Sher has been
However, some things shouldn't be delayed for too long... especially the blog entry for my fav place in Romania (okay... I know I have only visited some 4 places in the huge Romania...). Bustling little 'town/village' at the top of a flight of stairs - Sinaia!
The town of Sinaia (elevation: 2,500 ft.), home to the Peles and Pelisor castles, is nestled at the foot of the Bucegi Mountains, in the Prahova Valley. (Quote: Romania - Official Travel and Tourism Information site)
The train journey to this place was something to remember... I saw a Romanian home by the rail way, with the mom (I assume) raking in the rubbish in a bonfire... and a dear little desk and chair in the 'yard' for the kids to study. The kids were running around the front of the little cottage. These are stuff... I only read about in storybooks. heh I can't imagine such things when I live, eat and breathe HDB flats...
Anyway, it was quite a jolt to me when we arrived at this station... and then there's no crowd, no directions, no map, no nothing.
So I thought... okay... the guidebook said sth about it being quite accessible to its town... something about stairs. But I can't rem if that's for Bran or Sinaia...
Fortunately, we kinda mastered the art of making enquiries despite speaking different languages. hahaha Twin's version of Romanian English is a drawlish kind of "Sinaia Town. Ya. Up? Where?" in a sing-song sort of tone. hee It gets through... no complaints there.
This is what we found at the top of a flight of stairs on an otherwise ulu stretch of road in front of the station.
There's actually a town atop the stairs! How can anyone ever guess!
Hm... we got the help of this nice guy from the Tourist Information - he's very efficient; just shooting info after info after twitching the key words out of us. =) Sinaia is actually quite small it seems... Tourist Info was at one end... and the key attractions on the other end. We happily walked back after he gave us a cursory glance and passed the verdict that neither of us are dressed for ski-ing so we should skip the Bucegi mountains. (Privately, twin & I agreed cuz we have this impression that all snow-top mountains are the same if we aren't intending to ski and we saw some at Innsbruck already) =P
Peles, Pelisor and the Sinaia Monastry are still atop yet another hill though... thus begins our climb... Twin is taking her time as you can see... hee while remarking that we're truly backpacking... (I think she means: sigh.. why are we climbing stairs with our backpacks...)
Sinaia Monastery!
According to my readings... (Wiki rox), the Sinaia Monastery is founded by Prince Mihai Cantacuzino in 1695 and named after the great Sinai Monastery on Mount Sinai. As of 2005 it is inhabited by 13 Christian Orthodox monks lead by hegumen Macarie Bogus. It belongs to the archdiocese of Bucharest.
There are a couple of significant paintings in the Monastery which I took pictures of.. but those came out too dark. Didn't really want to use flash in the place... so I didn't include the pictures in the collage. What comes through though, is the elaborate paintworks and architecture of even the columns.
We didn't stay there for too long... cuz the place is really still in operation... so we see people going about their rituals like bending over to kiss the bible on the altar and crawling under to emerge through the other side thrice. At another corner, people are being blessed by the 'monks' - Frankly it confuses me... cuz it's very catholic yet it's called a monastery... hm
And then, wandering into the garden, we came across an old woman confessing her sins to a 'monk'/Father/Reverend? Anyway, she looked our way as we passed. Despite self knowledge that we totally don't understand her anyway, we decided she'd be more at ease if we left... so yeah, we didn't stay long.
This... is what kept me perplexed for the entire Peles-Pelisor experience. Clock... in the model of the Peles castle at a road side stall along our way to Peles. Sighs... It's some 10Euros I think... And it's really really... literally just persuading me to buy it. Luckily we were carrying our backpacks... cuz it reminds me of the impracticality of bringing it around and then back to Warsaw and to Singapore...
Sighz. I did so hate to leave it behind. I'm sure it wanted me. :(
Peles! =) We needed to wait for 15 people to demand the English tour before they provided it. Luckily... it's Easter... there were just enough of us around to have this tour.
This time according to the Romania - Official Travel and Tourist Information site again:
Considered by many one of the most beautiful castles in all Europe, Peles Castle is a masterpiece of German new-Renaissance architecture. Commissioned by King Carol I in 1873 and completed in 1883, Peles' interiors are an opulent display of elegant design and historical artifact. Its 160 rooms are adorned with the finest examples of European art, Murano crystal chandeliers, German stained-glass windows, walls covered with Cordoba leather, Meissen and Sevres porcelains, ebony and ivory sculptures.
Opulent is right. It's a very tasteful display of wealth. The essence of each place the King admired. No wonder he's a king... or rather - thank goodness he's a king - else it'd be an impossibility to implement this project.
I wish I had pictures from every room to show you - Read somewhere that some ministers from various countries had a conference there and they occupied a room each during their stay!
Anyway, those pictures gotta wait - cuz there was a photo tax... and I didn't think there was much I'd want to take photos of (I didn't know how wrong I was!) but... I met a nice Spanish guy who's doing his exchange in Romania... He promised to send me pictures he took if I email him to remind him in summer =)
Decided to leave you with more information from Romania's Official Tourist Info site:
Almost adjacent to Peles Castle is Pelisor ("Little Peles"). King Ferdinand, who succeeded Carol I, intended to use Peles Castle as a summer residence. Supposedly he found Peles too big and overwhelming, so he commissioned the smaller, art-nouveau style, Pelisor Castle. Pelisor's 70 rooms feature a unique collection of turn-of-the century Viennese furniture and Tiffany and Lalique glassware. Peles and Pelisor are located 3 miles northeast of the center of Sinaia.
This... in twin's words - is a very grand home. But it is, a home - not really a castle. Guess King Ferdinand wasn't that much into lavish richness. Much of his home is designed or had the design influenced by his Queen though. =) She had an eye for the arts and exceled in painting, poetry, arts and all...
To end off... we had a great meal before heading for Brasov for the evening. =)
We did after all swear to try Romanian food. That we did =) Thanks again to the efficient man at the Information office - he directed us to this restaurant - the name of which I forgot =P
Pork Ciorba (Soup) with bread, Tochitura, Papanasi!
Actually they have more elaborate names than that.. and you can guess what a great, stomach-stuffing meal we had. hehe The bread was huge - and as forewarned by the guide - it's provided for at an extra cost (so if you don't want those fringe stuff - you have to let the waitress know!). Twin however, enjoyed herself stuffing the pork into her bread and creating her own "kung ba pao" for those who know what I'm talking about.. =) The Tochitura was served with lots of potato/corn/ starch like substance... which is extremely filling. Papanasi is cheese donut served with sour cream/yoghurt. grin Due to a misunderstanding, we had 1 papanasi each. Oh well... figuring that we can't get much fatter since we've already eaten so much... twin & I dutifully finished it.
I think twin was miserable after that. She hates being overly stuffed. hehe
Last parting shot at the railway at sunset. =) Waiting for our P-train (read: Personal - acc to Kismet Dao's guide: P trains should be avoided... unless you want to feel like cattle... and don't mind the weird smells... it is dirty and is nicknamed gypsy train). We would like to clarify though... that though the weird smell is indeed invasive on the train... our P-train experience wasn't bad. The train was quite empty... and dirty or not... it got us to our destination. =)
Love, love, love Romania!
