Exploring Romania Part 2 – Transylvania

After traveling solo through some of the lesser known parts of Romania, I took an overnight train back to Bucharest so that I could meet my friend who was flying in from the US. I had some time while I was waiting for her, so I visited the Dimitrie Leonida Technical Museum which is a quirky science history museum. I would later also visit the Parliament building, which is worth touring to see the lavish rooms inside.

Pews inside the Black Church, Brasov

We planned to spend most of our time in the Transylvania region. We first headed to stay for a few days in Brasov because it’s convenient to the castles that were our priority on our visit, but it’s also an interesting historical town in and of itself. We went to the Black Church, a medieval gothic style building full of art and history. The decorated pews that were used by different classes and trade guilds were especially interesting. The church also displays a large collection of oriental rugs which used to sit in the nicer pews.

Catherine’s Gate, Brasov

The town also has a beautiful gate leftover from medieval times that is well maintained and looks a bit like something out of Disneyland.

Bran Castle

On a day trip from Brasov, we took a bus to visit Bran Castle, which was the site that really first motivated me to visit Romania. For a little background, the character Dracula was inspired by Vlad the Impaler (or Vlad Dracula). The real Vlad was a 15th century ruler who, we learned, is considered a Romanian national hero. Bran Castle is (probably falsely) credited with inspiring Dracula’s fictional castle. The castle itself has tenuous ties to Vlad. He never lived there, although he may have stayed or even been imprisoned there briefly. The castle that he actually lived in, Poenari Castle, is a ruin and the area was unfortunately closed to the public at the time of our visit.

Bran castle, built in the 14th century, is beautiful inside and out. However, it was a lot smaller than I expected. The tourist industry plays up the spooky Dracula tie in and vampire kitsch dominates the gift shop and the souvenir booths that line the path to the castle (which mainly interested me for the warm spiced wine that was on offer). there was even a little haunted house, which we couldn’t resist, and it was just as cheesy as we would have hoped.

Peles Castle

On another day, we traveled to Peles castle, a much newer (19th century) palace. It was constructed for King Carol I. It’s absolutely gorgeous, looking like something out of a fairy tale. The interior is just as amazing, with ornate carvings and art and furniture on display.

Inside Peles Castle

From Brasov, we also took a day tour that included the medieval town of Sighisoara and the village of Viscri. Sighisoara has a well preserved old town with a famous clock tower. You can still see the guild towers that line the fortified city walls. The town is also known as the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler and we visited and ate lunch at the building that is supposed to have been his childhood home and is now a restaurant.

bootmakers’ Guild Tower, Sighisoara

Viscri is a small traditional village and might be most known now for the fact that King Charles III owns a house there. The main attraction of Viscri is the fortified White Church. It dates back to the 13th century and the fortifications were added around 1500. The building was really interesting and offered a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside. It also housed a little museum with examples of traditional clothing and crafting techniques.

View from the fortified White Church, Viscri

After Brasov, we traveled to Cluj Napoca, which is a nice little city. The main attraction for us was the nearby Turda Salt Mine. The cavernous mine is now a tourist attraction which has several chambers including one so big it has a little lake and an island. There’s even a ferris wheel (which was not in operation while we were there). They also offer family activities like mini golf. We rented a row boat and enjoyed paddling around the little island.

Turda Salt Mine

We returned to Bucharest to experience a bit of culture for the end of our trip. We went a Salvador Dali exhibit which was primarily for sculpture work, but also included some of his drawings. My friend is a journalist and was researching potential articles about Jewish culture in Romania. She arranged for us to see a Yiddish play put on by a theater company which is aiming to help preserve the language. We knew that the play was going to be in Yiddish with Romanian translation available. Neither of us speak either language and I thought that I might be bored, but it turned out to be a musical comedy with a fairly easy to follow plot even without understanding the dialog.

Salvador Dali exhibit

I know Romania isn’t the most popular tourist destination in Europe, but I found it to be an interesting and easy place to visit.  I’m glad I got to know the country and am grateful that I got to share a lot of it with a dear friend.