Day 7: Still horrible wifi, but….today I have an adventure!! So who cares! đ Florian was kind enough to tell me that August 1 is National Day here in Switzerland, but there would be a celebration in Lucerne on July 31 at 4pm by the train station. Wonderful! The Lucerne Free Walking Tour didn’t fit into my schedule (too early), so I figured get into Lucerne around noon, give myself a walking tour based on the cool things Florian recommended and some things I found on my own, get to the festival at 4, hang out for an hour or so, and be back in plenty of time for cat o’clock (9pm when I ring the bell!). Warning: I’ve been cooped up and sitting on my ass for a few days straight, so this is a LONG post- I crammed in a ton of adventures!!
Took the train into Lucerne- it’s like $15 roundtrip, which for public transport to a place that is about 6 miles away is kinda pricey… And it doesn’t matter if you take the bus or the train- from everything I see on the sbb.ch website, it’s the same price! Stepped off the train into the city, and got a grand welcome! Turned left and walked along the Ruess River. You know how Disneyland separates its areas? Tomorrowland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, etc…? Well, I have already said that “Switzer” means “Disney”. I was in Basel-land for days 1 & 2. Now I am in Lucerne-land. I swear, everything here is just so well manicured and gorgeous and appealing and picturesque! I seriously expect Mickey Mouse to come popping out from behind a corner at any minute for a photo op! There was even what looked like the Cinderella’s Castle on a hill above the city (ok, it’s a hotel, but work with me). Even the water in the river is this weird blue/green hue- almost EXACTLY the color of the dyed water in the “rivers” and “lakes” at Disney!! Coincidence?? I think NOT! đ
I had mapped out everything I wanted to see in Lucerne, so popped open Maps.me (I really need to do a blog post on how I create a google map with pinpoints, put it into Maps.me, and still use google maps to navigate (because Maps.me seriously sucks battery…). First up, the Jesuit Church. It was built in 1666-1677. I was on the same side of the street as it, so this pic is one I took later in the day from across the river. It was closed, so I couldn’t go in.
Next, I needed to get on the other side of the river. There were a few bridges, but I was going to take a very special bridge across-Â SpreuerbrĂŒcke. This is one of 2 covered wooden bridges. The first bridge at this crossing was built in 1408. It was destroyed in a flood in 1566 and rebuilt. Other than being a super cool, old, covered wooden bridge, there is something quite interesting in it’s rafters…a series of paintings called the “Dance of Death”. Originally, there were 67 paintings, 45 are left. And since they were painted in from 1616-1637, that’s quite a feat! The paintings depict death being present in many different situations, showing that it is constantly present, and no matter your status, death is there.
From this side of the river, I could head up to my next destination, Museggmauer & TĂŒrme (Town Walls and Towers). It was up, up, up hill!! Google maps tried to trick me, but I outsmarted it! (Follow the signs, not google) The fortifying wall and its towers were built in the 1300s (but still, they just look “Disneyesque” instead of “impressive historical monument”!). I walked to the end of the wall that was accessible, and went inside the first tower. Oh HELL NO!! These weren’t stairs, they were more like heavily tilted ladders! So steep- not my idea of fun…but I got here and had to do it. Fortunately, it wasn’t very crowded so I just waited for a few people to come down so I would have the stairs all to myself and could go just as slowly as I wanted and whimper as loudly as I wanted! Somehow I made it up about 4 flights of these to the top of the tower. Then, I had to go down, which is worse for my height-o-phobia than going up. I needed to go to the 2nd floor and then out on to the wall. Except I was so focused on looking at the step directly under my foot and nothing else, that I wound up back at the bottom and had to go back up another floor!! Got out on to the wall, and more traumatizing height obstacles. The wall had a rail on one side, which if you got too close and fell over, you would plummet to your death. Ok, not so easy to fall over the side (you’d have to physically try to fall over it!), but still. I hugged that wall like it was my long lost love….
Made it to Tower #2 and started climbing. The last section was the worst, because it went from wooden stairs to metal grid stairs that I could see through, with the open room and potential death on the other side of the handrail. I honestly had to talk myself into going up those. Glad I made it, because the view was awesome!
Back down, back along another section of wall, to tower #3. This is the clock tower, and whereas the other towers are basically empty rooms, this one had several clock mechanisms in it! It was all in German though, so I couldn’t understand what each one was. The top floor required a new type of death obstacle- rock stairs that were like a foot and a half high each! No way was I going to navigate that, and no amount of talking to myself could convince me otherwise. I turned around and went back down to the wall.
Standing behind the actual clock- you can see one of the hands (that black bar). This is the oldest clock in Lucerne!
Got to the final tower, and was pretty damn proud of myself for dealing with all of these insanely steep stairs!! Made it to the top, and inside of being in an enclosed room with windows, you were actually on the top of the tower! The views were IN-CRED-I-BLE!!!
I will say, it wasn’t terribly crowded, but I encountered several American families here. I haven’t heard ‘merican English for quite some time! It’s ever long enough…. The next destination was one I was really excited about, because it had direct ties to one of my French kings!! Unfortunately, though, it’s a rather sad connection… The kings of France routinely hired Swiss guards. Even Swiss soldiers to help out in wars. Versailles was guarded by the Swiss- in fact the direct guards for Marie Antoinette were Swiss. I always knew they had been killed with the palace was mobbed and broke into Marie Antoinette’s bedroom (she barely escaped with her life). Hundreds of Swiss soldiers also died during the subsequent attack on the Tuilleries Palace (where Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and their children were held under watchful eye during those early years of the revolution). This is the Löwendenkmal (Lion Monument), in honor of those Swiss soldiers who so bravely tried to protect monarchs that weren’t even their own. The dying lion is laying on a fleur de lis crest (symbol of the French monarchy), with the Swiss crest next to him. Super, super sad. đą
I google mapped my next location, and I was right on top of it! Gletschergarten- a glacier museum!! I was really excited about this, because it would fit right in with the stuff I filmed in Iceland and Romania for my Earth Science class that starts this fall!! And for $15, I couldn’t beat the price!! And my, oh my, but it turned out to be so super cool that I would have paid twice that if I knew what all was in here! There were basically 3 different parts. The first part was the glacier garden. Only 20,000 years ago, Lucerne was covered in glaciers. As those glaciers moved and scraped their way across the landscape, they left this area which was discovered by a man excavating for a wine cellar in 1872. The huge boulders are actually several different types of rocks- dragged here by the glacier as it moved past different mountains. I found that to be so fascinating!! The really cool thing though are the glacier pots. I had never even heard of such a thing! Melt water from the glacier runs through crevasses, getting underneath the glacier. Under there, the pressure is ENORMOUS, and whirlpools of melt water can be created- swirling at about 125 miles per hour! The meltwater is filled with dirt and pebbles, which along with the swift water carve out the rock below into a “pot”. So cool!! From there, I walked the second area- the Glacier Museum. I wasn’t expecting much. Um, I was blown away! I wanted to bring my students here so bad!! It was a really well done museum, with great information (in English!!), awesome exhibits, and even a hands on area! I learned so much and did a ton of filming for class. Wanna see inside? Take the class. đ
The museum kind of emptied out into a mansion kind of thing with a lot of different exhibits. Unfortunately, the vast majority of it was in German. There was an exhibit that showed you how Lucerne looked 20,000,000 years ago- a tropical beach!! I found a gorgeous mermaid chandelier. And then, even though I couldn’t read anything, I saw something from across the room and immediately recognized it- VERSAILLES!!! I practically ran over to it, and it was in German- but I could read Louis XIV and Versailles. đ
I don’t even know how to describe this next part!! It didn’t fit in with the theme of glaciers or history at all, but it was SO. MUCH. FUN!! It was a mirror maze. It was built for a national exhibition in Geneva in 1896, and moved here in 1899. Go. Just freaking GO!! Because you HAVE to see this! You walk in, and are surrounded by mirrors and designs, and you have to find your way through it all (hopefully without knocking yourself out by walking into one of the mirrors!). It really distorts your perceptions to the point where you second guess yourself a lot! It’s just gorgeous inside, and sometimes there are things you can see from a distance (like the peacocks), but it takes a while to actually reach them because you’re just seeing their image reflecting down tons of corridors! It feels like some Middle Eastern palace inside…I freaking LOVED this!!!!!!
Me taking a picture of me taking a picture of the peacocks!
Outside, the grounds are lovely. And there’s even a gnome trying to lure you into some cave. #becauseDISNEY
Next stop, Old Town. Which should be called âOld Town Landâ, because again, this place is straight outta Disney!! Youâd never imagine these buildings are from 1300s-1600s. Theyâre all painted with these fairy-tale like designs and script. Itâs justâŠI donât know. I keep saying this, but itâs just so whimsical and doesnât even look old. It looks like someone built it new to make it look old!
Time to head back across the river to the other side, where the National Day festival was. I had mapped all this outâŠI crossed back over on the 2nd of the 2 covered wooden bridges- this time the KapellbrĂŒcke (Chapel Bridge). This one was built in 1333- Almost 80 years OLDER than the other bridge!! It also has paintings in the rafters, but these depict various scenes from Swiss history and saints instead of death. Those saints didnât stop the bridge from being severely damaged by a fire in 1993. Ugh. I seriously cannot imagine seeing something that old and beautiful on fire!!! Beside the bridge is a tower from the 1200s.
My timing was spot on perfect! I got to the festival area at like 5 minutes after 4. There were little picnic tables set up and a stage, where there was some live music playing. This is a hard situation for me, one where I feel very socially awkward being alone. But by god I was determined to sit down, have an early dinner, and listen to some traditional music, dammit! Early dinnerâŠeeks. The hardest of social situations to overcome. There were some food vendors on the side of the venue, so I walked by them every so slowly, trying to see if there was any English (no), and then trying to determine what other people were getting so I had some kind of clue what was being served. Ooooo!! Bratwurst looking sausage! Score! I went up and spoke English to the lady. She didnât speak it, but another guy in the booth did. They had a few types, and I chose beef. A nice sized brat and a piece of bread- only $7!! Which considering this is Disney Switzerland AND a special event is a freaking steal! I was quite pleased. Except the lady told me $9. I really didnât feel like arguing it, so I handed her a 10. She gave me 2 back and a green plastic chip. The English speaking guy explained that when I was finished, to bring my paper plate and napkins back, give them the green chip, and Iâd get my extra $2 back. He said, âTo keep the city clean.â HOW FREAKING AWESOME IS THAT????
I went and sat at one of the long picnic tables with some other people and ate. OMG, it was soooooooo good!!! The band on stage ended, and some guys started playing traditional alphorns!! Not only that, but guys in front of them were twirling flags!! (I was a total band geek and in the flag core during marching season. And people wonder why Iâm socially awkwardâŠ). Then, a woman YODELED!! Oh my god, the whole thing was just so much fun!! (đ„Watch the videos below!!) It was just so stereotypically Swiss, that I was eating it up! Speaking of eating, after I ate I actually had enough confidence to go find desert, and lord oh lord did I find it. A piece of the most delicious, delicate, moist chocolate cake, with some kind of melted chocolate on top that was still soft, but not runny, sprinkled with coconut. $2.50. I seriously cannot tell you how good that cake wasâŠHoly crap, I could eat here every freaking day and not complain about the prices!! The first band came back on stage and played a set.
Brian, you get to play, “Which would Mary rather??”. Take a guess…. đ #engagednotdead
I had been there a little over an hour total, so when they were finished I decided to head back. Hopped the train, quick 15 minute ride, walked home full, happy, and thrilled with my day!
Days 8-10 consisted of me staying in the apartment trying to work while fighting the internet. I even had a replacement modem sent that I installed. It helped, but didn’t fix the problem. Work that should take 2 hours to do was taking almost or more than twice that. Extremely frustrating, especially when I had deadlines to meet…
Up at 4:45. After sleeping for 10 hours straight, I felt like a new person! My body just needed rest! My flight was leaving Rome at 8:30 for Bucharest, Romania. Brianâs was leaving at 11:30 for Los Angeles. The plan was to take an Uber to Termini station, then take the train from there to the airport. I didnât want to walk to Termini in the dark, because that area is pretty sketch. I checked the cab fares. 10 euros to Termini, then it would be 28 euros for us to take the train. I checked the cab fare from our door to the airport. 37-42 euros. SOLD! It ended up being 38 euros- the same cost as taking a cab to the train and the train to the airport.
We got to the airport super fast (by like 5:45am- because the cab driver was driving like a bat out of hell), and started looking for food. Oh gee, guess what? Just like yesterday, zero protein, all pastries. UGH!!!! Brian went up to get a coffee, and brought me back a fresh squeezed orange juice because he loves me. We then figured out that his Norwegian flight was in the same terminal as mine, so we decided to go into the main area past security and look for more food. We did find pizza there. Minimal protein, but better than nothing. I was getting sadder and sadder. I didnât want Brian to go. And I didnât even want to go to Romania without him. Like seriously, if it werenât for my housesit in Switzerland that was coming up, I might have flown back to Los Angeles with him. But I would never leave a homeowner in a bind by cancelling. Plus, I knew Iâd regret it if I went back early. That said, my fast travel experiment for this summer has already taught me that Iâm not a fast travel girl. Itâs ok in short spurts, but for me, not sustainable for weeks on end. Itâs exhausting both mentally and physically. But Iâm glad I tried it, because now I know and can plan accordingly for the future. This Romania leg is the last leg of ridiculous go-go-go, so I can do it!
All too soon it was time for me to leave my baby and go to my gate (it was through passport control, so Brian couldnât come with me). Exactly one more month from today, and Iâll see him again⊠Today would be another European budget airline with crazy baggage restrictions- Blue Air. They have the same tiny dimensions as Ryan Air for your carry on, PLUS you can only take one bag. So if you have a purse or something, it has to fit in your carry on bag. I was stressing a bit about this, because I was a tad over size and about 3 kg overweight. If they were being strict, Iâd have to put on about 6 layers of clothes⊠Got to the gate at 7:45 (about 30 minutes before boarding was supposed to begin), and the line was RIDICULOUSLY long. Everyone on this flight was already in line. That made me even more stressed, because I worried about being able to fit my bag on the plane. The good news was that pretty much everyone had a carry on bag and a personal item like a small backpack or a purse. Once the line started moving for check in, it went fast. I was 6th in line from the back⊠Not even a blink at my bags. We had to board a bus to go to the plane, and I situated myself at the door to get ahead of everyone and on the plane as fast as possible.
I boarded from the back of the plane because less people were queued there, and looked for seat 17D. From the back all the way to my seat, every single overhead was full. Got to my seat, pulled out my laptop, crammed my daypack under the seat, and a flight attendant came to me and led me forward to an overhead with space. Bless her!! No one said a word about my second bag, and unlike on Ryan Air where I had to literally stand on the seat and cram it into the overhead, it fit easily. Other peopleâs bags, not so much. It ended up being a complete cluster fuck right before take off because so many people put their bag in end to end ways and the doors wouldnât close. So the attendants were scrambling to get those bags turned sideways, which meant moving bags all over the place, which meant heated conversations in languages I didnât even recognizeâŠall while babies were screaming in surround sound. Ryan Air is a flying bus. Blue Air is a flying chicken bus. However, they are a chicken bus that actually gives you a drink and a snack without charging you 8 euros for the privilege, so kudos to them!!
Arrived and breezed through passport control. One thing Iâm learning on this trip⊠I have the ability to navigate public transportation with the best of them. I can climb on buses and figure out stops and blah, blah, blah. This is easily within my skill set. I also have a healthy bank account (due to the fact that I am a cheap ass), and frankly, Iâm learning that the headache, hassle, and aggravation of navigating public transportation with luggage isnât always worth the savings. I am learning that I will splurge on easier transport, and that my savings from staying in cheap airbnbs, housesitting, and rarely eating out MORE than offsets it. That said, and the fact that Romania doesnât use Euros even though theyâre in the EU and I had no interest in trying to change some out for bus money, meant Uber to the rescue!! 40 lei (about $10 usd, basically divide by 4) for a 35 minute door to door ride. Sold.
The drive through Bucharest wasnât very exciting. No buildings that made me gasp in awe. Got to my little neighborhood-for-a-night and met the hostâs mother outside. She doesnât speak any English, but we had no problem communicating which of the 4 keys to use for which of the 4 doors, where everything was in the house, and she was quite proud that she knew the word for kitchen. đ And with that one word, she knows more English than I know Romanian⊠This place is great for $22 a night! Huge room, really clean, great location within walking distance to everything I want to see! First order of business, food. I googled for grocery stores and saw there was a Carrefour right around the corner! I know Carrefour- that and Monoprix are my French go-to grocery stores! Odd to find one here. Went, and it was an express- meaning more of a convenience store. I walked out. Looked on the map, there was another grocery store just down the block! Went in and EVERYTHING was in Russian! There was a bulk Pelmini freezer that looked very interesting, but I wasnât interested in cooking. Looked at the map again, and found another Carrefour a bit further down. Motherlode! This was a two story mega grocery store!! As always, I had fun wandering up and down the aisles trying to figure stuff out! If you love canned fish, there are about 899 brands here. I couldnât figure out if any of them were exactly what I wanted (canned tuna salad that I could just pop open and spread on bread), so I gave up. I ended up with my staples- peanut butter (there are only 2 brands!), chips, granola bars, crackers (my Tucs that I love so much!!), cookies, salami, bread, water, bananas andâŠ.what is the main staple of my diet??? DR PEPPER!!!!! And only about $.83 per can for Diet!! Dear Romania, You rock. I have never in my life seen a store in another country with THREE varieties of Dr. Pepper!! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart. With love and admiration, Mary.
Now for the hard part. Check out. I started putting my stuff on the belt, and the cashier said something to me in Romanian. I smiled my most charming and helpless smile and asked, âEnglish?â. She just looked at me in disgust. Okey dokey thenâŠ. She got to the bananas and started saying something else in Romanian. It didnât take me long to figure out that I was supposed to have weighed and tagged them in the produce section. She wasnât pleased. Abandon bananas! Abandon bananas! I set the bananas aside gently and with an apologetic smile. I put my card in the machine, it went through without a hitch, and I swear to god she THREW the receipt at me. What the fuck?! You know how when you are completely disgusted with something, like a dirty rag, and you flick your wrist in that âIâm completely disgustedâ kind of way? Thatâs what she did with me. It kind of fluttered down on top of my groceries at the end of the checkout stand. Um, ok. I bagged everything up in my canvas bag and backpack and left. She couldnât shake me thoughâŠ.I had 8 Dr. Peppers!! Every single one of the zeros and diets on the shelf. đ And had spent less than $20. Not super cheap, but livable.
Walked back, snapped a couple of pictures, got all the right keys in the right doors, took a shower, ate, texted with Brian who was now in the Oslo, Norway airport waiting for his flight to LA, and rested. I originally had 3 adventures planned for this afternoonâŠtwo sites that I want to see, and a walking tour at 6pm. I decided that rest was more important. The next 10 days are going to be INSANE travel days, and I donât want to get run down. Iâll hit the 2 sites in the morning before I check out at noon, and will live without a walking tour of Bucharest. For tonight, I’ll just listen to the yells out the window- knowing that is my cue to refresh my google screen to see the score of the France-Croatia World cup final. I know I’m in Eastern Europe, but #gofrance! While I’m writing this, France scored first, there was a yell. Then, Croatia scored- a MUCH louder yell!! Who needs to refresh for the score? I just have to judge the decibel of the yells. đ Spoiler alert: France won.
So I had a hard time getting to sleep last night. The neighborhood is quiet and dark, so that’s not the problem. No, I miss my Brian!! And apparently this ring he put on my finger has turned me into…horror of horrors…one of THOSE girls- and I have wedding stuff on the brain! ARGH!! That is NOT who I am!! đ So I went to sleep about midnight and was up at 6- working, blogging, and waiting for Brian to land in LA. Poor guy- 2.5 hours late getting in. And he has to go to work in the morning. How he does it and just keeps going, I’ll never know…
This Romania trip is mainly about classes. A class on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in Europe! So I’m planning on scouring Romania in search of all things mythical and creepy!! Scouring means transportation, and in my case, that will be one rental car. But before I go get that, I have to do the two quick things I wanted to see here in Bucharest. Luckily, they were in easy walking distance. I put the ZlÄtari Church into google maps. Only 6/10 of a mile! Off I headed. I saw a bank along the way, and figured it would be wise to pull some cash out so I had some Romanian currency. Went through the process, and the message came back that they would not accept my card! Ugh!! I hoped this wasn’t a Romanian thing… I strolled through Old Town, while the westernized looking restaurants and bars were stocking up for the day. The buildings were quite lovely! I managed to find another bank, and they took my card. Whew!!
Rounded the corner to the church. Honestly, I was expecting one of those massive Western European concoctions. I was quite shocked by how small it was! I went in, and the word “wow” involuntary came out of my mouth. This wasn’t a touristy cathedral with tourists running around with cameras. People were in here worshiping. Not a full on service, but individuals. No tourists. #awkward So why am I in ZlÄtari Church? Magic, of course!! đ So there was this guy named Cyprian back in the 200s, and he was a powerful sorcerer. People came to him whenever they needed some magical “help” in life. Obviously Christians shouldn’t be practicing sorcery or using the services of a sorcerer. But that worked out, because Cyprian and the people seeking him out were pagans. Well, a pagan fell in love with a Christian woman named Justina. No god fearing Christian would want a pagan for a husband, so he did what any sane man would do- convert. Just kidding!! He went to Cyprian to have a spell put on her! Imagine Cyprian’s surprise when Justina’s Jesus magic beat out his pagan magic!! He was so impressed, that he converted (not kidding this time, he really did!). And not just converted, but became a bishop! The Romans were kinda over the Christians, who ended up getting the short end of the stick. Cyprian and Justina were both tortured and killed. Jump ahead a bit, and they wound up as saints. Cyprian is the patron saint of necromancers- which seems a little weird, but whatever floats Catholic boats… But because there isn’t much historical evidence for their existence, they were removed from the list o’ saints in 2001. Well, a lot of Catholics, especially of the Eastern Orthodox flavor, still believe in the power of Cyprian. And his arm is in the ZlÄtari Church. Which is why I’m here. đ
The original plan was to tell the story while videoing in the church. However, I wasn’t going to be disrespectful to the worshippers (I felt bad enough snapping pics). I did watch one woman come in and lay her arm over the glass in the same position as Cyprian’s. Why? Well, worshipers believe that he can counteract any magic being done against them. đ€
Next up, Vlad III’s palace. You may know Vlad from such things as being the basis for Dracula. You may also know him by his more interesting name, Vlad the Impaler. On the way, I stumbled across another small, beautiful church. I was standing outside, taking pictures through the fence, when a young lady in her early 20’s walked up and in perfect English informed me that I could go inside and it was beautiful! She showed me the entrance. So kind! And the first English I’ve heard in 24 hours other than “kitchen”! đ And she was right. It was beautiful inside. And I had it all to myself, other than the attendant at the door. The churches here are arty and intricate- not that over the top gaudy style you see in Western Europe a lot. They’re darker, more dimly lit. I like them. There was information inside in English (same in the ZlÄtari Church). Turns out this church is the Stavropoleos Monastery of 1724.
A few more corners, and I was facing the ruins of Curtea Veche- Vlad’s home, or “princely court” that he built in 1459. Apparently they were excavated in the 1950s, but not much has been done with them. Restoration is in progress, and apparently has been for a long time with no end in sight. đ There is a bust of Vlad though, holding court over his ruins.
Right next to the ruins is another church, St. Anthony’s, the oldest in Bucharest dating back to 1559. Again, quite beautiful and no tourists, just worshipers. There’s some piece of a saint in here as well (I assume St. Anthony).Â
Back out on the streets to head back to the room. Turned a corner and hey! I recognized this street! It’s where Carrefour is! Bananas….take two! Went in, got my bananas, had them weighed by a lady, checked the Dr. Pepper aisle and took all 4 of the restocked Dr. Pepper Zeros (I now have enough for 1 a day for the entire trip!!), and checked out. The cashier spoke French to me! So strange! I said I speak English, and he spoke English to me. Came back, got my stuff together, and decided to take an Uber to the car rental place instead of navigating a bus with luggage. Door to door for like $4.50. No brainer. Got my car through Autonom, and even though I was like an hour and a half early, they got all of my stuff together and out the door really fast. Buckle up, Romania! I’m behind the wheel!!
I put the Snagov Monastery into google maps and headed off down the road. The driving here is really easy, and there are like a zillion radio stations and ALWAYS something fun to sing on at least one of them! It was just a little over 30 minutes to the monastery, most of it on a main highway, and then turning off into rural countryside. I found the parking lot sign, and headed off walking in the direction of the arrow. Imagine my amazement when I reached a long, wide bridge!! And from that, kids were jumping off into the lake below! I walked across. One of the boys just kept smiling at me, and then jumps right as I reached him. As I crossed the bridge on to the island, there was a small, brown speckled pony happily munching grass along the path. And ahead, a building with a large arch. I walked through that, and there was the monastery. Again, small by western standards, but imposing none-the-less. First, I walked around the grounds a bit. There was a wildness to it- grass that hadn’t been mowed. Weeds blooming. Birds chirping. It really was peaceful and relaxing.
When I finished walking the grounds, I headed into the monastery. It cost 24 lei ($6) to come in and be able to take pictures. Small price to pay! Because I was here for a reason…yes, I’m still hot on the trail of Vlad! The church was built in 1521- almost 500 years ago- and is just amazing inside! Vlad contributed a lot of money to build the monastery, and this is the place where legend says his remains are. Remains or not, there is a tomb dedicated to him with a plaque and a burning candle. Someone dig that thing up, order an Ancestry.com DNA kit, and let’s solve the mystery!!
As I walked back across the bridge, I ended up behind a group of people. Bringing up the rear of the group was a little old hunched over lady. She started talking to me in Romanian, and I finally told her I only speak English. That didn’t dissuade her.đ She communicated to me that the 4 people up ahead where her grown children. We “talked” about how hot the weather was. And as we looked out over the lake, she said, “Very nice”. So this lady has two English words…I have one Romanian word (I learned that pui is chicken at the grocery store!). She wins, but I’m getting there!!
Put in Hotel Valahia in the gps, and headed toward Targoviste- my stop for the night. It gave me a few different routes, and I chose one that didn’t go through main towns. Driving the back roads of Romania, with fields of huge yellow sunflowers and corn on either side of me, and impossibly baby blue sky, with white clouds lit up by the sun….damn. Passing little old ladies with kerchiefs on their heads just like you’d imagine, men driving horse carts, it was all just so picturesque and perfect. I did pass 3 churches that I am KICKING myself for not stopping and getting pics of. I don’t know….I just felt weird about pulling over and snapping pics. This didn’t feel anything like “tourist territory”.
Rural Romanian traffic jam
Got to the hotel, checked in. For $25 a night, it is not bad at all! A little dated, but hell, so am I! đ Oh, and it includes breakfast in the morning. I’m glad. I’ll need a big one because I have a ton of adventures planned!!
I slept a solid 8 hours! Got up and went down for my free breakfast, not expecting much. Wrong!! I was served a 2 or 3 egg omelette that was FULL of huge ham chunks and cheese. And it was really good! Plus hot tea and a basket of more bread than I could eat in a week (that was really good as well). Awesome, solid breakfast! I had 3 adventures scheduled for today, so after I ate I headed off on foot for the first one- the Princely Court of Targoviste.
It was about half a mile away. It opened at 9, and I got there 5 minutes before and waited. At 9, the other people waiting (a lot of school kids) started walking in and I followed. I didnât see a place to buy a ticket. Was it free to go in? I saw a sign for a souvenir shop and went there. The lady spoke a little English. She said the ticket lady wasnât there, and that I could walk around and pay when I left. Cool. So I headed out. There wasnât much information about this place, other than the fact that Vlad the Impaler had lived here so I knew I wanted to film for class. I was pleasantly surprised at how extensive the grounds are! And, there was a decent amount of information in English! So hereâs the âquick historyâ. This area became a princely court and capital of Romania back in the late 1300s, when a Romanian prince built a house, the walls, and a church here. Around 1440, Vlad Dracul (Vlad the Impalerâs dad) built the first proper palace here. Vlad the Impaler came along a few years later and built the tower. After Vlad, in the 1500s, the capital was moved to Bucharest, but Targoviste remained a royal residence. Various princes throughout the centuries restored and remodeled the buildings, with the last major royal renovations occurring in the early 1700s. Romania began a program of restoring the ruins of the princely court in the 1900s.
The tower was just amazing. I did a lot of filming for class. There was one central wooden spiral staircase that went up and up and UP to the top of the tower- 88 feet to the top. Not my favorite thing to do, but I did it for the children!!!!! The view from the top was spectacular! The tower was originally built by Vlad the Impaler as a guard tower. But it was also a clock tower of sorts, with the guards watching for sunset, which would signal for the gates to be closed for the night. In fact, itâs name is Chindia Tower, which means sunset tower.
View from the top!
Next, I explored the ruins of the old palace. Then, the Princely Church. It was built in 1585, the inside repainted a hundred years later, and thatâs basically it. Amazing. The paintings are very reminiscent of the style I saw in the Snagov Monastery yesterday.
Then, things got interesting⊠I went into a building that was a museum of sorts. The lady wanted my ticket. I tried to explain that the ticket person wasnât there when I came in, and I was supposed to pay on my way out. This woman was having NO part of it. She was pretty harsh with me, even though the guy that was in the museum with her understood what I was saying and was translating it. She didnât care. She sent me out. And honestly, she made me feel like I was some damn criminal trying to sneak in without paying or something. Frankly, I wasnât pleased. I walked out, with no plans to go back in, and started walking toward the next building. But she followed me, yelling someoneâs name across the whole damn complex. She finally got this womanâs attention, and then pointed and harshly told me something that I understood as âgo thereâ. So I did. Jesus. The ticket lady was there now, so I paid my 15 lei CASH ONLY (about $4) for the entrance fee and camera fee. I reluctantly walked back to the museum. On the way, I passed an old man on a bench who spoke to me in French. This was like the 3rd person who had spoken to me in French since Iâve been here! I donât speak French, but understand enough to kind of get by (sort of, maybe, barelyâŠ.). He was asking me where I was from. I said the United States. He asked me if I spoke French. I told him no, only English. He smiled and I continued on my way to the museum where Attila the lady was. I showed her my ticket. Apparently it was a magical ticket, because it transformed her into a smiling, nodding human. What the hell, Romania? Iâm finding that the normal people on the street are really, really nice, but customer service types are super harsh, especially if they sense any weakness. Christ.
Well, Iâm glad I went back. It ended up being a museum about the printing press. Nothing was in English, but it was sort of easy to follow along. They had books from the 1500s on display!! I geeked out over that. Plus exhibits showing how the printing press was used. It was mainly in Romanian, but easy to figure out.
Next, St. Friday Church, which is the oldest unaltered building in the region! From the 1400s! Some people were doing an archaeological dig outside the church in theâŠumâŠgraveyard. Not the place Iâd want to do a dig!! But it was interesting to watch them. I really wished I could have talked to them about the work they were doing. âč
As I walked out, the little old man was still sitting on the bench. I said âAu revoir!â, smiled, and gave him a wave. He smiled and laughed. Now THOSE are the Romanian interactions I want! And that was it for my Targoviste tour! Time to jump in the car and head out toward the next stop- Peles Castle. The fields of sunflowers and corn quickly turned into rolling hills, with huge mountains in the background. THE CARPATHIANS!! It was gorgeous! For a while, it was town after town after town. Then, nothing but lush green forests, gorgeous jade green/blue streams running through pebble beds, and hair pin turns as I climbed the mountains and watched the temperature gauge drop from 27C to 18C (80F to 64F). There were SO many places I wanted to stop and get a picture, but no turnouts! Dear Romania, I need more scenic viewpoints- stat! Thanks, Mary.
Soon I arrived in Sinaia, the town where Peles Castle is. And oh my god. This town was so cute! I could seriously have spent an entire day exploring here! I drove to the castle and parked (15 lei CASH ONLY). Walked down the road toward the castle, and when it appeared, I stopped in my tracks and said, âWOW!â out loud. Iâve been in a lot of defensive castles. This one was a fairy tale castle!! A fairy tale castle that cost 65 lei CASH ONLY to get in to (30 for entry, 35 for a camera!)- basically $17.
It was built from 1873-1914 by German architects, which is why I immediately recognized a âBavarianâ style to it. The castle was the summer residence of King Carol I and Queen Elisabeth. Inside, this castle is just wow, wow, WOW!!! The detail, the wood workâŠholy crap. The lighting is really dim and not conducive for pictures. Which is a damn shame, because the pics just donât do this place justice. Here are some of the better ones.
Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a bust. I thought, âMan, that kinda looks like my Sun King (Louis XIV of France).â But there was no reason for him to be here. I kept going around the circle, then made my way back to the room where the bust was. IT WAS LOUIS!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it when my kings pop up in unexpected locations! And then, at the end of the tour, there was a little theater room that just looked soâŠFrench. Well, lo and behold, it was decorated in the Louis XIV style. My Sun KingâŠheâs an original, thatâs for sure!! đ
I left and wandered the grounds a bit. And there was a woman in a wedding dress. I swear to god, now that Iâm engaged, wedding dresses are EVERYWHERE!!! Arghhhh!!! (Honestly, both of them look pretty over the whole damn thing! I chuckled when I saw the shot I got!). I then walked over to the other castle, PeliÈor Castle. I didnât go in, but itâs really pretty from the outside.Back in the car for the short drive to Busteni for my final adventure for the day- the cable car up the mountain to see the âSphinxâ. I parked- 15 lei CASH ONLY. All of this cash only stuff is frustrating as hell!! I hate carrying cash, and thank goodness I got 400 lei out in Bucharest or Iâd be fucked. Dear Romania, The rest of the world is accepting credit cards. Please check into a merchant account. Youâre welcome, Mary.
I rounded a corner and umâŠâŠsaw the cable car. Do you see it??
Hereâs the close up. Look at the top of the mountain in the previous picture for that tiny little tower on the flat part of the mountain almost over the middle of the hotel. Um, yeah⊠This thing went STRAIGHT. UP. And thatâs how Iâd need my 3 glasses of vodka if I was going to get on that thing⊠I went up to the building. The line wrapped around it. I stood there for like 15 minutes before I saw the car come down. Oh HELL no. People were packed in there like sardines. And based on the line, Iâd be here for about 2 hours before I got to the front. HmmmmâŠ.straight up on a shaky wire, in a car packed with people, and wait 2 hours for the privilege? Um, thatâll be a pass.
I extracted myself from the line and walked back down the road to go explore some hiking trails I saw on the way up. Much better idea! It was so beautiful. And thenâŠ.creepy bridge!!! Seriously, world?? Why are there sketch ass bridges EVERYWHERE I GO???? Indiana Jones has his snakesâŠI have my bridges. Sigh. This one had busted out boards in it. I was pretty sure it wasnât up to code. I practically did the splits I took such a huge step to get over the damn fucked up boards- plummeting 10 feet to my watery death in the 1 foot deep raging river below wasnât on my spreadsheetâŠ.
Hiked around a bit, then used my mad wilderness survival skills to triangulate my position with the north star and the top of the mountain to figure my way back to the car. OrâŠthere was a trail to the left, I knew the car was to the left, and I got lucky that it was the right trail that led to the car. You choose. đ Was so damn proud of myself when I rounded a corner and saw my car (itâs the silver one on the right side of the pic). Almost puked when I saw the bridge. RomaniaâŠ.where they will put up a serious barrier so you donât fall over the side, but youâre on your own when it comes to falling THROUGH!
My airbnb for the night was just a couple of miles away. The guy who rents it out wasnât there, his mother was (Iâm 2 for 2 on that!), and she doesnât speak English (2 for 2 on that as well!). So get a load of thisâŠwe communicated inâŠFRENCH!! I seriously have to research and see what this French connection is here in Romania. Iâm shocked by how many people speak it. Settled in for the night to prepare for a long day of driving and adventuring tomorrow!
Slept great! Alexandra (the host) brought me tea at 7. I got my things together and left at 8. We communicated the best we could in French, hugged, and off I went. I headed off into the mountains again, on amazing, winding, roads through almost mythically magical dense green forests. You could see why folklore and fairy tales are such a part of the Romanian culture. It’s all around them. Instead of sunshine today, I had drizzle and sprinkles. After a while, I came out into a huge valley. It was just gorgeous.
Speaking of myths, the first stop today was Bran Castle. This castle is famous for being the one that inspired Bram Stoker’s creation of Dracula’s Castle. That said, Vlad the Impaler never lived here. After witnessing the lines yesterday in Busteni, I had a good idea of what this major tourist attraction was going to be like. One of my 3 stops for the day was actually before Bran Castle, but it didn’t open until 10. Bran opened at 9. So I decided to go there first to be there when it opened and beat the lines, then backtrack to the other place. Pulled in to Bran right before 9, easily found a place to park, and was pleased that it was only 4 lei ($1) instead of the 15 lei I’d been paying everywhere yesterday! Walked through a modern day torture device- the souvenir stall gauntlet (insert bloodcurdling scream!). Entry was 40 lei (about $10) with NO camera fee, and….drum roll please…they accepted credit cards!! I walked up the hill to the castle and there was no line to get in. Woo-hoo!
Ok. This is the castle that spawned Dracula. I was expecting spooky, dark, eerie, ancient. But….nothing was further from the truth. All of the interior walls were plastered in white. In places, they left the pieces that showed the original walls- now THOSE walls had character. These walls really made it feel like just a house kind of. The history here is more about the people who lived here (and I totally understand that). There were a couple of rooms with signage discussing vampires, and Vlad, and Stoker, but that was about it. There was way more vampire stuff in the souvenir gauntlet! I’ve been in a ton of castles. Some are super fancy (think Peles from yesterday) and have a museum DO NOT TOUCH quality to them. Some are just in ruins and you have to use your imagination to even recreate it. This one felt like a place where you could live and just have fun running around playing castle!! Not like a royal castle or a defensive castle- just a fun castle! There were a ton of little rooms- nothing massive and majestic and imposing. Lots of staircases- regular and spiral. One was a secret staircase with the original stone walls that was my favorite part of the entire castle! The furnishings were antiques, many original, but not over-the-top luxurious by any means. Just fairly simple, though beautiful, and functional. The views from the top were pretty great, though!
This was the king’s bedroom! So unassuming…
Is this a place I’d bring Brian back to? No. There are a zillion castles in Europe to explore. And lots with more exciting history, or more extravagant with a WOW factor. The draw for this one is Dracula, and frankly, as far as that went it was kind of a let down. I was pleased that I timed it right by getting there early. Here was the line a little after 10am on a Wednesday as I was leaving…
On the road again! To backtrack to the 2nd stop-Â Valea CetÄĆŁii Cave. This stop was so I could do some cave filming for my Earth Science class. It’s right next to a beautiful little town called Rasnov, which is a pretty strong tourist draw.
I arrived at the cave at about 10:30, and there were only 3 other cars in the parking lot…um, was this open? Signs indicated that I had to walk to the cave entrance, so I took off up a road through an awesome forest. Which was uphill. Then turned into stairs! This was a solid hike! By the time I reached the top, my heart was pumping so hard a vampire would have choked if he had locked into one of my veins! đč
It cost 15 lei (about $4) cash only to get in. Had to wait about 10 minutes for a guide, along with about 7 other people who had made it there before me. The guide came out, and we had 3 different languages going on in our group- Romanian, English, and something else that sounded eastern European but I didn’t know what it was. Well, the guide did, and he did his talk in all 3 languages. #jealous Unfortunately, the cave itself wasn’t very impressive. It was only one big room with a staircase/walkway that went around it in a loop. We entered to the left, walked around to a platform, there the guide told us about the cave, we took pictures, and exited to the right. Seriously, 15 minutes. I was pretty disappointed. đ Had I known, I wouldn’t have backtracked to here.
Hit the rural back roads, for such a wonderful, peaceful, enjoyable drive. The back roads are very Swiss- like the cheese! Full of holes! You really have to keep an eye on the road. Main roads are in very good condition with a lot of construction going on. But even with the potholes, I prefer the back roads winding through quiet little villages, horse drawn carts for traffic. There are SO MANY things that just make you gasp out loud- they’re that beautiful. But again, practically impossible to ever find a place to pull over and take a picture. You just have to come here and see for yourself! Here are a few of the sites I saw along the way…
Last stop for the day was a mysterious one- the Rupestra Monastery in Sinca-Veche. It’s a series of temples carved into rock that dates back 7000 years!! WOW! And no one knows who built it or why… When I took one of the pictures, I was really shocked to see a star of David carved into one of the niches. This isn’t your typical Christian monastery….these temples far predate that…
The grounds were beautiful, with nicely manicured paths and stairs climbing into the hills through the forest. I started walking around, just exploring the peacefulness of it all. On my way down one trail, some new stairs were being built. I walked down them, and at the bottom was a lone worker, a man about 60, sitting on a bench having lunch. I smiled at him and said hello. He grinned so big and beckoned me over, gesturing to share his lunch. There was one chicken back and a couple of slices of bread. He was so insistent (in the friendliest way imaginable). So I tore off a piece of chicken and a piece of bread, ate it, and declared it to be delicious! He was so pleased! He hugged and kissed me on the cheek, and I continued down the trail. Now, he didn’t have much of a lunch, and there were a few dozen people milling around back here. Why he chose me to share lunch with, I have no idea. But what a lovely, unexpected gesture!
And that was the last adventure for the day. Drove into SighiÈoara, and found my Airbnb for the next 2 nights (and it’s AWESOME!! Private apartment, large, modern, clean, great wifi, free parking, walking distance to the city…$34 a night!).
Got out on to the wall, and more traumatizing height obstacles. The wall had a rail on one side, which if you got too close and fell over, you would plummet to your death. Ok, not so easy to fall over the side (you’d have to physically try to fall over it!), but still. I hugged that wall like it was my long lost love….
I google mapped my next location, and I was right on top of it! Gletschergarten- a glacier museum!! I was really excited about this, because it would fit right in with the stuff I filmed in Iceland and Romania for my Earth Science class that starts this fall!! And for $15, I couldn’t beat the price!! And my, oh my, but it turned out to be so super cool that I would have paid twice that if I knew what all was in here! There were basically 3 different parts. The first part was the glacier garden. Only 20,000 years ago, Lucerne was covered in glaciers. As those glaciers moved and scraped their way across the landscape, they left this area which was discovered by a man excavating for a wine cellar in 1872. The huge boulders are actually several different types of rocks- dragged here by the glacier as it moved past different mountains. I found that to be so fascinating!! The really cool thing though are the glacier pots. I had never even heard of such a thing! Melt water from the glacier runs through crevasses, getting underneath the glacier. Under there, the pressure is ENORMOUS, and whirlpools of melt water can be created- swirling at about 125 miles per hour! The meltwater is filled with dirt and pebbles, which along with the swift water carve out the rock below into a “pot”. So cool!!
From there, I walked the second area- the Glacier Museum. I wasn’t expecting much. Um, I was blown away! I wanted to bring my students here so bad!! It was a really well done museum, with great information (in English!!), awesome exhibits, and even a hands on area! I learned so much and did a ton of filming for class. Wanna see inside? Take the class. đ
The museum kind of emptied out into a mansion kind of thing with a lot of different exhibits. Unfortunately, the vast majority of it was in German. There was an exhibit that showed you how Lucerne looked 20,000,000 years ago- a tropical beach!! I found a gorgeous mermaid chandelier. And then, even though I couldn’t read anything, I saw something from across the room and immediately recognized it- VERSAILLES!!! I practically ran over to it, and it was in German- but I could read Louis XIV and Versailles. đ
Looked at the map again, and found another Carrefour a bit further down. Motherlode! This was a two story mega grocery store!! As always, I had fun wandering up and down the aisles trying to figure stuff out! If you love canned fish, there are about 899 brands here. I couldnât figure out if any of them were exactly what I wanted (canned tuna salad that I could just pop open and spread on bread), so I gave up. I ended up with my staples- peanut butter (there are only 2 brands!), chips, granola bars, crackers (my Tucs that I love so much!!), cookies, salami, bread, water, bananas andâŠ.what is the main staple of my diet??? DR PEPPER!!!!! And only about $.83 per can for Diet!! Dear Romania, You rock. I have never in my life seen a store in another country with THREE varieties of Dr. Pepper!! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart. With love and admiration, Mary.
Walked back, snapped a couple of pictures, got all the right keys in the right doors, took a shower, ate, texted with Brian who was now in the Oslo, Norway airport waiting for his flight to LA, and rested. I originally had 3 adventures planned for this afternoonâŠtwo sites that I want to see, and a walking tour at 6pm. I decided that rest was more important. The next 10 days are going to be INSANE travel days, and I donât want to get run down. Iâll hit the 2 sites in the morning before I check out at noon, and will live without a walking tour of Bucharest. For tonight, I’ll just listen to the yells out the window- knowing that is my cue to refresh my google screen to see the score of the France-Croatia World cup final. I know I’m in Eastern Europe, but #gofrance! While I’m writing this, France scored first, there was a yell. Then, Croatia scored- a MUCH louder yell!! Who needs to refresh for the score? I just have to judge the decibel of the yells. đ Spoiler alert: France won.
Soon I arrived in Sinaia, the town where Peles Castle is. And oh my god. This town was so cute! I could seriously have spent an entire day exploring here! I drove to the castle and parked (15 lei CASH ONLY). Walked down the road toward the castle, and when it appeared, I stopped in my tracks and said, âWOW!â out loud. Iâve been in a lot of defensive castles. This one was a fairy tale castle!! A fairy tale castle that cost 65 lei CASH ONLY to get in to (30 for entry, 35 for a camera!)- basically $17.
Back in the car for the short drive to Busteni for my final adventure for the day- the cable car up the mountain to see the âSphinxâ. I parked- 15 lei CASH ONLY. All of this cash only stuff is frustrating as hell!! I hate carrying cash, and thank goodness I got 400 lei out in Bucharest or Iâd be fucked. Dear Romania, The rest of the world is accepting credit cards. Please check into a merchant account. Youâre welcome, Mary.
It cost 15 lei (about $4) cash only to get in. Had to wait about 10 minutes for a guide, along with about 7 other people who had made it there before me. The guide came out, and we had 3 different languages going on in our group- Romanian, English, and something else that sounded eastern European but I didn’t know what it was. Well, the guide did, and he did his talk in all 3 languages. #jealous Unfortunately, the cave itself wasn’t very impressive. It was only one big room with a staircase/walkway that went around it in a loop. We entered to the left, walked around to a platform, there the guide told us about the cave, we took pictures, and exited to the right. Seriously, 15 minutes. I was pretty disappointed. đ Had I known, I wouldn’t have backtracked to here.
Hit the rural back roads, for such a wonderful, peaceful, enjoyable drive. The back roads are very Swiss- like the cheese! Full of holes! You really have to keep an eye on the road. Main roads are in very good condition with a lot of construction going on. But even with the potholes, I prefer the back roads winding through quiet little villages, horse drawn carts for traffic. There are SO MANY things that just make you gasp out loud- they’re that beautiful. But again, practically impossible to ever find a place to pull over and take a picture. You just have to come here and see for yourself! Here are a few of the sites I saw along the way…
