September 7, 2019 Saturday
We left Seattle around 2pm and flew 9 1/2 hours to Amsterdam we arrived at about 8:15 am. We then caught a KLM  flight from Amsterdam to Bucharest Romania. It's another 2 1/2 hour trip. We went to the Therme Spa in Bucharest and ate dinner there. It was a relaxing way to end a very long day and a half of traveling. We were so tired we went back to the hotel and went to bed about 9:30 pm.

 Landing in Amsterdam.

In the southeast of Europe, Romania sits where the Danube River meets the Black Sea.

Therme Spa in Bucharest. These little English roses were all over the parking lot. They were so pretty. All around the main pool area there were beautiful orchards.

 Salt wall

                                       Where we ate dinner.

Exercise class.

September 9, 2019 Monday

We slept really good. We had a quick breakfast at McDonald's then we are heading to Brasov today which is about a 2 hour drive. We will be staying there for three nights. We love renting a car and driving  ourselves. You really get an idea of what a country is like by driving through it. You can really tell this was once a Soviet country by looking at some of the buildings. We also saw a lot of nuclear power plants. Everything is super inexpensive here. We got a gelato and it was like $2. In Italy they are reasonable prices. Although when we were in Florence for the first time it cost us$20! We learned from then on to ask prices beforehand. We ate lunch in the main square. It was really good. The weather was perfect!    

 Quick breakfast at McDonald before heading out.

There were a lot of these flea markets all along the roads. They had a lot of local stuff and a lot of really cheap stuff.

Our rental car

The scenery changed from flat and drab looking to lush. I was taking a picture of the green hills. I didn't notice till Michael pointed it out. If you zoom in on the guy in the pink shirt he decided he had to pee right then and now! We found out later in the trip they do this all the time. They aren't shy about it either. Gross! We saw it about three other times.

In the city of Brasov, Romania.

The Old Town of Brasov consists of what used to be the Saxons' fortified town. The walls and watch towers have been restored (partly using UNESCO funds) in recent years

Catherine’s Gate, in it’s current form, was built in 1559, when Johann Beckner was the mayor of the city and, for a long time, it was the only connection between the fortified city in the district of Schei. The construction has four corner tourette’s that, in the middle ages, represented the cities right to administer the capital punishment- the right of the sword. 

Strada Sforii (Rope Street) was built for firefighters, between Poarta Schei and Cerbului Street. Originally mentioned in the 17th century it’s one the narrowest streets in Europe.

The Biserica Neagra or, Black church, dates back to the late 1470’s, when it was built to replace a much older church that used to stand on the same site. It got it’s name “Black” after a fire burned its outer walls in a fire in 1689. (It’s not really that black to me?) Inside are a lot of antique Turkish carpets.

On the top of the roof is a statue of a small boy. The story is that during the construction, the best builder was a 14 year old boy. Some of the older men were jealous of his skills and he “accidentally” fell off the roof before the church was finished.

Turkish Carpets

Old Town Square

 

I think this is where you can deposit your blood! :)

Heading to Bran Castle (Dracula’s Castle Transylvania)

Carpathian Mountains

Bram Stoker’s character, Dracula, is a Transylvania Count with a castle located high above a valley perched on a rock with a flowing river below The principality of Transylvania.

Bram Stoker never visited Romania. He depicted the imaginary Dracula’s castle based on a description of Bran Castle that was available to him in turn-of-the-century Britain.
Bran Castle has long been linked to the story of Dracula played by Christopher Lee in the 1958 film adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel. The Bran Castle gives insight into the fortress that supposedly played host to one of the darkest figures of European mythology.
Elizabeth Bathory was also a big inspiration for the character of the Count.
She was responsible for torturing and killing hundreds of young women between 1585 and 1610. The Countess displayed vampiric tendencies by drinking and bathing in the blood of young virgins in the belief she could obtain eternal life. The Bathory family ruled Transylvania as an independent principality of the kingdom of hungry, so she never faced trial for the murders. Although not tried, authorities later imprisoned her until her death. So in essence, Dracula was just as much a she as a he.
It is only through the detailed descriptions of the castle and Stoker’s book, and it’s location does Bran Castle become the home of Dracula. 

We ate at the hotel. It was really good.

 Sunrise in Transylvania 

September 11, 2019

Wednesday

Today is the 18th anniversary of 9/11. No matter where you are or what you are doing we will never forget! Michael brought up an interesting point: He said everyone that is in school right now through a senior in high school was not even born yet. Wow unbelievable.

We are heading to Sighisoara. Under the Roman administration During the 12th century, the Transylvanian Saxons built a new citadel which was named Sighisoara (Schäßburg - Schassburg or Schäsbrich in German) and still stands as one of the most beautiful and best-preserved medieval towns in Europe. This was a very colorful and touristy place.

It is the birthplace of Vlad Tepes, Vlad the impaler, and Vlad Dracula. He was often confused as the character Dracula. He does have an association with the Bran Castle. Vlad was the second of four brothers born into the noble family of Vlad II Dracul. In 1436 his father assumed leadership of the Walachian principality. In 1448, having been informed of the assassination of his father and older brother he embarked upon the first of a lifelong series of campaigns to regain his father’s seat. After an eight-year struggle, Vlad again claimed the Principality. It was during this period of rule that he committed the atrocities for which he was best known. His preference was impaling his enemies on stakes in the ground and leaving them to die earned him the name Vlad the Impaler. He inflicted this type of torture on foreign and domestic enemies alike: notably, as he retreated from a battle in 1462, he left a field filled with thousands of impaled victims as a deterrent to pursuing Ottoman forces.

So discussing! Michael looked up more of what to impale someone means. It’s so gross! I told him don’t read any more to me!!! 🤢 I have NO idea why he is considered a hero in Romania.

Rupea fortress on the way to Sighisoara.

One of Transylvania's seven original German towns is Sighișoara — perhaps the most popular tourist town in all of Romania.

Sighisoara Orthodox Cathedral

There are a lot of gypsies in Romania. 

A group of people that have struggled to fit in ...The Roma also known as gypsies. The Roma originated from India. They were nomads who migrated over the centuries throughout eastern  Europe and gained a reputation as musicians, thieves and metalworkers. Romania has the largest population. They had to abandon their nomadic ways and face the challenge of settling down. The classic Roma image is poor people in shantytowns. Most of Roma live side-by-side with their Romanian neighbors, more or less fitting into mainstream society.~Rick Steves.

We found a sunflower field on the way!! My favorite. 

September 12, 2019
Thursday
We are heading to Peles Castle, the Pelisor Castle and the Sinaia Monastery. Then onto Bucharest. We are staying at the JW Marriott in Bucharest. Marriott does not disappoint once again. Our room is amazing and so are the benefits.
We walked around the Parliament building it took us about an hour it’s huge and all the buildings around it are huge too!

In the 1860’s, without a royal family to call their own, the 

Romanians went shopping for a King who could connect them with European mainstream. They found one in Germany, where a prince looking for a throne agreed to become King Carol I of Romania.

King Carol embraced his new homeland while bringing western reforms and securing true independence for Romania. Under King Carol, Bucharest blossomed. He imported French architects to give Bucharest a romantic allure. 

           The pathway to Peles Castle and Pelisor Castle next to it.

Heading north for the Carpathian Mountains, is Peleș Castle, the summer residence of Romania's first king, Carol. Carol chose a mountainous and forested setting that reminded him of his German homeland. And he imported German architects to create this fanciful hunting lodge. Peleș ranks among Europe's finest Romantic Age palaces.

And it boasts one of the most dazzling late-19th-century interiors anywhere. 

King Carol ruled for 48 years. When summering at the palace, he took care of matters of state in his study.

For over 30 years, the king dined with guests here. His impressive collection of weapons and armor stoked conversation. The library showed off the king's passion for education. And today, more than a century later, tourists from around the world still marvel at King Carol's castle. ~Rick Steve's. 

This furniture set made of teak, a gift from India to the King. It was hand craved and took 100 years and three generations to complete.

Heading uphill to Pelisor Castle. It's actually part of the same complex.

There are dogs and puppies everywhere in Romania. Most of them look like they are on their own, with no real owner.

Sinaia Monastery got its name after the Biblical Mount Sinai. Inhabited by Christian Orthodox monks.

We are staying at the JW Marriott. This Greek Orthodox church was huge and right across the street from the Marriott.

Executive Lounge

Another government building. I turned around to look behind me and noticed a sign that said "No pictures!" Whoops   

September 13, 2019

Friday
We have a tour at the parliament today at 3:00 so we first went to the “Old Town.” We went to Saint Anthony’s Church. We walked past Manuc’s Inn. This hotel was built where the royal palace used to be centuries ago. 

The view from our hotel room.

This was a military and firefighter's parade to honor them.

National Bank of Romania. It's large and solid to portray strength and security.

Carturesti Carusel bookstore. It was once a 19th century bank. So beautiful inside. All the books are in English.

Enjoying our “American Champagnes” in the book store cafe’

Fountains of Bucharest.

Largest orthodox church built. There’s one across from our hotel that looks a lot bigger but it’s not completed yet.

 

Parliament building

When you can see a building from space, you know it's bound to be a statement up close. 

It's bigger than the Great Pyramid of Giza, and it's second only to the Pentagon as the largest administrative building in the world.

Make no mistake, Bucharest's Palace of the Parliament is one of the world's most impressive buildings - with a barely believable history to back it up! Better hurry! The building is so heavy it's estimated to be sinking into the surrounding ground at a rate of 6mm every year - soon nothing will Romain!

We walked around a lot and it was warm. We were tired so we went back to the hotel, ate dinner in the executive lounge.

Michael Jackson gave a small concert to VIP’s in this room then walked to the balcony to wave to the crowd. Story has it that when he waved to the people from this place, he said "Hello Budapest" instead of Bucharest oops. The next concert he just waved.

September 14, 2019

Saturday

We had breakfast in the executive lounge (the food is super good and easy) We took the car over to a laundry shop and dropped our laundry off. We headed back to the old town. We saw Saint Anthony's church and Manue’s Inn. We walked over to Revolution square and Romanian Atheneum. We got to watch an opera practice for their performance it was super cool! We walked back and picked up our laundry and headed back to the hotel. We rested a bit in the executive lounge had a few snacks and a drink then checked out and headed farther out in Bucharest and checked into our last hotel for the week. We walked over to the Hard Rick Cafe’ and ate dinner. Tomorrow we head to Bulgaria with Michaels work group that flew in today. Mon. Thur Thursday Michael will be doing work stuff so I’ll relax by the pool!

Saint Anthony's Church

This hotel was built where the Royal Palace used to be centuries ago. The Manuc’s Inn is also the oldest operating hotel in Bucharest. 

These statues were built because Bucharest was the European capital with the least number of statues, so the architect, whose statue is sitting on a chair right next to this big one, created it to the image of the Romanian people. He created the workers of society.

Revolution square is one of the most significant landmarks in both Bucharest and all of Romania. It is here where communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu made his final speech on December 21 1989. After an uprising in Timisoara, the speech was planned to give the impression of mass support for Ceausescu. A crowd of over 100,000 people gathered with instructions to show support, but instead they began to boo Ceausescu. Riots and protests ensued, and before long the crowd were being shot at and attacked by soldiers, resulting in many casualties and deaths. Realising he had been made to look weak, Ceausescu fled by helicopter the next morning, but was captured and killed four days later.

In 2005 a monument named the ‘Memorial of Rebirth’ was installed in Revolution Square to commemorate the struggles and victims of the Romanian revolution. Standing at 25 metres tall, the monument is made up of a large pillar reaching skywards through a metal crown. The monument proved unpopular due to the design and the fact it cost €1.5 million to the Romanian taxpayers. It has often been mocked and referred to as a ‘potato on a stick’, and was vandalised in 2012 with red paint, which can be seen dripping from the ‘potato’ or crown. As the paint is placed so high up it has not been removed, and some locals prefer it this way as it symbolises the bloodshed of the revolution.

The square is home to the former headquarters of the Romanian Communist Party, as well as the Royal Palace of Bucharest, University Library, a statue of King Carol I and more. As the location of one of the most important events in Romanian history.

Romanian Atheneum

September 15, 2019

Sunday

We had a tour through Michael’s work group today to Bulgaria. We first stopped at the church of the nativity. The Church is the oldest church in Arbanassi. Originally built during the 15th century the simple one level building has a ton of art to be found inside. Nearly every inch of the vaulted interior is covered in paintings and frescoes dating back to the 17th century. Scenes are from the old and new testaments: the life of Christ, the virtues of the Virgin Mary, there is even a frieze of Greek philosophers and several inscriptions of the benefactors and sponsors. The 'Wheel of Life' on the east wall of the north gallery is the earliest depiction of this type in Bulgarian churches.

Veliko Turnovo is the medieval capital of Bulgaria, with more than 7000 years of history. The houses are stacked one above the other, situated on the steep hills of the town.

We ate lunch at a pizza and pasta place called Restaurant Sktastliveci.

Then we hiked up to Tsarevets Fortress and the Orthodox Church on the hill. The trip was 2 hours up and 2 hours back. There was a road closed and between that and the boarder check it took forever to get back to our hotel. It was late 9:30 but we were starving so we ate dinner at the hotel. 

The cement pillars are holding up the building because it is so old.

We weren't allowed to take pictures, I got this one off the internet. 

There are a ton of dogs in Romania that look like they are without an owner roaming everywhere. These dogs were hanging out at the boarder.

Michael is working today so I'm hanging out at the hotel pool! It's beautiful out.

September 17, 2019

Tuesday

Michael was done with work stuff by 10 am. We decided to walk to the nearest market and pick-up a few things...Drinks, Bananas etc. It was close but it took forever because we had to walk around the railroad tracks. It was 90 degrees and a bit humid. We did stop and look at a pretty Orthodox Church on the way. Once we got back to the hotel we were so tired we crashed for awhile. Later we went to dinner with the Microsoft group in the Old Town called Carucuberr. It was very cool. We took about 4 or 5 Uber's and headed to the Old Town. The restaurant was really pretty. We stayed till a bit after midnight it was a lot of fun! 

Lunch at the hotel. 

The same church from our hotel at sunset.

Heading into Old Town this is the same bank we saw last week but it's so pretty at night!

This was not my dinner 

Arch de Triumph

September 18, 2019

Wednesday

Hung out at the pool with Rebecca till about 2:30. She is another wife that is here with her husband. Tomorrow is the groups last day of working here in Romania. So Rebecca and I are planning on walking down to the Arch de Triumph tomorrow morning. Michael and I went to the 18 Lounge for dinner the views were awesome from the 18th floor.

From the 18th floor of the 18 Lounge  

September 19, 2019
Thursday
I met Rebecca in the lobby and we headed out to the Arch de Triumph. It seemed we walked forever 2 hours . We stopped at McDonalds to eat. Then headed out again to the Arch. We finally reached it and climbed the 200+stairs to the top.

   This is how all the wires in the city are! Yikes.

The Arch de Triumph first built in 1878 as a wooden monument to mark Romania’s Independence, Bucharest’s Arch de Triumph has long been one of the city’s most memorable landmarks. Although rebuilt again after WWI, the current Arch de Triumph is the work of architect Petru Antonesc, reconstructed in granite in 1936. Towering 27-meters over the intersection of Kiseleff road, Mareșal Alexandru boulevard and Alexandru Constantinescu street, the monumental arch now marks the entrance to Bucharest’s Herăstrău Park. Still a poignant reminder of Romania’s independence, it’s the site of military parades and celebrations on Romania's National Day (Dec 1st)

 

We headed back to the hotel. We stopped at s thrift store on the way. We walked a ton but it was fun getting out on our own and explore România. I Went with Michael’s work group on a scavenger hunt around Bucharest. It was kind of fun looking for clues on different buildings and seeing some of the cool architecture. We ate at a restaurant in the park. We stayed awhile there and then took an Uber back to the hotel with some of the other people my feet are so tired! Tomorrow we head to the Black Sea for another group tour.

September 20, 2019

Friday

We left for our tour of the Black Sea area and the old town of Constanta. Historically known as Tomis is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Romania. It was founded around 600 BC. on the Black Sea coast. It is the largest port on the Black Sea, and one of the largest ports in Europe. We walked along the Black Sea. It was super windy and cold. We walked towards the casino. It was built three separate times, with the first structure being erected of wood in 1880. It was designed to be a club and community center for elite and upper-class socialites willing to spend. Once considered Romania's Monte Carlo and a symbol of the City of Constanța, the most-recent and modern version was built in Art Nouveau style. The most modern version of the Casino was in operation for 38 years, with interruption due to the two world wars, attacked and bombed by Bulgarian and German troops in World War 1, ravaged in World War 11 and, at one point, acted as a makeshift wartime hospital. In 1948 it was taken over by the Communist government becoming a House of Culture for the party until 1960 when it was handed to the National Office of Tourism. The last major repairs took place in 1986-1988, and the building is currently abandoned.

We then walked to the Greek Orthodox Church with Roman ruins of houses that were once there. Then onto the Roman Catholic Church and the Lion House (Or Brothel) and the Turkish Mosque built by King Carol. We climbed the tower of 140 steps. Very cool old city. We stopped at a coffee shop to get some drinks, then walked through the main square. The statue in the middle of the square is of Ovidivs. He is was a Roman Poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was considered one of the last of the Latin love elegists. He enjoyed enormous popularity, but, in one of the mysteries of literary history, was sent by Augustus into exile in a remote province on the Black Sea, where he remained until his death. Ovidivs himself attributes his exile to carmen et error, "a poem and a mistake", but his discretion in discussing the causes has resulted in much speculation among scholars. 

Top of the tower of the Mosque. The speaker next to me that calls out for prayer.

Statue of  Ovidivs

We drove to the La Scoica Restaurant for lunch then headed back to the hotel. We went to dinner later at the hotel.

September 20, 2019

Saturday

We kind of saw everything we wanted to see in Bucharest. So, we decided to sleep in and head back to the Old Town. It was beautiful weather today and so nice to just take our time and stroll around the city. We ate lunch and enjoyed the sunshine. There was no hurry or anything. We didn't need to see anything else. We even sat on a bench and enjoyed the sun and people watching. After we were done sitting on the bench we walked back over to the center of town. We had to go under the street where above is a huge roundabout. When we came up the stairs there was a little old lady sitting in the corner of the top stair. She looked weathered and sad. She was probably a gypsy. For some reason she really touched me I felt so sorry for her being old and alone for all I knew. She wasn’t begging just sitting and wiping her forehead with a Kleenex. Since we were leaving, I had used most of my Romanian money and all I had was 1 lei left, worth about 23 cents.

I handed it to her, and she was so grateful she held my hand and kissed it. I have thought about her a lot for some reason. I feel extremely blessed with the things I have been given and the places I have been able to see. I know that God loves all his children. If only we could remember how Christ treated all and remember we need to help each other. To this day I get a lump in my throat and I even teared up on the plane ride home thinking about her. I feel very blessed and humble to see the world but there is no place like home. We caught a 7am flight towards home to Amsterdam then onto Seattle.

The front of the Carturesti Carusel Bookstore.

Flying into Seattle another overcast day!