – a couple of Trabants & a couple of pre-Volkswagen Skoda being the extent of it – other than the ubiquitous Dacia that was based on the Renault 12. Out in the countryside we came across an alarming number of horse & carts trundling along the roads. I’m not sure they are meant to use the main roads – but they do – quaint but a bit alarming at the same time as you can probably imagine..
Once out of Bucharest and heading north-west through the Wallachian plain toward Transylvania and the Carpathians – destination Sibiu. En-route we stopped at a monastery in Cozia and then we stopped in Curtea de Argesa, to see the beautiful church, which is decorated in white marble and astonishingly intricate. Legend has it that Manole, the wife of Neagoe Basarab who built it, is entombed within the walls. You can see where her body allegedly lies. And if that wasn’t macabre enough her last words to her husband were that she was pregnant with their first child…
Sibiu
Sibiu was a European City of Culture in 2007 and is frankly astonishing – anyone familiar with the mediaeval cities of the Baltic States or Lviv will know what I’m talking about – amazing that this city has survived for so long.
After two nights of relative luxury in the Bucharest Hilton I stayed in a B&B in Sibiel – Pensiunea Reghina – which was lovely. A typical house of the area built around a courtyard. The village of Sibiel itself is no more than three rutted tracks – it has two little shops; a church with a museum of icons painted on glass (very sweet & well worth the 4 Lei) (just over a euro); a stream running through it and, er, two graveyards – it is surrounded by woods and was a great place to stay. Reghina cooked a lovely evening meal – accompanied by local plum brandy and local white wine – which was heavily oxidised but, hey…
After leaving Sibiel/Sibiu the driver, Andrei, took us to Biertan.
Biertan
Biertan has a lovely medieval fortified church in an idyllic setting. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site – and you can see why. Romania has 25 such sites dotted around the country – the UK has 28, apparently. Well, sorry folks but I’m buying Biertan. What an idyllic village in an idyllic setting – a beautiful fortified church overlooking this beautiful mediaeval village.
Did I mention that it is lovely?
It’s probably hell in winter…
Sighisoara
After Biertan we went to Sighisoara – another stunning walled mediaeval town with another beautiful fortified mediaeval church. Vlad the Impaler was born here and you can see the house he was born & lived in.
Anyway, this is a quick update on the trip so far. The weather has been lovely – although the region around the Danube has had terrible flooding apparently.
I have brought my brand new platinum-plated; Hi-Fi Wi-Fi; twin-turbo; 17 million pixels; 95gb state of the art Nokia E72 with me so that I could keep in touch in case of “emergencies”. Well, it hasn’t synchronised yet & so the e-mails haven’t updated but it is still somehow connected to my Outlook at work because it keeps reminding me of meetings – bizarre & vaguely amusing.
It did, however, deliver in between Biertan & Sighisoara a text-message from Penny telling me she has arrived safe & sound in New Zealand and all is well – so thank you Penny – I hope the rest of your trip goes well & is a storming success…
Bran
Today has been spent exploring the area around Brasov – Brasso in Hungarian & Konstad in German – starting off with a visit to Bran to see the castle associated with Dracula.
The castle itself is quite sweet and was the summer home of Queen Maria – one of Queen Victoria’s grandchildren. The castle was extensively renovated between 1920 & 1927 but there has been a castle on this site since the early 1200’s. In the mid-1400’s the castle was rebuilt and given to Vlad the Impaler who had lost the Romanian throne – and he may well have stayed here but that’s about as close as it gets to any connection to Count Dracula…
While the Romanians seem to be in two-minds about the Dracula stories – the castle does trade on the whole Dracula/vampire thing and while the castle itself is worth visiting & set in pretty gardens (I know – castle/pretty gardens) (that should tell you something) it does have a vast array of stalls selling the most astonishing range of – er – artefacts…
The other thing that bemuses the Romanians are the Cheeky Girls – I guess the English would be similarly perplexed if all we were known for was Right Said Fred…
Brasov
After Bran we came back to Brasov to wander around the town – another splendid mediaeval town centre with the Black Church at the centre. Built between 1387 and 1477 it is the largest Gothic church in Romania and gets its name from an Austrian attack on the town during which the Austrians tried to burn the city down. The church has undergone restorations since then and isn’t black anymore.
Out of the centre and near our hotel is St Nicolae’s church. In the grounds of St Nicolae’s is the first school in Romania – dating from 1495. It was a school for those wishing to become priests – so not an ordinary school – but it is still interesting and – amazingly – houses around 6,000 old manuscripts – the oldest was printed in Krakow in 1491 – there are many on display from the 1500’s & 1600’s.
Tomorrow we go through Prahova Valley – famous for its wine and in Azuga there is a Halewood winery – we will then be visiting Peles Castle after that.
Peles Castle
Ah: Peles Castle – beautiful setting – more of a (gin) palace than a castle- begun in 1875 & finished in 1914 – all gothic & dark wood – the interior is enough to give you nightmares with all the twiddly-bits & clutter (artistically arranged, no doubt). The sweet guide said she found it beautiful (thereby dismissing my question about whether she suffered from nightmares with the contempt it deserved) – hmmm…
In the grounds there are the Pelisor Palace and a hunting lodge but neither of these is open to visitors. We stopped at the Sinaia Monastery on the way down – which was interesting – Orthodox churches never cease to fascinate (which is just as well)…
One difference you’ll notice between Romania & Bulgaria is that even small Romanian villages have quite big, ornate churches while Bulgarian villages tend to have smaller & much less ornate ones – well, simpler on the outside but ornate inside (if you see what I mean)…
Sadly we leave Romania tomorrow – but start a new adventure in Bulgaria! Anyone wondering if Romania is worth visiting – yes it is – 5 days has given me an interest in seeing & learning more about this fascinating country. July & August aren’t great times to visit as it can get very warm – whereas January & February can get quite chilly – but does have good skiing in the Carpathians near Brasov.
So – Bulgaria then…
Veliko Tarnovo
Pozdravleniya from Veliko Tarnovo – a former capital of Bulgaria until it was captured by the Ottomans – and home to the enchanting Liliana.
The old part of the city is really charming overlooking the Yantra river valley and surrounded by ravines; valleys & forest. The fortress of Tsarevets is the main attraction.
Well, I say that but it may no longer be true – the English appear to have moved-in and not because of the fortress…
The estate agents here advertise properties in English and give equivalent prices in lev; euro and pounds. For £50,000 you can buy a pretty nice 3-bedroomed house; a smaller house in need of some repair can be had for around £15,000 and £120,000 will buy you a mansion…
Can’t see the attraction myself….
OK, that was a fib…
The area around here is lovely and the town is bustling. The Hotel Veliko Tarnovo, a Soviet-era building in the centre on the banks of the Yantra, is a bit of a shock, and nearby is the huge & equally brutal monument of the Assens. The State Art Gallery is also close by & looks like it was meant to be a church (it was closed when I got there) and from the platform that the monument & gallery are built on you get an interesting view as you look up at the city.
Flying around while I was visiting was what I think might have been a Glossy Ibis – is that likely? Intriguing, whatever it was, with beautiful plumage…
I stayed at the Hotel Yantra – which is very nice & has great views over the valley & the fortress…
Nearby is the picturesque village of Arbanasi where Konstantsalieva House – a 17th century merchant’s house – has been turned into a museum. What is interesting is that Arbanasi must have been quite a wealthy village – as you see from the museum and the other houses in the village – and while it is only 4km from Veliko Tarnovo – it seems odd to have settled here – away from the city – but anyway…
The Nativity Church is just amazing…
From the outside it looks like it was a barn. The Ottomans allowed the villagers to have their own church as long as it didn’t look like one from the outside. But inside – wow! Amazing frescoes cover the walls & ceilings – really quite breath-taking. The curator is quite fierce in only allowing small groups in at any one time – which you understand when you do get inside as it is quite compact.
And she isn’t fierce, really – she just has to be strict – welcoming us back (when the church had emptied) with a warm & friendly smile.
Talking of cars, which we weren’t, I’ve seen lots of Lada; Moskvitch; Trabants and Aleko – which is unusual. Also, quite a few Ford Sierra and several Citroen Xantia. Nothing very exciting yet – but it’s early days. There are still quite a lot of old Soviet trucks trundling around. You see the occasional horse & cart – but nowhere near as many as in Romania…
Bulgarian beer: so far I’ve tried Boliarka; Kaminitz (InBev); Shumensko; Starobrno and Zagorka (Heineken) – they are all dull – Bulgarian-brewed Heineken; Stella & Tuborg likewise – Zagorka being the best of a mediocre bunch (and Liliana’s favourite)…
One thing you can’t help but notice about Bulgaria is the number of Soviet-era statues & monuments – fierce-looking things full of symbolism…
On leaving Veliko Tarnovo – and sadly having to say goodbye to the captivating Liliana (who is studying finance at the university in Veliko Tarnovo and working in the Hotel Yantra during the holidays) (and who kindly chatted to me & answered my daft questions about life in Bulgaria) – we set off for the rather unlikely sounding city of Plovdiv – Bulgaria’s second-largest city…
Plovdiv
Plovdiv reminds me of the Central Asian rice-based dish “plov” – and it sounds like an abbreviation of a corporate division or government department: “Oh yeah, he’s transferred to PlovDiv – fast-tracked – obviously destined for the top..” or “Oh yeah, she’s heading up PlovDiv.”
We drove through Gabrovo – which has a museum of humour & satire – sadly we didn’t stop – so it was either a good joke ruined or…
Anyway, shortly after that we stopped at the open air village museum at Etar – which is very sweet and though a bit touristy it is well – and quite cleverly – done in a lovely setting. After that we wound our way up through the forests and over the Balkan Mountains – stopping at a monument on the way. Actually there are two monuments up here – one looks a bit like a UFO or a space station (but on the top of a mountain) (obviously) and the one we stopped at – I’ll have to add the name of it later as I left my Lonely Planet Guide in my hotel room (I couldn’t find any mention of it).
Anyway, over the hill to – Shipka – twinned with Shipley (not really) – where there is a stunning Russian Orthodox church – with gleaming golden domes – after Shipka we stopped at Kazanlak to visit a Thracian Tomb – well, you can see where the Thracian tomb is but what you actually visit is a replica – sensibly so – and neatly done…
On arriving in Plovdiv I checked-in to the Novotel – a huge Soviet-era monolith. Initially it seems to be in a poor location but nearby there is a covered bridge / walk-way complete with shops (several empty) that leads into the pedestrianised area in the city centre – so not such a bad location but not terribly easy to drive to…
We visited the Old Town with winding, cobbled streets – well, they aren’t cobblestones – just rough & ready lumps of rock ground down over time to become uneven & challenging to walk along – which adds to the charm, of course – the architecture of the houses in this area is Bulgarian Revival – and some of the houses have been colourfully restored.
Intriguing.
There’s a very good ethnography museum in one of the houses, too. We couldn’t visit the church as there was a wedding in progress with another one lined-up ready to go – you can see why as it is such a lovely setting…..
Sadly there are some houses that have been left to disintegrate & others have simply been pulled down – what should be a conservation area is in danger of being taken over by greedy property developers…
There is a Roman amphitheatre – parts of which have been restored and is used for concerts – which is quite enterprising. We visited the church of St Konstantine & Elena and the city centre mosque.
The centre of Plovdiv is a very nice place to walk around & explore – as I was wandering around I came across a guy playing the clarinet – a sort of jazz thing but quite good (I know “jazz / good” – possible contradiction in terms) – but what was amazing was his daughter who was playing the tambourine with such enthusiasm – she could only have been about 8 or 9 but was clearly having great fun – very sweet to watch them & obviously gave them some money – the father had clearly marked me out as a foreigner because he told his daughter to say “thank you”…
Talking of buskers – anyone know who the woman was, playing guitar & singing in Green Park tube on the way from the Jubilee to the Piccadilly Line about 10.15 on Thursday 22nd of July? Absolutely brilliant – beautiful voice…
One thing that is worth remembering about Bulgaria – well, two things – one is they use the Cyrillic alphabet (which I think everyone knows) – the other thing is that they shake their heads from side to side to indicate “yes” and nod to indicate “no” – it sounds like something you’d get the hang of pretty quickly – but because nodding for “yes” is so ingrained I just can’t get the hang of it (luckily hanging your head in shame is the same)…
Apparently the Bulgarians implemented the reverse-nod’n’shake after the Ottoman Empire took control of the country:
Ottoman official: I say Bulgar – you will convert from Christianity to Islam, won’t you?
Bulgarian – nods head while thinking “no chance”
We couldn’t have done that in England:
Protestant: I say Catholic, now that Henry VIII is King, are you going to convert to Protestantism?
Catholic – nods head while thinking “no chance”
A few years later:
Catholic: I say Protestant, now that Henry is dead & Mary is Queen, are you going to convert to Catholicism?
Protestant – nods head while thinking “no chance”
Catholic: oi – I know your game!
Anyway, if it helps, some Bulgarians who are widely travelled or in tourist areas nod & shake as we do so as – er, not to confuse…
Hmmm…
Sofia
I stayed in the Kempinski in Sofia – which is posh but out of the way & a long trek to the city centre. The Panorama Restaurant on the 19th floor has – inevitably – good views of the city & surrounding hills. I had dinner there on my first night – some lovely turbot (from the Black Sea) and then for dessert a plate full of gorgeous ripe cherries & some red grapes – a fine (Bulgarian) Sauvignon Blanc to wash it all down – magical…
On arriving in the centre of Sofia you’ll notice that the streets are paved with yellow-brick – I haven’t discovered why…
The centre of the city is quite compact and easy to walk around – just bear in mind that drivers here treat zebra crossings with disdain…
There are interesting things to see such as the Alexander Nevski Cathedral; the Banya Bashi Mosque; the Sofia Synagogue – first time I’ve been in a synagogue; the archaeological museum is very interesting (and has a jazzy cafe right outside); the Sveti Nikolai Russian Church is lovely and – incongruously – the Sveti Georgi church – surrounded by the Sheraton Hotel on one side and the Presidential offices on the other three. Luckily it survives & is open to visitors following restoration in the 1990’s….
Anyone familiar with GUM will recognise TSUM – and like GUM, TSUM is home to classy (well, pricey) boutiques…
About 130km from Sofia is the Rila Monastery – which is set at the head of a beautiful valley some 20km from the small town of Rila. There has been a monastery around here since 927, when it was founded by Ivan Rilski (later Saint Ivan) – badly damaged in 1833 it was rebuilt & this is what you see today. A magnificent setting and well worth the long trek from Sofia. On the way you can see a collection of old disintegrating Mercedes in Usoyka and in Kocherinovo a quite astonishing collection of old Soviet cars – similarly rotting away – a shame really as they’d be quite an attraction if they were restored. You also pass the Stob pyramids – a series of rock formations…
On the way back to Sofia & about 4km from the city centre – we stopped at the Natural History Museum – set in the old presidential palace – which is well worth visiting and with a good 50% of the signs translated into English – it is only 10 lev and there is a lot to see with various interesting maps showing how the different races & tribes spread throughout this part of the world in ancient times…
After that we went to see the tiny Boyana Church – not far from the museum – and set in lovely gardens. They allow only 8 people in at any one time & each group is allotted 10 minutes. There isn’t a huge amount to see except for the frescoes – but they date from the 13th century and are therefore very frail…
So: only managed to finish 2 books while I was away: All Gone to Look for America by Peter Millar – which was ok but not as interesting as I’d hoped and I Wouldn’t Start From Here by Andrew Mueller – which is excellent – an interesting take on some of the world’s trouble-spots. He has written another book called Rock and Hard Places, which sounds interesting despite the title – so will give that a whirl…