ToewsTravels

i had a very enjoyable week in romania! i rented a romanian car (a dacia, still produced in romania as a vestige of communist-era industrial prowess), and drove a large loop around the region of transylvania over the course of a week – sinaia and the peles castle, brasov and the bran castle, sighisoara, sibiu, and cluj-napoca, starting and ending in bucharest.

i loved romania for many reasons, but especially the great value for money, history, and ease of communication, as almost all romanians under 40 years old speak excellent english.

most tourists skip bucharest, the capital, as it is mostly composed of communist-era apartment blocks. in bucharest i went to the massive romanian parliament building, one of the world’s most epic thermal spas, and some shopping malls, but otherwise didn’t have too much time. the place had a lot of positive energy though, and some of the friendliest people in europe. it is one of those cities i’d love to go back to and hang out for a couple weeks.

the romanian parliament building in bucharest is the largest non-military building in the world. it was built in the 1980s by then-dictator nicolae ceausescu, after he had hundreds of local homes razed to make room for it in central bucharest. he was deposed just prior to its completion, so the first individual to address the crowds from its balcony was actually michael jackson in 1992, who reportedly began his address here on the wrong foot by stating “hello budapest…”

the building is also the most expensive building ever constructed, costing an estimated us$4 billion. it has over 1100 rooms, and during the 2 hour tour (which is excellent by the way), you only see <1% of them.

therme bucharest is europe’s largest thermal spa! from my perspective, this is one of the coolest places i have ever been. there is a massive thermal pool area under a retractable roof, surrounded by palm trees, with various water massage features and an inexpensive swim-up bar. there are pools infused with lithium, calcium, and saltwater imported from the dead sea. there is a sauna area with over a dozen different saunas and steamrooms of varying themes. as night fell, the vibe became decidedly eastern european, with a dj and neon under-water lights. truly epic!

cluj-napoca is the largest city (about 400,000) in the romanian region of transylvania. it isn’t really a destination for tourists, but i really enjoyed it. it has many university students and thus a youthful, optimistic vibe. in the center of the city they are currently building a massive, ornate romanian orthodox church – this is perhaps one of the only places in europe where churches are being built. i stayed at the aging atrium boutique hotel, which was amazing value – for under $30 i got a massive soviet-era room with gold-plated wallpaper, countless mirrors and multiple gaudy overstuffed couches.

the city has a very nice downtown square where there was an outdoor film festival occurring. i stopped into a local hostel to inquire about laundry, and they offered to do it for me there. i went to a fascinating zoological museum at the babes-bolyai university, and the nearby can’t-miss salina turda salt mine turned amusement park. cluj-napoca is a great place!

i read about the zoological museum at babes-bolyai university in cluj-napoca, romania, and knew i needed to go see it. it has been described as a museum that time forgot, which is a very apt description. deep in the university’s communist-era grounds, it consists of multiple stuffy rooms of mid-century, dust-covered, real stuffed animals of every imaginable species, arranged according to their taxonomy. my only disappointment was that i did not get to see a taxidermied two-headed cow which was rumored to exist onsite, but still would rate the premises 5/5! the taxidermy was of questionable quality, but that only added to the allure!

 

about an hour south of cluj-napoca, romania is a an amazing place – the salina turda salt mine, turned underground amusement park. salina turda was a massive salt mine consisting of multiple large underground caverns, excavated since the 1600s. there remains enough salt in the immediate area to satisfy the entire world’s needs for the next 60+ years. in the past, horses would be brought into the pitch-black depths and pull loads of salt along purpose-built narrow gauge railway tracks within the mine until they died. more recently, and continuing until today, people with various respiratory ailments would spend weeks at a time within the mine, as being surrounded by salt in an enclosed space is believed to have curative properties. a section of the mine is reserved for guests with a romanian doctor’s prescription for this.

this now isn’t just any salt mine though – an amusement park has been built within one of the large mine caverns. you can take an underground ferris wheel ride, play underground table tennis, and ride a rowboat on an underground lake. salina turda has been named the world’s best underground attraction!

 

sibiu is another well-preserved medieval city in romania. it is famous for its “eyes of sibiu” -small gables on the roofs of many of its buildings which look like eyes.

sighisoara is a very well preserved medieval town in transylvania. i stopped for a few hours, which was a perfect diversion on the drive between brasov and cluj-napoca. this was the town where vlad tepes (who mythology would later evolve into dracula) was from. the old town’s central citadel is a hilltop church and cemetery, reached by a long wood-covered staircase.

transylvania is known as the home of dracula, and the imposing bran castle (just south of brasov) is the epicenter of the dracula universe. vlad tepes was a real person who lived in the area, but the myths of dracula were concocted by bram stoker, who posited many years after tepes that he may have lived in bran castle, despite no evidence to support this. in any case, tourists flock to the castle. there were very few foreign tourists in romania this summer, but the place was still packed with domestic tourists. the castle and the area around it are very picturesque.

there was a semi-temporary extensive exhibit of medieval torture when i was there, which was fascinating, and probably the highlight from my perspective.