PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE
A Road Trip Leading us Through the Historical City of Budapest to Transylvania in Romania
Week 118 of the photographic documentary of my daily life
It’s my favorite time of the year. It’s travel time. And even if you’ll say it’s not summer and the weather could be better, I don’t care. When I’m on the road to somewhere I haven’t been to before I’m happy.
Even though this trip I’ll be visiting many places I’ve been to before. Some of them even a handful of times but my memories don’t have much left of those trips.
We’re on our way to my parents’ home country, Romania. It’s my husband’s first visit. My last trip lies back ten years and all the previous visits are almost gone from my memory.
To spice things up we took along my father, our local guide. But then again, we travel differently. Instead of making miles and quickly entering Romania, we stopped at family friends close to Vienna and then slept two nights in Budapest. Where none of us had been before.
But let’s slow down. I’m talking too much. Have a look at my weekly photo essay. Seven days on the road.
Heading East.
On Thursday we hit the road. Still four people in the car, we had my grandma with us whom we’ll drop in Vienna at her sister’s. She’ll stay there until we return from our trip to Romania.
I took the picture below from my grandma’s sister's house just before sunset. It was chilly outside but I enjoyed the fresh air after sitting in the car for 7 hours.
The following day, the three of us left and took a short three-hour drive to Budapest. We visited the Central Market Hall, ate Hungarian foods, and went out on a private pub crawl exploring the unique ruin bars of the city.
The picture below isn’t from the famous Chain Bridge but a similar-looking one, the Liberty Bridge.
Saturday was our full day in the city and we surely made the most of t. We walked a thousand miles, it felt like it at least and saw many historical buildings.
I truly enjoyed the views across the city from the Buda Castle District but also the caves were an interesting experience. Yes, there are caves underneath the city of Budapest. And there are lots of them.
On Sunday we left the city behind and crossed the border into Romania. Arriving just before closing time in Chişcău, we still made it for the visit to the beautiful Bear’s Cave (Peştera Urşilor).
Yes, this is where hundreds of cave bears lived during the ice age. Countless bones are proof of it. Next to the bones those spectacular stalactites and stalagmites are also beautiful to look at.
As we stayed that night in the mountains, to be exact in the Western Carpathians, we headed out the next morning on a lovely hike in the mountain range.
No hikers, tourists, or even locals were to be seen along the way and except for the two dogs guiding our way, we were alone in the rugged nature of Transylvania.
On Tuesday we were again very active and did more things than I can fit in one picture. The morning we spent in a salt mine that got converted into an entertainment park (definitely writing a separate article about that one) and in the afternoon we went to Cheile Turzii, a spectacular gorge close to the city of Turda (also sharing a lot of pictures of it in another article).
We did a 3,5h hike and even though we had typical November weather with low temperatures and fog hanging in the mountains, we really enjoyed this excursion.
From Turda we continued our drive further into the heart of Transylvania, where my roots are to be found. Transylvania is a beautiful part of Romania not to be missed on anyone’s journey disregarding their connection to it.
We visited the medieval town of Biertan and entered the grounds of the fortified church. Such a spectacular architectural masterpiece.
Back in time when this was part of the Kingdom of Hungaria, Transylvanian Saxons founded the town of Biertan and built the three walls surrounding the church. Today, the town together with the church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” — Nelson Mandela
This has been my week in photographs. 7 days. 7 photographs. Anyone can join. Once. Or weekly. It doesn’t matter. We welcome everyone! Dennett started this photography challenge in 2020 and many have participated ever since.
Erika / Eileen / K. Barrett / Juan / David / Mia / Susan / LensAfield / Kim / Barbara / Diana / Barb / Sandra / Shruthi / Ellie / Pene / Olive / Gustavo / Jane / Penny / Jillian / Shell / Ivy / Lisa / Lynne
And these are the previous weekly photo essays:
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