Oct 9 -- Brasov and Peles Castle

At the end of the trip, I discovered that I had never completed this post after I loaded the photos into it, so it is majorly out of sequence. I had forgotten about the eclair contest too -- I would have to say that Brugge was the winner on this trip, but it was a close call.

Brasov Fortress

View from above: Mata said the haze is fog....

Note the Brasov sign up on the hill

Mata at the narrowest street in Europe

The Black Church: it's blacker in front,
but kind of cleaned up

We headed north again today to the major Transylvania city of Brasov, starting off with an overview of the city of 300,000 below. It looked pretty smoggy from above, but our guides said it was fog that would clear away later. Some of the fortifications were visible along with a big hillside sign just like the Hollywood sign. After a quick look at the narrowest street in Europe and the exterior of the Black Church (originally built as a cathedral and converted to a Lutheran Church by the German residents, it was blackened on the outside by a fire, but most of the black was scrubbed away during renovation), our guide suggested a pastry shop for those of us with a sweet tooth. For a mere $7, Jim and I got a chocolate filled eclair (that was nearly a match for the one from heaven we found in the Marais district of Paris 12 years ago), a cream cake, and a hot chocolate. The eclair was the clear winner of the taste test. From there we were on our own for a couple hours, exploring the pedestrian zone and
beyond.

We stopped for lunch at Sergiana, recommended by our guide for genuine Romanian food, and were quite pleased. Jim had a goolash with spaetzle and I had chicken schnitzel and steamed vegies -- a LOT of steamed vegies. I guess the fact that I ate them all indicates I have been a bit vegie deprived on the trip. I don't know how geniuinely Romanian our choices were, but they tasted fine.

From there, we went to Peles Castle, the summer home of the short-term Romanian Royalty. A German prince, Carol of Hohenzolern, was invited in back in 1866, and there were only 3 kings until the communist occupation made them unnecessary. They have since regained their property, but not enough people in the country want royalty to bring them back in an official capacity. The palace was intricately decorated, each room with its own style. Some of the oriental rugs were spectacular. I have a similar reaction to many of these kinds of places (castles AND religious establishments) however: what if they had spent all the money they poured into their homes into the well-being of their subjects instead. Jim thinks I am becoming a socialist, but maybe I have always been one if that makes me a socialist.

This is our last evening in Transylvania and we opted to stay in for the evening and prep our luggage for breaking off on our own and flying to Vienna on the 11th.