Category: Romania

Goodbye Bulgaria, hello again to glorious Romania!

Bulgaria has certainly been an ‘interesting’ experience. I was chatting with Adrian, my friend and driver, about the differences between Bulgaria and Romania, and how I find it difficult to reconcile the two.

The two countries could not be further apart, yet they lie next to each other on opposite sides of the River Danube.

Anyway, we left Bulgaria and headed toward the border…

Had an opportunity to be a good Samaratin…

Hello Romania!!! I have missed you…

…and my beautiful hotel… I will write a separate post about the hotel – it is quite historic!

…and this is the view when I opened the door to my suite…

…but of course, I had to bring some of Scotland with me…

After an amazing night’s sleep, I dressed for dinner and went downstairs, only to discover the restaurant had been booked out for a function… so I wandered only a block away and found a delightful café – and enjoyed a dinner, the quality of which I would rival any fine-dining restaurant to equal.

With French music from the 1950s playing, and reading my beloved Sir Walter Scott’s journal from the 1830s (the edition I have with me was printed in the 1880s)… this is what it felt like… nostalgic and simply marvellous…

…and this morning, this is where I have been sitting by the window, being every so content and peaceful simply watching the world go about its daily rhythm…

~ Bella

Road trip: Romania to Austria via Hungary

Time to depart…

Poor Bethany – at one point there was a luggage avalanche, but we saved her just in time… 🙂

My Romanian friend and driver, Adrian.

We were travelling through the Carpathian Mountains and then Transylvania on what was originally a road built by the Romans…

This fort dates to just after the time of Christ…

…and into the beautiful village of Sibu…

On our way to the Red Ravine, this is the direction the GPS wanted to take us…

We bought some local honey…

…and after crossing the border from Romania to Hungary…

…we eventually arrived at our way-stop, Mako Hungary…

Meanwhile, back in Scotland, there is construction happening!

Bethany decided to sample something that looked good on the menu…………………….

…and does anyone know what “pork virgin” is???

…and crossing from Hungary to Austria…

No, this is not an alien invasion (although it looked like it!) – they are wind turbines – hundreds of them!

…and safely arrived in glorious Vienna…

…where of course one needs to have schnitzel!

Bethany and Renee looked stunning when they went off to see Swan Lake at the Vienna Opera House…

…and with horses clop, clop, clopping past my window, this was the perfect end to a wonderful trip.

~ Bella

The abandoned casino on the Black Sea shore of Constanta, Romania

It was a bright, shiny, sunny day as we headed for Constanta on the Black Sea coast of Romania…

…over the River Danube…

…complete with a monument to the nuclear power plants and atomic energy…

These are fascinating – a Romania design to protect the shore…

…and the purpose of our visit – the now abandoned Constant Casino, originally built in 1880 – and even used as a hospital during WWI.

If you look back to the Peles Castle post, you can find reference to Carmen Sylva and the incredibly sad story…

These two were part of a film crew for Romania’s national television network – they interviewed us, and we ended up on the nationally-broadcast evening news…

After exploring more of Constanta, we stopped for lunch…

…and then off to the port to collect a wind turbine Adrian had ordered from China…

Yes, this building was our destination!

…complete with a dead bird in the tree!

…but thankfully, we survived, unlike the bird, and were then on our way back toward Bucharest…

…going past literally thousands and thousands of cars that apparently are destined for absolutely nowhere…………

…and back safe and sound…

~ Bella

Snagov Monastery, Romania

Our next destination is Snagov Monastery, located on an island at the northern end of Snagov Lake…

…but first a short detour to another monastery…

…and a bite of lunch…

This is my friend, Adrian…

…and it’s a good thing Adrian knew where he was going – finding this place was quite the adventure!

There has been a church on this island since at least the 11th century, when Mircea cel Bătrân first built a wooden structure, with the monastery being added in the late 14th century during the reign of King Dan I (1383–1386).

The banks of the lake are fully of amazing houses belonging to what the Romanian’s refer to as “new money”.

The remains of the prison (behind the present-day church) can still be seen.

…and time to head back to the hotel, for tomorrow is another day of exploring…

~ Bella

Peles Castle, Romania

Leaving Bucharest early in the morning, we head up into the Carpathian Mountains on an existing medieval route linking Transylvania and Wallachia, in search of Peles Castle – built between 1873 and 1914 for the German King Carol I of Romania.

Btw, although Romania is the second poorest country in Europe after Bulgaria, it sells more Ferrari cars than anywhere else in Europe…

Because of its own power plant, Peles Castle was the first electrified castle in Europe…

The glass ceiling was able to be opened and closed thanks to an electric motor…

This grate in the floor is for the palace’s central heating that was installed in 1883…

This photo is of King Carol’s wife and child. When the baby died, Queen Elisabeth of Romania began writing children’s stories to help ease her grief – she wrote under the pseudonym of Carmen Sylva.

Behind this bookcase is a secret entrance/exit that King Carol used frequently when he wanted to escape visitors…

The castle even had an electric lift…

…and off to our next destination…

Old Town Bucharest, Romania

It has been a fascinating week here in Old Town Bucharest… There were meetings of the EU Foreign Ministers being held here and most of the delegates and their entourage were staying in my hotel – needless to say, the place has been crawling with secret service! Thankfully, there is now only a handful remaining as most of the delegates left this morning – as I step outside the hotel front door, you can see one secret service man in black wearing a flack jacket on the left talking on a phone…

Romania is full of contrasts -primarily the glorious old buildings that have been preserved, and those that have not…

~ Bella

Hello Romania…

Well, I knew it had to come eventually – time to leave beloved Scotland and head off for new adventures… First a train from Glasgow to London…

…and flying out of Heathrow…

…and several hours later… Welcome to Romania!

…and in case you are wondering, the tint is from the window of the car…

The hotel in which I am staying has a fascinating history full of espionage and intrigue… Rather than me recount it, you can read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenee_Palace_Hilton_Bucharest

Went for a short wander…

Yes, I went into an Irish Pub in Romania! LOL!

…and the food was DELICIOUS!!!

…and back in Scotland, it snowed without me!

At the hotel in Romania, the staff here are all so very lovely – and this is my corner cubby-hole space where I curl up and work and write – and where they bring me red wine now without me having to ask… 🙂

…and speaking of work, I’d best get back to it…

~ Bella