Roamin' Round Romania & Bulgaria

It may be past Halloween and I may have my house already decorated for Christmas, but that doesn’t mean the spooky season is quite over! I tried to plan this trip for our October 96, but flight prices were significantly cheaper a month later, so instead the Johnsons traveled to Romania to visit Dracula's Castle in early November! Better late than never! 

Thursday, November 7: Travel to Bucharest

Like most long weekends, Bryan and I started the day with a regular workday! While Bryan was examining gums and filling teeth, I spent the day in a 4th-grade classroom. Lucky for us, I booked a direct flight to Bucharest this time around, so no sleeping in airports! Woohoo!

Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport: Aeroportul Internațional Henri Coandă București

Our flights went smoothly and we hopped on Bus 100 from the airport to the city center. Thirty minutes later, we arrived in Old Town Bucharest and made the 62-stair climb to our apartment rental for the weekend! It was pushing the early hours of Friday morning, so we caught some shut-eye before the real adventure began!

Friday, November 8: Bucharest Walking & Food Tour

Our first day in Romania's capital city was spent walking every square inch of the town! But first, coffee!

Mosaic Coffee

Bryan and I found the cutest little coffee shop located right off the Old Town Square. Mosaic Coffee was the perfect start to our day! Bryan enjoyed a Pumpkin Spice Latte, letting his inner white girl win, while I warmed my soul with a cup of salted caramel heaven!

Ion Luca Caragiale National Theatre: Teatrul Național „Ion Luca Caragiale”

At 10 am we met up with our guide, Mihaela, who supplied us with our first delicious snack of the tour: covrigi, a pretzel with poppy seeds. In Romania, like most of Europe, locals eat some sort of breaded treat for breakfast. Today we got to participate in that classic morning food before starting our walking tour portion of the trip.

"Theodor Pallady" Museum: Muzeul "Theodor Pallady"

For the next few hours, we enjoyed walking around the city and experiencing everything like a true local! As we ventured about, Mihaela pointed out traditional Romanian architecture. These houses have triple windows on the front, representing the trinity, a circular roof, and wooden decorations of flowers, eagles, and vines around the exterior.

One of those buildings was built in 1722; the Theodor Pallady Museum is the oldest house in Bucharest.

The Armenian Church: Biserica Armenească

We learned that Romania was a sanctuary for Armenians during WWI and the Armenian Genocide. A lot of Armenians fled their home country and settled in one particular neighborhood in Bucharest. While visiting this neighborhood, we visited a traditional Armenian Church that was under exterior repair.

The inside of this church was breathtaking! I didn't realize that traditional Orthodox churches cover every square inch with paintings of saints, biblical stories, and the disciples. Standing there, it felt like a "lesser known" Sistine Chapel with frescos covering the walls and ceiling!

Terasa Florilor

As we left the Armenian neighborhood we headed to a local "terrace" restaurant, Terasa Florilor, where we shared a ‘Peasant platter’ filled with local cheese and meats, seasonal vegetable spreads, and homemade bread. Bryan also loved the lard and sausage pieces on the platter! I particularly liked the eggplant and tomato dip.

While snacking away, Bryan drank a pint of local Romanian beer, I enjoyed a glass of local white wine and we both sipped tuica, a local Romanian brandy. The drinks kept us warm while the food led to great conversations with our tablemates. We enjoyed chatting about Manchester United with the UK couple who currently live in Cyrpus and a girl from New York who has spent the last nine days exploring all of Romania!

Biserica Olari din București

Our journey didn't end there! We continued our walk around town while Miheala explained more about Romania during communist times. From the main street, all you can see are 4-story apartment buildings lining both sides of the street. We learned these buildings were constructed so outside visitors during Communist times could see the success of the city. Tucked behind those giant buildings is classic architecture that was, thankfully, left standing.

One structure tucked behind those Communist buildings was a tiny church, Biserica Olari din București. Unfortunately, this church wasn't originally tucked away from eyesight, but the apartment builders saw the importance of keeping these places intact. Thus, this church was slowly lifted, placed on train tracks, and moved to a new "home" behind those apartment buildings. While it couldn't be seen from the street any longer, it still allowed locals to visit and pray.

Bazar Obor

Also tucked back behind those apartment buildings is the city's largest market! Two stories tall, the Bazar Obor held a ton of local farmers selling produce. On the second floor were stands selling meat, spices, and wines.

Terasa Obor

My favorite treat of the entire food tour was at Terasa Obor, which had a line wrapping around the block! While our guide hooked us up with food, we scoured the area for an empty picnic table! Mihaela brought us a tray of beers and mici (pronounced 'meech') sausages from the long-lined booth! Those sausages were *chef's kiss! * We also enjoyed some grapes and cheese from the farmer's market.

Patisserie

Our final food stop of the day was at a local patisserie, where Bryan and I split a raspberry and a sour cherry pastry! I have to say, the sour cherry dessert was the PERFECT end to this food tour!

The New "Saint George" Church: Biserica "Sfântul Gheorghe Nou"

Our tour came to an end at the New Saint George Church. Here I realized the floor-to-ceiling paintings were a standard in Orthodox churches. It was interesting to see separate lines for men's and women's confessionals, but the golden relics were universal to all European churches we have visited.

Cărturești Carusel

Our day flew by with the food and walking tour, so as the sun started to set, Bryan and I wanted to use the time to find our Romanian copy of Harry Potter. So we hit up Cărturești Carusel, an old bank that was transformed into a beautiful bookstore! Down in the "vaults" was a small room filled with Harry Potter merchandise...but no copy of the first book.

So the journey continued to find our Harry Potter Book!

We visited five other bookstores around Old Town...and none had our book... so we ventured out further into the city.

Palace of Parliament: Palatul Parlamentului

We passed the Palace of Parliament, which is the world's heaviest building and the third-largest governmental building in the world. That's right, this Palace was built during the communist era as a statement, and it certainly makes one, by taking up over 100 square blocks of prime real estate. Oh, and about 70% of this impressive building remains unused.

Cool, cool. But there's no bookstore inside the Palace of Parliament, so we passed quickly and continued our mission by hitting another five bookshops in Bucharest. Ten shops in total, over an hour and a half and none had the first Harry Potter book...Bryan and I both were feeling pretty down, but luckily we had another day trip outside the capital city, where we hoped we could find our prize later in our trip!

SIP Bucharest Cocktail Bar

So feeling a little down (and pretty numb from the cold weather) we decided to warm up at SIP Cocktail Bar! This place was a unique stop; we learned you can use chickpea water (aquafaba) in place of egg whites in mixed drinks. Bryan, being our household bartender, says he will stick with the egg whites, even though all the drinks we tried were delicious!

This was the perfect ending to our first day in Romania!

Saturday, November 10: Bulgaria Day Trip

Day two began at 7:30 am, where we met our tour bus in University Square and made the 1.5-hour journey to the Bulgaria border!

Customs Bulgaria Romania

Crossing the border was a little more tedious than our crossing last month through Albania, North Macedonia, and Kosovo. It took a while for our bus to get close to the border crossing attendants, and we watched as other cars cut each other off and squeezed in line. One group got fed up with those cutting in line, and we watched from our bus window as men jumped out of the car and tried to fight another driver! It was a sight to see!

From fist fights at the border to a monastery visit: this blog practically writes itself!

Rock Monastery St. Dimitar Basarbovski: Скален манастир „Св. Димитър Басарбовски“

Our first stop of the day was at a Rock Monastery near the border. Records show this monastery has been around since 1431 and has housed at least one monk since that time. Built into the side of this mountainside, the monastery consists of two chapels and one Monk "apartment." While simple, this Monastery was a unique spot to visit and has a recent Orthodox church addition to the Monastery grounds that is still being painted as they raise the required funds.

We also learned a little about Saint Dimitar Basarbovski, a Bulgarian monk who lived in the first room carved into this rockside. Saint Dimitar was known for performing miracles during his lifetime, and upon his death, his bones were taken to Russia to be buried. Along the way, they passed through Bucharest, Romania. It is said that the plague was decimating Bucharest at the time of his death, but as the bones passed through town, people immediately stopped dying.

Tsarevets Fortress: Царевец

We headed further south towards Veliko Tarnovo and visited the Tsarevets Fortress. Thank goodness it was a chilly day because the climb around the fortress was a workout! Once at the top, we enjoyed the view! Bryan kept commenting on te fall colors surrounding us- this man was in his element!

Patriarchal Cathedral of the Holy Ascension: Патриаршеска катедрала Св. Възнесение Господне

At the top of the fortress is the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Holy Ascension. This church was built during communist times and is unique for its interior frescos. As mentioned earlier, Orthodox churches are covered with murals, and being such a religious country, the Communist government didn't outlaw Orthodox Christianity during their rule. Instead, the artist who was hired to paint the interior of this church was hired because of his unique style.

Fun fact: the artist who was hired to paint this church was inspired by a fellow communist painter, Diego Rivera.

Чешмата

By 2:00 pm it was finally lunch time and, lucky for us, our guide had made lunch reservations at a real local joint! Bryan and I shared two local dishes: one a spiced pork over mashed potatoes and a chicken stew pot. Of course, we weren't turning down the garlic bread and Turkish coffee they offered!

Veliko Tarnovo: Велико Търново

We spent the remaining time in Veliko Tarnovo, pronounced: Vee-lee-ko Turn-oh-voe, which is known as the historical and cultural capital of Bulgaria. While not the official capital of Bulgaria, this town was the perfect stop along our route back to Romania!

Booktrading

Now, we may not have been successful on yesterday's Harry Potter book journey, but it only took us one bookstore in Bulgaria to find it! Bryan and I did a little happy dance in the bookstore before buying our 24th language!

Lino Bar: Лино Бар

To celebrate our new book buy, we stopped in Lino Bar for a drink overlooking the city's main park! It was a great end to the day!

Back on the bus, we got settled for the three-hour ride back to Romania! We enjoyed a nap on the way back to the city and then tucked in for a night's rest before another big day of sightseeing!

Sunday, November 11: Peleș Castle & Brans Castle

Our final day in Romania was the BIG day of castle sightings and spooky vibes! We met up with our tour guide at 7:30 am and headed north! We stopped at a gas station for a bathroom break and breakfast since we would be having another late lunch!

Peleș Castle: Castelul Peleș

Our first stop of the day was at Peleș Castle! As we made our way through the Carpathian Mountains and reached the higher elevation, it began to snow. The mix of fall colors on the trees and the light layer of snow made for a child-like Bryan! This man was giddy with joy as we made our way up to the royal palace!

But back to Peleș Castle! Built in the late 1800s, this palace was built as a summer home for the Romanian royal family. It was impressive for its time, known for being the first home with an elevator, electrical heating, and central vacuum system. It was also designed to resemble German architecture, so it reminded us of our time in Germany!

Even with the repairs happening on parts of the exterior, this palace was a surprising sight!

Bran Castle: Castelul Bran

Then it was time for THE castle we came to see: Bran Castle! We learned that just last week Bran Castle hosted a huge Halloween party, where visitors got to tour the castle at night, while also partying it up in the small village below! The girl on our food tour from Friday and a guy we met on our Bulgaria tour yesterday both attended it and said was AMAZING! So note to fellow travelers: plan your visit over Halloween and bring your best costume!

We did luck out by seeing the place decorated for Halloween though! The tables inside were filled with potions and spell books and had bats hanging from the ceiling! While not the true traditional castle that we have visited elsewhere in Europe, this place was perfect for the spooky vibes we were looking for!

Here's a few things we learned:

1. Bran Castle is named after the town it was built in: Bran. It was built as a fortress in a strategic location in Transylvania.

2. Bram Stoker is the author of Dracula. It is said he learned of the castle and Transylvania's famous ruler and based his world-renowned vampire story on this place.

3. The name 'Dracula' comes from Vlad the Impaler, the 15th-century ruler who was known to impale his opponents (mainly the Ottomans), hoist them on giant poles, and watch them die a slow and painful death. This guy went by a second name, Vlad Dracula, and was said to drink the blood of his enemies.

This place met all our expectations! With the overcast weather and autumn leaves falling around us, it was the perfect vibe for our spooky visit!

Mama Cozonacilor

As we explored the town below the castle, Bryan and I passed a pastry shop and couldn't miss a quick sweet treat! Bryan opted for the apple pie, and I enjoyed a cherry strudel. Both were well worth the stop!

Beautiful Local Art

We also stumbled upon a local artist and added a watercolor painting of Bran Castle to our collection!

Brașov: Livada Poștei

We ended our day by exploring the town of Brașov. With an hour and a half of free time here, Bryan and I had one mission: find our Romanian Harry Potter book!

Librăria George Coșbuc

We visited another five bookshops in Brașov....at bookshop number 14, I had lost hope. As we entered our final bookstore we weren't hopeful, but the sweet older lady working handed us the prized jewel: their only copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (in Romanian of course!)

We did it. It may have taken us FIFTEEN bookstores around Romania, but we found it!

Old Jack

With our book in hand, we tried going back to the tour guide's recommended restaurant for a Romanian dinner. Unfortunately, they didn't have a table available so we looked nearby and ended up in a killer burger place, Old Jack! Burgers, Fries, and Beer; the perfect end to our final day in Romania!

Monday, November 11: Homeward Bound

Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport: Aeroportul Internațional Henri Coandă București

Whew! Monday was a blur! We had a layover in London on our way back to Sevilla. Bryan and I passed our three-hour layover in an airport lounge drinking ciders and eating a free linner (that's the Kimble word for a lunch-dinner combo meal!)

Once back in Sevilla, we rushed home to our fur babies! Goodbye Halloween vibes; Hello Christmas!

-til next time,

Katie