Adventures with Julia

First I must apologize for misspelling Romanian several times in the previous post as well as our guide’s name, which is Aurelian.  Normally, I have Mark spell check for me, but I was in too big of a hurry and he was asleep.

September 25, 2017

Yesterday, the 24^th, we woke up in Sibiu, Transylvania.  It is a town of 30,000 situated in a large plain with low hills all around in the distance.  Our hotel is right in the middle of the Old City with the town square about a block away.  The local festival is in full swing in the square.  Before going to bed last night, we wandered around the festival and were surprised by the huge crowds of people reveling in the temporary tented, beer hall and singing away like a bunch of drunken folk at a German brewfest.

Outside the tent were hundreds more people buying treats and riding the spin, tilt and upside-down rides I never do at home.  It was quite a lively scene.  It did not take much for us to head for home and bed.  Are we curmudgeons or what?

The next day, being Sunday, we walked around area until time to go to Mass. We looked at a 500-year old building in the square called Haller’s House.  It has old original frescos high on the outside wall.  Other buildings had “eye brows” in the roof to allow for air flow into the attics.  I entered the Catholic Church in time to miss the Romanian sermon.  After communion, I joined Mark and Aurelian, who told us Romania is the only Latin country in Eastern Europe.

We dropped into a Romanian Orthodox service.  The place was packed.  Obviously, Romanian Orthodox is the dominant religion in Transylvania.  Everyone just stands around and listens to the sermon.  There were lots of nice frescos on the walls.  We walked around taking in the 19 towers and stone walls that fortified the old city.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each one was maintained by a professional guild- such as tailors, tin smiths, bakers, gold smiths, metal workers, etc. Beyond the first set of walls are two more.  The city was very well fortified in the 13-1400’s.

 

Then Aurelian took us to a park outside town, that is called Astra Muzeul.  It is an outdoor multicultural museum that is the largest of its kind in Romania.  It consists of 130 hectares ( 321 acres) populated with 480 original houses brought in from around Romania.

It was started in 1905 by one man and taken over by the government in 1963.  Aurelian rented us a horse and buggy to ride around the site and visit as many houses as we wanted.  It was very charming.  Most of the houses are in the 200-year old range.  We encountered a wedding festival while there and enjoyed the performance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After leaving the museum we stopped at a small church in a place called Sibiel.  In it were many paintings on glass done by townspeople during the 18th and 19th centuries  when they were not allowed to worship in their Orthodox churches, which Maria Teresa had closed during her reign.  So, they made their own immature paintings and hung them in their homes.   They were very sweet and I could not help but take some photos.  Then we drove back into Sibiu.

At 6pm, we attended an organ recital at the Romanian Orthodox Church, also known as the Black Church.

The organ was quite good and the organist very special.  We listened to one Bach piece neither of us liked. After that, the pieces played were gradually more appealing, especially a piece by Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911).  We also liked a piece by Seth Bingham (1881-1972) composed in 1923.  Church programs last only an hour we have found and that suits us perfectly.  We went to dinner at a place called Jules and had pasta.  Good to get away from Romanian food.  We are mostly feeling better, but I am still coughing a lot.  Sure am getting tired of being tired and achy.

Today, Monday, we departed Sibiu for Brasov with a number of interim stops along the Transylvanian country side.  First along the way was the Monday animal and clothing market we stumbled upon a few miles out of Sibiu.

It was fun watching the farmers horse trading and the Gypsies handing out with their colorful outfits and funny looking hats.  That stop, enhanced by fair weather, was good for an hour.

 

 

The countryside drive was very scenic, with rolling hills, corn and other grains filling the fields and many small villages dotting the roadside as we passed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our big stop for the day was the old city of Sighisoara.  It is reputed to be one of the most charming towns in Transylvania.

 

 

 

 

 

The whole town is designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.  I liked the town, but must admit, I liked Sibiu better.

The interesting parts included a 175-step covered walk up to the “Church at the Top of the Hill”, which was burnt and rebuilt and very plain.

However, the cemetery was wonderful as the graves clung to the side of the hill.  Most were so old I could not make out any dates.

There were many from the 1900’s that looked like the people had been buried on top of old graves and added new stones.

Back down in the town square, we had a wonderful bowl of Transylvania Pork Soup.  That hit the spot.  Right near the square was a house marked with a sign designating the place where Count Dracula was born.  Aurelian promised more info about Dracula later tomorrow.  The name Dracul, which means “devil” was the name of Dracula’s father, Vlad Dracul. “ Dracula”means “of the devil”.

 

 

 

Back in the car we drove past another old castle fortification and took a photo from a distance.  Fortified towns in Transylvania are so common that many do not even get noticed.  We arrived at our hotel, Bela Muzica, in Brasov about 7pm.  Had dinner at a Romanian restaurant near our hotel that specializing in meat.  We had pork ribs.  They were ok, just not what we hopped.  I also had grilled vegetables and they were super.  Then we walked back to the hotel, flossed like mad and dove into bed.

This morning, September 26, we had another unsatisfying breakfast similar to the last several in our Transylvanian accommodations—cold cuts, cucumber, sliced tomatoes, steamed mushrooms and sausages and overcooked eggs.  Fortunately, they usually have yogurt and some fruit, although not always fresh.

Anyway, we met up with Aurelian and headed out of town to the Bran Castle, to learn the history of the place.  It was built in the mid 14^th century as a fortress between the two territories of Transylvania and Wallachia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its presence supported the trade opportunities over the Carpathian Mountains of the local citizens of the nearby town of Brasov.  The fortress began losing importance during the 1800’s.

In 1920 the City of Brasov gave the property to the new sovereign of Great Romania.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was the opportunity for Queen Maria and her architect to remodel the fortress into a comfortable home, which she did: including electricity, plumbing, heating, sheet rock and paint.

 

 

 

Glorious times were spent there by the royal family until the Queen died in 1938.

The Queen’s daughter took care of the property until 1947, when her uncle, King Mihai abdicated the throne.

In 1957, the castle was turned into a Museum and opened to the public.  What we saw today was the museum, with many of the Queen’s mementos and photos placed around the building.

 

 

It was fun to walk around as almost every room was on a different level from every other room.  Without directions, we would surely have gotten lost in the many small rooms.

The Count Dracula story is an altogether different version about the property.  The Count probably never set foot in the place and his story is pure myth.   Launched in 1897 by the Irish writer, Bram Stoker, the novel “Dracula” imagines the story of a vampire who lives in a castle in the middle of the Carpathian Mountains.  The actual Prince Dracula, who did grow up in Transylvania, was the son of Vlad Dracul, whose name meant “devil, and was a nasty character who reputedly impaled people who crossed him, may have deserved the reference to the devil.  The association of the Castle with the Bran name is purely theatrical as far as I can tell.  The castle certainly looks like the setting for a great novel and a lot of money is being made as a result of the book. Aurelian told us It is considered the most popular books ever written, next to the bible, until Harry Potter. Don’t know, neither Mark nor I have read it.  Anyway, google Dracula if you want to learn more.

After spending time in and around the castle, we drove up into the mountains for a lovely picnic lunch.  The intent was to go for a hike, but the day was cold and windy, so we found a lovely spot high in the hills and ate our lunch in a little hollow.

Slowly we drove down the scenic mountain and back to Brasov.   Except for the cold and overcast sky we had had a very nice day.  Back in our room, we hung our in our small patio for a couple of hours, then walked to the Black Church for another organ concert.  This time there were 4 organs being used at different times.

During the final piece, two of the organs were played simultaneously for a very unusual and interesting sound.  The third piece was by Johann Pacabel, Ciacona in f –fa  minor.  Mark and I both really liked it.  The organ used for that piece sounded soft and melodic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the organ performance we walked into the square for dinner in a modern Italian restaurant called Prato.  We were both very satisfied with our meal.  And now Mark is asleep and I am about to quit.