We left Sibiu after packing up.
I didn’t eat breakfast after last night’s meal extravaganza.
On the way to Braşov we decided to hit up three attractions: A castle that is really a palace, a hill top castle that is really a fortress, and a castle that is not all it is cracked up to be.
So we are cruising down the main road between Sibiu and Braşov, which runs along in front of the Carpathian Mountain Range where we drove yesterday. Today the mountains were clearer, in the sense that we could really see them them, but not the crystal clear detailed vision I expect.
The Romanian drivers are addicted to passing. They do it just for the hell of it, even if you are in an endless convoy of trucks, they will pass and then just be happy to sit one car ahead of you until the turn off a half hour later. Passing on curves, up hills… Bonus pints if there is an oncoming horse and cart.
A long long army convoy was coming the other direction, tying up traffic in that lane. The jam was kilometers long. We quit counting trucks after 50. Each truck was one of those big troop carrying kind, pulling a big gun behind.
Really big guns.
We were wondering at first, thinking they were doing some military exercise, but as it stretched on and on we started wondering if Romania had gone to war and we didn’t know it. Gail checked her text messages, but no one had sent anything like, “Are you safe on your trip? We heard Romania invaded Poland…”
And the truth is that we were not too worried about it, because for every two trucks moving there was one truck broken down by the side of the road, engine cover open, troops gathered around on their cell phones looking for the “FixMyTruck App.”
That is what was causing the traffic jams.
We were almost hit by one gun with a crooked wheel, wobbling along behind one of the trucks while the driver plowed on, unconcerned.
Probably tweeting. #MyWobblyGunSucks
So we just cruise along, enjoying ourselves, listening to Itsy-Bitsy FM on the radio. I can sing the little jingle now, kind of like “Nostalgi!” in France. American oldies mixed with (Romanian?) pop, and commercials.
Halfway along our route we passed through Făgăras, which had a huge, golden domed cathedral. Must be something.
Bran itself is a cute kind of German influenced place. The houses are really different here from the other places we have been; half timbered houses set in hills of green pines, with tall rocky mountains behind.
Almost German like.
Bran’s castle is the most famous in Romania. It is called "Vlad’s Castle” but that is a misnomer.
History says that old Vlad the Impaler maybe spent a few days there at most during the war with the Turks in 1462.
However, the T-Shirt sellers beg to differ. Their history will convince you it is Dracula’s castle through and through, and that dark secrets and the Vampire legend are soaked in blood here.
We have been in many castles and are getting kind of picky. So we cruised through the vendor stalls, looking at postcards. You see, postcards offer the best photos of the best stuff, and the best that Bran Castle had to offer was not so impressive to us (Being the “worldly castle experts” that we are.). In fact, the best thing about Bran is the outside of it.
We declined to pay the 36 RON each to go in, and instead we went off to a little pizza place, out of the way on a side street.
No tourists here, and the waitress spoke only Romanian. No German. No Italian. And certainly no English.
I got a beer. Fine.
We ordered a small pizza to split, about plate sized (still not very hungry after last night). Fine.
Gail ordered red wine. She looked a little puzzled, repeated it, and Gail nodded. With a shrug the waitress went off and soon returned with my cold beer and Gail’s very hot cup of red tea.
We got the wine thing fixed, paid our 16 RON bill ($4 total. Un-frickin’-believable) and moved on.
We passed through Râşnov to see their castle, which is really a big fortress on the hill. It is still pretty well preserved, from the 13th century.
Built by the Teutonic Knights, of course.
Oh, those wild and wacky Teutons.
It is really beautiful and ornate, probably the prettiest one we have seen this trip so far. Built about 1883, it is really a palace.
Fun Fact: Peleș is the first castle (palace too) lit by electricity in Europe. Now it houses art.
Well, it was a long hour’s drive back up to where we really wanted to go all along: the city of Braşov. This is our last stop on our “Romanian Road Trip.” We’ll drop the car tomorrow, and head to Bucharest by train on Saturday.
First Impression:
I am surprised how big this city is, and yet how nice the old section is.