The Carpathians - One Of The Most Amazing Places I have Ever Seen

On Monday night, I went with Mr M to the mall with Mr M to take some clothes to a dry cleaners to have them cleaned. It cost just under 60 Lei. ($20.00). Before we went to the mall, we stopped at a fast food restaurant and had something to eat. The restaurant was the place where we had bought the take away food for at the apartment, the week prior. I had a chicken burger with chips and Mr M had a kebab on a plate. The servings were huge and we both struggled to finish the food. I can't recall what it cost but I think it was around 10 - 15 Lei ($3.00 - $5.00 AUD), which was amazing value.

After we dropped the clothes off to be cleaned, we went to play some pool at a place called 'Rainbowl'. As you may have guessed, it's a bowling alley, but they have a room with 8 pool tables in it also. We discussed going to Brasov the next day. I was on fire on the pool table and beat Mr M 4 games to 2. After leaving the 'Rainbowl', we stopped off at the Maxbet we had been to a few nights earlier. I put 200 Lei in the Roulette machine and proceeded to play. We had been there no longer  than 5 mins and I had won 650 Lei. "Well that will pay for tommorrow" I said and we called the attendant to claim the money, then went home.

Tuesday morning, Miss C texts me and tells me to be ready no later than 11:00 AM. I said I will be. 11:00 AM passes and I have not heard anything and begin to wonder 'what is going on?'. I text Miss C and she tells me just to wait. Eventually Mr M calls and let's me know he is on his way to pick me up and then we will pick up Miss C.

It's about Midday by the time we meet Miss C and finally head out of Bucharest to cover the 160 km or so to Brasov. Brasov is the main city in the region known as Transylvania. Made famous by Dracula and the vampire legends, it is the main tourist destination in Romania. As we were driving out of the city I joked, "Did anybody bring the garlic".

Once we drive past the airport, any remnants of the city are left well behind. It is open road, lined with paddocks and the occasional forest. The road feels like a long straight stretch of road that goes on forever, with the occasional, roundabout or turn. After awhile, the road is lined by older style houses and villages. I think they are called 'Pesiunes' (Pensions) here in Romania. Also we start to see old carts full of logs being hauled by horses. Miss C tells me "They are not allowed into the city anymore" and i think to myself, "WOW, they were once driving them in the city". Then there are more snow covered paddocks and the occasional power plant. The further away from the city we got, the more beautiful the countryside became.

Some random pictures of the road leading to the mountains.

Once we reached the base of the Carpathians, my breath was absolutely taken away by how amazing the place looks. The mountain is covered with leafless trees and snow. Scattered along the mountains were houses built onto the side of the mountains. It was like nothing I had ever seen before and I couldn't even imagine that it would look this amazing. It's things like this, that reminded me why I wanted to see more of the world in the first place. We stopped at a Service Station to refresh and get some supplies, before continuing the journey. I looked at the time and we had been driving for over an  hour. We must be getting close now, I thought. What I didn't realise was that this open road we had been driving on, was not classed as a highway in Romania and the speed was limited to 70 Km/hour. In Australia, most if not all of this road would have a speed limit between 80 and 100 Km/hour.

As we drive further into the mountains, the mountains begin to get closer to the road, the forests become thicker and you start to see some creeks running alongside the road and the road becomes more and more winding and the buildings take on more of a 'gothic' appearance.

Just before the city of Brasov, we come to a steep downward winding road, with tight hairpin turns. The road has been carved into the mountain, as no matter which direction you turn, the road is lined by forest covered mountains. The atmosphere of the countryside is every bit as eerie as it's reputation suggests. Perhaps the dark sky helped enhance that feeling.

It took about 3 hours of driving but we had finally arrived in the city centre of Brasov. The city of Brasov itself is not that big. Perhaps a quarter the size (at most) of Bucharest but the actual district of Brasov spans a lot greater area. The buildings are alot older here and have a distinct 'gothic' architectural design. There is not so many modern style buildings.

After taking some wrong turns provided by the GPS, we ended up in an alleyway in a residential neighbourhood. We headed back into the city centre and looked for a place to park. After a few minutes, we found one on the main street. We were heading to McDonalds to have a snack to eat before we found a restaurant. As we approached the McDonalds, Miss C spots a restaurant and we enter. I can't recall the name of the restaurant, but it was relatively nice. It was down a small hallway and between some buildings. The restaurant was long and narrow with large wooden tables in a booth type setting down both sides.

We sat at a table and looked at the menu for a long time as we couldn't decide what to eat. In the meantime Miss C had ordered me a glass of Palinca. Palinca is similar to Tuica, but generally has a much higher alcohol content. It had a strong apricot flavour and tasted pretty good, but the first sip literally, took my breath away for a moment and I coughed. I decided to order 'The House Special'. It was a mixture of lamb mince and some kind of cheese made into a big patty shape and fried. It came served with some grilled vegetables. It was very nice. 

After a few mouthfuls of the house special, I dropped my knife and fork to the plate and swallowed the food in my mouth. I could feel my eyes roll back in my head and as I rested my head in my hands I said 'Holy shit'. Miss C had a grin on her face. I just closed my eyes and thought about asking my friends to take me to hospital. I was the drunkest i could ever imagine being and I thought it wasn't going to go away. I was honestly concerned that I wasn't going to be able to move from that table without medical assistance.

After about a minute or a minute and a half, the drunk sensation finally dissipated and my friends were telling me that I wasn't supposed to drink it like a normal drink. I thought to myself, "Well it's a little late to tell me that now". I have never been afraid of any alcohol in my life, but I don't think I would be lining up to drink Palinca again. Miss C mentioned that she was worried Bran Castle may not be open as it was getting late in the day. So we quickly called for the check and made our way back to the car.

Upon returning to the car,Mr M discovered that he had received a parking ticket and went to argue with the group of police officers standing nearby. We didn't understand what the ticket was for at the time, but later found out it was because there is a ticket machine, that you put money in to pay for parking. There were no signs or indicators that this was the case and I think it is deliberate to catch the tourists who are unaware.

We drove out to Bran in order to see the castle. It was the home of Vlad Tepes (Vlad The Impaler). As you approach the town of Bran you can see the castle on the side on top of the mountain. It looks incredible from a distance, but as you get closer, you really feel the atmosphere turn creepy as you think about the stories of what has happened in this area. The castle sits atop the lowside of the mountain surrounded by seemingly dead trees and snow. I think it was the perfect whether to experience the castle as it added to the atmosphere. I am not sure that it would seem so eerie on a bright summers day. I'm not just talking about the Dracula tales, but maybe more horrific is the real story of how Vlad Tepes got his name.

When Vlad Tepes was the ruler of Romania back in the 15th century, it was rumoured that he would impale his enemies on wooden stakes in the forest and leave them there as a deterrent for others. Legend has it that Vlad Tepes is responsible for between 20,000 and 100,000 deaths and many attacking armies turned back after being repulsed by the sight of thousands of rotting impaled corpses.

Anyway, Miss C's concerns were confirmed. We got to the castle but it was not open. We took some photos of the outside, went for a walk and visited a haunted house attraction a little bit up the road, bought some souvenirs and then drove back to Bucharest.

There is so much to see in Transylvania but we didn't have time. The initial intention was to stay for a night and see more, but due to reasons mentioned previously in this blog. But I will definitely return to Transylvania to see more in the future.

On the way home, we got a little lost and drove through some very scary looking forest areas. especially in the dark. We got back to Bucharest fairly late, I think it was after 10:00 PM. We went to a restaraunt called "Cocosul Rosu' and ate some food. I had a bowl of lettuce as I was not hungry and felt that i needed some green vegetables. I also tasted what is translated to be 'boiled wine'. It's red wine boiled with cinammon and you add sugar and drink it warm. When Miss C first told me about this, I didn't think it sounded very appealing, but it is rather tasty and very good on a cold night. I was tired and a little drunk from wine by the time we left the restaurant and glad to get home. It was along day.