We just got back from ten days driving around Romania. It was a true vacation. There were no tour buses to fight (mostly) and very little commercialism cramming tourist knick knacks in your face. The pace was slow. The scenery beautiful. The people friendly.
As luck would have it we hit both a heat wave and an extra long weekend for government employees. Everyone was getting out of Bucharest and into the mountains. Aside from traffic, this meant that we had the chance to vacation like the locals, with the locals. Towns were lively but not overly crowded. It felt like summer.
Bucharest was an interesting city. Beautiful old architecture, worn with age and interspersed with modern attracted (read exotic dance clubs). This was a bit of a shock at first but soon the beauty won out. From Belle Epoque restaurants to ancient churches, the city surprised.
The 36 degree was too much though and we were happy to hit the road to the mountains. Brasov was our first stop. Close to Bran castle, Peles castle and more we fell in love with the little town square and discovered a park near a natural spring nearby. It seems that this is where the locals go to roast garden vegetables and enjoy long social lunches. The kids frolicked in a waterfall and enjoyed the cool of the mountain forest.
Our next and last stop was in Sibiu. Our airBNB host made this stop extra special. Cosmin showed the kids how to crack and eat green walnuts, let them play with his dog and play in the woodpile under the stars. The house was in a small ton called Sibiel and we came home to find cows tethered by the wells.
One special find in Sibiu was the local salt lakes. These were pre-Roman salt mines, now abandoned and collapsed into salt lakes. The water was so salty it was impossible not to float! One lake had black mud that was supposed to be therapeutic. Whether or not that was true, it was fun getting dirty.
