Arrr Adventures

PELEȘ CASTLE

We took a day trip from Brașov to the castles in Sinaia, a mountain town about an hour from Brașov. It's an easy train ride and then a quick cab ride up to the castles. They are set in the Royal Estate of Sinaia, a green high-valley above Sinaia that King Carol I, the first king of Romania, bought in 1872.

Peleș was built first, along with the guards' chambers, the Economat Building, the Foișor hunting lodge, the royal stables, and a power plant starting in 1873. Interestingly, Peleș became the world's first castle fully powered by locally produced electricity.

Its architectural style is a romantically inspired blend Neo-Renaissance and Gothic Revival similar to Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. A Saxon influence can be observed in the interior courtyard facades, which have allegorical hand-painted murals and ornate fachwerk similar to that seen in northern European alpine architecture. Interior decoration is mostly Baroque influenced, with heavy carved woods and exquisite fabrics.
-Wikipedia

It is quite a sight to behold. The interiors are breath-takingly beautiful. The central stairway is especially amazing with its carved wood and glass ceiling that actually opens.

And the ornamentation is stunning. The inlaid wood and stained glass are especially well-crafted.

The Sala Mare de Arme (The Grand Armory or The Arsenal) includes 1,600 of the 4,000 pieces of weaponry and armor from between 14th and 19th century. It is one of Europe's largest collection of hunting and war implements There is a uniquely complete Maximilian armour for horse and rider and a 15th-century German "nobles only" executioner's sword.

PELIȘOR CASTLE

Pelișor Castle was built in 1899–1902 by King Carol I, as the residence for his nephew and heir, the future King Ferdinand and Queen Marie. It's a more "humble" castle that looks more like a hunting lodge.

It is in a style combining Art-Nouveau elements with Byzantine and Celtic elements. It's really a pretty eclectic collection of styles as you tour through it.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about the castles is their extreme level of maintenance, everything was absolutely perfectly preserved and spotless. This is especially amazing given that it was nationalized by the Socialist government, who made it a museum in 1953, and later closed completely by Nicolae Ceaușescu between 1975 and 1990, during the last years of the Communist regime. The only persons permitted on the property were maintenance and military personnel for 15 years. It was returned to the Royal family in 2007. It was crowded but they do limit the number of people that enter at any one time and it was manageable. Pelișor is not as popular and we bought our tickets on-site for it but you do need to reserve your train and Peleș entry tickets well in advance.

It was a great day and beautifully cool up in the mountains. Sinaia has many restaurants along its main King Carol I Boulevard where we stopped for lunch before our trip back.

Since leaving Sibiu in mid-July, we have explored more of Transylvania's Saxon cities and come away very impressed.

CLUJ-NAPOCA

Our trip to Cluj was one for the history books of our travels. I waited too long to book the trip and we ended up on a regional train, having to change to the inter-regional train about halfway through. We had heard to avoid the regional trains but we had no idea! The train was an engine and one car. It was an old-school train car with shared cabins and it stopped at every little whistle-stop possible.

But the scenery was amazing and the experience was worth it - once. It took three hours to go 111 kilometers!

Once we got there, Cluj-Napoca was so worth it. Another of the seven major fortified cities, along with Sibiu and Brasov, it's the one that feels most like an actual city. It's the second largest in Romania with almost 300,000 people. The historic center is well integrated into the modern city, with only a small portion being completely pedestrianized. We could see it as a place to spend a month if you wanted a break from travels. It has excellent restaurants with some of the best food we've had and amazing bars.

What strikes you immediately about Cluj is the architecture, which is so different from anywhere else and is a result of the period of Bulgarian nationalism during the late 1800's until the First World War. The buildings are Baroque-eclectic and reminiscent of the Parisian Haussmann-style. You can't look anywhere but see a silver tower gleaming at the top of a building.

The main Unirii Square is dominated by the Roman Catholic Saint Michael's Church built at the end of the 14th century in the Gothic style. It too was converted to a Protestant church during the reformation but was reclaimed for the Catholics during the counter-reformation. In front of the church is the equestrian statue of Matthias Corvinus, erected in honour of the locally born King of Hungary. It's also here you can see underground to the remains of the Roman city of Napoca.

The other major church is the Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral, a Romanian Orthodox church built in 1923 after the unification of Romania.

There are only a few reminders of the Saxon period, including one tower and a portion of the defensive wall and the narrow alleyway streets of the old town.

We only had a couple of nights in Cluj-Napoca but would love to come back someday and spend some more time.

BRASOV

If Sibiu was the political, religious, and military capital of the Transylvanian Saxon nation, then Brașov, positioned near the mountain passes leading to Wallachia, was the wealthiest of the seven main fortified cities. Sitting on trade routes it enjoyed a priviledged location. It's a beautiful city nestled in the mountains.

You can get a birds-eye view of it by taking the gondola to the top of Tâmpa Mountain. And while you're there make a reservation at the Panaorama Restaurant for a meal you won't forget. They also have a very nice wine list.

Brasov has much of the remaining Saxon towers and walls preserved. There's a nice walking path along the outside of the walls that leads to the main city gates.

The main church is the Biserica Neagră, or Black Church, so called due to fire damage in 1689. It started out as a Roman Catholic church but was claimed during the reformation for the Protestants and remains that today. While stripped of it's stained glass, it's wooden pews are beautifully decorated by the craft guilds.

The rugs that are hung are seen in many of the churches and are symbols of the trading done with the East.

Brașov is another great city with lots of restaurants and pretty squares.

VISCRI

We did a day tour that included Viscri and Sighisoara from Brașov. It's well worth the investment. We got lucky and ended up with a private tour again. Viscri is in the commune of Bunești that is composed of five villages: Bunești, Criț, Meșendorf, Roadeș, and Viscri. Each of these has a fortified church. This was typical of the Saxon organization with a central hub and surrounding villages. We saw this all through the countryside. While each village is responsible for their own defense, administrative functions are centralized.

Viscri is known for two things: its UNESCO recognized fortified church and King Charles. Starting with the latter, in 2006 while still the Prince of Wales, he bought and restored an 18th-century Saxon house "to help protect the unique way of life that has existed for hundreds of years and promote sustainable tourism". The houses here are of the typical style with the house on the road and the property in back through the large gate. The blue house in King Charles'.

Unfortunately, as a result of his efforts the property prices in the Saxon section have soared to 10x their original worth and no locals can afford the village anymore. Best intentions and all that. There is a majority Roma population with an active village outside of the central historic area and it was interesting to drive through that area and see it thriving.

The fortified church was one of the hightlights of our trip. It was amazing to see this perfectly preserved slice of history. The original church dates from the 1100's but the fortifications weren't added until the 1400's.

This image shows the layout of the Saxon town and the configuration of the long narrow properties. It's the best representation I have seen to give an idea of their layout. It also shows those who fought on each side in WWII as well as those Germans deported after the war.

SIGHIȘOARA

Sighișoara is probably the highlight of any trip to Transylvania. It is by far the best-preserved medieval citadel in the region, famous for its intact clock tower and defensive walls. It reminded us so much of the fortified towns we visited in Alsace. It's completely pedestrian except for the locals that live there, meaning you have to walk uphill from the car park to see the citadel but it is so worth it.

Scott enjoyed a beer in the central square - it was an extremely hot day!

Meanwhile, I toured around the perimeter of the citadel to see how many towers I could find.

A particulary interesting item to see is the covered stairway they built to keep the children out of the elements as they made their way up to the very top of the mountain where the school was.

We ended our tour in an underground Bistro for a glass of wine in the coolness of the stone and brick walls. Looking a little sweaty and wilted to be sure!

FINAL THOUGHTS

Our tour of Transylvania has been one of our most memorable. Besides the obvious draws of the history and beauty, it's also very temperate with most days not exceeding the 80's. We've had a few scorchers and some rain - even a few pretty serious afternoon thunderstorms - but overall it's been so pleasant. We've largely enjoyed the food and Romanian wine is surprisingly good - at least surprisingly to us. If you come, take your time and soak up the life. You won't regret it.

A final note on the Saxons. There are very few Saxon-descended Germans left in Romania. After Romania switched sides at the end of World War Two, having originally been aligned with the Axis Powers, Germans became part of the peoples that the state persecuted. During the brutal repression of the early communist era, many Germans (of which all Saxons seemed to be categorized by then) either paid the state to let them leave or were ransomed by Germany. As with any remaining Jews that were ransomed by Israel, this was a money-making scheme by Romania and a shameful legacy of that time. A sad end to a truly historic tale.

While I have focused on Saxon Transylvania here, there were of course Romanians in Transylvania for generations. They were relegated to second-class status by the Bulgarians, Hungarians, and Saxons and fought valiantly for their autonomy and independence. They lived in communities outside the Saxon fortifications and were largely left to their own devices. They were largely excluded from trading inside the Saxon fortifications. I have glossed over much of the complicated history to give the tourist highlights but I'd hate to be accused of ignoring it.

In our next post we'll be exploring Maramureș and Bucovina and we'll talk a lot more about Romania.

Most people come to Sibiu on a day trip or at most for an overnight. We decided to spend six nights here to really soak in the atmosphere and it's a city that's worth it. As an introduction to Transylvania, it's a great place to start.

A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF ROMANIAN GEOGRAPHY

Romania has a very interesting history. The Carpathian Mountains are shaped like a boomerang and run from north to south before heading west about halfway down the country.

Historically, and even today, central Romania consists of three main areas defined by where they are in relation to the Carpathians: Wallachia in the south, which includes Bucharest, has a history tied to the Bulgaria Empire; Moldavia, which includes Bucovina, to the east of the Carpathians with a history tied much more to the Russian Empire; and, Transylvania to the west of the Carpathians and tied much more to the Hungarian Empire. The fourth region is the area in the Southeast near the Danube, which we did not visit. The influence of the different major empires of the past as well as the protection - or lack thereof - from the mountains makes each region unique.

I'm writing this from our last town in Transylvania, Brasov, and after almost a month in central Romania we've gotten a feel for the different parts and how the separation of the Carpathians really differentiated the culture of the regions. You can't escape the mountains here and they are a big part of what make the area so beautiful.

In our last post, we recapped our time in Bucharest. In Transylvania, we visited Sibiu, Cluj-Napoca, Sighișoara, Brasov, Sinaia, and the northern Maramureș area. We spent just a few days in the Bucovina region of Moldavia.

TRANSYLVANIA & THE TRANSYLVANIAN SAXONS

Transylvania was blessed to be in the pocket of the Carpathians. As a result, even when ostensibly part of the Hungarian or Ottoman Empires, they maintained a high degree of independence. Their city structures as well as their defensive mindset all played a part in that and can still be seen today. One major factor was the immigration of Romanian Saxons, originally from Luxembourg, the Low Countries as well as Alsace in modern day France, and other parts of present-day Germany, they were called "Saxon" by the Hungarian king and the name stuck. Invited by the Hungarian king in the 12th century to protect the mountain passes from invaders, they built fortified churches and towns that were so successful they are the places we still visit today.

The Saxons did not have standing armies. Instead, they organized life by trade guilds. Each guild was responsible for defense of the town and each built their own towers and fortifications, which when joined together defended the town. The remnants of the guilds are seen everywhere from the towers to the paintings on church pews reserved for the guild. It's a fascinating part of Transylvania and important to understand.

SIBIU

Sibiu was once the most important Saxon town. It had 40 distinct craft guilds, the most of any town. It is also one of the best preserved overall. The historic central areas still feel as though you may be walking down a late medieval street.

And there are a few towers as well as much of the city walls remaining.

Sibiu îs called "the city of eyes" because of the eye-shaped dormer windows particular to the town. It is a funny feeling walking around and feeling watched.

The other really fascinating architectural detail, and this one you see throughout central Romania, is the house configuration. Houses were built along the streets with a large entryway for the carts to enter. They entered into a long central courtyard around which there were more buildings including housing, storage, and barns. Peaking into these courtyards is so much fun.

We even stayed in one just off the main square with our own eye keeping a watch.

We'll show you a lot more in blogs to come but it's the predominant building style.

The focal point of town is the 14th century Saint Mary Evangelical Church; you can glimpse it's spires around every corner. Originally built as a Roman Catholic church, after the Saxons converted to Protestantism during the Reformation it became a Lutheran church as it is today. We were to see many reconfigured churches during our stay and, in only my opinion, it's a shame that the beliefs of Protestantism required the removal of the colorful stained glass and ornamentation from so many of them. While the soaring arches and windows remain, they seem poorer for their white glass.

Just compare that to the Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church. The day we wandered in a small wedding was underway.

Sibiu is also perfectly located to catch amazing sunsets. The western wall that overlooks the lower town has a beautiful restaurant with the perfect overlook for sunset.

Sibiu is an amazing town and well worth visiting. Sitting in the squares and just wandering the historic streets is a wonderful way to pass a few days. We did get beyond the historic center a few times and even took a bike ride using their bike share plan to spend a lovely day in the park adjacent to the city reading, bird-watching, and drinking wine.

The Transfăgărășan Highway

The one day trip we did from Sibiu was to the famous Transfăgărășan Highway.

The highway crosses the Carpathians lower section that separates Transylvania from Wallachia. It closes except in summer when the snows are melted enough to allow cars to pass. Originally built in the early 1970s as a strategic military route by Nicolae Ceausescu to ensure quick military access of the Romanian Army across the Fagaras Mountains in case Romania was attacked by the Soviet Union, it now is known as one of the most beautiful highways in the world. From the north, it is a steep rise along unending switchbacks that ride through a deep, green valley to the top.

At the top is Lake Bâlea. It's a destination with street food, an inn, and of course the beautiful lake where there is snow year round.

Once you pass through the tunnel at the top you are on the southern side where the mountain ranges stretches before you before falling away to Wallachia and Bucharest. We didn't venture beyond the beautiful waterfall about five minutes down the road.

It's truly an epic drive and one we are so glad we splurged to do.

Next up is Cluj-Napoca and Brasov as well as Maramureș and Bucovina so stay tuned.

We arrived to Bucharest from Ruse, Bulgaria via another small bus. We had our passports checked by an agent that boarded the bus in Bulgaria and then again by an agent in Romania that actually scanned them but there were no issues. It was about a two-hour trip and dropped us at the Unirii Plaza, just a couple of blocks from our apartment. We are staying in a historic building at the beginning of Calea Victoriei, the main drag of Bucharest. It could use a cleaning but we have a balcony overlooking the river and it's a nice apartment.

WALKING CALEA VICTORIEI & OLD TOWN

Our first day we walked up Calea Victoriei as far as the Roman Athenaeum, zigging and zagging to see the sights. Bucharest is a city of impossibly grand buildings of mostly French Neoclassical, Belle Époque, and Art Deco design. The affinity for female and male statues supporting doorways and windows is strong, you see them everywhere.

First stop, right around the corner from us in the old town center is Strada Stavropoleos, home to the famous restaurant Caru' cu bere housed in an ornate Neo-Gothic building from 1898. It was originally built to be a restaurant and although it was confiscated by the state for forty plus years it has now been returned to the family who run it again. Don't miss going inside to check out the interior.

From there we wandered by the National Museum of Romanian History and the Palace of the Deposits and Consignments. The latter was built to house a bank, as with many of the biggest and grandest buildings.

As we continued up, we came to Pasajul Macca - Villacrosse, a passageway lined with restaurants that reminded us of the Passages in Paris.

We came back another evening to have drinks here. They had misters going, as with many places here to beat the heat, but inside the passage it made it like being in a greenhouse - we were definitely well humidified by the time we left!

Next up was the National Military Club, University Square, the gorgeous Saint Nicholas Russian Church, the Odeon Theatre, and Instagram-famous "Umbrella Street".

It was time for a break so we found a sidewalk cafe and stopped for coffee and pastry.

Turns out we had happened upon the famous Cafe Capsa, a beacon of Bucharest high society and intellectual debate in the inter-war period and originator of the Joffre Cake. Love those chance encounters!

Further up we got to Piața Revoluției, Revolution Plaza, where the mass protests took place in 1989. The balcony where Ceausescu gave his final speech from the Ministry of Internal Affairs building is located behind the modern monument to those who died in the revolution and the Monument of Iuliu Maniu. Just off the plaza is the so-called "New and Old" building. Once the old building housed the Securitate Headquarters and bullet marks still show on the facade.

This area also has the Central University Library Carol I with its Equestrian Statue of Carol I across from the Royal Palace of Bucharest, now an art museum.

And just adjacent, is the beautiful 1720's brick Kretzulescu Church.

Finally, we came to the Roman Athenaeum. Still used for performances, it's worth paying the price of admission to see the inside.

Along the way and on the way home we passed many other beautiful buildings. They call the overall style of Bucharest Romanina Eclectic and it's easy to see why.

Back in the historic center, the beautiful Chamber of Commerce building...

...and the copper-domed National Bank buildings...

...are highlights along with the maze of pedestrian streets filled with restaurants, bars, ice cream stores, and shops.

REUNION WITH FRIENDS

I've known Adriana for almost 20 years. A native Romanian who lived here through Ceausescu's rise to power and the revolution, we met in Washington DC and always talked about visiting Romania together. And we finally did!

We met up with her and her husband, Bob, for lunch at the historic inn, Hanu' lui Manuc. Once an old caravanserai built by an Armenian entrepreneur in 1808, by the middle of the 19th century it was Bucharest's most important commercial complex hosting intellectuals and politicians from the Ottoman Empire. It's a magnificent complex reminiscent of Istanbul. We hadn't seen Adriana and Bob since visiting their home in Georgia in 2021, so it was nice to be back together.

Just adjacent to Hanu' lui Manuc, is St. Anthony’s Orthodox Church.

We had so much fun, they joined us again and we spent the day having a long lunch at the "Dimitrie Gusti" National Village Museum followed by a tour of Casa Ceaușescu, and desert and wine. It was hard to say goodbye but we'll see them again. They don't allow photos in Casa Ceaușescu but there are a lot online if you're interested. Touring the house made Adriana utter repeated "motherf&%$ers" and want to spit on the floor for the past but it made me want to spit for its shear ugliness. It has to be the worst mish-mash of every style of decoration and embellishment known to man. Louis XIV furniture, gold tile mosaics, the ugliest painted floor tiles I've ever seen, marble, carved wood paneling, Murano chandeliers, Chinese vases - all together in one room. It was an absolutely hideous display. It's almost worth going for the ridiculousness of it all but be prepared.

DIMITRIE GUSTI NATIONAL VILLAGE MUSEUM

We took the 205 bus from in front our our apartment all the way up to the park. Once past Piata Victoriei, the Boulevard Aviatorilor is lined with parks and beautiful old mansions, many of which are now embassies. Then you pass through Piata Charles de Gaulle and right by the Arcul de Triumf before getting to the park. You can take the metro but you'll see a lot more by bus.

Housed in the expansive Herastrau Park, the Village Museum is a must visit. Originally inaugurated in 1936 with 33 buildings, it has grown to 136 from regions all over Romania. They are researched and then transported to the village and the collection is a "who's who" of Romanina peasant architecture. Here's a bunch of our favorites.

There are two "underground" houses that were very interesting.

There is also a large collection of presses and mills.

And a few wooden churches.

There's a nice restaurant in the park - perfect for a cold drink and lunch. It was a great day and well worth the visit.

PALACE OF PARLIAMENT & THE ROMANIAN NATIONAL CATHEDRAL

The Palace of the Parliament, known in communist times as the People's House, was started by Nicolae Ceaușescu in 1984, five years before the revolution. It is built in a neoclassical style and is the heaviest building and second largest administrative building in the world - behind the Pentagon. We didn't go inside but we did walk all the way around it and, objectively speaking, it's a very beautiful building.

Of course the building of the palace was hugely disruptive and controversial, especially in a time of mandated national austerity. The historic Uranus-Izvor neighborhood was destroyed and approximately three square miles of the old city centre were demolished, with 40,000 people being relocated from the area. In between the main boulevards, some of the historic homes still remain to give you a sense of what was lost.

At the back corner is the modern Romanian National Cathedral, which was under construction, and the Church of Saint John Chrysostom, a small but very pretty chapel.

Bucharest has been a wonderful city for us. We've tried lots of good food, including Sarmale (stuffed cabbage rolls) and Mici (skinless ground meat sausages) but we've also had good pizza, Italian, and Thai food. It's been nice to have a whole week. You could easily see the main sights more quickly but the extra time allows us some days off, which we need. It's been very hot so being able to avoid the afternoon broil has been nice, too.

Tomorrow we leave for Sibiu, our first town in Transylvania! Stay tuned for more to come from our month in Romania.

Bulgaria is our 31st country together and it's been a bit confounding. It's a hard place to get to know in just two short weeks. It's my first Eastern European country, Scott has been to Ukraine many years ago and says it reminds him of there. There is definitely a difference to Western Europe. Of course, any sort of generalization will likely be wrong but the main thing we can say is that it is seems like the poorer cousin. It may be that Bulgaria is particular in this respect but we won't know until we visit other Eastern European destinations.

One thing for sure is it has a very long history. There have been three Bulgarian empires with the first one dating from 681. As a result, Bulgaria is one of the oldest countries in Europe and they identify as having been a country that whole time even during times of occupation. Add this to: Bulgaria's long history with Russia, who helped free Bulgaria from Ottoman rule in the Russian-Turkish War; the period of National Revival and involvement in four conflicts from 1885-1918, including fighting with the Central Powers in WWI; their involvement in WWII, first on the side of the Axis and then on the side of the Allies, and their refusal to export their own Jews while participating in the exportation from other countries; followed by their long period of socialist-communist rule, and you have a country that is not easy to understand for an outsider.

That being said, you don't have to understand it to enjoy the very beautiful parts of the country that we feel lucky to have seen.

SOFIA

Sofia is the capital of the country and as such seems to have gotten the lions share of development and maintenance money, as well as tourists. It's a small city with regards to the tourist parts, although it is fairly sprawling overall. The main pedestrian boulevard is Vitosha that runs from the Palace of Culture to the Cathedral Saint Nedelia. It's a pleasant walking area with shops and restaurants and beautiful view of the mountains.

We were lucky to have picked lodging just off Vitosha Boulevard in a quiet neighborhood. The neighborhoods are a mix of dense postwar apartment buildings that are generally very drab interspersed with some of the remaining townhouses built in the late 1800's-early 1900's after Bulgarian independence.

The park around the National Palace of Culture is really beautiful and this is where we took our morning walks.

The area around the Presidential Palace has most of the grand public buildings built after the First World War on through the 50's. The Statue of Saint Sofia that replaced an enormous statue of Lenin after the fall of communism is also in this area. We ended our tour with coffee in the park behind the National Gallery of Art, formerly the King's palace, and the City Garden.

Sofia has an excellent public transportation system that we took frequent advantage of during our stay. Everything from a metro to buses, to both old and new trams criss-cross the city. It's a flat-rate "tap and go" pay system and inexpensive. Some of the stations have excavations from the Roman era similar to those in Thessaloniki. There are some Roman ruins dotted here and there and a few remaining mosques, from the period of Ottoman rule, and synagogues.

RILA MONASTERY & SAPAREVA BANYA

We did a day trip to the UNESCO site of the Rila Monastery, stopping off at the hot springs on our way back to Sofia. It was a great way to get up into the mountains and as the day became a bit cool and overcast a nice afternoon to spend in the hot springs. The monastery was founded in the 10th century, grew to great importance during the Second Bulgarian Empire, and survived the 500 years of Ottoman occupation preserving Bulgarian Orthodox beliefs and Bulgarian culture. Apart from the tower, the rest of the monastery burned in 1833 and was rebuilt in the new Nationalist style. The cartoon-like frescos that decorate the exterior are a real highlight.

I took the time to climb the tower and get some great views.

I also toured the immense kitchen.

Interestingly, they had heating through the floors of the building provided by giant furnaces on each floor. The upper floors are private for the remaining monks and pilgrims that come and stay at the site.

The town of Sapareva Banya is at the foot of the Rila mountains and has many hotels and hot pool complexes. The one we went to had three large pools and smaller hot and cold tubs spread throughout. It was a very relaxing place set at the foot of the mountains.

We enjoyed Sofia. It has an amazing array of international food for one thing. We had Roman-style pizza, a wonderful French meal at the fabulously named "Fake French" restaurant, Indonesian, Italian, brunch with real bagels, and some great calamari. It would be an easy and relaxing place to spend an extended period of time as long as you don't ask too much of it. And it does live up to its reputation as being less expensive than say Greece or Western Europe.

VELIKO-TARNOVA

From Sofia we traveled by bus to what was surely the highlight of the trip. Veliko-Tarnova was the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire from the 12th to 14th centuries. It is built on the cliffs above the meandering Yantra River around the Tsarevets hill on which stands the former residence of the Bulgarian emperors and Patriarch.

Wandering the old town streets and admiring the endless views is a wonderful way to spend a day. And we finally tried Bulgarian cuisine and had a really great meal at an old taverna.

We also mustered the energy to climb around and to the top of the fortress. The Patriarchal Cathedral at the top was rebuilt in the 1970-80's and is adorned with modern mosaics but the climb is worth it for the views.

We got super lucky that our hotel room faced the fortress and also that they did a special Tuesday light show, usually reserved for Saturdays. It was about 15 minutes of colored lights illuminating the hill accompanied by music that can be heard across the valleys.

We stayed very near the old Samovodska Charshia Market and enjoyed the little shops, restaurants, and bars in this historic area. The architecture here is unique and dates largely from before the First World War. Most structures are made of stone and timber.

We loved our stay and would definitely recommend it as a destination.

RUSE

And now we come to our last stop, Ruse. The "bus" we took this time was a small one, maybe 20 seats and more like a van. Its shocks had seen better days! The drive was pretty though. Field after field of sunflowers and corn.

Situated just across the Danube from Romania, Ruse had its heyday in the National Revival period of the late 1800's and early 1900's when it was a hot bed of both culture and revolution. In guidebooks it's called "Little Vienna" and while you can just make out the outlines of that once grand period, unfortunately very little of it remains. Where once there were beautiful townhouses and buildings housing embassies, diplomats, and wealthy businessmen, today there are crumbling shells, low rent stores, and communist apartments. The exception being in the beautiful square surrounding the Monument of Liberty statue and a few nice parks.

Now that we are here, we can see the result of Sofia getting the lions share of the countries funds. Add to that Bulgaria has one of the highest emigration rates and lowest birthrates in the region and once grand boulevards feel deserted even on a Friday night. Some of this may be due to summer travel but...

We've taken the opportunity to enjoy a very nice apartment, do some laundry, and catch up on some planning tasks before we embark on our month in Romania. It's been a welcome break but we can't say we'd recommend a stop here unless that's your aim, too.

All in all, we're glad we included Bulgaria in our itinerary. It's been very interesting - in the way visiting any previously communist country has been for us - and we've been able to get a taste of the food and culture during our brief visit. Maybe someday we'll make it back to see Plovdiv and the Black Sea.

Stay tuned for our updates from Romania and subscribe if you want to know when we post a new blog.