Peles Castle and Braşov

July 26, 2015

Today we drove through the Carpathian Mountains (in this area they are called the Transylvanian Alps). The Carpathian Mountains cover an area of more than 200,000 square kilometres, and stretch across seven countries from Austria to Romania.

We sat at the back of the bus hoping to keep a scent free area.  We were by ourselves but pretty soon we were joined but a bunch of other people trying to escape an unfortunate incident with a rather smelly lady.  No, the tour guide said it was too late to change the bus. Enough said about that.

On our way there our guide Kalin kept us well entertained with stories of Romania. The most interesting story was when we passed the house that belongs to the owner of Romania's best football (soccer) team.  This guy had his Bentley stolen, and rather than go to the police, he caught the thieves and took them to his basement where he beat them quite badly.  His mistake was putting the beating on YouTube.  He was arrested and got 5 years in jail.  But he was let out early for good behaviour and because he wrote 3 books.

We were supposed to go to Bran Castle today and Peles Castle tomorrow, but it got switched because Peles Castle is not open on Mondays.  The town of Sinaia was virtually shut down today for a car rally, so the bus could not drop us off at the usual spot where it would be a 10 minute walk.  Lucky for us there was an empty shuttle train right where the bus parked, so our entire tour group hopped onto that.  Good thing, because the walk was a good half hour on some rough cobblestones.  All the other tourists kept staring at us longingly as we zoomed past.

We had to wear plastic booties over our shoes while we got a tour of the castle.  Peleș Castle was built between 1873 and 1914 on a 1,000-hectare estate, and is located in the Carpathian Mountains on a medieval trading route between Transylvania and Wallachia. It was built by King Charles I of Romania as a summer residence. The castle served political, cultural, and symbolic functions for many years. The king was forced to abdicate in 1947, at which time the communists closed the castle and transferred most of the furniture, books, and paintings to the National Art Museum in Bucharest. In 1953 the castle became a national museum. After several years of negotiations between the Romanian State and the Royal Family, the property was returned to the king's estate in 2007. The castle continues to be administered by the Romanian State as a museum. This is one of the rules for visiting the castle: During your visit, you are required to keep quiet so as to not disturb the guide and the other visitors.

Peleș Castle was the first castle in Europe to have central heating and electricity produced by its own electrical power plant on the bank of Peles creek.  They actually still use the central vac that was installed in 1914.

After the tour, our guide called Mr. train Guy who came for us.  There was a mad rush of people to get on because the walk back was long, but Mr. Train Guy kicked them off so our group could get on.

We had lunch in Sinaia, really yummy Romanian cabbage rolls.  We sat with Australians Annette and Trevor.  Whereas we had 10 hours of airtime to get here, they had 19 air hours from Australia.

After lunch, we were transferred to the city of Braşov and taken to our hotel.  Our walking tour has been postponed until tomorrow, since the rally made us so late.  The town of Braşov is 15 minutes away. There was a shuttle at 7 pm to take anyone into town who wanted to go for supper.  Well, since lunch ended at 4 pm, we didn't want supper, but decided to take the shuttle to town and walk around for a few hours.

Braşov is often referred to as the city at the foot of Mount Tampa.  Mount Tampa actually sits in the middle of Braşov and marks a division between the old medieval part of the city and the new city, which is made up of concrete blocks of flats. Braşov's original defense fortress was built on Mount Tampa. However, it was destroyed in 1459 when Vlad Ţepeş (see Dracula blog) attacked Braşov. He impaled 40 merchants on the top of Mount Tampa. In the 1950’s Braşov was named Orasul Stalin (Stalin City). Trees on Mount Tampa were chopped down to show Stalin's name on the hillside facing the old town. The hillside is now a nature reservation.

Poarta Schei (Rope street) is the narrowest street in Europe. At its widest point, it is not quite 135 cm wide. Two people can't walk side by side. It is 80 metres (260 ft) long.  It was built to connect two other streets, and was used as a corridor for firemen.

Graft Ditch was built in the 14th century as the first obstacle against attackers. Afterwards, the first defending wall of Braşov was built, surrounded by 8 towers and bastions.

At the foot of Tampa is the Sub Tampa Alley which lies behind the ancient walls of the old Kronstadt citadel. It is an alley shaded by old trees and dotted by benches. It was a nice strolling spot with a good view of the old city towers and a panoramic view over the city.

Our graffiti shot of the day.