This post sees us drive from Constanta to Bucharest in Romania with complete focus on the city of Bucharest and surrounding attractions.
The 225km drive from Constanta to Bucharest all freeway (130km/h speed limit) and across very flat farmland. This is the first time in our entire trip that we driven from one accommodation to the next without any stops or photos given the uneventful landscape. All the photos in this post focus on the incredible city of Bucharest and its surrounding attractions.
FIRST – SOME INTERESTING INFO ON ROMANIA:
Romania (Pop 19.23m, Highest Peak 2,751m, Founded 1859) is the biggest of the 11 Balkan Countries and best known for the forested region of Transylvania, ringed by the Carpathian Mountains. Its preserved medieval towns include Sighişoara and there are many fortified churches and castles, notably cliff top Bran Castle, long associated with the Dracula legend. Bucharest, the country’s capital, is the site of the gigantic, Communist-era Palatul Parlamentului government building. Romanians are their own ethnic group and does not include the Romani peoples (also known as Gypsies in the west only). Romanian is its own language and is a dialect of LATIN and not the Slavic Cyrillic as is the popular misconception – you can see this on signs and billboards all over the country, which use the Latin alphabet and not the Russian-style Cyrillic alphabet. The dominant religion is Romanian Orthodox, which I will cover separately later on.
Here are some interesting facts about Romania, which is a very inventive and progressive country:
1. Francesco Illy, the founder of Illy Coffee was born in Timisoara, Romania in 1892. He also invented the first automatic steam espresso coffee machine.
2. Sarmale is considered the National dish (cabbage rolls stuffed with spicy pork and rice).
3. The world’s first oil refinery was opened in Romania in 1857.
4. Romanian inventor Traian Vuia was the first European to build and fly a fully self-propelled, fixed-wing ‘automobile airplane in March 18, 1906, while Henri Coanda (another Romanian) invented the modern jet engine !!!
5. Petrache Poenaru invented the fountain pen in 1827 while studying in Paris
6. Alexandru Ciurcu worked as a publisher in Romania. He demonstrated the use of rocket propulsion to power a boat in 1866. They anticipated that this type of response engine will be used in future airplanes.
7. Romania has the biggest wooden Church in Europe.
8. Romania is the only country in Europe left with operating gold mines.
9. Romania generates 20% of its electricity using nuclear reactors.
10. Romania is the number one exporter in Europe of sunflower oil, corn and plumbs.
SECOND - SOME INTERESTING INFO ON BUCHAREST:
Bucharest (Pop 1.785m, Elev 75m, Founded 1459) is the Capital and largest city of Romania. It is vast with wide, long, straight boulevards forming a skeleton for the smaller inter-suburban streets. Bucharest was first mentioned in documents in 1459. It became the capital of Romania in 1862 and is the centre of Romanian media, culture, and art. Its architecture is a mix of historical (mostly Eclectic, but also Neoclassical and Art Nouveau), interbellum (Bauhaus, Art Deco and Romanian Revival architecture), socialist era and modern. In the period between the two World Wars, the city's elegant architecture and the sophistication of its elite earned Bucharest the nickname of 'Paris of the East' or 'Little Paris'. In recent years, the city has been experiencing an economic and cultural boom. It is one of the fastest-growing high-tech cities in Europe, according to the Financial Times. Since 2019, Bucharest hosts the largest high tech summit in Southeast Europe (Romania Blockchain Summit).
Here are some interesting facts about Bucharest:
1. The Arch of Triumph honours the Romanian soldiers who fought in the Independence War. Climb to the top of this 30m high structure, for a panoramic view of the city.
2. Revolution Square gained worldwide notoriety when TV stations around the globe broadcasted Nicolae Ceausescu's final moments in power on December 21, 1989. It was here, at the balcony of the former Communist Party Headquarters, that Ceausescu stared in disbelief as the people gathered in the square below turned on him.
3. Palace of Parliament, built at the special request of Nicolae Ceausescu, leader of Romania's Communist Party, is the world’s second largest office building in terms of floor area after the Pentagon in the USA and the third largest in volume after Cape Canaveral Space Centre in the U.S and the Great Pyramid in Egypt !!!
4. The National Cathedral (Cathedral Church of Redemption) will be the largest place of worship in Romania and the world’s largest Orthodox Church by height and volume with the world's largest iconostasis (24m wide and 17m high).
We spent four whole days and five nights in Bucharest and loved it. Best city we have visited so far. Huge boulevards, massive roundabouts (so big that there are traffic lights to let you in), many classical buildings and very reminiscent of Paris. A true European capital.
Our first day was a rest day. I ran and spent most of my time in our best so far hotel room planning our visit, paying bills and doing bookwork. Paris and Leo walked to the huge Bucharest Mall. It was a great day to rest since it was cloudy with intermittent rain.
The second day was also rainy so we decided to drive around Bucharest visiting major piazzas (plazas) and intersections. We visited the following places: 1) Piata Enescu (Royal Palace, Art Museum, Art Gallery, Rebirth Memorial, Communist Building, Aman Museum), 2) Piata Victoriei (Antipa Museum, Peasant Museum, Geological Museum, Infantry Monument), 3) Piata Charles De Gaulle & Herastrau Park (Triumphal Arc), 4) Nicolae Ceaușescu House 5) Mogosoaia Palace, 6) Zodiac Fountain & Tomb of Unknown Soldier, 6) Radu Voda Monastery. The highlight was the Monastery that was built in the 16th Century and dedicated to the Holy Spirit and St Nektarios of Egina Island near Athens Greece – amazing.
The third day was supposed to be our all-day 8hr winery tour but when our guide picked us up his van would not start !!! He rang for alternate transport but there was none so we decided to move our tour to tomorrow. Instead we would walk the city as planned tomorrow. Our guide promised to throw in Vladimir The Impaler’s (known as Dracula) resting place in the Snagov Monastery just 40km north of Bucharest. We actually drove there the day before but it was closed so this would save us having to go there again on Thursday on our way to our next destination of Sinaia. Our walk began with a 4km beeline to the Palace of Parliament, the most impressive building in all of the city. It is the heaviest building in the world, the second largest building in the world by area after the Pentagon and the third largest building in the world by volume after Cape Canaveral Space Centre in Florida and the Great Pyramid of Giza outside Cairo in Egypt. This thing is massive with 11 floors and 1,100 rooms and occupies an entire city centre of its own. It houses the Legislative Assembly, Senate, every National Ministry and even all Defence Forces. It was ordered by former communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu in 1984 and took 13 years, 700 architects, 20,000 workers and 4 billion of today’s euro to build !!! The annual electricity bill is $USD 6 million !!! Immediately behind this impressive structure is the new Patriarchal Romanian Orthodox Cathedral which is due for completion in 2025. Once complete it will be the largest Orthodox Church in the world by height and volume. From here it was another 2.5km walk to the Old Town. The Old Town is quite small when you contrast it to the huge sprawling modern city but it is jam-packed with beautiful classic buildings and many great cafés and restaurants. It is a photographer’s paradise and shooting it in 33C heat was gruelling. We couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel. We did so via the supermarket stocking up on several cold beers. By the time we got back we had walked 17km over 7hours – a great walk for a great city.
The fourth and last day was my favourite day in all the trip so far. Why? Because we finally saw Dracula’s grave (Vlad The Impaler) and we finally got to visit two superb wineries. Vlad The Impaler is buried in front of the alter in an Romanian Orthodox Church dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary inside the Snagov Monastery which is situated on an island in the middle of Snagov Lake in the village of Snagov. It is an amazing set up. We were incredibly fortunate to have a private tour of the island monastery and grave with no other tourist around and Eugene our guide was excellent in bring alive the entire history and biography of Vlad The Impaler who is considered a National Hero by the Romanian Government, Clergy and people. Dracula is a fictional character created by the author Bram Stoker who based his character on Vlad The Impaler who never drank an ounce of blood in his life but sure as hell split many many gallons of it on the battlefields of the 15th Century against the Ottoman Turks. Snagov is situated 49km north of Bucharest and vital to visit.
Following Snagov we drove to our first winery called Budureasca near the small village of Mizil. This winery was founded in 2008 with its first vintage in 2011 because the whole region was under communist control until 1995 when it was sold off to private owners. There are 275 hectares under vine yielding 2 million bottles a year. There is one white and one red local grape variety which you shall learn about in the film. The white variety is a variation of Gewürztraminer and my favourite grape to date since it is even better and drier. The head winemaker is Steve from England who has been in Romania since 1995 and he simply made our day – very funny and very engaging and very personal – he showed us around the entire winery and explained all 6 wines that he amply poured out for us all – even Paris had sips of all six and passed the rest on to me. This winery does a very broad range of mainstream whites and reds and soil, hill, sun, 45deg latitude combine to give an environment identical to Bordeaux in France !!! This winery is especially clever in that its top selling wine is the called “The Dark Count of Transylvania”, a red they export to the USA in mega quantities !!!
Our second winery was close by but further into the hills. It is called Lacerta and family owned and much smaller than Budureasca with 60 hectares under vine and 500,000 bottles a year. The wines are excellent with an emphasis on easy drinking and more fruit than barrel. Once again we were the exclusive guests of Michail the only winemaker who showed us his winery with pride and explained another 6 pours. The views from this winery were exceptional being in the hills and we enjoyed every second.
What a day – enjoy Dracula and two world-class wineries of Romania…
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