Romania is a complicated, diverse, young, and proud nation. One of the first things I noticed was the multitude of flags flying on everything : Public buildings, homes, small shops, and everything in between. And I sensed a strong nationalism that went along with it. They hate Donald Trump and find it very hard to understand why the U. S. citizens allow him to be President. Part of this is due to their feelings of constant threat from Vladimir Putin. And part is their strong love of the freedoms that come with being a free and independent nation … which they see Trump trying to strip away from Americans. Romanians had to fend off Russia, the Ottoman Empire, the Austrian Empire, the Germans, and the Soviets, to achieve them.
The picture above was taken in Romania’s capital city, Bucharest. It reminds me of the Ying vs Yang that makes up Romania. I found the building incredible… The foundation of an older building was solid but the top had been severely damaged. So they built the neo modern top on an existing foundation. Even more extreme is the reality that the building houses their Foundation of Architecture!! Romania is a mix of old and new. Of traditional and efforts to invent itself.
On our drive across Romania to arrive in Bucharest, the country homes were a step up from those of Serbia. The rear usually had an opening for livestock. And the houses reminded me of the row houses of eastern American cities. But instead of being thin and rising vertically, most had property stretching from the back door in rows for crop planting or livestock grazing.
Another observation involved their attire. Every country village had an absence of clothing stores. Instead there were lots of resale stores. It seemed to me that Romanians outside of those living in the Bucharest area wore used attire that was handed up or down. It seemed to me to be plain but efficient.
Upon reaching Bucharest, I chose to do an all-day trip to Transylvania while Mrs Bear hiked to a local monastery . Transylvania is located north of Bucharest. We drove from the plains through passes in the Carpathian Mountains to enter Transylvania. Many city dwellers escape into the mountains for holidays or weekends especially when the summer temperatures in Bucharest reach 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Our day was a lovely autumn day and many locaLes were on the road.
Others, like me, were drawn by the lure of tales of Count Dracula, his castle, and the chance to spot AbyNormal, Igor, or Flau Blucher!!! My guide told me that Bram Stoker, who wrote Dracula in 1897, never actually visited Transylvania!! Others have suggested that Dracula was inspired by the 15th century Wallachian prince Vladimir III Dracula who was fond of impaling victims.
The Castle is very impressive in its own rite, and reminded me of Eilean Donan in Scotland. Both are very impressive to the eye from far away !!
On the way back to Bucharest we drove to the Romanian Royal Family’s Summer Palace. There were only four generations of this lineage as it ended at the end of World War Two. But like most Royalties they liked to have multiple palaces including one in the country. Unfortunately we were not able to see it “live and in person!!!” and it was closed by the time we got there. So these off-in-the-distance pictures were all I could get.
The next day, Mrs Bear and I did a tour of Bucharest. Everywhere we went our guide called it a “castle” a term that seemed way overused here. It could have been a royal residence, or government offices, or just some big impressive looking building. I started tuning out the significances that came with the titles.
Mrs Bear finished the day by touring the Capital Building and our time in Romania came to an end. Our phones said we briefly made it to Bulgaria, but too soon it was on to our last city of this holiday: Istanbul.
