Sue's Travels: September 2011

Danube Trip - 10 September 2011 (Heading Home)

The phone rang at 3:30am. While I had no desire to get up, I did. I threw my nightgown into the suitcase and zipped it up. I brushed my teeth and threw on my clothes. Bette and I went down stairs and turned in our room key. They had coffee waiting for us. I drank two cups and our driver arrived to take us to the airport. I was concerned about the fact that my bag was probably overweight, but Lufthansa did not say anything and so neither did I. We had plenty of time before we had to board our plane. I took the opportunity to buy a bottle of Polinka which is the Romanian equivalent of Slivovitch. I stuffed it into my back pack, which was heavy to start with and consequently became heavier. We boarded the plane and I think I may have slept some. We landed in Munich, Germany. Again we had a lot of time; consequently Bette wanted to wander the shops. I find it a bit difficult owing to the weight of my back pack. I saw a little lion wearing leader hosen which I wanted to buy for my little Avi, but I was concerned about where to put it. I finally decided to buy it anyway and stuffed it into my purse.

We finally headed for the gate (H18) and shortly thereafter boarded the plane which was an airbus, which is smaller than the plane we arrived in. The result was that Bette got her window seat and I got my aisle seat next to each other although my seat number was 33C and hers was 33A. I got my kosher meals which were supplied by a catering company from Frankfurt Am Main, which is where my grandfather had emigrated from. I managed to sleep some during the flight. The flight was supposed to be about nine hours, but apparently the winds were favorable and we made it in slightly less time.

I was shocked at the absolute chaos at JFK. As a U.S. citizen, I went on the shorter line, but I don’t remember seeing such chaos in any of my previous landings at JFK. I was surprised that there was no issue about checking my luggage, although I know that the luggage could have and probably was checked before I picked it up. I was disappointed that Herman did not pick me up, but I had no trouble getting a cab.

I unpacked, but was too tired to do much more.

In Munich airport

Danube Trip - 9 September 2011 (Sinaia, Romania)

After breakfast, we checked out of the Hotel Ora Palace and headed for Sinaia. There is a monastery there that we did not visit, but that is why the King named the area Sinai after the monastery in the Sinai Peninsula. On the way, we stopped at a roadside bazaar. I had not intended to buy anything, but I saw this cute dress, which I bought for my little Muffin. I hope it fits her. It was not typically Romanian, but could have come from anywhere in the Balkans.

We arrived at the Peles Castle around 10:30 and wandered around the groups for a while, where I took some pictures. The exterior was impressive, but the interior more so. It was built by King Carol I between 1875 and 1914. It is magnificent. It reflects the two prime interests of the king; wood carving and weapons. It was built with central heating and electricity. It even has an elevator, which was the first in Europe. The fire places hid the radiators. There are vacuum cleaner outlets in all the rooms. There is also a movie theatre.

Some of the 1,372 weapons date back 500 years. European weapons are in one room and Oriental weapons are in another. There is a music room with a harp, piano, violin and harpsichord that I saw. There is a royal library where one of the book cases is actually a hidden door.

King Carol I ruled for 48 years and died of a heart attack in his own bed.

I had never heard of this castle before and was impressed out of my mind with its elegance and magnificence.

We left the castle and drove into Bucharest to the Novotel Hotel. After Bette and I settled in and rested, we went out for a short walk and stopped at the Café Atthenee which is located in the Hilton Hotel. We split a chocolate mousse with a coffee latté. We headed back to the hotel where I changed. At 7:00pm, we were picked up by our guide’s boss, whose name is le-ve-you (trying for phonetic). We were taken to a restaurant which is located in the largest park in Bucharest. The restaurant did not look particularly large on the outside, but was large on the inside. The food was good, but I really enjoyed the entertainment, which consisted of traditional music and folk dancing.

After the show was over, we were driven back to the hotel. I set the wake-up call for 3:30am and went up to bed. Before I left, I had laid out clothes for the morning. I stuff the clothes that I was wearing into my suitcase and promptly fell asleep. In fact I was asleep before Bette finished her shower and turned off the lights.

Roadside Bazaar

View of the way to Sinaia

Entering Peles Castle grounds

View walking towards the castle

View from castle grounds

Me with Castle in background

Peles Castle

King Carol I who built Peles Castle

Me with Peles Castle in background

Another view of Peles Castle

Queen Elizabeth, wife of King Carol I

Castle

In courtyard

Courtyard

View of Castle

In courtyard

Courtyard

Patio in front of castle

Betsy, Bette, Me and Sylvia, our guide

Corn growing in the fields on the way back to Bucharest

Hotel here we staid for our last night in Bucharest

Bucharest views

Bucharest

Memorial to 1989 Revolution

Memorial

Memorial to those who died in the 1989 Revolution

King Carol I in front of Museum (?)

Me in front of Statue of King Carol

Bucharest Concert Hall

Concert Hall

Me in Bucharest

Restaurant where we had our last dinner in Bucharest

Restaurant with Bette in front

Interior of restaurant

Waiter took picture of the group - Bette, Masood, Betsy, me and our guide

Folk Dancing

Danube Trip - 8 September 2011 (Brasov, Romania)

This morning after breakfast at the hotel we toured Brasov. We were driven to the St Nickolai Romanian Orthodox Church, which was built in 1495. Adjacent to the church is the first Romanian school in the area. The treasures of the church were hidden by the priest during the Ceauşescu reign.

The city was originally built by Germans who were brought to the area in the 12^th Century to build churches and fortifications. The original German name of Brasov was Kronstadt. There was a gate that separated the German part of the city from the Romanian part of the city.

Under Ceauşescu, Germany bought out the people of German ancestry just as the Jewish community bought out the Jews of Romania.

There is a synagogue in Brasov completed in 1901. It is beautiful. It is Neolog, which exists in Hungary as well. It appears to be closer to Orthodox than Conservative is in the United States. The synagogue has an upstairs balcony for woman, but the community is so small and old that men sit on one side and woman on the other. In 1940 Brasov had a Jewish population of about 6,000. Now it is about 180 and the average age of the membership is 75. The synagogue follows the Sephardic rite. It was restored in 2001 and really looks beautiful.

The Jews of Romania were not sent to the concentration camps, but there were serious pograms.

Our next stop was the “black” church, which was built between 1385 and 1477 by the German Guilds. The organ is one of the largest in Romania and the service is conducted in German. The church owns the largest collection of Turkish carpets outside of Istanbul. Merchants would give the church a carpet in gratitude for the safe return from a trading trip. There is an old city hall which has been converted to a museum.

We next headed to the town of Bran to see “Dracula’s Castle”. It had been converted to a summer residence for the Romanian royal family. With the return of private property, descendents of the Romanian Royal family now own the castle. Furniture similar to what had been in the castle has been brought to the castle. Some of the staircases are quite difficult to climb. It was interesting to see, but how it is connected to Vlad Tepes known as Vlad the impaler is open to question.

Our guide, Sylvia, took us to a ski resort where we had lunch. It was a very pleasant location. We ate on the porch with the woods surrounding us. It was a climb up the mountain to get there with constant switch backs. After lunch we came down the mountain and stopped to take pictures. We returned to the hotel for a rest before we go out on our own to the concert in the town square.

After resting, Bette and I headed into the main square for the concert. We were late, but I enjoyed the part that we heard. We had cheese cake and coffee at a sidewalk café and then walked back to the hotel.