Romania Autumn Festivals?

Check this site, it is in romanian but you will have a list of events which take place every year: http://www.infotravelromania.ro/evenim.html

Thanks Batuffolina. I'm going to have to figure this Romanian stuff out soon, so this is a good start. Some of it seems like it makes sense.

Hopefully we find something unique going on somewhere there in that timeframe. We're hoping to visit Maremares, Bucovina and Transylvania. I think it's going to be an adventure.

My father is romanian and I have visited Romania 4 times up to now. The regions of Maramures and Bucovina are famous for the bizantine churches which have those wonderful biblical frescos painted on the outer walls. Also the orthodox monastries are fascinating. Transylvania is a beautiful region too. Worth to be visited are: Bran Castle (aka Dracula Castle, but there is nothing gloomy or scary about it, the interiors are white washed and there are some pieces of oak furniture), Peles Castle, Brasov, Poiana Brasov (mostly for walks, and there are hotels among the mountains), Sinaia. If you need some help in understanding the romanian web site I can give you a hand, No problem!

Here you are some translations:
festival castanelor= chestnut festival
Festival dansului barbatesc= festival of Men Dancers
Cantecele Romanilor de Pretutindeni= songs of the romanians from everywhere
Festival minoritatilor= festival of minorities
Targul artistilor populari= exhition of popular artists
Festival "crizantema de aur"= "golden chrysamthemum" festival.
I hope to have cleared your doubts

Thanks again Batuffolina, you've been a great help. It's not easy finding Romanian translation! (I just barely started trying to teach myself Italian) Some of those festivals sound quite interesting and I'll follow up.

We were planning on seeing at least a couple of the painted monastaries - Sucevita and at least one more. Do you have a personal favorite? All the places on your Transylvania list are on our "see" list, except that I'll add Poiana Brasov. We do love mountain views. We're also wanting to spend some time in Sighisoara and Medias as they seem to have that medieval look to them.

Hi Clifton. I have visited the churches and monasteries in Moldova, like Voroneti (which has a fabulous painting of the last judgment, whose dominating colour is red -each church has a dominating colour, I remember someone told me-), Moldovita, Neamt, Bistrita and Putna. They are all great, though to a profane eye like mine they all looked similar, so it is hard for me to remember which ones I visited (it was in 1992, last time I have been there).
I particularly likes the town of IASI (pronounced IASHHH), because it has sooo many things to see, like the Palace of the former prince Stephan the Great (palatul Unirii) which has a good collection of romanian artefacts, the National Theatre, the Copou Park with the statue of the National Bard, Mihai Eminescu, the church called Trei Hierarchi (of the 3 Hierarchs). It is a very lively town and it has plenty to see...
Brasov also is lovely, the central square is interesting and I also suggest a walk (or just take the funicular) at Timpa from where you can have a lovely view of the town.
What else? Around Brasov (driving towards and around Bran Castle) you will also find some typical small villages, that were built and that preserve german names. This is a so called german "island" because in the past (around the 6th century if I recall well from my university times) some groups of germans were brought there. They preserved their language (that is now an old version of the german spoken in Germany), their uses, their building styles (you will see little houses with high fencing walls, an old german characteristic, I have been told).
Last but not least, the FOOD you should try once in Romania:
SARMALE (minced meat balls wrapped in grape leaves), served with sour cream, really yummy, ICRE (a kind of caviar but it is creamier and fluffier), GOGOSI (pronounced go-goshhhhh) that reminded me of krapfen, MUSACA (cream of red peppers that you spread on bread), BACLAVA (reminds of eggplant parmigiana, but MUCH heavier), PLACINTA CU BRINZA (cheese cake), PLACINTA CU NUCA (walnut cake) and PAPANAS (pronounced papanashhhh) another dessert made with sour cream and breadcrumbs.
I hope not to have confused your plans and ideas....
If I have some more ideas, I'll drop you some other message!
PA (which in romanian means BYE)

Oh no, no confusion. We don't have a set plan yet, so all these are good things to add to the list. I know we can't do it all in just one holiday, but it's always nice to have a full list of choices.

Thanks too for the information on food, especially pronunciations. We had just been talking about that the other night. We'd rather try the local dishes usually than just finding generic restaurants. All of this is very much appreciated.

Batuffolina,

I was wondering, have you ever been there in early November or late October? The trip's been delayed by a month. I'm a little concerned about driving in the more remote mountains if there's a possiblity of unplowed snow. Any thoughts?

Hi Clifton,
No I have never been to Romania in Oct/nov, only around Jul/Aug and sometimes it was HOT (especially in the plain area from Bucharest to the Black sea called Dobrogea), sometimes it was cold (especially in the northern regions like Moldova and Transilvania). From what I recall (having been told by friends and relatives) in OCt/Nov it CAN be cold, especially in the northern regions. As I have always said, weather is unpredictable...
Have you checked this site?
www.romaniatourism.com
It is in english and it has lots of info!, maybe also some about the weather

Ah, thank you again for taking the time to respond. Our other choice was to go earlier, but August didn't sound like fun if there was another heat wave!

I always like to double check those online places that give you the yearly averages in weather. We've looked at some of the places we've lived (like here in Memphis or my wife's home in Melbourne) and some of those websites are *way* off.

I will check out that site. More information is always, always a good thing.

Hi Clifton
August could not be a bad idea if you choose to visit the northern regions or Transylvania (Carpathic area anyway). Poiana and Sinaia are always fresh havens when the heat strikes, you know. Lots of woods, walking tracks on the mountains, and if you go up to BABELE (the tonic accent is on the A) which are perched on top of the mountains near Sinaia, it is chilly!
Also, in Transylvania (but that's also all around the country), there are natural spring water spas, with swimming pools. You can have massages, swim in water of different temperatures, even have some treatment if you have some ailing pains. I remember going to Malnash-Bai when I was 8 with my parents, it was fun.
OR.... if you like sea, sun and sand, there is always the Black sea. Lots of hotels, very lively in August (Costinesti is the fave resort for young people, there is a music festival in Constanta if I remember well), lots of restaurants with terraces facing the sea (by the way dont forget to try MITITEI, spiced grilled meat balls. Great with a COLD beer!)... Have a short boat trip of the Danube Delta, or even to Varna, Bulgaria.
What else can I say? the possibilities are MANY as you can see: sea, mountains, art, history...
I would avoid Bucharest in August, it is a hot pit!

It seems like there's so much to see, I just wish we had more time! (I always wish that though). We're going to spend a few nights in Budapest and then take the train into Romania. Now we're left with figuring out what we most want to do. That's enjoyable for me though. I got some fall weather advice from Alex, who's lives in Romania, over on the Lonely Planet board and it doesn't seem like it *should* be too bad. You never know, but we kind of like the cold weather anyway. Seems like a lot more people ask about Romania on that board than here.

Still haven't decided what order to put things in, but the list right now includes a short 1-2 day drive through Maramures and Bukovina and the rest in maybe based in 2 or 3 central Transylvania locations, with hopes to see some of these (but probably not all):

Sighisoara
Sibiu
Medias
Biertan
Brasov
Hunedoara
Sinaia
Curtea de Arges
Hunedoara
Alba Iulia
Fagaras

It's more than we have time to see, but we don't usually schedule too much, except accommodations sometimes. Always have to leave something to see next time, right?

PS, thanks for the tip in Babele. That sounds promising.

Right! That's always the excuse for a future ravel!
Your itinerary is pretty good and you will have quite a good knowledge of Romania.
Yes, I agree, I have visited the Thorn Tree forum in Lonely Planet web site and there are many knowledgable people there about Romania. Some are really living there like Alex.

Romainian = Latin
When the Roman Empire many Romans both solders and civilians settled there with their families. Transalvania is "Beyond the forests" in Latin. If you have a friend who has studied a lot of Latin they can help you trnaslate.
BTW Plan on a night in Sigashoria and have a meal in the house where Dracula was born. We had the best meal there that we had in Romania.

I hope to come back feeling like I picked up a little bit. We'll see...

Art, thanks for the insite and the restaurant recommendation. We'll probably stay in Sighisoara at least a couple of days, so we'll try it out on a night when we aren't in neighboring towns. I'd been reading some of you old posts on your trip, which have been very helpful.

I don't know anyone who's up on their Latin, but we're working on the basics. We'll communicate, even if we have to draw pictures and play charades. We will definitely learn hellos and thank yous and that sort of thing for sure. Hopefully more but I'm bad at soaking in language. I can understand German halfway because my grandparents spoke it, but that's it so far.

Clifton- Have you found much information on interesting places to stay? I'm interested in Romania but I'm seeing lots of concrete block hotels on the websites. Do you know anything about Castle Kalnoky? It looked interesting. I agree, there isn't much information on Romania here. Almost got talked out of Romania with the posts about having to bring your own lightbulbs and toilet paper.

LLC:
as regards bringing toilet paper, I am afraid but it is TRUE! When I went to a 3 star hotel in Mamaia in 92, after two days I noticed that there was not enough toilet paper, so I asked the housekeeper to be given a new roll. The answer... No, Ma'm, I can just give you a little handful (5 rounds around the hand) for today, we are out of toilet paper....
Thank God I hadn't diarrhea! (sorry about the inappropriate detail, but, HEY that was sadly true!).
I dont know about the present situation now, I guess that if you choose some small hotel, there might have some toilet paper shortage. Not so in the luxury hotels...
Also, I can suggest to have either some soap bars, cigarette packs or something like that at hand, to give the housekeeper or the concierge when asking for something. I know it sounds cheap or mean, but my cousins and I would do that (I still remember we handed Lux soap bars and cigarette packs under the counter) when we asked for a minibar (to store water or sodas) in our room or to have our sheets changed more often than they would do (always because they were short of linens), and.... punctually it worked! we had clean sheets and the minibar (when at first they seemed intransigent on that...). For the toilet paper... that was something they couldnt do much, though... they really had a little!!!

Batuffolina,
That was 92, are things still like that or has it gotten any better?

Yes I realise that my info can be pretty outdated, but I think it is good to know that if it seems that you can't have something while in a hotel (something like toilet paper that a hotel SHOULD have), maybe by handing a few euros as tip, the same thing can be obtained. Frankly speaking, I don't know if it still works like that, but again, it is good to know that.

Hi LLC. Well, I guess I looked at the same website you did, but other than that, I don't know much. Looks interesting. I know we're wanting to stay a bit in Sighisoara as well as above Brasov (like in the Predeal/Sinaia area) but I wasn't sure we'd want to move again just a few miles down the road. It looks very nice though.

We've seen a few places that aren't of the "big box" variety but haven't made any final choices yet. I like accomodations with character too, but I'm generally ok with guesthouses and such as well. I think we've accepted that some of Romania won't necessarily be much like a trip to France. So, we'll take some of that travel toilet paper (yes, there really is such stuff. I saw it at K-Mart, tight little roll, probably for camping) and a little bar of soap and hope for the best!

I did think that the Hotel Imparatul Romanilor in Sibiu could be a "splurge" for us (at somthing like 70Euro per night for both of us) amid the less expensive places. It seems like there aren't so many top end choices - not that we're looking for any - except perhaps in Bucharest, but you do seem to get so much for so little in what choices there are.

I was also just looking at the Hotel Caraiman in Sinaia and the Plai de Dor near Sucevita. Your guess is as good as mine on whether they are good or not, but they do seem to have some character.

Sorry, my numbers were off on the Imparatul Romanilor hotel. I checked and it's 2000090 Lei ($62.40 USD, including VAT)

Try this site: http://www.tourneo.net

Clifton- are you still planning on Romania in the fall? Have you gotten any more info?

Still planning on going. Dates seem to be firming up for a couple of weeks later than we'd planned. Looks like we'll be going from Oct 22-Nov 2nd, then training on to Budapest.

I think I've looked at every Romania website on the internet at this point. LOL. Have read both the LP and Rough Guide on Romania. I do think we're going to have a tough time finding a many traditional festivals at that time of year, (August would have been better) but have hopes for finding just a traditional sunday market in Maramures.

ttt
Any other new information on Romania?

LLC,

A bit here and there. Were you looking specifically for festival information or general info on Romania?

Clifton,
Both. Still trying to decide where to go this fall. Are you renting a car in Romania?

Just on for a second but -

Plans changed just a little. We're flying into and out of Budapest now. Looking at rental car companies there. Some have some very restrictive policies if you take the car into Romania. Some are fine but charge more on insurances.

There was a poster here a couple of weeks ago called Octavian (I think I have that right) that had built a Romania site that was very good. www.spirit.ro

Good luck!

Check this site (http://www.dictionare.com/dictionaries/dictionary.htm) for quick translations.

Also, not a festival per-se but an interesting custom: if you're still in Romania on November 1-st, walk by/through an orthodox cemetery. This is the day to celebrate "The day of the Dead" - nothing creepy, after sundown people go with flowers and candles to the family graves and reminisce about the departed. It's erie to see an usually dark and deserted cemetery full of people, candle-light and flowers.

It's kind of nice, especially in a smaller town or village, where everybody knows everybody else and people talk to their neighbours and friends.

mirela,

Thank you very much. By my best guess, we will probably be somewhere near Sibiu on November 1st. This sounds like a really interesting event to witness (quietly, out of people's way, of course). But this was just the sort of thing I was hoping to hear about. I know there are villages just west of Sibiu that we were hoping to visit. Perhaps one of those has an orthodox cemetary (I'm not sure if that area is Orthodox or is it Lutheran still from the Saxons?). Will try to find out. Again, thank you!

You're welcome, Clifton.

The area near Sibiu is actually both.
It has indeed a mixed population and the saxon influence is fortunately still visible, however you will find romanian orthodox churches and cemeteries everywhere.

Thanks again Mirela, that saves some research. I'm sure we won't have any trouble locating a smaller village near there. Only a couple of months now! (only?)

Clifton: Who did you end up renting a car with that would let you take it into Romania? Are you spending much time in Hungary? Were the flights that much cheaper to fly to Budapest or did you just want time in Hungary. Do you have any sort of itinerary set or are you just going to wing it? Are you making any reservations ahead?

Hi LLC.
We're renting from Budget through Autoeurope (a broker). It appears that Budget charges a per day surcharge for crossing into Romania on their own website, but has dropped it for Autoeurope. At least that was what the Autoeurope reps have told me on the phone. We were close to renting with a local company called Americana, but couldn't back out of the base CDW.

We planned to fly into Bucharest and out of Budapest or vice versa. I always planned to see some of Hungary, but thought it would be more a straightline direction. This was one of those rare cases though where open jaw was quite a bit more and the other issue was the car. Finding a company coming from either way and actually letting you drop the car on either side of the border had an astronomical drop charge or just wasn't allowed.

We've got a hotel booked in Budapest for a few days. Then we'll pick up the car and spend a few days traveling across the northern area before crossing into Romania. We don't have any hotel reservations or set itinerary after leaving Budapest. We then have a room reserved for our last night back in Budapest before flying out.

That's my kind of travel! Quite different than alot of the France and Italy posters on this board who already have all their dinner reservations! I'm guessing you have done lots of research and have some idea where you might like to stay in each area though. How many days did you plan for your trip?

I've tried to read up as much as I could. Of course, you never really know how things are going to be until you get there. How long? Probably not long enough but we'll have about 2.5 wks.

I know what you mean about the detailed planners. (part of me is envious of their foresight though) We discussed and even began researchign Italy - we've not been to either France or Italy yet. Both seem to be places where you have to plan more. Maybe due to competition with crowds? But I started to get the sense from reading here that we may have not matured yet enough to plan that trip. Someday.

Are you working out a trip to Romania or Hungary as well, LLC?

Clifton, I'm trying to plan something for Romania, but I'm having a hard time selling the idea. We both like off-the-beaten-track adventures, but as of now Romania isn't scoring too many points. I think I need julies pictures from her trip!

That was our thinking too. We'd been talking about Italy (and talking and talking). Something though seemed so... not sure if "pre-programmed" is the right expression. Sort of must hit one of these itineraries when in Italy kind of things or following the crowd. So we chucked that and started from scratch. I'm sure that sort of thing won't bother me as much at some point in my life (although I'd really like to see Mali and Bhutan before that happens).

Well, if julies doesn't have pics available, hopefully I will soon. Will be packing lenses. I'll try to add a little something here, good or bad. In the meantime, I have seen a couple of sites with great photos should you need more ammunition:

Best photos and articles:
www.spirit.ro

More good photo sites:
http://transylvanian-online.tripod.com/

http://www.johnrausch.com/Maramures/default.htm

http://www.roplace.ro/

And a personal favorite on the walled Saxon villages. We plan to do a lot of off the track investigation from this one:

http://medieval.romanianfolkart.ro

Hope you work out your plans! 27 days and counting for us.