Start of the journey - Bucharest Railway Station
Waiting for Libearty Bear Sanctuary to open. Fagaras Mountains provides the backdrop
Music Room in Bran Castle, the retreat of Queen Marie.
Portraits of Queen Marie
View of Bran Castle tower from the courtyard
You can see the wall that marked Transylvania's border
The person that inspired the Dracula character
Narrow staircase
View from the courtyard
Brukenthal Art Museum
En route to
Woofers joining us at Balea Lake
You are looking at Transfagarasan. Just covered in snow
Taking the cable car up to 2000m
Cabins at Balea Lake
Fagaras mnountains at the back
A traditional wool processing house that has been processing wool for three generations.
Wool being spun into threads
La Vâltori
La Vâltori
This old lady still continues to spin the threads
The "bucket" you see is the whirlpool, where water falls on th rugs. The rugs are then lifted and left to dry.
The nails constantly beat the wool
View of the house the family stays in, and where the wool processing is done
The entrance gate to the monastery
Sambata Monastery
Sambata Monastery
Sambata Monastery
Sambata Monastery
Sambata Monastery
An interesting fresco of the Final Judgement where Christ returns to the Earth to judge people for what they had done.
Sambata Monastery
Built in 14th century on the location of a Roman church dating from the 12th centry, the church is one of the tallest in Transylvania. The four towers on the corner indicate that the church had the right to sentence to death
Pastel colours typical of German settlements
The tall roofs of the house led to attics, but needed some ventilation, hence the eyes were built.
The tall roofs of the house led to attics, but needed some ventilation, hence the eyes were built.
The Sibiu City Hall and Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church are seen in the background
A hostel for people who have picked up apprenticeship in trades (blacksmith etc). The things nailed to the post are said to be what was done for their "final" exam, promoting from apprentice to Journeymen.
A lay bridge for pedestrians that has now come to be known as "the lie bridge" due to mistranslation, spawning many legends behind the name of the bridge.
On the Bridge of Lies, now couples write their names on to locks and lock it to the bridge as a symbol of eternal love. Thankfully, the locks get removed occasionally.
The arches were apparently indicative of markets from the ancient era - the arches would serve as natural umbrellas, shielding the market visitors from the elements.
Piata Mare
Florin explaining the story of the defense towers
The outer walls were slanted so that the cannonballs would bounce off
The Orthodox Cathedral
Mitropolia Ardealului
Astra Museum is the largest open-air museum in Romania and one of the largest in Central and Eastern Europe. It contains houses and workshops of the traditional Romanian folk culture from the pre-industrial era.
Astra Museum is the largest open-air museum in Romania and one of the largest in Central and Eastern Europe. It contains houses and workshops of the traditional Romanian folk culture from the pre-industrial era.
One of the living churches at the Astra museum. We actually got a loaf of bread and the service had just wrapped up.
Astra Museum
Lunch time!
We had lunch at a local family. This is ciorba / soup with pork and potatoes with bread.
We had lunch at a local family. This is ciorba / soup with pork and potatoes with bread.
We had lunch at a local family. This is Sarmale /minced pork/onions wrapped in cabbage leaves.
We had lunch at a local family. This is Friptura / pork steak with mashed potatoes.
We had lunch at a local family. This is Placinta cu mere / apple pie
Corvin Castle
... and yes, that is an apple in my hand (courtesy Florin)
Notice the arches which support the load of the building.
Corvin Castle
Obeliscul lui Horea, Cloșca şi Crișan
The third gate of the Fortress of Alba Iulia
A picture indicating how the road and the columns looked in Roman times
The coronation of Queen Maria and King Ferdinand happened at this Cathedral
Reunification Cathedral
Map of the Fortress of Alba Iulia
Walkway leading to the mines of Turda
The bottom of the mine is now an amusement park, with a Ferris wheel and row boats for hire
Salt deposits formed from years of water falls
Stalactites from salt
Notice the staircase? You can totally climb down (or climb up) the mines - only 13 storeys to the first level and another 13 storeys to the bottom level!
Back when the mines were operational, horses would be rotating these, operating the pulleys that would ultimately carry the salt out of the mines.
Pathway to the mines
Design of a traditional house in Rimetea. Note the green wood window shutters.
Rimetea
Through the narrow bylanes of RImetea
Window shutters on houses in Rimetea
These two fluffsters join us from nowhere
Rimetea has a Hungarian presence and there's this nice restaurant which serves Hungarian cuisine.
Csikisor - Hungarian beer, made in Romania
Fasole cu carnati afumati/ Beans with smoked pork
Babgulyás
Babgulyás
Gomboti cu prune / plum dumplings
Gomboti cu prune / plum dumplings
Sighisoara, tbe birthplace of Vlad "Tepes" Dracul
Sighisoara Citadel
Some of the buildings have fascinating work
Bsesides the dial, the other elaborate mechanism of dolls and figures to indicate different days of the week
The facade facing the Lower City has different figurines, including an Executioner to warn invaders
The clock tower also has four towers indicating the state could execute death sentences
View Clock Tower of Sighișoara from Lower City
The pastel colours of Sighisoara
Towards the main center of Sighisoara
The second tower guarding the Citadel of Sighisoara. The tower housed grain, projectiles, gunpowder which got lit during a fire leading to a lot of damage.
The fortified church of Biertan
En route to the fortified church of Biertan
The elaborate lock locks the door in 19 different points
An impressive altar that could be folded at different points, depending on the festival
Church organ at the church
The flags indicate the which guilds the church would seat
Not just an ordinary prison, legend has it that quarreling couples were locked in the prison with one bed and one set of utensils, forcing the couples to talk and eventually reconcile.
Stairway to Heaven?
We stopped at Mosna for our next home made lunch. I was expected the standard Romanian fare, what I got was unexpected, and completely blew my mind.
Feast at Bio-Mosna!
Feast at Bio-Mosna!
Feast at Bio-Mosna!
Catto at Bio-Moșna
Harvested corn at Bio-Moșna
A large church fortress, first built between1438 and 1488
Reinforced pillars
Another triptych altar
Inside the Medias Church
You can see the church organs on the near as well as the far side.
Medias is well-known for its wine and its coat of arms reflects that
Last view of Sibiu's big square, Piata Mare.
