Romania Travel

Romania; famous for medieval castles, mountainous villages and of course... vampires! My trip here was focused on the central areas of the country where I visited the capital Bucharest, a few random villages in Transylvania and the must see, Dracula's castle. There's several highlights of Romania that I didn't make it to on this trip such as the beach city of Constanta on the Black Sea and one of the most important places in all Europe, the Danube Delta. The Danube Delta is often called Europe's last wildlife refuge, and is a large body of water that opens up into the Black Sea which is dense with natural beauty and wildlife.

Romania Links
	An icon of Romania's capital Burcharest is their parliament building seen above. This was built during Romania's communist era, and like most communist governments their buildings were oversized and decorated to show off their wealth as propaganda and a display of power. That's how such a small country like Romania ended up with the second largest office building in the world behind Virginia's pentagon. The road leading to the parliament building is lined by several water fountains like the one on the upper right and goes through one of the capital's busiest intersections.

	While roaming around Bucharest on foot, I came across what I thought might be important historic buildings only to later find out that the two buildings above are just banks, the one on the upper right is the Romanian National Bank. I generally dislike any kind of guided tour and explore places on my own, but the downfall with that is I end up finding out what most places are after I visit by checking online. These places I was able to figure out on the spot though, below on the left is the Bucharest Theater and the university on the lower right.


I hate to admit that tales of vampires and werewolves in Romania make me biased towards the weather and assume it's always gloomy. Of course I knew perfectly well that wasn't true, but it still felt strange to have such beautiful blue skies and warm weather while in the Bucharest. These gardens are located right outside the presidential palace and had plenty of people out walking to enjoy the day or setting up a picnic here. There's a few artists and vendors selling food in the park, but none are pushy so you can enjoy a visit here without being harassed..

These shots above were my very first views of Old Town Bucharest and were actually the very first place I visited in the country. Needless to say, my first impressions weren't favorable for Bucharest. I reasoned that if their famous Old Town was the best the city had to offer, then I could only imagine what the rest of Bucharest might look like and questioned if I'd make it out of the city alive. After moving on to the next block of Old Town I saw some construction like on the lower left and then realized that this area was under restoration before making it to the main area.


On the upper left is one of the nice areas in old town Bucharest. I came here for lunch almost every day while I was in the capital. Fair prices and lots of restaurants to choose from kept me coming back. Each time I visited Old Town I normally came across something new such as the ogre faces for sale on the upper right. The ancient church was quiet small and packed between some modern buildings so difficult to photograph. I never found out the name of the church or any history behind it so I can't give any background. The church was beautifully painted and decorated and had lots of what I'd guess to be ancient tablets and crosses like the one on the lower right.

Another important religious building I came across was this Synagogue in Burcharest. Known as the The Choral Temple, it is by far Bucharest's most important Jewish building and dates back to 1845. On the right is a holocaust memorial with writing both in English which I photographed and more writing in Hebrew. I had never been to a Synagogue before so I wasn't sure what to expect. I attempted to enter the grounds but the gate was closed and to guys speaking Romania from the other side seemed annoyed by my presence so I moved on.

Bucharest has a population of over 2 million people, and of the countries I visited in east Europe they had by far the worst traffic problem. Above was a photo of some gridlock during rush hour, I saw an ambulance sit in the same spot for about 5 minutes since traffic was blocked in all directions. The upper right shows a tunnel that goes over a large intersection during a slower part of the day. Another experience I got was riding the Bucharest metro, this was by far the most packed metro I have ever been on. When the subway doors opened I saw a wall of people, and expected some to get off, but instead about 10 of us who were waiting for the train crammed in. It was so packed I could hardly move and wasn't able to take my camera out. I later returned to the metro with the sole purpose of taking a photo of the anarchy, but instead there was plenty of room this time around. The car below had about 50% of the people or less than the first time I rode the metro.


One thing I couldn't hide about Romania was the large homeless population. Out of all the places I visited in Europe, Romania had by far the largest amount of homeless and crazies roaming the street. One time I was walking and some guy turned around so fast I thought he was going to attack me. I walked past him and was prepared for excruciating pain from behind but it never happened. A taxi I took actually encouraged me to take the photo on the upper left of a guy going through trash. An another day I was walking and saw a lady who was rolling around on the floor with her dress pulled up to her stomach and nothing on beneath. She was screaming wildly and some people walking by called the ambulance, who eventually came and picked her up and took her away.


Here's a small neighborhood where my hostel was while I stayed in Bucharest. I almost called it a small quiet neighborhood, but with everyone owning violent dogs that bark all night that wouldn't be an honest statement. It might be quieter to stay in a hotel in downtown Bucharest.

Some of the buildings in Romania aren't too impressive, but the insides are usually bran new. Above is an indoor shopping mall on the left, and on the right a clothing store near the downtown areas of the capital.

A random cemetery I came by while in Romania. Like smany countries in the Caucausus region, it seems in Romania they put photos on most of their tombstones.

Eventually I made it to the city of Bran in Romania. This was by far the most touristy place I have visited while in the country. Castle Bran is one of the most famous in Romania, and it is definitely one of the biggest tourist attractions. Above is a vampire giving a welcome, with a souvenir area being packed by tourists on the upper right. Below is a castle flag and village hut at the base of Bran Castle.


Above is a man dressed up in medieval attire and a not so good photo of Bran castle. I'm not sure if the guy is looking up to determine if it might rain or trying to see how much sunlight is left before the vampires come out.

I got unlucky when I visited Bran castle and had a huge school field trip right in front of me. I had to wait in line forever but went at a really slow pace to let all the kids continue so I could have the whole place to myself. These kids on the left are blocking waht is the main entrance to Bran Castle. On the right is one of the rooms that is decorated as it once was.
On the left was easily my favorite part of Bran castle, I loved the old stone stairway that was pitch black dark and difficult to see how long it continued for. The photo was taken with my flash, otherwise it's difficult to see. Once on the upper floor you'll reach the kitchen and some more bedrooms and eventually get to the towers.
I'm not sure who these people are, but the woman on the right had a camera and was taking pictures so it seemed pretty obvious that they weren't associated with Bran Castle. They could be on some unique honeymoon or some extreme Dracula and medieval castle enthusiasts that dressed up. Below are two more photos of Bran Castle.


While visiting Bran Castle, I had to pass through the town of Curtea De Arges. I pretty much just drove through here, but I could tell this was a small charming town and had to stop to take two photos of the town churches seen above.

I got the feeling that a lot of Romania's villages haven't changed too much in the past few hundreds years. Of course a lot of modern technology has been introduced, but horses and carriages seem to be more popular than cars the farther you get away from cities, and I've seen many farmers doing work by hand using axes and reaps instead of machinery. Above are some chickens that were wondering outside of a farm's fences, below a man leads several large bulls down a street and on the lower right some people get a lift from two horses. I saw dozens of horses being used for transportation of people and goods such as hay or lumber from freshly cut trees.


I saw a few of these tiny chapels throughout the country side, as well as some of these giant stacks of hay.

I definitely enjoyed the villages much better than the city of Bucharest. The natural beauty was amazing, especially in Transylvania where most of these photos were taken. Above is a photo of some low level clouds passing some mountains, on the right was a huge countryside hotel.

Eventually I made it to my destination, Dracula's real castle! I was the only one here except for a man who was taking money for in order to let me enter. In all honesty, the castle is almost completely destroyed so don't expect a large beautiful castle perched up in the mountains. With Bran castle being converted to a museum and with easy access it's no wonder why it has become a major tourist attraction and not this place. Above is a few of the castle entrance, and the the tallest tower on the right.

I've created a second page on the real story of Dracula or Vlad to give some history of who he really was. On this page, I'll just mention he was a ruthless leader who enjoyed torturing his opponents and had no second thoughts on killing anyone against him. This castle called Poeanari Fortress was built in the 14th century and fortified again by Vlad in order to defend against the turks.

While I didn't make it to the Danube Delta, I did make it to the national park known as Piastra Craiului. This mountainous forest is located near the center of the country and has plenty of sheer cliffs for rock climbers and other outdoor activities. Above on the left is one of my first views, on the right is the road entering the national park with some low lying clouds.

Above is a large natural landslide created by the steepness of the mountain unable to hold any large trees anymore. The photo on the right was of a sign that the national park had creaetd in order to warn people to pay attention and not to fall off cliffs, otherwise you might break into pieces.

It looks like photos taken from Piastra Craiului are best taken vertically. This place was pretty awesome, I had no idea that Romania had mountains and sheer cliffs like this. On the left was the trail after I had to abandon my car. The surrounding photos show some common scenery I came across while hiking in the mountains.


I know in Piastra Craiului there are some interesting caves you can visit. Since I entered the park on my own and couldn't find any maps I wasn't able to locate them. I did come across some random caves like the one on the upper left that was sealed shut. I assume it enters a network that they don't want people to enter and get lost, otherwise if it was just a few feet deep I don't think they would have bothered to seal it.

For some reason, the forests I hiked in Romania had some giant slugs and snails, the biggest I've ever seen. The slug on the left was probably more than half a foot in length, and the snail was much larger than a golf ball.

	I'm not sure if these small animals are always out or not, but after doing some hiking right after a rain storm it seemed like the whole forest was teeming with wildlife. Unfortunately I didn't come across any large animals, just mostly a ton of creepy crawlers like the giant millipede above and spider on the upper right. A pet I had always wanted as a little kid was a fire salamander. I saw this guy right on the trail! I suppose to Europeans they might be common, I'm not sure, but there is nothing I love more than reading about some type of animal as a kid and then traveling across the world and finding one on my own.

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