In August 2015 I flew to Moldova for 5 days, and Romania for 16 days. It was a long day and adventure just to get there, starting with a layover in Berlin, Germany. Here I attempted to use my ATM card to get some Euros and my card was rejected, luckily my credit card worked and I had a nice German breakfast. I'm hoping it was just a network issue. From Berlin I caught my next leg of the journey to Bucharest, Romania. After a short layover, it was onto my first destination of Chisinau, Moldova to officially start my trip. Fortunately, my ATM card was working by then.
In Chisinau, Moldova (the capital of Moldova), I had a nice hotel just off the main street in the centre of town. There are many monuments and a lot of green space to see while walking around. First observation, it was very hot and the drivers were crazy. I had seen in my research about the drivers, so I thought it best to get tours to see the surrounding countryside.
I started with a tour of a small outdoor museum and cave monastery in the town of Orhei, Moldova about an hour drive north of Chistinau. Dating from the 15th and 16th century, it is what you would expect, a monastery carved into the natural limestone ridge and cliffs (caves) above the Raut River. It takes some walking to get up to them, but it allows for spectacular views of the valley countryside.
My next tour takes me to a country within a country, that some say does not even exist - Transnistria. This is a Russian controlled territory of Moldova, and requires crossing the border. They have their own currency (Ruble). Our first stop after the border was just an hour drive east of Chistinau in the town of Bender. Here are the remains of the Cetatea Tighina (Tighina Fortress), a 15th-century fortress on the Dniester River. While nothing of the interior remains, the exterior walls and towers are still standing. Then we were onto Tiraspol, the capitol of Transnistria. It was quite a nice clean place but was very small, with only 2 main streets in the capital (but plenty of smaller side streets). But, still, very cool. They call this the place that doesn't exist, since only Russia recognizes it. Moldova doesn't recognize it, they just put up with it. As expected, there was very little traffic. In perspective for 2015, only 94,000 tourists visited Moldova, the Transnistria tourist counts are probably double or low triple digits only. Not many tourists bother to go here and even less people know about this 'country'.
Speaking of tourism, now safely back in Chistinau, Moldova, I knew this was one of the least touristed countries in the world and now I can prove it. I walked the entire length of one of the main streets (Stephen the Great boulevard) in the capital city, Chisinau, about 7.6 kilometres (4.7 miles) round trip. I only found 2 small souvenir shops, and no postcards! I even went to a book/card shop and no postcards. I can't believe that, but with no tourists I guess that makes sense. By the way, it's also very cheap in Moldova, food, hotels, everything. A point of reference everyone can understand, the ice cream cone at McDonalds was only $0.30 USD, with the full McDonalds Big Mac meal only being $3.00 USD. The 30-minute bus ride from the airport was only $0.15 USD. I always buy bottled water while traveling and a bottle of water was $0.20 USD. I stayed in the heart of the capital in a pretty fancy 4-star hotel for only $60/night USD. I did splurge my last night in Moldova for an elegant steak dinner to get rid of some of my Moldova currency (the Leu) - $20.00 USD.
On to Romania! I flew into Bucharest, Romania and rented a car. There was going to be a lot of places to see away from the capital, we'll get back to Bucharest later.
About 120 kilometres (75 miles) north is the amazing town of Sinaia, Romania. The area surrounding it is very hilly and scenic, but the draw is some of the sites in the town. Castelul Peleș (Peleș Castle) was built between 1873 and 1914 for Carol I, the King of Romania. Each of the 160 rooms is elegantly fashioned and the garden around the castle is styled in the English style. A short path leads to the nearby Castillo Pelișor (Pelișor Castle) built around 1900. Not as extravagantly decorated, this is where most of the state events occurred.
Nearby Brașov, Romania was a good jumping off point for the sites in the area, and I spent several nights here. Brașov has an elegant old town, with the nearby streets having their own charm. The large Piața Sfatului (Council Square) has been in place since 1364. The current square is lined with 18th and 19th century historic buildings, churches, monuments, and a centrally located fountain. From the town centre you can catch a cable car that zooms you to the top of the nearby 400 metre (1,312 foot) Mount Tâmpa for great views over the city and nearby countryside.
Now onto the fun stuff. First of all, there really is a Transylvania (Principality of Transylvania) - yes it does exist! I couldn't miss this. I was able to see Dracula's Castle and also his birthplace. Of course, there is no gravesite since he's still alive. In the small town of Bran, Romania is Bran Castle, home of Dracula, built around 1400. It was a little crowded, so everyone had the same thought I had. I had to wait about 40 minutes just to get my ticket. Surprisingly seemed less crowded in the castle then in the little town main street. Now I'm in the true heart of Transylvania. For some reason less people were leaving the castle then were entering the castle, odd, but I'll worry about that later. In the town of Sighișoara is where Dracula was born. I got to see the actual house; it has a plaque marking it and everything. Secondly, and probably more interesting than all the Dracula history, there really is a Bank of Transylvania! No, it's not a blood bank...
I guess I could mention the Dracula all these sites are for is really Vlad 'The Impaler' Dracula. He's a Romanian national hero who lived between 1428 and 1477. Lots of history here, but the short answer is he fought for his country's freedom. Part of this was impaling the heads of those against him on to stakes, hence 'The Impaler'. Dracula was his family name. His buddies just called him Vlad.
Besides the Dracula related sites, there are many nice towns in Transylvania not Dracula related and I spent quite a bit of time there. In the town of Râşnov, Romania there is a massive fort from around 1220. What makes it spectacular is the view from the valley since it resides high on the hill above the city. The vibrant town of Târgu Mureș, Romania has a lot of nice historical buildings centered around their 2 main squares of Piața Trandafirilor (Roses Square) and Piața Victoriei (Victory Square). The town of Turda, Romania? Not sure I actually was there, since the tourist attraction is just on the outskirts of the town. The 120 metre (394 foot) deep Salina Turda (Salt Mine) was first excavated in 1231 and has some massive caverns as well as many salt sculptures. After taking the salt mine tour, I felt like a seasoned traveler...
On the western side of Transylvania there are a few towns of note. Cluj-Napoca, Romania is the second largest city in Romania (you can use that in a trivia contest to impress your friends). The amazing thing about Cluj-Napoca is that the old town centre remains largely unspoiled within the old city walls, with much of it pedestrianized. This makes it a great city for walking with sites around every turn. In Alba Iulia, Romania the town is dominated by a giant oddly shaped star citadel built around 1715. With the sites in and around the citadel you can spend the good part of a day looking around.
I finally escaped the trance of Transylvania for the 3rd largest city in Romania, Timișoara (what kind of a trip would it be if I didn't make it to the 3rd largest city for your entertainment). I met up with my brother's wife's brother (Jim) and his wife (Paula) in Timișoara. We had a couple real nice meals and they showed me around the town. I knew the town was classy, it was the first in Romania to have a public water supply and street lights. Also, it is where the revolution started for Romanian independence against communism back in 1989, there is a memorial to that.
Ironically, not in Transylvania is where I found the most famous 'real' Dracula - Béla Lugosi (1882-1956). Lugoj, Romania is the childhood home of Béla Lugosi, born Béla Ferenc Blasko he changed his name to honor his birthplace. The building he was born and lived in as a child has a plaque commemorating this.
Romania has a lot of castles and fortresses, and one of the most dramatic is in Hunedoara, Romania. Castelul Corvinilor (Corvin Castle) built in the 14th century has everything you would expect in a castle. It is so fantastic and theatrical that it looks totally unreal, I'm surprised Disney didn't copy it yet to create an EPCOT Romania pavilion. It has towers, spires, rock walls, a barbican (look it up), and a drawbridge over a moat. It was a real fantasy castle.
I spent a couple days in Sibiu, Romania which is a really nice town. It's a lot more Western European than a lot of other Romanian cities, but it still has its share of history. One of the reasons I wanted a second night was to be able to drive the nearby Transfăgărășan Highway, a road the British show Top Gear called the best road in the world. It did not disappoint. It stretches 90 kilometres (56 miles) through the Carpathian Mountains between the highest peaks in the country, Moldoveanu and Negoiu. Climbing to an altitude of 2,042 metres (6,699 feet), it is a winding road, dotted with steep hairpin turns, long S-curves, and sharp descents. It really was incredible to drive. To top off the drive, at the southern end of the road in Arefu, Romania is the Cetatea Poenari (Poenari Citadel), yet another castle of our old friend Vlad 'The Impaler'. After all that driving, the 1,480 steps up to the castle was a nice way to stretch my legs...
The country of Romania really has some phenomenally beautiful countryside’s, mountains, villages, and sites. However, it was finally time to see the capital - Bucharest, Romania. Even though Bucharest is large, the sites you want to see are within a reasonable amount of walking (by my standards anyway). This is a good thing as the public transportation is a bit complicated to understand. Fortunately, I'm used to walking 10 or more miles a day and the book I had on Romania had some good city maps where I highlighted what I wanted to see. Getting a hotel in the centre of what I wanted to see simplified things.
The main square in Bucharest is the Piața Revoluției (Revolution Square), with the most imposing building being the Royal Palace (now the National Art Museum). Also in the square is the former Communist Party Headquarters, a rather monolithic communist looking building that is now government offices. There are also memorials for those involved in the revolution for the freedom of Romania. From this square it's relatively easy to see the other sites scattered around Bucharest.
One site worth mentioning is the Palatul Parlamentului (Palace of Parliament). It is the third largest government administrative building in the world after The Pentagon. Unfortunately, entire neighborhoods were demolished to build it as well as the areas around it due to the communist dictatorship rule that was going on in the 1980's. In a photo it's impossible to grasp the immenseness, kind of like trying to take a photo of the Grand Canyon. It's 12 stories tall, with an additional 4 stories underground, and 1,100 rooms (although it is said only 400 rooms are currently being used). The interior is decorated extravagantly in marble and gold leaf, with 4,500 chandeliers.
Overall, both Moldova and Romania were really beautiful countries. A lot to see, but you do need to get away from the big cities to get a feel for what the countries have to offer. I'm glad I was able to drive on some of the back roads to get to the true heart of Romania.
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