Brasov, Romania

I don’t think I’m being presumptuous to say that we enjoyed our time in Transylvania (Sighisoara, Sibiu, and Brasov) the most. Next we visited Brasov, another delightful and quaint city full of character. On our first day, we explored the old citadel. We walked around and visited Katherine’s Gate (a town entrance worthy of a Cinderella fairytale), the synagogue, and the town square. As we both love Gothic architecture, the Gothic Black Church, built between 1384 and 1477 and renamed due to a fire that blackened its walls, was our favorite. While there, I was able to view a document sent from Martin Luther to a local community leader. All the Germans that inhabited the citadel and much of Romania converted from Catholicism to Lutheranism.  As I was raised Lutheran, I did enjoy this piece of history.

The next day, we did an all day guided tour with a lovely Israeli couple. Near Sinai, we visited the Sinai Monastery during a ringing of the bells service and the Peles Castle.  At Peles Castle, the fairytale turrets set amongst meadows and mountains covered in snow were an enchanting scene. We visited the 13^th century Rasnov fortress, where we enjoyed a beautiful view of the valley and Bucegi Mountains. We stopped by a ski resort town and enjoyed a lovely Romanian dinner, complete with local fruit whiskey and mulled wine. We enjoyed Romanian food and in order to escape the chilly temperatures outside, we over-indulged in several large portioned meals (all of mine with cheese!) throughout the day.  My vegan diet has since resumed. Also, Randi was quite pleased to be able to eat pork for the first time since our arrival in Turkey. The Turkish aversion to pigs is both amusing and annoying. Randi received a parental complaint due to an Old McDonald video with three dancing pigs that she had shown in class. The Muppets and Winnie the Pooh are banned!

Our trip wouldn’t have been complete without a visit to Bran Castle, made famous by Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Stoker wrote Dracula without ever setting foot in Transylvania.  In fact, Vlad Dracul was a Prince of Walachia, not Transylvania.  That said, we still visited the small room where he spent 4 nights at the Bran Castle. This castle was my favorite, due to the Gothic architecture and the placement of the castle high atop a rock cliff.

~ Stacy