THE MAIN FEATURE – ROMANIA – TIMISOARA (Day 91 covering 210km to 10,359)

 This post is our last full day and night in Romania.

 

This post also sees us drive from Deva to Timisoara in Transylvania in Romania via the city of Hunedoara where we saw Corvin’s Castle.

 

Hunedoara is only 23km from Deva and home to Corvin’s Castle or Castelul Corvinilor or Castelul Hunyadi. Corvin Castle is a Gothic-Renaissance castle and the largest in Romania. Corvin Castle construction started in 1446 by order of Voivode of Transylvania John Hunyadi. The castle was originally given to John Hunyadi's father, Voyk (Vajk), by Sigismund of Luxembourg, king of Hungary and Croatia, as severance in 1409. From then on it was occupied by the descendants of Voyk and therefore a private residence than a fortress. The castle is very impressive on the outside with a long bridge over moat to its entrance. It is very sparsely furnished inside and undergoing a lot of renovation. Well worth visiting.

 

Timisoara (Pop 319,279, Elev 90m, Founded 1212) is a multicultural city, being the home of 21 different ethnicities and 18 religions. Conquered in 1716 by the Austrians from the Ottoman Turks, Timișoara developed in the following centuries behind the fortifications and in the urban nuclei located around them. Timișoara was the first city in the Habsburg monarchy with street lighting (1760) and the first European city to be lit by electric street lamps in 1884. It opened the first public lending library in the Habsburg monarchy and built a municipal hospital 24 years before Vienna. Also, it published the first German newspaper in Southeast Europe (Temeswarer Nachrichten). Timișoara was the starting point of the Romanian Revolution.

 

Timisoara is very unattractive as you enter it in the suburbs, dominated by huge unkept apartment blocks from the communist era and large industrial areas. The centre however is a pleasant surprise with many restored and under restoration classical buildings from the Habsburg rule. The plazas are large and surrounded by these graceful buildings. The Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral with its green and gold towers is the main attraction.

Enjoy the last sights of Romania…

THE MAIN FEATURE – ROMANIA – DEVA (Day 90 covering 185km to 10,149km)

 This post sees us CRACK THE 10,000 KILOMETRE MARK !!!

 

This post also sees us drive from Sibiu to Deva in Transylvania in Romania via the Red Ravine geological formation, Alba Lulia Walled Fortress and the Măgura Uroiului geological formation. In this post we also visit the city of Deva.

 

Red Ravine (Râpa Roșie) or "red ravine" is a geological and botanical reserve, about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north of Sebeș. Erosion and runoff has given it a prominent, sharp rocky pink appearance in the mountainside, 800m long and 50–125 metres high. It is very reminiscent of Bryce Canyon in the USA.

 

Alba Iulia (Pop 63,536, Elev 223m, Founded 9^th Century) is a city, which during the ancient times was the location of the Roman camp Apulum. Since the High Middle Ages, the city has been the seat of Transylvania's Roman Catholic diocese. Between 1542 and 1690 it was the capital of the principality of Transylvania. On 1 December 1918, the Union of Transylvania with Romania was declared in Alba Iulia, and Romania's King Ferdinand I and Queen Marie were crowned in the Alba Iulia Orthodox Cathedral in 1922. The walled city remains with both Orthodox and Catholic Cathedrals dominating the large open space.

 

The Măgura Uroiului (Uroi Hill) site is a Romanian multi-period archaeological site located on and around Uroi Hill, a 300 metres (984 ft) tall rock outcrop, with an escarpment facing the rivers Mureș and Strei. The site is located about 2 kilometres (1 mi) north of Simeria. It is a strange site, much like The Nut of Stanley Tasmania.

 

Finally, Deva (Pop 61,123, Elev 187m, Founded 1269) is a city in Transylvania that has been occupied by several ethnic groups and characterised by a fortress sitting atop a steep and sudden hill much like the Acropolis in Athens. Most of the classic buildings originally built by the Hungarian Empire were destroyed by the Ottomans and so the city is only left with a majority of ugly communist era buildings. Despite this, the city is under refurbishment including the Fortress and Main Promenade that leads to the Casino. Deva is also the home of Romanian Olympic Female Gymnasts and we were lucky to find the exact place where world-famous Nadia Comăneci trained for Olympic Glory. In 1976, at the age of 14, Comăneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10.0 at the Montreal Olympic Games. During her career Comăneci won nine Olympic medals (5 Gold) and four World Artistic Gymnastics Championship medals. She has lived in the United States since 1989. In 2001 she became a naturalized United States citizen and has dual citizenship, having maintained her Romanian citizenship.

Enjoy this day of formations and fortresses…

 THIS IS WHERE Nadia Comăneci TRAINED:

THE MAIN FEATURE – ROMANIA – SIBIU & SIGHISOARA (Day 88-89 covering 198km to 9,964km)

This post sees us visit Sibiu and take a day trip to Sighisoara in heartland Transylvania in Romania.

 

Sibiu (Pop 147,245, Elev 420m, Founded 1191) is in the centre of Transylvania and known for its culture, history, gastronomy and diverse architecture. The Old Town is full of classical buildings with a central plaza that is huge and very reminiscent of the centre of Budapest Hungary. This is a pleasant place to visit with many towers, churches and the usual cafes and restaurants. The only downside is that many of the classical buildings and old houses are abandoned and simply falling down. The upside is that most of houses and buildings in Sibui have windows in their roof cavity that look like eyes – this is the meaning of Sibui.

 

Sibiu has the following Romanian claims to fame:

1)    The first pharmacy, opened in 1494

2)    The first mountain resort, opened in 1894

3)    The first museum, opened in 1787

Enjoy classical and famous Sibiu...

The following day saw us travel on an organised private tour to the town of Sighisoara, the birthplace of Vlad The Impaler via Brateiu and Biertan. Our driver Sebastian picked us up at 0930 and we drove a total of 198km stopping at Brateiu first to talk with a Gypsy family who specialise in silver and copper ornaments. According to the main craftsman, Victor, his family have been making ornaments for many generations and it is now a struggle to keep his sons and daughters interested in continuing the tradition. Victor was even hired by Calvin Klein to make a series of silver rings, necklaces and bracelets for their jewellery or accessory line of products. Victor also explained that the Gypsy people, also know as Romani are slowly leaving their nomadic lives and settling into towns and building their own style of houses with flashy metallic rooves that look like ocean waves. Sebastian explained that these rooves are to “show off” one Gypsy to another. Victor was very frank and honest about his peoples saying that they are reluctant to integrate but he feels that they must do so. The Romani people, traditionally Țigani, are not offended by the word "Gypsy". According to the 2011 census, their number was 621,573 people or 3.3% of the total population, being the second-largest ethnic minority in Romania after Hungarians. The Romani people originate from northern India, mainly Rajasthan and Punjab. The linguistic evidence has indisputably shown that roots of Romani language lie in India: the language has grammatical characteristics of Indian languages and shares with them a big part of the basic lexicon, for example, body parts or daily routines. More exactly, Romani shares the basic lexicon with Hindi and Punjabi. It shares many phonetic features with Marwari, while its grammar is closest to Bengali.  In February 2016, during the International Roma Conference, the Indian Minister of External Affairs stated that the people of the Roma community were children of India. The conference ended with a recommendation to the Government of India to recognize the Roma community spread across 30 countries as a part of the Indian diaspora. So interesting.

 

Biertan is one of the most important Saxon villages with fortified churches in Transylvania, having been on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1993. The Biertan fortified church was the seat of the Lutheran Evangelical Bishop in Transylvania between 1572 and 1867. The Saxons are medieval peoples from the Mosel region of Germany who were invited by the Hungarian Empire in the 13^th Century to occupy Transylvania to enable the Kingdom to expand. We can vouch for this having heard the locals speak German and the few tourists who were visiting with us were from Germany. The village and fortress were very impressive, colourful and well worth the visit.

 

Sighisoara (Pop 26,370, Elev 398m, Founded 1191) was even more impressive. Its Old Town is set on a hill and very comp act in size, full of colourful medieval buildings. There is a lower Old Town that dates back to the 18^th Century and the rest of the town is surrounded by communist apartment blocks and many European companies who have set up here and caused the population to grow year on year. The entire Old Town is UNESCO protected and it is one of the easiest and quickest Old Towns to visit. The claim to fame of Sighisoara is the all-yellow house that claims to be the birth house of Vlad The Impaler or Dracula.

 

Enjoy the colours and sites of Transylvanian heartland…

And here are the EYES OF SIBIU !!!

 

To Victor and the Romani People (Gypsies):

Our last night in Sibui was a bit of a triumph for me having cooked two Romanian dishes with pork and veggies and zucchini balls, rice and veggies...