Black Sea Blast: Romania, Crimea & Istanbul
Nov 24th, 2012, 06:09 PM
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Black Sea Blast: Romania, Crimea & Istanbul
As always, I want to thank the forum for all the helpful information I find here every time we travel. I plan to provide a fair amount of detail in this report -- especially for Romania and the Crimea since not a whole lot of info is out there. This was a very special trip for us because each country was so different and so fascinating. We both love history and this trip gave us a lot of insight into a part of the world with which we were not that familiar.
I planned the trip myself, and we traveled independently except for some private tours arranged with different travel agencies. For guidebooks, I used Lonely Planet's Romania, Turkey, and Ukraine (all good), but also Rough Guide Romania, Bradt Ukraine (excellent for history) and Rick Steves Istanbul (had become disillusioned with Rick, but this guidebook has excellent self-guided tours for all the major sights).
For accommodations, I used Booking.com for most of the hotels and was very pleased with their service. My only suggestion when using this service (or any of the big hotel booking outfits) is to always contact the hotel directly to both confirm your booking and to clarify any special requests.
Here is a recap of our 1-month trip:
Munich, Germany (1 night) -- broke up our flight to Romania, stayed at Hotel Am Market
www.hotel-am-markt.eu
Cluj, Romania (2 nights) -- stayed at Hotel Alexis www.hotelalexiscluj.ro
Maramures and Bucovina, Romania (6 nights) -- private tour with Pan Travels, stayed in rural guesthouses www.pantravel.ro
Sighisoara, Romania (2 nights) -- stayed at Pension am Schneiderturm
http://www.booking.com/hotel/ro/pens...erturm.en.html
Train to Brasov, Romania
Brasov, (3 nights) -- stayed at Pension Casa Albert http://brasov.three-star-hotels.com/...sa-albert.html
Private driver (Active Travel) from Brasov to Bucharest www.activetravel.ro
Bucharest (2 nights) -- stayed at Hotel Christina www.hotelchristina.ro
Flew to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines
Istanbul (7 nights) -- stayed at Sultans Royal Hotel www.sultansroyalhotel.com
Flew to Simferopol, Ukraine on Turkish Airlines
Yalta (3 nights) -- stayed in an apartment rented thru BlackSea-Crimea
www.blacksea-crimea.com
Taxi to Bakhchysarav
Bakhchysarav (3 nights) -- stayed at Villa Meraba
http://meraba-villas.ru/?post_type=p...&p=407&lang=en
Flew back to istanbul on Turkish Airlines
Istanbul (3 nights) -- stayed at Galata La Bella www.galatalabellahotel.com
More to come...
I planned the trip myself, and we traveled independently except for some private tours arranged with different travel agencies. For guidebooks, I used Lonely Planet's Romania, Turkey, and Ukraine (all good), but also Rough Guide Romania, Bradt Ukraine (excellent for history) and Rick Steves Istanbul (had become disillusioned with Rick, but this guidebook has excellent self-guided tours for all the major sights).
For accommodations, I used Booking.com for most of the hotels and was very pleased with their service. My only suggestion when using this service (or any of the big hotel booking outfits) is to always contact the hotel directly to both confirm your booking and to clarify any special requests.
Here is a recap of our 1-month trip:
Munich, Germany (1 night) -- broke up our flight to Romania, stayed at Hotel Am Market
www.hotel-am-markt.eu
Cluj, Romania (2 nights) -- stayed at Hotel Alexis www.hotelalexiscluj.ro
Maramures and Bucovina, Romania (6 nights) -- private tour with Pan Travels, stayed in rural guesthouses www.pantravel.ro
Sighisoara, Romania (2 nights) -- stayed at Pension am Schneiderturm
http://www.booking.com/hotel/ro/pens...erturm.en.html
Train to Brasov, Romania
Brasov, (3 nights) -- stayed at Pension Casa Albert http://brasov.three-star-hotels.com/...sa-albert.html
Private driver (Active Travel) from Brasov to Bucharest www.activetravel.ro
Bucharest (2 nights) -- stayed at Hotel Christina www.hotelchristina.ro
Flew to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines
Istanbul (7 nights) -- stayed at Sultans Royal Hotel www.sultansroyalhotel.com
Flew to Simferopol, Ukraine on Turkish Airlines
Yalta (3 nights) -- stayed in an apartment rented thru BlackSea-Crimea
www.blacksea-crimea.com
Taxi to Bakhchysarav
Bakhchysarav (3 nights) -- stayed at Villa Meraba
http://meraba-villas.ru/?post_type=p...&p=407&lang=en
Flew back to istanbul on Turkish Airlines
Istanbul (3 nights) -- stayed at Galata La Bella www.galatalabellahotel.com
More to come...
Nov 25th, 2012, 10:21 AM
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Thanks for the encouragement!
sundriedpachino -- As far as language goes:
Romania -- No problem, Romanian is a romance language with many surprising similarities to French, Spanish, and Italian making it somewhat easy to read (at least basic signs etc.) Many people (at least in the travel industry) speak some English. The exception is out in the countryside (where we had an English-speaking guide). We speak some French and since many Romanians do also, this was a big help.
Istanbul -- No problem, everyone in the travel industry seems to speak English. The Turkish language intrigued us, and if we have a chance to return, we'd like to learn more.
Crimea -- This is where it got a bit challenging. Even though Ukranian is the official language of the Ukraine, most people in the Crimea speak Russian. Sometimes signage and even the people's speech mixes Russian and Ukranian.
My husband speaks Russian which was a HUGE help. And it wasn't just that he could speak to people, the biggest benefit was that he could read Cyrillic. I think it would be difficult to come here if you could not read Cyrillic. You would definitely want to look for an English-speaking guide and for hotels where the staff spoke English. I really felt like I was in the dark a lot and had to keep asking him, "What does this mean?"
sundriedpachino -- As far as language goes:
Romania -- No problem, Romanian is a romance language with many surprising similarities to French, Spanish, and Italian making it somewhat easy to read (at least basic signs etc.) Many people (at least in the travel industry) speak some English. The exception is out in the countryside (where we had an English-speaking guide). We speak some French and since many Romanians do also, this was a big help.
Istanbul -- No problem, everyone in the travel industry seems to speak English. The Turkish language intrigued us, and if we have a chance to return, we'd like to learn more.
Crimea -- This is where it got a bit challenging. Even though Ukranian is the official language of the Ukraine, most people in the Crimea speak Russian. Sometimes signage and even the people's speech mixes Russian and Ukranian.
My husband speaks Russian which was a HUGE help. And it wasn't just that he could speak to people, the biggest benefit was that he could read Cyrillic. I think it would be difficult to come here if you could not read Cyrillic. You would definitely want to look for an English-speaking guide and for hotels where the staff spoke English. I really felt like I was in the dark a lot and had to keep asking him, "What does this mean?"
Nov 25th, 2012, 10:41 AM
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Ok, on with the trip report
A Night in Munich
We had decided to break up our flight to Romania with a night in one of our favorite places, Munich. We enjoyed a pleasant nonstop Lufthansa flight from Newark to Munich on our spacious Airbus 340. This plane had a most unusual feature: the bathrooms were on a lower level, down a short flight of stairs much like a split level house. Probably seemed like a good idea during the design phase, but there was no space to wait, and the flight attendants were kept busy telling people to stay off the stairs.
By noon the next day, we were walking through the Marienplatz, the main square in Munich. The city is as appealing as ever with such a happy vibe. Maybe it’s because everyone is busy drinking the incredible Bavarian beers!
Hotel am Markt has a wonderful location right around the corner from the Marienplatz, but our room was small and the bathroom Lilliputian -- good for one night, but I'm not sure I'd want to stay here long.
After a much needed recuperative nap, our first stop was the Oktoberfest Museum. Officially, Oktoberfest has ended here, but that does not mean that party time is over in Deutschland! The highlight of the museum was an excellent film about the history of beer which goes back 5,000 years. The first beer originated in the Middle East and was made from fermented bread. This “bread beer” continued until the Middle Ages when Europeans started experimenting with beer made from plants that even included the deadly nightshade as one ingredient! When the Germans discovered hops, beer-making really got hopping (so to speak).
The museum itself comprised three floors of tiny rooms exhibiting mostly old photos but also collections of Munich Oktoberfest posters and the signature beer steins created to honor each year’s festival. We never realized what a huge crowd comes to this beer festival – 5 million people attend each year (and only a small percentage of them are foreigners). We are thinking we have an Oktoberfest in our future!
By now, the museum had inspired a terrible beer thirst, so we headed straight to the nearby Hofbrauhaus, Munich’s most famous beer hall and mu husband’s favorite spot to tip back a few liters of real Bavarian beer. The cavernous hall is always packed with beer lovers, and the oompah band never quits playing.
It’s touristy, yes, but the wonderful thing is that Germans love it too, and the clientele always includes plenty of old Deutsch partiers in lederhosen rocking to the polkas and drinking songs. We sat at one of the large wooden tables and were soon joined by three Germans (sans lederhosen) -- Martin, Gerhart and Gerhart’s son Chris -- all from the region of Schwabia.
Our fun-loving friend from back home (Steve) is a Schwabian from way back on his family tree, so we figured these guys would be up for a good time, and we were right! We all bonded immediately and had a raucous night of constant toasting with our giant beer steins. The later it got, the crazier the toasts became.
During the course of the evening, the Schwabians heard my husband call me “honey.” They got such a kick out of this expression that they offered up many toasts “to Honey!” What a night, and what a great way to start our trip!
A Night in Munich
We had decided to break up our flight to Romania with a night in one of our favorite places, Munich. We enjoyed a pleasant nonstop Lufthansa flight from Newark to Munich on our spacious Airbus 340. This plane had a most unusual feature: the bathrooms were on a lower level, down a short flight of stairs much like a split level house. Probably seemed like a good idea during the design phase, but there was no space to wait, and the flight attendants were kept busy telling people to stay off the stairs.
By noon the next day, we were walking through the Marienplatz, the main square in Munich. The city is as appealing as ever with such a happy vibe. Maybe it’s because everyone is busy drinking the incredible Bavarian beers!
Hotel am Markt has a wonderful location right around the corner from the Marienplatz, but our room was small and the bathroom Lilliputian -- good for one night, but I'm not sure I'd want to stay here long.
After a much needed recuperative nap, our first stop was the Oktoberfest Museum. Officially, Oktoberfest has ended here, but that does not mean that party time is over in Deutschland! The highlight of the museum was an excellent film about the history of beer which goes back 5,000 years. The first beer originated in the Middle East and was made from fermented bread. This “bread beer” continued until the Middle Ages when Europeans started experimenting with beer made from plants that even included the deadly nightshade as one ingredient! When the Germans discovered hops, beer-making really got hopping (so to speak).
The museum itself comprised three floors of tiny rooms exhibiting mostly old photos but also collections of Munich Oktoberfest posters and the signature beer steins created to honor each year’s festival. We never realized what a huge crowd comes to this beer festival – 5 million people attend each year (and only a small percentage of them are foreigners). We are thinking we have an Oktoberfest in our future!
By now, the museum had inspired a terrible beer thirst, so we headed straight to the nearby Hofbrauhaus, Munich’s most famous beer hall and mu husband’s favorite spot to tip back a few liters of real Bavarian beer. The cavernous hall is always packed with beer lovers, and the oompah band never quits playing.
It’s touristy, yes, but the wonderful thing is that Germans love it too, and the clientele always includes plenty of old Deutsch partiers in lederhosen rocking to the polkas and drinking songs. We sat at one of the large wooden tables and were soon joined by three Germans (sans lederhosen) -- Martin, Gerhart and Gerhart’s son Chris -- all from the region of Schwabia.
Our fun-loving friend from back home (Steve) is a Schwabian from way back on his family tree, so we figured these guys would be up for a good time, and we were right! We all bonded immediately and had a raucous night of constant toasting with our giant beer steins. The later it got, the crazier the toasts became.
During the course of the evening, the Schwabians heard my husband call me “honey.” They got such a kick out of this expression that they offered up many toasts “to Honey!” What a night, and what a great way to start our trip!
Nov 25th, 2012, 04:12 PM
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Welcome to Cluj!
We bid a sad farewell to Munich, my husband's favorite city in the world, with a vow to return again soon. The next leg of our trip was a short (1 ½ hr.) early morning flight from Munich to the city of Cluj in Romania.
We flew on Lufthansa once again (although the plane was much smaller). The friendly crew offered us a breakfast pastry and the usual juice, coffee and tea. But then they asked if we wanted champagne. Was there ever any question? Lufthansa may have just become our favorite airline!
The tiny Cluj airport was easy to negotiate, and Passport Control was a breeze with no visa required. We hit an ATM and got our first look at Romanian currency (known as lei or RON). Weird bills! The currency looks typically European, but it’s made of plastic – it’s like the stuff has been polished with furniture wax; it’s slippery to handle. The plastic construct lasts longer and is supposed to be harder to counterfeit -- plus you can actually run it thru the washing machine with no negative effects.
Outside the airport, we looked for a taxi to take us into the city and had our first encounter with “unscrupulous Romania.” A cab driver approached us, and we showed him a piece of paper with our hotel address carefully printed. He said he could take us but when pressed, finally gave us a price of 45 euros! That’s the equivalent of $58 American dollars. What a rip!! The hotel had advised us that a typical price was 5-7 euros.
I snatched the piece of paper out of the cabbie’s hand and said, “No, thanks.” He was clearly disgruntled and mumbled some (undoubtedly) unkind stuff in Romanian as he walked away. But now what? We stood there uncertainly until a nice-looking older man came over and asked us (in good English) if he could be of help – and offered to drive us for a fraction of what the other guy wanted.
It turned out that “Pop” (pronounced: “pope”) was a friendly guy who taught us our first Romanian word multemesc (mool – tse – mesk) which means “thank you” and even gave my husband a beer recommendation (more about that later). Pop drove us straight to our hotel and true to his word, only charged us 20 lei (about 5 euros). My husband gave him a generous tip, along with accolades for his honesty, and we were all happy.
Hotel Alexis, where we are staying, is a new hotel in Cluj, and our room is amazingly spacious – more than twice the size of our Munich hotel (and half the cost). Welcome to cheap Europe! We also got the “Romantic Weekend Package” which meant a basket of fresh fruit, a bar of Romanian chocolate, and a bottle of Romanian champagne. This is becoming quite the bubbly trip.
A five-minute walk from Hotel Alexis brought us to the center of town where we found a restaurant called “4 Amici’s” (four friends), and they even had a nonsmoking section, just for us. Unfortunately, smoking is rampant here, and we will have to work at protecting our lungs from the second-hand smoke issues.
We ate pizza, ciorba (soup) and salad, but the big hit of the meal was the Ursus beer. Ursus means “bear,” and Pop, our cabbie, who had recommended this Cluj hometown brew, told us that Romania has lots of brown bears from the Carpathian Mountains. These bears are protected so the Romanians can’t hunt them; and according to Pop, this is a big problem because these bears eat sheep and other farm animals. Ursus beer is the best beer in Romania (at least according to the Clujians) – it definitely tasted good to us.
The following morning we met Andrei from Pan Travel, who will be our guide for the next week. Today he gave us a walking tour of his hometown Cluj. Cluj actually has many elegant buildings, and it is obvious that much has been recently restored. (Unfortunately, Cluj also has many ugly concrete constructions built during the Communist days under the Ceausescu). We visited several churches and viewed a portion of the old fortified city wall – Cluj is fortunate to have an intact old city.
We were lucky enough to witness a Greek Orthodox baptism while in Cluj. The ceremony began with the mother taking confession right in the middle of the church aisle (with the priest’s robe draped over her head). There are no confessional booths, so this is the way confession works with everyone. The big finale came when the tiny infant, totally naked, got a triple dunk into a basin of holy water! Our little guy handled it remarkably well, and you could see how proud the family was.
Cluj has been occupied repeatedly throughout its history, and churches have changed hands too, sometimes from Jesuit to Protestant Reformed. Being close to the Hungarian border, Cluj has a large Hungarian population. Their protestant churches tend to be quite plain except for the ornate organs and the elaborate pulpits. (In fact in many cases, they plastered over the old Catholic frescoes.)
Unfortunately, we had one more experience with “unscrupulous Romania.” We don’t want to dwell too much on this because overall the people of Romania are kind and friendly, but you need to be a savvy traveler here. We returned to a small neighborhood grocery store near our hotel to buy more bottled water. When my husband got his change, he realized the young woman had shorted him 5 lei. She said, “Oh sorry,” and immediately gave him the 5. However, later when he checked over the purchases, he realized that she had also overcharged him for one of the items! Note that bar codes are nonexistent here, so prices are entered by hand. It wasn’t much money, and we know these people are poor, but nobody likes to be cheated.
One very Transylvanian aspect of Cluj were the hordes of large black crows that flew into the city center parks each evening at dusk (and back out at dawn to dine in the outer garbage dumps). These big birds looked like ravens and added to the mystique of the Transylvania legend. Hundreds and hundreds of black “crows” came swooping down the main street each night, cackling at max decibel level right past our hotel window. It was like a creepy Hollywood Dracula movie, adding to the mystery and allure of this part of Romania.
We bid a sad farewell to Munich, my husband's favorite city in the world, with a vow to return again soon. The next leg of our trip was a short (1 ½ hr.) early morning flight from Munich to the city of Cluj in Romania.
We flew on Lufthansa once again (although the plane was much smaller). The friendly crew offered us a breakfast pastry and the usual juice, coffee and tea. But then they asked if we wanted champagne. Was there ever any question? Lufthansa may have just become our favorite airline!
The tiny Cluj airport was easy to negotiate, and Passport Control was a breeze with no visa required. We hit an ATM and got our first look at Romanian currency (known as lei or RON). Weird bills! The currency looks typically European, but it’s made of plastic – it’s like the stuff has been polished with furniture wax; it’s slippery to handle. The plastic construct lasts longer and is supposed to be harder to counterfeit -- plus you can actually run it thru the washing machine with no negative effects.
Outside the airport, we looked for a taxi to take us into the city and had our first encounter with “unscrupulous Romania.” A cab driver approached us, and we showed him a piece of paper with our hotel address carefully printed. He said he could take us but when pressed, finally gave us a price of 45 euros! That’s the equivalent of $58 American dollars. What a rip!! The hotel had advised us that a typical price was 5-7 euros.
I snatched the piece of paper out of the cabbie’s hand and said, “No, thanks.” He was clearly disgruntled and mumbled some (undoubtedly) unkind stuff in Romanian as he walked away. But now what? We stood there uncertainly until a nice-looking older man came over and asked us (in good English) if he could be of help – and offered to drive us for a fraction of what the other guy wanted.
It turned out that “Pop” (pronounced: “pope”) was a friendly guy who taught us our first Romanian word multemesc (mool – tse – mesk) which means “thank you” and even gave my husband a beer recommendation (more about that later). Pop drove us straight to our hotel and true to his word, only charged us 20 lei (about 5 euros). My husband gave him a generous tip, along with accolades for his honesty, and we were all happy.
Hotel Alexis, where we are staying, is a new hotel in Cluj, and our room is amazingly spacious – more than twice the size of our Munich hotel (and half the cost). Welcome to cheap Europe! We also got the “Romantic Weekend Package” which meant a basket of fresh fruit, a bar of Romanian chocolate, and a bottle of Romanian champagne. This is becoming quite the bubbly trip.
A five-minute walk from Hotel Alexis brought us to the center of town where we found a restaurant called “4 Amici’s” (four friends), and they even had a nonsmoking section, just for us. Unfortunately, smoking is rampant here, and we will have to work at protecting our lungs from the second-hand smoke issues.
We ate pizza, ciorba (soup) and salad, but the big hit of the meal was the Ursus beer. Ursus means “bear,” and Pop, our cabbie, who had recommended this Cluj hometown brew, told us that Romania has lots of brown bears from the Carpathian Mountains. These bears are protected so the Romanians can’t hunt them; and according to Pop, this is a big problem because these bears eat sheep and other farm animals. Ursus beer is the best beer in Romania (at least according to the Clujians) – it definitely tasted good to us.
The following morning we met Andrei from Pan Travel, who will be our guide for the next week. Today he gave us a walking tour of his hometown Cluj. Cluj actually has many elegant buildings, and it is obvious that much has been recently restored. (Unfortunately, Cluj also has many ugly concrete constructions built during the Communist days under the Ceausescu). We visited several churches and viewed a portion of the old fortified city wall – Cluj is fortunate to have an intact old city.
We were lucky enough to witness a Greek Orthodox baptism while in Cluj. The ceremony began with the mother taking confession right in the middle of the church aisle (with the priest’s robe draped over her head). There are no confessional booths, so this is the way confession works with everyone. The big finale came when the tiny infant, totally naked, got a triple dunk into a basin of holy water! Our little guy handled it remarkably well, and you could see how proud the family was.
Cluj has been occupied repeatedly throughout its history, and churches have changed hands too, sometimes from Jesuit to Protestant Reformed. Being close to the Hungarian border, Cluj has a large Hungarian population. Their protestant churches tend to be quite plain except for the ornate organs and the elaborate pulpits. (In fact in many cases, they plastered over the old Catholic frescoes.)
Unfortunately, we had one more experience with “unscrupulous Romania.” We don’t want to dwell too much on this because overall the people of Romania are kind and friendly, but you need to be a savvy traveler here. We returned to a small neighborhood grocery store near our hotel to buy more bottled water. When my husband got his change, he realized the young woman had shorted him 5 lei. She said, “Oh sorry,” and immediately gave him the 5. However, later when he checked over the purchases, he realized that she had also overcharged him for one of the items! Note that bar codes are nonexistent here, so prices are entered by hand. It wasn’t much money, and we know these people are poor, but nobody likes to be cheated.
One very Transylvanian aspect of Cluj were the hordes of large black crows that flew into the city center parks each evening at dusk (and back out at dawn to dine in the outer garbage dumps). These big birds looked like ravens and added to the mystique of the Transylvania legend. Hundreds and hundreds of black “crows” came swooping down the main street each night, cackling at max decibel level right past our hotel window. It was like a creepy Hollywood Dracula movie, adding to the mystery and allure of this part of Romania.
Nov 25th, 2012, 11:57 PM
#10
Lots of very useful info and tips. Thanks very much for your report.
Romania is on our destination list for a quick getaway. What paraphernalia do you recommend against a possible vampire (or crow attack in case of Cluj)?
Romania is on our destination list for a quick getaway. What paraphernalia do you recommend against a possible vampire (or crow attack in case of Cluj)?
Nov 26th, 2012, 03:05 AM
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Looking forward to the rest of the report! I went to Istanbul several years ago, Ukraine (not Crimea) the summer before last & might be going to Moldova next year, so I love reading about the region.
Nov 26th, 2012, 03:31 AM
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I can help you with Russian and Ukrainian language. You write me on English and I translate.
If you short in money you can take a bus from Yalta to Bahchisaray. It will be much more expensive.
Good luck!
If you short in money you can take a bus from Yalta to Bahchisaray. It will be much more expensive.
Good luck!
Nov 26th, 2012, 08:26 AM
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Maramures, our “Brigadoon”
Some of you may remember the wonderful Lerner and Loewe musical “Brigadoon” about a Scottish village that remained unchanged and untouched by the modern world because it only appeared for one day every 100 years. Well, Maramures is our “Brigadoon,” a land of horse-drawn wooden carts where hand-pitched haystacks dot the landscape and the spires of simplistic wooden churches pierce the sky. This area is also home to some of the kindest, most genuine down-to-earth people we have ever encountered.
We were fortunate to have Andrei Mahalnischi from Pan Travel as our driver/guide through this amazing time warp. Andrei has a remarkable talent for relating to the local people, and he gave us an unforgettable glimpse into a way of life that has disappeared from the rest of Europe.
We spent three nights in Maramures in the home of Maria and Ioan, the nicest couple you could ever meet who welcomed us into their home and into their hardworking lives. Ioan is a true peasant, a proud farmer who works the land and cares for his farm animals from dawn to dusk. He is also a gentle soul who touched my heart when he handed me a perfect white rose on our last day.
Maria is a retired elementary school teacher who fills her days making gorgeous handicrafts and creating the most delicious dishes – every meal was a culinary adventure from incomparably creamy polenta called “mamalinga” (made with sour cream) to an assortment of delicious soups, all made with the freshest ingredients. Dinner each night consisted of a starter, a soup, a main entrée, and a dessert. Everything made from scratch with local ingredients – baskets of just baked bread, extra spicy pickles fermented with horseradish, featherweight crepes served with homemade jam.
In Maramures, people never want to appear ungenerous, so the amount of food delivered to our table each night was always overwhelming. We were constantly torn between not wanting to offend Maria and wanting to be able to fit into our clothes!
Maria and Ioan spoke no English, but they did speak French so that worked out pretty well since both of us have a few years of French under our belts. My husband and Maria were also able to communicate in Russian as a backup, since altho reluctant to do so, Maria understood/spoke some Russian.
Staying with them was so much fun. Andrei celebrated his 61st birthday while we were here, so one night Maria and Ioan presented him with a huge homemade cake and sang a Romanian birthday song. Not to be outdone, my husband played his harmonica and I sang “Happy Birthday to You.”
Of course, rural life is full of surprises. One morning the entire town was without water. Unfortunately, I was just heading for the shower, but no worries, Ioan arrived on the scene with a big pot of warm water (from the nearby creek, we assumed) along with a smaller saucepan to use as a ladle. What can you do? When in Romania, you do like the Romanians! When the water goes down, you sit in the bathtub and scoop warm creek water over your body as you scrub to get clean.
The pride of Maramures are the fabled wooden churches – impressive small buildings with towering Gothic spires completely made of wood. The government at one point in time disallowed any new churches from being made of stone, so not to be deterred, the peasants made them of wood instead.
Inside, the church walls are decorated with unsophisticated paintings by local talent. The overall effect is a simple devotion that perfectly matches the people who live here.
On one day, we visited the Animal Market, a traveling band of vendors who move from town to town selling animals and just about anything you would need to buy: horses, cows, pigs, shoes, clothes, furniture, leather goods, cabbage, beets, other food staples, and trinkets galore. What a zoo! And the best part was watching all the people of the town doing their shopping.
Everyone was so friendly, and they all seemed amused when we took picture after picture of what to them is just a routine event. I still can’t get over seeing a woman purchasing a live piglet – the piglet was hoisted up and dropped into a burlap sack by the vendor, and the happy buyer went on her merry way, carrying her squiggling, squealing shopping bag over her shoulder!
Another highlight was the Merry Cemetery. This was the most colorful cemetery we have ever seen with hand-painted bright blue crosses. Each cross has a painting of the deceased and a personal epitaph (that Andrei translated for us). The bright colors are intended to remind us that death is not a sorrowful thing but a new beginning, and each epitaph begins with the reassuring words of the dead person, “I am relaxing here…”
The Memorial of Anticommunist Victims was a much more sobering site because it addressed a period of nasty history on the Romanian calendar. This museum was dedicated to all the Romanians who suffered imprisonment and often death at the hands of the Russians and the infamous dictator, Nicolai Ceausescu. It is impossible for us as Americans to imagine living under these regimes, and the tyranny they rained on their citizens. One small example: you needed a permit to own a typewriter and permits were given only to those who needed a typewriter for their jobs. But it didn’t end there -- every year you had to submit a designated text typed on your typewriter which was kept on file so that it could be used to identify the source of any subversive pamphlets or documents.
We also visited a local Maramures artisan who seemed to have a regular “industrial complex” in his front yard. Since his place was located next to a small creek, an active water wheel was able to provide power and water to wash major sized blankets and rugs in a large conical wooden barrel while at the same time, it could also operate a mill stone that ground grains like corn and wheat into flour.
But the most interesting operation was the brandy distillery, a rough looking set-up fueled by a wood stove to accelerate grain breakdown and fermentation, and where alcohol was cooled at the final stages by the waters of the creek. We got the full tour including a taste of the home-brewed palinka (plum, apple, or other fruit brandy). We were never sure if homemade palinka is exactly legal. But in this country of Romania, everybody drinks it, everybody makes it, and everybody swears it is medicinal.
One morning, Maria gave us a demonstration of carpet-making on her loom. She is an incredible talent, and weaving on a loom, as we discovered, is just one more of this woman’s long list of capabilities -- and she has been weaving since she was five years old! For some fun, Maria decked us both out in a selection of her best Romanian garments. We made quite a pair, and Andrei took lots of pix to capture the moment.
A favorite activity in Maramures was just driving around and stopping whenever something caught our eye. One day, we stopped to talk with two farmers who had just finished loading their hay wagon, and before we knew what was happening, Andrei had arranged for my husband to ride on the wagon and drive the horses. What a thrill!
We hope this report gives you a taste of what we experienced in our “Brigadoon.” For us, Maramures was the highlight of Romania. According to the legend of Brigadoon, no resident can ever leave the town or Brigadoon will disappear forever. Even in this regard, Maramures is somewhat similar. Recently after an especially difficult winter, Maria suggested to Ioan that they sell the farm and move to the city. Ioan replied, “I can’t leave; this land is my life.”
Some of you may remember the wonderful Lerner and Loewe musical “Brigadoon” about a Scottish village that remained unchanged and untouched by the modern world because it only appeared for one day every 100 years. Well, Maramures is our “Brigadoon,” a land of horse-drawn wooden carts where hand-pitched haystacks dot the landscape and the spires of simplistic wooden churches pierce the sky. This area is also home to some of the kindest, most genuine down-to-earth people we have ever encountered.
We were fortunate to have Andrei Mahalnischi from Pan Travel as our driver/guide through this amazing time warp. Andrei has a remarkable talent for relating to the local people, and he gave us an unforgettable glimpse into a way of life that has disappeared from the rest of Europe.
We spent three nights in Maramures in the home of Maria and Ioan, the nicest couple you could ever meet who welcomed us into their home and into their hardworking lives. Ioan is a true peasant, a proud farmer who works the land and cares for his farm animals from dawn to dusk. He is also a gentle soul who touched my heart when he handed me a perfect white rose on our last day.
Maria is a retired elementary school teacher who fills her days making gorgeous handicrafts and creating the most delicious dishes – every meal was a culinary adventure from incomparably creamy polenta called “mamalinga” (made with sour cream) to an assortment of delicious soups, all made with the freshest ingredients. Dinner each night consisted of a starter, a soup, a main entrée, and a dessert. Everything made from scratch with local ingredients – baskets of just baked bread, extra spicy pickles fermented with horseradish, featherweight crepes served with homemade jam.
In Maramures, people never want to appear ungenerous, so the amount of food delivered to our table each night was always overwhelming. We were constantly torn between not wanting to offend Maria and wanting to be able to fit into our clothes!
Maria and Ioan spoke no English, but they did speak French so that worked out pretty well since both of us have a few years of French under our belts. My husband and Maria were also able to communicate in Russian as a backup, since altho reluctant to do so, Maria understood/spoke some Russian.
Staying with them was so much fun. Andrei celebrated his 61st birthday while we were here, so one night Maria and Ioan presented him with a huge homemade cake and sang a Romanian birthday song. Not to be outdone, my husband played his harmonica and I sang “Happy Birthday to You.”
Of course, rural life is full of surprises. One morning the entire town was without water. Unfortunately, I was just heading for the shower, but no worries, Ioan arrived on the scene with a big pot of warm water (from the nearby creek, we assumed) along with a smaller saucepan to use as a ladle. What can you do? When in Romania, you do like the Romanians! When the water goes down, you sit in the bathtub and scoop warm creek water over your body as you scrub to get clean.
The pride of Maramures are the fabled wooden churches – impressive small buildings with towering Gothic spires completely made of wood. The government at one point in time disallowed any new churches from being made of stone, so not to be deterred, the peasants made them of wood instead.
Inside, the church walls are decorated with unsophisticated paintings by local talent. The overall effect is a simple devotion that perfectly matches the people who live here.
On one day, we visited the Animal Market, a traveling band of vendors who move from town to town selling animals and just about anything you would need to buy: horses, cows, pigs, shoes, clothes, furniture, leather goods, cabbage, beets, other food staples, and trinkets galore. What a zoo! And the best part was watching all the people of the town doing their shopping.
Everyone was so friendly, and they all seemed amused when we took picture after picture of what to them is just a routine event. I still can’t get over seeing a woman purchasing a live piglet – the piglet was hoisted up and dropped into a burlap sack by the vendor, and the happy buyer went on her merry way, carrying her squiggling, squealing shopping bag over her shoulder!
Another highlight was the Merry Cemetery. This was the most colorful cemetery we have ever seen with hand-painted bright blue crosses. Each cross has a painting of the deceased and a personal epitaph (that Andrei translated for us). The bright colors are intended to remind us that death is not a sorrowful thing but a new beginning, and each epitaph begins with the reassuring words of the dead person, “I am relaxing here…”
The Memorial of Anticommunist Victims was a much more sobering site because it addressed a period of nasty history on the Romanian calendar. This museum was dedicated to all the Romanians who suffered imprisonment and often death at the hands of the Russians and the infamous dictator, Nicolai Ceausescu. It is impossible for us as Americans to imagine living under these regimes, and the tyranny they rained on their citizens. One small example: you needed a permit to own a typewriter and permits were given only to those who needed a typewriter for their jobs. But it didn’t end there -- every year you had to submit a designated text typed on your typewriter which was kept on file so that it could be used to identify the source of any subversive pamphlets or documents.
We also visited a local Maramures artisan who seemed to have a regular “industrial complex” in his front yard. Since his place was located next to a small creek, an active water wheel was able to provide power and water to wash major sized blankets and rugs in a large conical wooden barrel while at the same time, it could also operate a mill stone that ground grains like corn and wheat into flour.
But the most interesting operation was the brandy distillery, a rough looking set-up fueled by a wood stove to accelerate grain breakdown and fermentation, and where alcohol was cooled at the final stages by the waters of the creek. We got the full tour including a taste of the home-brewed palinka (plum, apple, or other fruit brandy). We were never sure if homemade palinka is exactly legal. But in this country of Romania, everybody drinks it, everybody makes it, and everybody swears it is medicinal.
One morning, Maria gave us a demonstration of carpet-making on her loom. She is an incredible talent, and weaving on a loom, as we discovered, is just one more of this woman’s long list of capabilities -- and she has been weaving since she was five years old! For some fun, Maria decked us both out in a selection of her best Romanian garments. We made quite a pair, and Andrei took lots of pix to capture the moment.
A favorite activity in Maramures was just driving around and stopping whenever something caught our eye. One day, we stopped to talk with two farmers who had just finished loading their hay wagon, and before we knew what was happening, Andrei had arranged for my husband to ride on the wagon and drive the horses. What a thrill!
We hope this report gives you a taste of what we experienced in our “Brigadoon.” For us, Maramures was the highlight of Romania. According to the legend of Brigadoon, no resident can ever leave the town or Brigadoon will disappear forever. Even in this regard, Maramures is somewhat similar. Recently after an especially difficult winter, Maria suggested to Ioan that they sell the farm and move to the city. Ioan replied, “I can’t leave; this land is my life.”
Nov 27th, 2012, 10:22 AM
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Mag
..great start to a detailed, nicely written report. Pix? I will be happy to share some of mine from the challenging 80's, 90's and the most recent from 2005...where Maramures(h) and Bukovina star...as well as Buchares(h)t, Sinaia, Bras(h)ov, Sighis(h) oara, Cluj, Popa's unusual museum in Tarpes(h)t, Bicaz Gorge, Iasi(Yash), Birlad (the Eastern Romanian source of one of my historical novels), Constant(s)a, and Bulgaria. I promise.
<i>(OC, when you're ready for the excitement of Romania, I'll share the same pix with you whether you like it or not, old boy)! Be sure to take Mrs. along so you won't bore anyone.</i>
Mag: Thanks for memories of an illuminating, fun evening at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich, with some whacked-out students of the local university, way back in the 70's.
stu tower (p.s Mag...it's "mamaliga"...)
..great start to a detailed, nicely written report. Pix? I will be happy to share some of mine from the challenging 80's, 90's and the most recent from 2005...where Maramures(h) and Bukovina star...as well as Buchares(h)t, Sinaia, Bras(h)ov, Sighis(h) oara, Cluj, Popa's unusual museum in Tarpes(h)t, Bicaz Gorge, Iasi(Yash), Birlad (the Eastern Romanian source of one of my historical novels), Constant(s)a, and Bulgaria. I promise.
<i>(OC, when you're ready for the excitement of Romania, I'll share the same pix with you whether you like it or not, old boy)! Be sure to take Mrs. along so you won't bore anyone.</i>
Mag: Thanks for memories of an illuminating, fun evening at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich, with some whacked-out students of the local university, way back in the 70's.
stu tower (p.s Mag...it's "mamaliga"...)
Nov 28th, 2012, 05:34 AM
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stu -- Really appreciate the correction on mamaliga -- it is the best tasting stuff! We are putting together a blog with pixs, and I'll post the link here when it's done. You had given me the link to your pix back when I was planning the trip -- now I want to go back and take a second look to relive what I saw.
BTW, thanks to you we did get to the Popa Museum in Tarpesti. I'll talk about it more in the Trip Report, but it was a real find (Even our guide was impressed as he had never heard of it.) We really enjoyed it and hope that more people will seek it out. It's such a little gem, and they really need visitors to stay afloat. Loved the masks!!
BTW, thanks to you we did get to the Popa Museum in Tarpesti. I'll talk about it more in the Trip Report, but it was a real find (Even our guide was impressed as he had never heard of it.) We really enjoyed it and hope that more people will seek it out. It's such a little gem, and they really need visitors to stay afloat. Loved the masks!!
Nov 28th, 2012, 05:44 AM
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Bucovina: Painted Monasteries, Egg Decorating, and Cabbage
It was hard to say goodbye to our hosts and new friends Maria and Ioan, but we needed to move on to visit more of rural life in the adjacent region of Bucovina to the east. One of the top sights here are the Painted Monasteries, the pride of Romania -- treasured churches that are covered with frescoes both inside and out.
The intensely colored frescoes from the 15th century are remarkably well-preserved and describe many popular Bible stories as well as “frighteningly” detailed pictures of the last judgment. A typical last judgment scene shows sinners (political enemies such as the Turks are at the front of the line) ready to be thrown into the red river of fire.
At one of the monasteries, we were able to observe art restorers at work. It appeared to be a painstaking effort to replace these unique colors that have faded with age, and restoring personnel stood on wobbly ladder set-ups, or crouched on hard tile floors on bended knee for the duration of the day. Whisker-thin paint brushes and other unusual tools were the main means of the restoration. We found it interesting that they do not fill the colors in completely. This is done purposefully so the restored sections are always obvious -- ensures that nobody ever tries to pass off restoration work as the real thing.
We made a stop in the small village of Marginea which is famous for its black pottery. Luckily, we were able to see a potter at work – he made it look so easy, transforming a lump of black clay into a perfectly proportioned vase in just seconds. This pottery is quite an unusual color: more silver than black, and the price was a steal. Prices are so cheap here in Romania, it is hard not to scoop up all these amazing bargains; problem is that you need so much extra baggage to get all these “bargains” home.
Speaking of bargains, Andrei showed us a house for sale for 60,000 euros (about $78,000). This was an unbelievably nice, big house on about 6 acres of land. Too bad it sat on a busy highway. My husband kept telling everyone that depending how the election turned out, we were going to move to Romania and buy this house!
Andrei, our guide, had promised us an egg decorating demonstration, but we had no idea that we would get to decorate eggs ourselves. This was so much fun – I was ready to embark on a new career as a Romanian egg decorator! We got our lesson from a priest and his wife (sounds weird, I know, but Greek Orthodox priests are allowed to marry) and a young girl from their church who demonstrated the process for us.
Egg decorating is not at all easy. You begin with a white goose egg and cover any areas with wax that you want to remain white, using a special “pencil” with a narrow metallic spike (that you dip into the hot wax). After completing the 1st wax application, you dip the egg in yellow dye and then cover any areas that you want to remain yellow with the next application of wax. You repeat the process with red dye (covering any areas that you want to remain red with the wax), and finish with a dip in black dye. It’s an odd method that forces you to think in reverse. The best moment comes at the end when you remove the wax layers and all the colors appear!
Our eggs were pretty pathetic, but the experience was terrific. And of course, the priest and his wife gave us palinka (plum brandy) to drink and sweet rolls to munch upon. The hospitality in the Romanian countryside is simply heartwarming.
We have saved the best story for last. My husband’s favorite experience in Bucovina was visiting “cabbage town” – a village famed for their plethora of cabbages. We have never seen so many cabbages in one place at one time. Andrei promised us “mountains of cabbages,” and that is exactly what we got. Cabbage is a big staple in Romania and a constant stream of customers were buying these cabbages by the sack full.
Since my husband makes his own sauerkraut back home, we found it interesting to see how they make sauerkraut here in Romania. Basically, they fill big old wooden barrels that are sitting open out in the fields with as many cabbages as they can jam in there, add lots of salt, place some large river rocks and old tires on the top (to press down on the cabbage), and let fermentation do its thing. These vats are about 8 feet in diameter and 6 feet tall, and the strong cabbage juices permeate the air as you approach them. Our FDA would go nuts, but apparently, this is the way they have always done it. Have to admit that it smelled really good! (But don’t expect to see a big barrel of kraut in our backyard anytime soon!)
It was hard to say goodbye to our hosts and new friends Maria and Ioan, but we needed to move on to visit more of rural life in the adjacent region of Bucovina to the east. One of the top sights here are the Painted Monasteries, the pride of Romania -- treasured churches that are covered with frescoes both inside and out.
The intensely colored frescoes from the 15th century are remarkably well-preserved and describe many popular Bible stories as well as “frighteningly” detailed pictures of the last judgment. A typical last judgment scene shows sinners (political enemies such as the Turks are at the front of the line) ready to be thrown into the red river of fire.
At one of the monasteries, we were able to observe art restorers at work. It appeared to be a painstaking effort to replace these unique colors that have faded with age, and restoring personnel stood on wobbly ladder set-ups, or crouched on hard tile floors on bended knee for the duration of the day. Whisker-thin paint brushes and other unusual tools were the main means of the restoration. We found it interesting that they do not fill the colors in completely. This is done purposefully so the restored sections are always obvious -- ensures that nobody ever tries to pass off restoration work as the real thing.
We made a stop in the small village of Marginea which is famous for its black pottery. Luckily, we were able to see a potter at work – he made it look so easy, transforming a lump of black clay into a perfectly proportioned vase in just seconds. This pottery is quite an unusual color: more silver than black, and the price was a steal. Prices are so cheap here in Romania, it is hard not to scoop up all these amazing bargains; problem is that you need so much extra baggage to get all these “bargains” home.
Speaking of bargains, Andrei showed us a house for sale for 60,000 euros (about $78,000). This was an unbelievably nice, big house on about 6 acres of land. Too bad it sat on a busy highway. My husband kept telling everyone that depending how the election turned out, we were going to move to Romania and buy this house!
Andrei, our guide, had promised us an egg decorating demonstration, but we had no idea that we would get to decorate eggs ourselves. This was so much fun – I was ready to embark on a new career as a Romanian egg decorator! We got our lesson from a priest and his wife (sounds weird, I know, but Greek Orthodox priests are allowed to marry) and a young girl from their church who demonstrated the process for us.
Egg decorating is not at all easy. You begin with a white goose egg and cover any areas with wax that you want to remain white, using a special “pencil” with a narrow metallic spike (that you dip into the hot wax). After completing the 1st wax application, you dip the egg in yellow dye and then cover any areas that you want to remain yellow with the next application of wax. You repeat the process with red dye (covering any areas that you want to remain red with the wax), and finish with a dip in black dye. It’s an odd method that forces you to think in reverse. The best moment comes at the end when you remove the wax layers and all the colors appear!
Our eggs were pretty pathetic, but the experience was terrific. And of course, the priest and his wife gave us palinka (plum brandy) to drink and sweet rolls to munch upon. The hospitality in the Romanian countryside is simply heartwarming.
We have saved the best story for last. My husband’s favorite experience in Bucovina was visiting “cabbage town” – a village famed for their plethora of cabbages. We have never seen so many cabbages in one place at one time. Andrei promised us “mountains of cabbages,” and that is exactly what we got. Cabbage is a big staple in Romania and a constant stream of customers were buying these cabbages by the sack full.
Since my husband makes his own sauerkraut back home, we found it interesting to see how they make sauerkraut here in Romania. Basically, they fill big old wooden barrels that are sitting open out in the fields with as many cabbages as they can jam in there, add lots of salt, place some large river rocks and old tires on the top (to press down on the cabbage), and let fermentation do its thing. These vats are about 8 feet in diameter and 6 feet tall, and the strong cabbage juices permeate the air as you approach them. Our FDA would go nuts, but apparently, this is the way they have always done it. Have to admit that it smelled really good! (But don’t expect to see a big barrel of kraut in our backyard anytime soon!)
Nov 28th, 2012, 06:35 AM
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Mag..I noticed that for your May 2012 thread I included some early pics on Popa Museum. They are no longer available. These are the newer select bunch, updated for anyone wishing to see them (inlcluding a little of Bulgaria).
https://picasaweb.google.com/stuartt...adAndBulgaria#
So happy you did get to visit. Quite a few Fodorites have told me their guides didn't know about it. Hopefully, Neculae Popa is still kicking. He was 92 back in 2005, as shown in the pic.
Happy travels...where to next?
Mag: Your report is exceptionally comprehensive and a pleasure to read. My overseas travel days are seemngly over so the vicarious kick I get out of reports like yours are most welcome, especially pics.
Stu
https://picasaweb.google.com/stuartt...adAndBulgaria#
So happy you did get to visit. Quite a few Fodorites have told me their guides didn't know about it. Hopefully, Neculae Popa is still kicking. He was 92 back in 2005, as shown in the pic.
Happy travels...where to next?
Mag: Your report is exceptionally comprehensive and a pleasure to read. My overseas travel days are seemngly over so the vicarious kick I get out of reports like yours are most welcome, especially pics.
Stu
