Travel, Photography
Exploring Romania
Dracula’s tomb, A hookah bar, The Spring and Summer Palaces of Nicolae Ceausescu, a visit to the Black Sea, birds over Bucharest, and a country celebration of the New Year
When I was a kid, I was utterly in awe of Nadia Comăneci, the first Olympic gymnast to score a perfect “10.” I was a young gymnast myself, and was quite flexible at that age, and could lie on my stomach and bring my toes over my head and touch my nose — just like Nadia! To me, the slightly older Nadia epitomized the perfection of movement.
And she was from Romania, a place so exotic and far away that I couldn’t even really imagine it. What was it like, that cold and distant land?
This January I got to find out. My husband’s best friend married a woman from Romania last year and they were planning a family trip over the holidays and invited us to join them.
We began in Milan. You can read about that here. After a festive New Year’s celebration, we headed to Bucharest, where our friends have a home.
We began our sightseeing with the Spring and Summer Palaces of the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena. The opulence of their homes, constructed during a time when most people were living on meager rations and living in fear of the Securitate, the Romanian secret police, boggles the mind.
It was like stepping into everything you would imagine was the extreme high-end of wealth in the 1960s. The walls are lined with silk panels and the floors are inlaid with intricate parquet designs.
This carpet was a gift from the Shah of Iran.
The master bathroom had been rumored to be made of solid gold. But it turned out to just be painted with gold paint.
Both Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife were tried and convicted on charges including illegal gathering of wealth and genocide. They were publicly executed on December 25th, 1989.
The Ceausescu’s also had a Summer Palace, which was like a retreat for them. After about an hour or so drive from Bucharest, we found ourselves in the midst of a tall forest of beech trees enshrouding the lakeside Ceausescu villa.
The forests here are different than anything I’ve seen before. The leaves had all fallen off of the Beech trees and the trunks stood as dark silhouettes with thin branches, ebony against the gray sky. It reminded me of what Narnia would look like — cold and frozen with magical creatures hiding between the trees. I could almost see a fairy queen, regal and pale, stepping out into a wintery glen.
Although it was not quite as opulent as the Spring Palace, the property sprawled across acres of land. It was also decked out with ornate tapestries and heavily-carved furniture. It remains very much as it was during the time the Ceausescues lived there.
Being in these homes felt like stepping into a time-warp — a very bizarre and macabre piece of history.
We walked out to the end of the dock at the Winter Palace and across the contrastingly-calm waters of the lake and were told by our Romanian friends that we were now looking at the small monastery where Count Dracula was entombed.
It seems to be a bit uncertain if “Vlad the Impaler” was actually laid to rest here. But the local lore is that he was beloved by his people and that his family was responsible for building the Snagov Monastery. He was kidnapped and held in Austria for fourteen years. Upon his return, he tried to restore order, but was captured and killed by gypsies. Because his family had been so important in building the monastery, he was buried here.
Every inch of the church is covered with vibrant paintings.
The presiding priest was so excited to have visitors. We couldn’t understand a word of his Romanian, but our friends tried to translate. He asked me to write in his book before we left and was happy to have his photo taken for this article.
On our way back into town, we could not help but notice the looming Palace of the Parliament, built by Nicolae Ceausescu with a team of 700 architects. It is the heaviest building on earth and has a floor area of 3,930,000 square feet and is the second-largest administrative building in the world.
For dinner that night, we went to a traditional Romanian restaurant at the Hotel La Boheme.
After dinner, we headed out to one of Romania’s better-known attractions — a hookah bar.
Although I do not smoke, it was highly entertaining to watch our Romanian friends blow smoke rings and drink up goblets of smoke. We did manage to sit by a window that we could open, which greatly helped.
Our friend, Danny, who happens to be the most famous Tik Tok star in Romania, allowed me to photograph him for this article.
This was the view of Bucharest from the apartment we were staying in.
We also took a road trip to Constanța, on the Black Sea. We began at the “Casino Promenade” the site of a looming casino, that, in its day, was the Monte Carlo of Romania. Completed in 1910, according to the plans of architects Daniel Renard and Petre Antonescu, Constanta Casino is a stunning art nouveau structure, perched on a cliffside overlooking the Black Sea.. You can read about this in my story here.
After a quick stroll, we tried to catch the sunset, but ended up in an industrial area filled with wild swans. It was such an interesting juxtaposition of machinery and nature.
I just could not stop snapping photos. I thought some of them turned out quite nicely. You can see them here:
The next day, we walked to a local mall and just “took in” the sights of Romania. These are our friends, who hosted us (permission was given to use their photo).
I was amazed to see that the mall held both a skating rink and a hookah bar (of course!).
That night, I was awed the sight of thousands of hooded crows flooding the sky at sunset. You can read about it here:
We were also treated to an experience that most tourists would never experience, a visit to a country home for a traditional “New Year’s” celebration.
I have to be honest in saying that I had some trepidation because I knew that it was customary to slaughter a pig for this occasion and I, literally, send money to a pig sanctuary each month. But I realized that my presence was not going to make any difference in what happened. And I know that life is hard in the winter and vegetables are scarce in these cold climes. So, we rolled with it — sort of.
My husband and I were taken on a walk through the countryside while the “event” happened.
We were greeted by this lovely lady, who had been cooking for us for two days (photo used with permission). She had prepared fish for me. I was most grateful.
And our stroll through the countryside was lovely.
Traditional “mulled” wine was served, as were a myriad of sweet treats.
I think the highlight of the night though was watching the Romanians dance and dance and dance. I think this activity has filled many an evening over the years in this part of the world.
These were our hosts in the country, watching the end of the dancing.
We have plans to return to Romania this summer, when we’ve been promised that we’ll go see Dracula’s Castle. I’m already looking forward to it.
Thank you for following along on our romp through exotic Romania. I hope that you enjoyed it.
Thank you, also, to the editors at Globetrotters (JoAnn Ryan, Anne Bonfert, Jillian Amatt — Artistic Voyages, Adrienne Beaumont, Michele Maize).
You might also enjoy reading some stories by other talented travel writers: Anne Bonfert, Jillian Amatt — Artistic Voyages, Keith Kelley, Mary B, Gail Sawchuk, Ronald Smit, Kim Baker, Gail Sawchuk, Arun, Tim Ward, Julia A. Keirns, Darren Weir, Nicholas Colombo among others.
Erika Burkhalter is a yogi, neurophilosopher, cat-mom, photographer, and lover of travel and nature, spreading her love and amazement for Mother Earth’s glories, one photo, poem or story at a time. (MS Neuropsychology, MA Yoga Studies).
You might also enjoy some of my other travel stories:
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Photos and story ©Erika Burkhalter. All rights reserved.
