16 June 2019, Sunday
Today we have a day trip to see 2 castles - Peleș Castle and Bran Castle or better known as Dracula Castle! And then a short stop at Braşov before heading back.
In the morning we got ready and walked, took the metro and walked some more to the Romanian Athenaeum, the meeting point for the tour. Today I can just relax on the bus and listen to our tour guide tell us interesting tales without (mis)interpreting my new enemy Google Maps. What a relief.
The tour started at about 8 a.m. On the way we passed the Monument to the Heroes of the Air at Aviators’ Square in Aviators’ Boulevard. It is a statue depicting a flying man, his wings outstretched. It was built in 1930-1935 and is dedicated to the Romanian airmen who had crashed and died pursuing various goals: skill development, performance, adventure and fighting in WW I. We also passed a building which used to be a printing press during communist time. In front of the building is the Monument of Freedom, which used to be a statue of Lenin during communist time. We also passed the oldest airport in Bucharest, now a business airport; as well as Bucharest’s main airport, named the Henri Coandă Airport - he was a famous inventor in Romania who apparently invented the jet engine in the mid-1950s.
According to our guide, Romania has a close affinity and relationship with France as France assisted Romania in terms of military equipment and armoury during WW I. That is why you can see a lot of buildings in Romania with French architecture. Romania is the only Latin country in East-Central Europe, the rest are Slavic countries. The Romanian language is Latin influenced (it is said to be the closest language to Latin) - similar to French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and so is the culture. However, 85% of the population are Orthodox Christians, somewhat of a contradiction. Romania has lots of natural resources - it has the biggest gold reserve in Europe; it also has copper and coal. Now it’s biggest industry is the automotive industry and oil refineries. Bucharest is apparently the first city in the world to use oil lamps.
The bus cut across the Carpathian Mountains to get to our destination. The scenery was quite beautiful. I managed to ask our guide about the differences between Orthodox Christianity and for example Catholicism and he says there are several for example the baptism procedure is different, they don’t have seats and they have paintings whereas in Catholic Churches there are seats and statues.
Then we arrived at Peleș Castle, which used to be the summer residence of the royalties. It was built by the first King of Romania, King Carol I (German prince) in the 19th century, between 1873-1914 in German Neo-Renaissance style. It was inaugurated in 1883. It is the first castle in Europe to be fully electrified, with running water, a central heating system, and a vacuum cleaning system in the basement. It is made in Bavarian architecture style, the home town of the King. King Carol I is an important figure here in Romania as he fought against the Ottoman Empire and modernised Romania.
During the communist era the castle was confiscated. After the revolution to overthrow the communist regime, the castle was given back to the royal family, but in 1953 they turned it into a museum and let the government manage it, and they receive a royalty from the government for this. The Castle is in the city or town of Sinaia, a hilly town. Luckily we didn’t take public transport, because I think then we would have had to walk uphill. The town is named after the Sinaia Monastery which we passed by - the person who built it went to St Catherine Monastery in Mount Sinai and decided to name it that. Now the entire town is named Sinaia.
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