2nd Day: Bucharest-Sinaia-Brasov

Today is the day where we really started our road trip through Romania #highexpectations.

After breakfast in the hotel we head out to Sinaia and one hour later we were already in our first stop: the Monastery. And before saying anything I got to say it was very easy to drive there…I guess after driving in Venezuela, few things can barely impress me on the road. Also, the landscape was beautiful.

We parked next to the Monastery of Sinaia (6 RON = 1.3€) and tickets were 5 RON (= 1€) each one.

Sinaia Monastery

Sinaia Monastery

At midday we were at Peles Castle, 10 RON (=2.2€) per parking. This castle was definitely one of our favorite spots to visit in Romania. 30 RON each ticket (=6.6€), followed by Pelisor that we decided not to enter (20 RON tickets).

“Nestled at the foot of the Bucegi Mountains in the picturesque town of Sinaia, Peles Castle is a masterpiece of German new-Renaissance architecture, considered by many one of the most stunning castles in Europe. Commissioned by King Carol I in 1873 and completed in 1883, the castle served as the summer residence of the royal family until 1947. Its 160 rooms are adorned with the finest examples of European art, Murano crystal chandeliers, German stained-glass windows and Cordoba leather-covered walls.” (from romaniatourism.com).

Peles Castle

Peles Castle

Peles Castle

Now comes the dark side of the trip…THE FOOD…I apologize in advance if I offend anyone, but we tried really hard to find decent restaurants around, we read all kind of online reviews, we even compete among us to try to find the best place, but after a few days we gave up and start visiting our friends, the Italians, who never fail. I guess our taste is not prepared to the Romanian gastronomy.

Anyway, our first attempt was with Safari Club Restaurant, which has a nice view, some nice reviews in google and the food…we paid 55 RON (12 €) per person.

Safari Club Restaurant

Our next stop was the Bran Castle. The road has many curves and gaps but nothing dramatic, it took us 1 hour to get to the Castle from Sinaia. The tickets were 37 RON per person (8.8€) and 8 RON (1.8€) for parking. Particularly, I like it but it’s all about DRACULA.

Bran Castle

Bran Castle

Dracula´s Legend
The Dracula character was created in 1897 by the Irish writer Bram Stoker in the novel of the same name. As setting for the fascinating events, the author chose Transylvania, one of the three large regions of Romania. The association between Count Dracula, the vampire imagined by Bram Stoker, and the historical character – Vlad Tepes the Impaler-Dracula – prince of Walachia (1448, 1456-1462, 1476), who spent his childhood in Transylvania, is due to the bloodthirsty and punitive character of the voivode.

At 17:45 we head out to Rasnov, even though we knew the fortress was going to be closed at those hours, but we wanted to stop by to take some pics from the outside, and it was sort of in the way to our next station: BRASOV.

Rasnov

We booked a night at Hotel Pensiunea Casa Tepes (33€ per a double room), to which we arrived at 18:45 and decided to rest for an hour.

Hunger made us leave the Hotel to find some restaurant around 20:00. We walked from the hotel, passing through the famous Strada Republicii (street), Piața Sfatului (a square), the Biserica Neagră (Black Church) and found the restaurant SERGIANA, which had very good reviews in google but the truth is that we were not treated very well and the food quite regular.