Journey to and the stay at Zalanpatak

We had heard that Prince Charles owns an estate in Romania, so we researched it on the web -

he  does! The small farm has a series of small houses which have been renovated to let out on a B&B basis. So we booked! The farm is very isolated just north of Brasov. 

Once leaving Bucharest , travelling north through the mountains the scenery changes to rolling hills.

The mode of transport changes too.

This was one of the first carts we saw so we quite excited, but we have seen so many since we are now quite  blasé    about it.

We bought some local bread for lunch.

We were very glad we had a four wheel drive car. The road was awful and the rain had not improved the road.

As we drew near to Zalanpatak we came across charcoal makers.

What a dreadful job!

 The village of Zalanpatak has 150 inhabitants, they live by subsistence farming.

Some of the houses need a bit of support .

But Prince Charles's farm was restored.

We enjoyed our stay a lot. But more on that tomorrow.

Now we are the way to Peles Castle, we picked up the car - a four wheel drive Duster!

The weather is still bad, the mountains are shrouded  in mist. 

with a touch of snow on the higher peaks.

Peles Castle was the summer palace of Ferdinand the first and  his wife Maria of The Co-Sasburg  family in Germany. The castle is one of those dream like places with turrets and spires reaching up to the sky.

Surrounded by beautiful beech woods.

Inside is stunning, thick carpets,wooden panelling in all the rooms, hidden staircases and ancient pictures.

The front of the castle appears a little like a Tudor manor house.

In the evening it was still raining so we dashed to the nearest restaurant where we tried the wine again,  much better, we are getting there.

Last day in Bucharest

We walked and took trip on the hop on hop off bus, but the highlight was a visit to the National  treasury.

 This was the last king of Romania,s crown

 These are arm bands from the fourth century! Solid gold

And solid gold arm bands from the third century. There were more pieces, but I think this is enough!

Bucharest

Today the weather was awful, and will continue for a few days! Just what one wants on holiday! Anyway, one of the sights one has to see is The Palace of Parliament  built by Ceausescu and his wife. There was nothing democratic about the Dictator. The building is the second largest building in the world. started in 1984, it was unfinished when Ceausescu and his wife were executed by the  revolutionary forces. It has 12 storeys and 3,100 rooms which cover 330,000 ft! The building is now finished and used for Romania's Parliament. Various rooms are available for rent!

A few photos will give you a little idea of the grandure and money spent.

Huge outside, but inside was overwhelming ,

The curtain tassels were made with real silver strands.

The marble for the floors came from Romania, in fact all the materials used came from Romania.

Finally , in case you get lost this map inlaid into the floor will help you get out - if you can figure it out! 

Romania Bucharest

We are now on a journey again, we have been curtailed for the last year for health reasons. But we are now
free as air and are off on our wanderings again. In the next six weeks we will visit Romania , Serbia , Montenegro, Albania and Croatia.

We arrived in Bucharest  and started to wander. Our first interesting building was a church draped in sacking.

We had to go inside.

How beautiful, it reminded us of the churches we saw in Georgia a few years ago. 

But the shops were not quite up to European standards yet!

And we soon came across an old lady sitting on the bench feeding the pigeons.

 

We decided it was time for a local Ursus beer, very good it was too.

Later we tried our first Romanian food.

We enjoyed it a lot, but we weren't too sure about the local wine, but we will try again!