Roaming through Romania

After a peaceful sleep on the shores of the Danube river, we made our way across the bridge into Romania. Checking out of Bulgaria was a breeze, but the Romanian guards had us pull over out of the lane so others could go through.

The only time we have to hand over passports at land borders is if we are leaving or entering the Schengen zone, or going from one country to another where neither one is part of Schengen. Bulgaria and Romania are not, so everybody wanted a peek at the passports. A French vehicle with an Irishman and an American nearly always piques interest, mostly because they assume we are French and are surprised when they start speaking French to us and we stare at them blankly. We have actually had people argue with us, “But your camping car is French!” and we say, “She’s adopted!”

In any case, our passports were returned to us in short order with no further questions and we were on our way.

We had hoped to visit Romania’s famous painted monasteries but unfortunately they are located just a few miles from the Ukrainian border. Instead, we focused on a few other UNESCO Heritage sites and spent the majority of our time roaming through the Romanian countryside. As usual, our perception of what Romania would be like and the reality were worlds apart. It was so much better than we expected, In fact, Romania has rocketed to the top of Steven’s Favorite Places list.

We skipped Bucharest, but only after getting ourselves into a massive traffic jam, and then taking a wrong turn and circling back into the same traffic jam for a second time. UGH! It was hot and busy and neither one of us could muster the enthusiasm for another big city. Once we liberated ourselves from the traffic, we headed north to the town of Brasov in the region of Transylvania.

Transylvania!! How intriguing is that? Vlad the Impaler, Dracula, Bran Castle, vampires, all that mysterious stuff. Well guess what? We skipped it all. Why? Because it’s cheesy, it’s touristy and it doesn’t interest us. And Romania is so much more than a bunch of cheap souvenir shops, although for some reason we can’t figure out, each little village we drove through seems to have a few. Interestingly, they are all selling exactly the same thing, including fake white swan yard art. We did not see a single customer at any of these shops, nor did we see a swan in anyone’s yard. Weird, huh?

These shops were side by side all down Main Street in even the smallest of villages. Who even buys this stuff? Is it for tourists? Local? Both? Who knows!
Many women wear traditional clothes in Romania. The horse and cart is not an uncommon sight.

From Brasov we went to Sighișoara, which was my favorite place. You can tell because we included lots of photos. We extended our stay there because it was so lovely. For our last stop we ended up literally out in the boonies. The owner of the place had purchased a farm property to have a place where his kids could come and play and run around, without the distraction of cell service. For two days, we also did not have the distraction of cell services. But we had wonderful views of the beautiful countryside.

We spent nearly two weeks in Romania and enjoyed our time there. I’ll tell you more about this beautiful country in the text below each photo. Enjoy!

Harman/Brasov

Our campsite was the yard of the parish house of a fortified church in Harmon, which is a UNESCO Heritage Site. It is normally a very popular place, and because there are just a few spots, it is almost always full in high season. Unfortunately, the war in Ukraine has caused a lot of travelers to cancel their plans to travel in Romania. Throughout our stay we saw few indications that a war was raging a couple of hundred kilometers away.
We had German neighbors and they kindly invited us over for dinner one night. This is the first time we have socialized in as long as we can remember. Manfred and Tiki grilled steaks and the most delicious Romanian sausages called “Micii”, pronounced “Mitch”. We gorged on those sausages. I have to say that Eastern European countries rule in the sausage department. I expected the best to be in Germany, but every thing I tried there was a great disappointment. And curry wurst? What an abomination. But I digress…
The main square in Brasov with the Black Church in the background. The church hall is the largest east of Vienna and holds the largest collection of Oriental rugs outside of Turkey. Although it is not actually black now, it was at one time blackened by fire in 1689 until its restoration which is still ongoing today.
These are our selections for lunch which we enjoyed in the big square. Top left: Transylvania soup. The most famous soup in all of Romania is “ciorba de Burta”, or tripe soup, and this is not what we had. Sadly, they only served it on the weekends and we were there on a Friday. Instead we had Transylvania soup, a soured soup made with pork, sour cream, lemons and tarragon. Top Right: Goulash, which was so spicy I could not eat it. We have not come across a goulash that even comes close to the deliciousness we had in Prague. I still dream about that stuff! Bottom left: the always fabulous ripe tomatoes with white cheese and balsamic dressing. Bottom right: This was a bit of a surprise when it showed up at the table, because I had ordered “fried chicken”. That’s exactly what I got, but not in the way I was expecting! I can’t say these were our favorite dishes, but we enjoyed them.
Our campsite was across the street from the Harman Evangelical fortified church which dates back to the 13th-century and is a designated UNESCO site. We took a free tour before we moved on. It was beautifully preserved.
The frescoes were really beautiful and so luminous!
We climbed up to the bell tower but had to time it to arrive in between scheduled rings which were every 15 minutes. It took us a while to get up there, but the route down was pretty fast and direct. I guess they anticipate folks wanting to get away from those bells before they ring out across the countryside!

Sighișoara

Sighișoara is my favorite place that we visited in Romania. We had no idea what to expect, so we just took off across the bridge and followed the path up to the old Medieval town. What a wonderful place! Our campsite was across this walking bridge.
These are called the Scholars’ Stairs and there are 176 left of the original 300. They connect the lower and upper parts of town.
Such a stunning city. The white church is the Orthodox Cathedral of Sighișoara.
Old Town Sighișoara is one of Transylvania’s highlights and is also listed as a UNESCO heritage site. We found it to be a beautiful little town with lots of personality.
Walking under the Clock Tower.
In Eastern Europe, Sighișoara is one of the few fortified towns that is still inhabited. There are 164 houses within the citadel walls that are at least 300 years old.
This one is known as “The Stag House” for obvious reasons.
Built in the 14th century, the iconic Clock Tower served as the main gate to the city’s citadel. That yellow house, which is the image at the top of this post, is that of Vlad Dracul. He was the father of Vlad the Impaler, otherwise known as Dracula.
In case you visit and want a reminder that Vlad the Impaler was supposedly born here in 1431, they’ve got you covered. There is also a dish known as “Dracula Fries”, which is French fries covered in ketchup (or chili sauce) and drizzled with honey. How gross is that?
There are several towers dotted around the citadel. It was a beautiful day to visit. Needless to say, the photographer was a happy camper.
The amazing Clock Tower. You can see that lots of folks made the trip to the top, but we decided the Scholars’ Stairs was enough climbing for us.
Even the touristy parts were colorful and intriguing!

Vîrciorog

This was our last stop in Romania, the little camper stop out in the country. We stayed here for two days and mostly caught up on chores. We had the place to ourselves, until the owner told us a family from Ukraine was expected one evening. We decided we would approach them and ask if there was anything we could do for them, thinking, of course, that they were fleeing the war. As it turns out, they were a couple and their young daughter on a month-long vacation from Slovakia. Super sweet couple, but they didn’t need anything from us.

When we first planned our trip through Eastern Europe, we were undecided about even visiting Romania. It was not exactly on our route and we had heard terrible things about the roads. We surely didn’t have the energy or desire to visit more big cities. But in the end, we realized we’re likely to be in this area only once and that we might look back and regret not making the effort to visit. We are so very glad we decided to make sure Romania was, in fact, on our route.

Steven is continuing to paint as we travel. In this latest painting, he depicts one of his favorite windmills in Kinderdijk when we visited the Netherlands a couple of years ago (has it been that long??). If you would like to see more, you can keep up with what he’s doing by following his Art page on Facebook here.


Up next: Budapest!


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25 Comments

    1. 2chouters

      Sounds like you need to start planning a trip! I’m glad we can show you these beautiful places and maybe inspire you to visit a few in the future. If you need some ideas, hit us up! 🙂

    1. 2chouters

      Oh, thanks for including that link to your visit to the painted monasteries! I was thinking those places would be more like the Rila Monastery, but in fact, they reminded me of parts of the fortified churches. Very interesting! We’re enjoying your trip through Norway, and those hikes! So fab!

  4. Catherine Wolfe

    Romania has long been on my “must see” list. Your travelogue with Steven’s beautiful photos reassured me on the “must see” part. Thanks again for including us in your travels.

    1. 2chouters

      Our pleasure, as always! Romania is so different than what we thought, but that has been the case in so many places. I hope you get to go there one day.

  6. Kristin Lambert

    I also love Romania, and still miss it. I served there in the Peace Corps after I retired, came home to Alaska in 2009. Sighișoara is a very nice place, and many rural areas throughout the country are beautiful. Budapest is also wonderful, Memento Park is fascinating, where the communist statues still stand. The sunset boat ride along the Danube is especially lovely. It’s so fun to travel along with you, many thanks for your updates.

    1. 2chouters

      What a wonderful experience you had visiting Romania through your time in the Peace Corps! I’ll bet it has changed a lot since you were there, with an infusion of EU funds. Certainly the roads are better at least from what we were expecting. Ah, Budapest! I fell in love with Budapest!

    1. 2chouters

      Steven says thank you for your kind words about his photos. I must say we were both taken by surprise at just how photogenic the country really is, and some of the towns are just gorgeous! I am so glad we made the time to visit there.

  11. Jane

    I just LOVE your posts!!!! The pictures are breathtaking and the narrative is so entertaining. Thank you both for taking me through Europe and all of your travels!
    From a Sammamish resident.

    1. 2chouters

      Oooh, Sammamish! How I miss it there! Each time we have been back, though, it just seems even more crowded than before. In some places it is hardly recognizable! Anyhoo, thank you so much for taking time to send your sweet comment. We are happy to have you along for the journey!

  12. Colibabas

    Thanks for the tour! My great grand parents were from Romania and none of the newer generation has ever been there. Your post has convinced me that it would be worth a visit…hopefully one day. Love the artwork!
    Safe travels!

    1. 2chouters

      Oh, how exciting it would be for you to visit your family’s homeland! I think you would be very surprised at what you would find waiting for you in Romania. I hope you make that trip happen!

  13. JODEE GRAVEL

    I must have been asleep at the wheel when this post came in. So glad I didn’t completely miss it!! That church is soooo beautiful (I started to say old church, but then realized….) Love the rich colors and warm feel of this little city. That clock tower is a gem. Sure glad you added Romania to your route, that it was safe experience, and that you captured so much of it to share with us :-))

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