Published on the Viator Travel Blog on May 31, 2013
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| Hand-pitched haystacks of the Maramures |
As prices in Western Europe continue to rise, the cheaper countries of the continent gain more and more appeal. One of the most fascinating is Romania, a country with much more to offer than just the legend of that guy with the long eye teeth.
Romania is a place where the harshness of the recent past, dominated by oppression and injustice, is juxtaposed with the timeless charm of ancient medieval towns, beautiful castles, interesting beaches, and a genuine peasant culture that has all but disappeared from most of the world. Here are seven reasons to roam Romania:
Romania is a place where the harshness of the recent past, dominated by oppression and injustice, is juxtaposed with the timeless charm of ancient medieval towns, beautiful castles, interesting beaches, and a genuine peasant culture that has all but disappeared from most of the world. Here are seven reasons to roam Romania:
1. Maramures
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| Horse-drawn wooden cart in Maramures |
In the rural region of Maramures, peasants continue to work the land as they have for hundreds of years. The fields are dotted with hand-pitched haystacks, and the favored transportation method is a horse-drawn wooden cart. This region is a modern-day ‘Brigadoon’ — the legendary village, made famous in a Lerner and Loewe musical that remained unchanged because it only appeared for one day every 100 years. The hottest local activity is the weekly Animal Market where everything a peasant could want is for sale including fresh produce, kitchen pots, furniture, clothing, shoes, and squealing piglets.
For a closer look at the peasant lifestyle, you can stay in one of the many charming guesthouses where your hosts will treat you like family (and ply you with local specialties). Every meal is sure to be a culinary adventure from the incomparably creamy polenta called mamaliga to an assortment of delicious soups. Everything is made from scratch using the freshest local ingredients: baskets of just-baked bread, extra spicy pickles fermented with horseradish, featherweight crepes served with homemade jam, and a traditional home-brew called palinka (plum brandy) that will definitely cure what ails you. Your greatest challenge will be how to avoid offending your generous hosts and still manage to fit into your clothes!
For a closer look at the peasant lifestyle, you can stay in one of the many charming guesthouses where your hosts will treat you like family (and ply you with local specialties). Every meal is sure to be a culinary adventure from the incomparably creamy polenta called mamaliga to an assortment of delicious soups. Everything is made from scratch using the freshest local ingredients: baskets of just-baked bread, extra spicy pickles fermented with horseradish, featherweight crepes served with homemade jam, and a traditional home-brew called palinka (plum brandy) that will definitely cure what ails you. Your greatest challenge will be how to avoid offending your generous hosts and still manage to fit into your clothes!
2. Simpler Times
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| Romanian woman tending livestock |
Rural Romania offers a glimpse of a simpler time, and the sweet Merry Cemetery is a perfect example. In this very colorful cemetery, each hand-painted, bright blue cross displays a likeness of the deceased along with a poignant personal epitaph. The bright colors are intended to remind us that death is not a sorrowful thing but a new beginning, and each epitaph begins with the reassuring words of the dead person, ‘I am relaxing here…’
The delightful Popa Museum explores peasant traditions with a remarkable collection of local artifacts including many peculiar-looking masks. In traditional Romanian villages, it was considered bad form to gossip or to criticize your neighbors. However on one day of the year, ‘the gates of heaven opened,’ and people were allowed to tell each other the unpleasant truth. To encourage full disclosure, the ‘advice’ was given from behind the anonymity of a mask. So once a year, the entire village donned masks and let loose, telling each other what they really thought. The intention was that people would learn and improve, but you have to wonder how many hurt feelings (and personal grudges) resulted.
The delightful Popa Museum explores peasant traditions with a remarkable collection of local artifacts including many peculiar-looking masks. In traditional Romanian villages, it was considered bad form to gossip or to criticize your neighbors. However on one day of the year, ‘the gates of heaven opened,’ and people were allowed to tell each other the unpleasant truth. To encourage full disclosure, the ‘advice’ was given from behind the anonymity of a mask. So once a year, the entire village donned masks and let loose, telling each other what they really thought. The intention was that people would learn and improve, but you have to wonder how many hurt feelings (and personal grudges) resulted.
3. Medieval Towns
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| View of Sighisoara |
Romania offers some of Europe’s best preserved medieval towns, including the walled citadels of the Saxons who came to Transylvania during the mid 1100s from the German state of Saxony. One of the most beautiful of these towns is Sighisoara, a 16th c. jewel of winding cobblestone streets and defensive towers like the famous Clock Tower that offers incredible views over this atmospheric old town. Sighisoara’s most famous home boy is none other than Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler). Vlad ruled the province from 1456 to 1462 and inspired Bram Stoker to create fiction’s most famous vampire, the ever popular Dracula.
Another example of Saxon ingenuity is the perfectly situated medieval town of Brasov surrounded on three sides by scenic mountains and protected by sturdy ramparts. The town’s central square is one of Romania’s finest, and the picturesque pedestrian-only Republicii street is lined with colorful old merchant houses. Brasov was once an important trading stop between the Ottoman Empire and Western Europe, and its massive Black Church displays an impressive collection of Turkish carpets. Hanging from every conceivable niche inside of the church, these incongruous decorations were donated by grateful merchants – happy survivors of the journey over the dangerous bear-infested Carpathian Mountains.
Another example of Saxon ingenuity is the perfectly situated medieval town of Brasov surrounded on three sides by scenic mountains and protected by sturdy ramparts. The town’s central square is one of Romania’s finest, and the picturesque pedestrian-only Republicii street is lined with colorful old merchant houses. Brasov was once an important trading stop between the Ottoman Empire and Western Europe, and its massive Black Church displays an impressive collection of Turkish carpets. Hanging from every conceivable niche inside of the church, these incongruous decorations were donated by grateful merchants – happy survivors of the journey over the dangerous bear-infested Carpathian Mountains.
4. History at its Harshest
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| Inside the former prison at the Memorial of Anticommunist Victims |
Until recently, the modern history of Romania has been a sad story of domination, first by the Soviet Union and later by the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. The dark side of Romania can be fully explored at the Memorial of Anticommunist Victims in Sighetu Marmatiei. Here is just one small example of the kind of oppression suffered by the Romanian people. In those bad old days, owning a typewriter required a special permit and permits were given only to those who needed a typewriter to do their jobs. But it didn’t end there. Every year, each typewriter owner had to submit a designated text typed on their typewriter which was kept on file, so that it could be used like fingerprints to identify the source of any subversive pamphlets or documents!
A visit to the ostentatious Parliamentary Palace in Bucharest exposes the megalomania of Nicolae Ceausescu. This marble-covered monstrosity, the so-called ‘people’s palace,’ cost over 3 billion euros — a ridiculous outlay, especially during a time when many Romanians were starving. The main ballroom was originally intended to feature a painting of Nicolae at one end and a painting of his wife Elena at the other. But Nicolae, being a modest fellow, decided to replace Elena’s painting with a mirror (that would, of course, reflect the painting of himself). A fitting bit of poetic justice is that many palace meeting rooms are now named for revolutionaries who played a part in bringing the brutal dictator down.
A visit to the ostentatious Parliamentary Palace in Bucharest exposes the megalomania of Nicolae Ceausescu. This marble-covered monstrosity, the so-called ‘people’s palace,’ cost over 3 billion euros — a ridiculous outlay, especially during a time when many Romanians were starving. The main ballroom was originally intended to feature a painting of Nicolae at one end and a painting of his wife Elena at the other. But Nicolae, being a modest fellow, decided to replace Elena’s painting with a mirror (that would, of course, reflect the painting of himself). A fitting bit of poetic justice is that many palace meeting rooms are now named for revolutionaries who played a part in bringing the brutal dictator down.
5. Dracula and Queen Marie
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| Castle Bran, aka Dracula's Castle |
Dracula and Queen Marie, one of the best-loved queens of Europe, make a very odd couple, and yet their stories converge at popular Bran Castle. Although the castle seems like the perfect lair for a vampire, with a secret passageway that some say Dracula used to sneak out after dark, the bloodthirsty Count never even spent a night here. However that did not stop local entrepreneurs who for many years cashed in on the infamous legend. The site is still known as ‘Dracula’s Castle,’ and vendors still line the main entranceway hawking Dracula t-shirts, fake fangs, and strings of garlic.
Today, the focus of a visit to Bran Castle is on Queen Marie who lived here in the 1920’s. Queen Marie was one of the most extraordinary women of her time, a legendary beauty and a darling of the press who many have compared with Britain’s Princess Diana. As the granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Marie certainly had the proper pedigree, but she also had a down-to-earth style, and much like Princess Di, was adored by her people. In fact, the people of Romania gave her Bran Castle as a sign of their appreciation. It is one of the can’t-miss destinations in Eastern Europe.
Today, the focus of a visit to Bran Castle is on Queen Marie who lived here in the 1920’s. Queen Marie was one of the most extraordinary women of her time, a legendary beauty and a darling of the press who many have compared with Britain’s Princess Diana. As the granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Marie certainly had the proper pedigree, but she also had a down-to-earth style, and much like Princess Di, was adored by her people. In fact, the people of Romania gave her Bran Castle as a sign of their appreciation. It is one of the can’t-miss destinations in Eastern Europe.
6. Timeless Achievement
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| Painted monastery at Voronet |
Romania has more than her share of manmade wonders including the fabled wooden churches of Maramures with their scalloped shingles and towering Gothic spires made entirely of wood. Inside, the church walls are decorated with faded, unsophisticated paintings by local talent, exemplifying a simple devotion that perfectly matches the people who live here. In nearby Bucovina, the famous 15th century painted monasteries are a bit more showy with intensely colored frescoes inside and out.
These remarkably well-preserved 15th c. paintings depict many popular Bible stories as well as frighteningly detailed visions of the last judgment. A typical day of reckoning scene shows sinners (political enemies such as the Turks are always at the front of the line) being heaved into a red river of fire by a grinning devil.
These remarkably well-preserved 15th c. paintings depict many popular Bible stories as well as frighteningly detailed visions of the last judgment. A typical day of reckoning scene shows sinners (political enemies such as the Turks are always at the front of the line) being heaved into a red river of fire by a grinning devil.
7. Painted Eggs and Cabbages
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| Intricately designed hand-painted eggs |
A visit to Romania is all about simple pleasures like a stop in the small village of Milisauti, known as ‘cabbage town’ because of its prolific cabbage crop. We had never seen so many cabbages in one place — literally mountains of cabbage piled on wooden wagons surrounded by a constant stream of customers stocking up by the sack full.
You can also try your hand at the painstaking craft of egg decorating. This marvel of reverse engineering is not as easy as it looks. Designs are created with hot wax applied to the egg using a special ‘pencil’ with a narrow metallic spike. The wax preserves each previous color as the egg is dipped into a sequence of dyes: yellow, red, and black. The best moment comes at the very end when the wax layers are removed and the colorful design magically appears.
If you are lucky, you can even bum a ride on a farmer’s wooden cart. Just be careful you don’t end up in the middle of a field with a scythe in your hands!
-Photos and writing by Anne Supsic
