Snowy Mountain drive to Brasov
I took a break from blogging earlier this year and never got to share my trips to Romania for Christmas, Germany in January, Romania in May for Danny’s cousin’s wedding and our Honeymoon to Mykonos and Athens. I love to log my trips so I’m going to document them all, weekly for the foreseeable future (sorry in advance, but also, there are some beautiful photos so, not so sorry ha!).
We went to Romania in May for Danny’s cousins’ wedding and will be back in August, but its our trip to Romania for Christmas that stands out as the most special, at least for now since it was my first time meeting a lot of Danny’s family (other than through Skype). We were there for a little over two weeks for Christmas and the New Year and managed to see five cities: Bucharest the capital where Danny was born and raised, Brasov, Piles, Faragas and Sibiu. Danny insists that I must see and love all of Romania. And love it I do.
This is a long post (arguably too long) so I won’t blame you if you just watch the photos 😛.
1. Bucharest
Danny is from Bucharest, born and raised. I fell in love with Bucharest and if we ever were to move to Romania (no plans to) this is where I’d want to be. Also, winter in the city is just the best ever. Winter in general – I dealt with the cold much better than Danny who should have been used to it.
What we did:
We spent a lot of time strolling through different neighbourhoods in the city and visiting the historical sites.
Taking a ride on the ‘autobus’ (pronounced a-oo-too-boose)
Monument of King Carol former King of Romania
Atheneul Roman
Right before we arrived, King Michael of Romania (the last King of Romania) died and there were tributes to him all over the city. I don’t think this photo does justice in showing just how many flowers and candles in tribute were on the street.
As is common in Europe during Christmas, there were Christmas markets and vin fiert (hot wine) everywhere. Of course we went to the one in Bucharest.
Apart from the above, we also went to a Christmas Concert, had many trips to the mall and just spent time with family. Most of his family lives in Bucharest. I love the family I married into!
2. Brașov (pronounced Brashov)
Just days before Christmas, we took an over three hour road trip to the mountains of Brasov to spend few days. I love it there (I know Im saying I love everything but seriously!) Remember last year when I said I had never seen snow before? Well I saw a lot on the way to the mountains and while there. So beautiful.
Where we stayed:
We stayed at a lovely mountain, meals inclusive, guest house called Serena. It was a walking distance from Bran Castle and was surrounded but the cutest cottages. The place seriously looked like something out of a storybook.
Balcony views and whiskey, because whiskey.
What we did:
We went to breakfast in Old Town one morning. Every town in Romania (and I think its this way in a lot of European countries) has an ‘Old Town’ with restaurants and shops and well… the old town. I haven’t been to one Old Town that I didn’t like.
The reasons we even went to Brasov was so I could visit Bran Castle (the castle of Vlad Tepes who Bram Stroker’s Count Dracula is based on – though I don’t even think Vlad lived there). I’m going to have an entire post for this but it was so beautiful!
Apart from that we saw a pig Slaughter on Ignatul Day. I know it sounds heinous and that’s why I won’t include photos of this, but its a tradition in Romania done on, I think, Christmas Eve.
3. Sinaia
We didn’t stay long in Sinaia – it was a half day trip while in the mountains to have lunch and to see another castle. Its close enough to Brasov that we visited and returned to Brasov by evening for dinner at the Hotel.
What we did:
We went to Castelul Piles, the Castle of King Carol. This is quite possibly the most beautiful castle in Europe. No joke. Its beautiful. I have photos of the inside but I’ll save that for another post (this one is already long as it is).
4. Făgăraș (pronounced Fu-ru-gash)
When we left Brasov, we spend roughly a day (no nights) in the town of Faragas.
What we did:
We travelled through some quaint little villages to get to Faragas. Since we were only there for a short time we only went to only one place, a Christian Orthodox Monatary called Sâmbăta de Sus. The paintings inside the monastery were insane and the place was just breathtaking. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.
5. Sibiu
On the drive back to Bucharest, we decided to stay in Sibiu, another beautiful city for the night.
Where we stayed:
We stayed at the Republique Hotel – a French owned hotel (hence the name). It was reasonably priced, clean, modern and had surround sound rooms. Why do I remember that? because there were speakers in the bathroom and since then I’ve wanted speakers in my own bathroom.
What we did:
We went to Transfăgărășan, a famous large winding mountain road that race car drivers seem to love. It was closed for the winter but the ski resort on that road was open so we had lunch there and watched the skiers on the slopes. I was (and let’s be honest, am) too chicken to ski.
In the night, we went to another Christmas market in Sibiu’s Old Town but we lost those photos on my iPhone as well. After Sibiu it was back to Bucharest to spend the New Year and head to Germany for a few days.
We saw and did a lot on this trip and it will forever be one of my favourite trips. I can tell. Well … followed closely by Greece – which will come in a few weeks after I post about the other trips from earlier this year.
If you read this far (who am I kidding, no one did ha) then kudos.
