It is October 3rd, 2025, and I am again at the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, this time with my wife Lili and heading to Romania.
Last time I was here was on July 10th, and I was heading to India for the Ride the Himalayas adventure. At that moment, I knew that around October I would be travelling again, but the plans were very different than what we were heading to now...
Last time I was here was on July 10th, and I was heading to India for the Ride the Himalayas adventure. At that moment, I knew that around October I would be travelling again, but the plans were very different than what we were heading to now...
During our initial planning, Lili and myself planned to go somewhere to spend 4-5 days in a spa, in my case to recover from the Himalaya experience, and in her case from 8 months of taking care of our grandson until he can get into our education system. But during my trip to the Himalayas, I received a message from her telling me we had joined a couple of good friends for a 2-day hike in Via Transilvanica in Romania, from Sighișoara, via Criș and until Mălâncrav, totalling 26 Kms.
Quite a surprise!
Quite a surprise!
When I came back home, we began to plan our part in the trip. Our friends, José and Maya, already had the trip planned, with dates, flight tickets, hotel or places to sleep, etc, and we had to find our way of fitting into the plan. Additionally, after the hike, they were planning to do a tour by car to a number of places in which we had already been in our previous visit to Romania in 2017. So I came to the idea of finding a Spa in Sighișoara, the point where we began the hike, but also the point we returned to after it ended, to get the things we left at the hotel there.
Luckily I managed to find a promising Hotel Spa in Sighișoara, the Double Tree by Hilton, and reserved a room for us there for two nights. Regarding the other hotels and pensions in Bucharest, Sighișoara, Criș and Mălâncrav, part of it was easy to book reservations, and for the other part, our friends extended their reservation for two rooms and 4 people.
So, here we were flying to Romania and getting ready for fulfilling the plan. It was the evening of October 3, and our friends were already there since the end of the morning. Another couple of friends, Louiza and Shmil, were finishing their motorcycle tour in Romania, which I helped to plan, and we had ONE overlapping day in Bucharest, October 4th.
With the delay of the Wizzair flight and the wait of 1h20min for the Bucharest Otopeni Airport to release our luggage, we arrived to the hotel already after midnight. Our hotel, hotel Venezia, was old, but very comfortable for a 3-star hotel. We had a great night of sleep there.
The first day was a free day in Bucharest, which Lili and me used for initially going to the Schuberth helmets dealer in the city to buy a new helmet for her. At the end we bought the helmet with the original communication system and a new original communication system to install in my Schuberth helmet. Then we went to the AFI mall, considered the biggest in Bucharest, and walked around the mall. We already knew Bucharest from the last trip, and we were planning to see the Ceaucescu's House (the only main attraction in the city we hadn't seen at the time) in the last day with José and Maya, so taking a relaxed walk at the mall was OK. At the AFI Mall we met with Louiza and Shmil, and when the evening came, both couples took the metro to meet with José and Maya and have a dinner the six of us together at one of the famous restaurants of Bucharest, the Hanu' Berarilor Uranus. The hotel was very characteristic of Bucharest, with an interesting design and live shows.
Luckily I managed to find a promising Hotel Spa in Sighișoara, the Double Tree by Hilton, and reserved a room for us there for two nights. Regarding the other hotels and pensions in Bucharest, Sighișoara, Criș and Mălâncrav, part of it was easy to book reservations, and for the other part, our friends extended their reservation for two rooms and 4 people.
So, here we were flying to Romania and getting ready for fulfilling the plan. It was the evening of October 3, and our friends were already there since the end of the morning. Another couple of friends, Louiza and Shmil, were finishing their motorcycle tour in Romania, which I helped to plan, and we had ONE overlapping day in Bucharest, October 4th.
With the delay of the Wizzair flight and the wait of 1h20min for the Bucharest Otopeni Airport to release our luggage, we arrived to the hotel already after midnight. Our hotel, hotel Venezia, was old, but very comfortable for a 3-star hotel. We had a great night of sleep there.
The first day was a free day in Bucharest, which Lili and me used for initially going to the Schuberth helmets dealer in the city to buy a new helmet for her. At the end we bought the helmet with the original communication system and a new original communication system to install in my Schuberth helmet. Then we went to the AFI mall, considered the biggest in Bucharest, and walked around the mall. We already knew Bucharest from the last trip, and we were planning to see the Ceaucescu's House (the only main attraction in the city we hadn't seen at the time) in the last day with José and Maya, so taking a relaxed walk at the mall was OK. At the AFI Mall we met with Louiza and Shmil, and when the evening came, both couples took the metro to meet with José and Maya and have a dinner the six of us together at one of the famous restaurants of Bucharest, the Hanu' Berarilor Uranus. The hotel was very characteristic of Bucharest, with an interesting design and live shows.
After dinner, we said goodbye to Louiza and Shmil (who would still stay in Bucharest some more days), and went to sleep, getting ready for the long drive to Sighișoara in the following day.
In the next morning we met José and Maya at the Avis office at the Grand Hotel Bucharest, where we got the car and began our trip to Sighișoara.
The views from the car were beautiful, and made me remember our ride in Romania from 2017. Made me also think about how the experience of the road and the views around it on a motorcycle can be so different from experiencing the same road inside a car. I would define it like this: while in a car one feels like he is seeing a movie, when you are on the motorcycle you are the main star of the movie. You are inside the movie - you see the views, you smell the smells, you sometimes get wet from the light drops of rain... and everything that can be connected to this experience.
After some hours, we stopped for lunch in a small town called Caraiman. It was a beautiful place, that gave a kind of a Switzerland feeling...
In the next morning we met José and Maya at the Avis office at the Grand Hotel Bucharest, where we got the car and began our trip to Sighișoara.
The views from the car were beautiful, and made me remember our ride in Romania from 2017. Made me also think about how the experience of the road and the views around it on a motorcycle can be so different from experiencing the same road inside a car. I would define it like this: while in a car one feels like he is seeing a movie, when you are on the motorcycle you are the main star of the movie. You are inside the movie - you see the views, you smell the smells, you sometimes get wet from the light drops of rain... and everything that can be connected to this experience.
After some hours, we stopped for lunch in a small town called Caraiman. It was a beautiful place, that gave a kind of a Switzerland feeling...
By the end of daylight, we arrived to our hotel at Sighișoara, a pension called Carolina House. We were received by Dan, the very sympathetic manager of the place. The place was small, as beautiful as it can be, with very comfortable rooms (all in all 4 rooms), and a manager that is ready to do everything to help. If someone is lookiing for a small and comfortable hotel in Sighișoara, I can definitely recommend Carolina House.
From the hotel we went for a walk to the Sighișoara Citadel, the ancient center of the city that stands strong at the top of a hill. Lili and me already knew the Citadel, so we showed the place to José and Maya, and went to have dinner at a very nice restaurant called Georgius Kraus.
In the morning, we woke up early, got ready for the 2-day walk, packed our bags for leaving them stored at Carolina house, and went for breakfast. There we met Carolina, Dan's wife and the inspiration for the name of the pension. She was the person responsible for the kitchen, that was besides the very beautiful dining room they had there.
From the hotel we went for a walk to the Sighișoara Citadel, the ancient center of the city that stands strong at the top of a hill. Lili and me already knew the Citadel, so we showed the place to José and Maya, and went to have dinner at a very nice restaurant called Georgius Kraus.
In the morning, we woke up early, got ready for the 2-day walk, packed our bags for leaving them stored at Carolina house, and went for breakfast. There we met Carolina, Dan's wife and the inspiration for the name of the pension. She was the person responsible for the kitchen, that was besides the very beautiful dining room they had there.
Oh, there is nothing like a good breakfast before going out for a hiking day. And our breakfast was perfect! So it was the perfect time to store our luggage, say goodbye to our hosts and leave for our adventure at Via Transilvânica.
The day was very gray, and very soon rain began pouring down. We put on our raincoats, and were ready to leave.
We left Carolina House, walked for around 30 minutes, and for some reason, we began noticing that things were not really where they should be comparing to our map. A bridge that we should cross was not in its exact position, there was another bridge that we couldn't see in the map...
After some discussion and verification, the alarming veredict: we have left the pension to the opposite direction of the one we should be walking. We had to go back to the pension and begin it all from scratch in the other direction.
This time, walking in the correct direction, we found the reference points as we expected, and soon we were at the beginning of Via Transilvanica, which left Sighișoara to the South in the direction of Criș and Mălâncrav. We were supposed to climb up approximately 200m to a hill at an altitude of approximately 60-100m. The climbing was not very long, but with the rain and the mud which got stuck to our boots and made them weight 20 Kg, it looked like a lot more.
The day was very gray, and very soon rain began pouring down. We put on our raincoats, and were ready to leave.
We left Carolina House, walked for around 30 minutes, and for some reason, we began noticing that things were not really where they should be comparing to our map. A bridge that we should cross was not in its exact position, there was another bridge that we couldn't see in the map...
After some discussion and verification, the alarming veredict: we have left the pension to the opposite direction of the one we should be walking. We had to go back to the pension and begin it all from scratch in the other direction.
This time, walking in the correct direction, we found the reference points as we expected, and soon we were at the beginning of Via Transilvanica, which left Sighișoara to the South in the direction of Criș and Mălâncrav. We were supposed to climb up approximately 200m to a hill at an altitude of approximately 60-100m. The climbing was not very long, but with the rain and the mud which got stuck to our boots and made them weight 20 Kg, it looked like a lot more.
From the top of the hill we could see Sighișoara from above, a very nice view. When we entered the track (first picture above), we saw a sign warning us from bears. We had read about the bears in the region and understood how to proceed if we met one, but the signed warned against walking after dark in the region. Well, the whole hike of the day was supposed to end before dark, so there we went.
After getting to the top, we were supposed to get to a plateau (a plain) at the top, and keep walking with the track, supposedly a very easy and comfortable walk. With the rain, the walk became tougher, the feet heavy from all the mud, the way very slippy. As well, there were definitely easy parts of the hike where we went in plains, but there were some parts that were not easy at all, in which we needed to go up and down narrow and slippery slopes, which made us walk slower. But the way was just too beautiful to be ignored.
After getting to the top, we were supposed to get to a plateau (a plain) at the top, and keep walking with the track, supposedly a very easy and comfortable walk. With the rain, the walk became tougher, the feet heavy from all the mud, the way very slippy. As well, there were definitely easy parts of the hike where we went in plains, but there were some parts that were not easy at all, in which we needed to go up and down narrow and slippery slopes, which made us walk slower. But the way was just too beautiful to be ignored.
Forests, open fields, hills... footsteps of wolves...
We were supposed to walk around 9 Km until Stejărenii and then complete another 4 Km to Criș. We wasted around one hour walking out of the hotel to the wrong direction, took a long time to climb up the hill with the rain, then took another wrong path which wasted another half-hour... the result is that, while we expected to get to Stejărenii by 13:00, we arrived there only at 16:00, and we were very tired. Understanding that the remaining 4 Km would bring us to hours after sunset, and remembering the bear sign which warned us against walking in the dark, we began walking through the village and looking for a solution that would take us from Stejărenii to Criș.
Suddenly Lili saw a yellow car parked near one of the houses, with the word "Transportul" written on it. Transportul is a parallel for Transporte in Portuguese, which means Transportation. She knocked on the door of the house, and a little girl, around 10 years old came out. While she tried very much to help, her lack of English was making things difficult, so she called her mother on the phone. The mother, whose name was Alina, which was at a nearby house, came over to talk to us. She said the car belonged to her husband, but he was far away working. When we asked if she knew someone that could talke us the 4 Km to Criș, she said "come with me, I will take you in my car". She opened the car, we jumped in, and she took us until the entry of Criș castle, where we would sleep that night. We tried to pay her something for the trip, and she wouldn't accept. Only when we proposed her to give it to her daughter for saving us, so she can buy a present for herself, she accepted the money.
The Criș Castle is known this way because it is the only castle in Criș, but it's official name is Bethlen Castle.
We were supposed to walk around 9 Km until Stejărenii and then complete another 4 Km to Criș. We wasted around one hour walking out of the hotel to the wrong direction, took a long time to climb up the hill with the rain, then took another wrong path which wasted another half-hour... the result is that, while we expected to get to Stejărenii by 13:00, we arrived there only at 16:00, and we were very tired. Understanding that the remaining 4 Km would bring us to hours after sunset, and remembering the bear sign which warned us against walking in the dark, we began walking through the village and looking for a solution that would take us from Stejărenii to Criș.
Suddenly Lili saw a yellow car parked near one of the houses, with the word "Transportul" written on it. Transportul is a parallel for Transporte in Portuguese, which means Transportation. She knocked on the door of the house, and a little girl, around 10 years old came out. While she tried very much to help, her lack of English was making things difficult, so she called her mother on the phone. The mother, whose name was Alina, which was at a nearby house, came over to talk to us. She said the car belonged to her husband, but he was far away working. When we asked if she knew someone that could talke us the 4 Km to Criș, she said "come with me, I will take you in my car". She opened the car, we jumped in, and she took us until the entry of Criș castle, where we would sleep that night. We tried to pay her something for the trip, and she wouldn't accept. Only when we proposed her to give it to her daughter for saving us, so she can buy a present for herself, she accepted the money.
The Criș Castle is known this way because it is the only castle in Criș, but it's official name is Bethlen Castle.
We were told that the initial remains of the castle learns that it was initially built in the 13th century, but then rebuilt in 1621. This is the story that is told in Wikipedia:
From Wikipedia:
In 1582, the Hungarian captain Ferenc Geszty, in charge of the Deva Castle's garrison, erected a house at the foot of the citadel hill.[1] That house became the residence of Sigismund Báthory, general Giorgio Basta, Stephen Bocskay, Gabriel Báthory and Gabriel Bethlen.
In 1621 Gabriel Bethlen began the radical transformation of the initial house, with the result being the Magna Curia palace. The Bethlen Castle was a Renaissance style building, but the subsequent modifications (until the first half of the 18th century) that gave it the final shape that can be seen today, added Baroque style architecture.
Since 1882, the County Museum, the Museum of Dacian and Roman Civilisation, has been housed in the palace.
We were received in the castle by the manager, an interesting man called Levente Birtalan, an archeologist who had been working on the reconstruction of the castle since 2020. An interesting interview with him regarding the restauration of the castle can be read in this link. He was a very nice and interesting person, and promised us that in the next morning he would give us an explanation of all that we see in the castle.
The castle is still being restaured, and it doesn't function as an hotel. They have only five very simple rooms, which usually are used by guests who are doing the Via Transilvanica, for a fee which is used to help in the restauration budget. Since the only hotel in Criș was closed due to a closed event, the hotel management managed to arrange us rooms at the castle, and I can say we were very lucky to sleep there.
Criș is a small commune in Mureș County. The county is composed of four villages: Criș, Daneș, Seleuș and Stejărenii. The population of Criș is approximately 4,700 people. The village has one hotel and no restaurants (except for the one at the hotel), and some of the families there are used to offer meals to the hikers at a fair price.So, our friend José took the care in advance to arrange for dinner and breakfast with a family there.
The castle is still being restaured, and it doesn't function as an hotel. They have only five very simple rooms, which usually are used by guests who are doing the Via Transilvanica, for a fee which is used to help in the restauration budget. Since the only hotel in Criș was closed due to a closed event, the hotel management managed to arrange us rooms at the castle, and I can say we were very lucky to sleep there.
Criș is a small commune in Mureș County. The county is composed of four villages: Criș, Daneș, Seleuș and Stejărenii. The population of Criș is approximately 4,700 people. The village has one hotel and no restaurants (except for the one at the hotel), and some of the families there are used to offer meals to the hikers at a fair price.So, our friend José took the care in advance to arrange for dinner and breakfast with a family there.
After getting our rooms in the castle, having a shower and cleaning up from the rainy and muddy day behind us, we met the lady from the Criș Hotel (officially called Bethlen Estates Transilvania) who helped José to arrange everything we needed for our night in Criș, went out for a walk in the village and to our dinner's host. There we met Daniela and her family. Daniela had prepared a dinner for us, which was served in the main room of her house. The house was beautiful, modern and neat. We enjoyed dinner, and then went back to the Bethlen Castle to sleep.
In the morning, after the breakfast at Daniela's, we went back to the castle for Mr. Levente's expositions of what we had there. It was a very interesting presentation of the history of the Castle. There we discovered that the castle had been expropriated from the Bethlen family during the communist regime, and only in the last years returned to the ownership of the family. So, if we take the total years from 1621 and until 2025, even disconsidering the days that the communist government took over the property, it is one of the only cases in Europe in which a castle belongs to the same family for 400 years and more.
Rain continued to fall also during this day. Mr. Levente proposed that he could take us to Mălâncrav in the afternoon, so this would give us also the opportunity to see a Jewish cemetery that he had just uncovered in Criș with the help of some elderly from the village.
We walked to the cemetery for around 40 minutes in each direction. I had to stop at some point of the walk because it became too difficult for me. But Lili, José and Maya were there at the end. The cemetery was composed of 14 tombs, with hebrew inscriptions on them.
Rain continued to fall also during this day. Mr. Levente proposed that he could take us to Mălâncrav in the afternoon, so this would give us also the opportunity to see a Jewish cemetery that he had just uncovered in Criș with the help of some elderly from the village.
We walked to the cemetery for around 40 minutes in each direction. I had to stop at some point of the walk because it became too difficult for me. But Lili, José and Maya were there at the end. The cemetery was composed of 14 tombs, with hebrew inscriptions on them.
After the cemetery visit, we gathered our things together and Mr. Levente took us to Mălâncrav, which is near where he lives and around 13 Kms from Criș. We arrived in Mălâncrav around 14:30 and went directly to the house where we were supposed to sleep, a kind of an AirBNB house called Mălâncrav 335.
Mălâncrav was even smaller than Criș, with only 3,100 inhabitants. It made me remember a joke from the Israeli music group Kaveret, from the 70s, which told that "... it was such a small village that, if there was a wedding there, then the groom was also the bride". The fact is that the village was so small that the numbering of the houses was not separated by streets, but a continuous numbering for the whole town. So our house, Mălâncrav 335, was the 335th house in Mălâncrav.
The house was a big, old house, with 3 rooms and a kitchen, all in a row. Outside, a very big open garden and a storage room. It was clear that it had been in its history the house of a family there. For some reason (death or moving), whoever lived there left, and now it was for rent for short periods.
Unaware of the size of the village, we went out to walk a little and find a cafe to have some coffee or tea. We found a small supermarket at one of the streets, and asked the cashier if there is some place in town where we can have some tea. A lady neaby, a customer, said "Yes, my home, you are invited!". And there we went.
Talking there while having our tea, she asked where we are staying, and we answered "Mălâncrav 335".
"Oh", she said, "that house is ours! So you are the ones who are supposed to come here for dinner and for breakfast!"
Yes, by coincidence, from the 3100 inhabitants of the town, we fell exactly at the home of Lucilla, our host and the person from whom we order also dinner and breakfast. We talked a little more and went back to the house to have a shower and get ready for dinner.
Dinner was really fine. We had some excellent home schnitzels, and other things, including a tasty dessert. We went back to our rooms to sleep with a full stomach. Walking at night at those empty streets, with the silence and the dark is an impressive feeling, of those kinds that we, city rats, have already forgotten.
In the following day, after breakfast at Lucilla's home, we went to see the Fortified Church of Mălâncrav. Unfortunately, we got there and it was closed, despite the fact that those were its opening hours. We called the responsible by phone, and he said that unfortunately he could open it only after 10:30. This was already the time in which we were supposed to be in the taxi that would take us back to Sighișoara, so we had to give up on the visit and travel back to the Carolina House.
We spent that afternoon and evening again at the Sighișoara Citadel, this time with much more time to visit. We were there from around 14:00 until the evening. We still had rain, and borrowed four umbrellas from Carolina House for our afternoon out. We were able, with the help of the umbrellas, to see all around the Citadel, including going up and down the Scara Acoperita, a set of covered stairs built in 1642 which takes us to the highest part of the Citadel.
Mălâncrav was even smaller than Criș, with only 3,100 inhabitants. It made me remember a joke from the Israeli music group Kaveret, from the 70s, which told that "... it was such a small village that, if there was a wedding there, then the groom was also the bride". The fact is that the village was so small that the numbering of the houses was not separated by streets, but a continuous numbering for the whole town. So our house, Mălâncrav 335, was the 335th house in Mălâncrav.
The house was a big, old house, with 3 rooms and a kitchen, all in a row. Outside, a very big open garden and a storage room. It was clear that it had been in its history the house of a family there. For some reason (death or moving), whoever lived there left, and now it was for rent for short periods.
Unaware of the size of the village, we went out to walk a little and find a cafe to have some coffee or tea. We found a small supermarket at one of the streets, and asked the cashier if there is some place in town where we can have some tea. A lady neaby, a customer, said "Yes, my home, you are invited!". And there we went.
Talking there while having our tea, she asked where we are staying, and we answered "Mălâncrav 335".
"Oh", she said, "that house is ours! So you are the ones who are supposed to come here for dinner and for breakfast!"
Yes, by coincidence, from the 3100 inhabitants of the town, we fell exactly at the home of Lucilla, our host and the person from whom we order also dinner and breakfast. We talked a little more and went back to the house to have a shower and get ready for dinner.
Dinner was really fine. We had some excellent home schnitzels, and other things, including a tasty dessert. We went back to our rooms to sleep with a full stomach. Walking at night at those empty streets, with the silence and the dark is an impressive feeling, of those kinds that we, city rats, have already forgotten.
In the following day, after breakfast at Lucilla's home, we went to see the Fortified Church of Mălâncrav. Unfortunately, we got there and it was closed, despite the fact that those were its opening hours. We called the responsible by phone, and he said that unfortunately he could open it only after 10:30. This was already the time in which we were supposed to be in the taxi that would take us back to Sighișoara, so we had to give up on the visit and travel back to the Carolina House.
We spent that afternoon and evening again at the Sighișoara Citadel, this time with much more time to visit. We were there from around 14:00 until the evening. We still had rain, and borrowed four umbrellas from Carolina House for our afternoon out. We were able, with the help of the umbrellas, to see all around the Citadel, including going up and down the Scara Acoperita, a set of covered stairs built in 1642 which takes us to the highest part of the Citadel.
In the evening, we went to eat dinner at another very recommended restaurant in the citadel, called Joseph Haydn. We had a very good dinner there, including (for different people) pizza, pasta, hamburger and a pork steak. All portions were excellent. For desert, we had a very different Papanași, because in this restaurant, they bake it instead of deep-frying it.
In the continuation, we came down from the citadel to walk a little through the modern center of Sighișoara. Not many points of interest to be found there.
Next day, after breakfast, we had the separation moment. This was the moment in which José and Maya went apart from us for their tour of Romania, while Lili and me stayed in Sighișoara and moved to the Double Tree by Hilton Sighișoara for our 2 days of relaxing spa in the city.
We arrived to the Double Tree at 10:00, and were supposed to receive our room only at 15:00, so we decided to leave our luggage there and walk to the train station to buy our train tickets back to Bucharest. We bought the tickets, went into a supermarket to buy some things, walked a little through the modern center (it was a little more lively during the day comparing to the previous night) and returned to the hotel around 12:30. At 13:00 the hotel manager called and told us our room was ready. We went up to the room, changed clothes to spa clothes, and went down to the spa. There, Lili went to the sauna while I went to the pool. The pool was very nice, water around 25°C, and two waterfalls for hydromassage at the border which were very, very nice indeed.
We stayed at the spa until 15:30, and also set a massage for each one of us for the next morning.
In the afternoon/evening, Lili and me went back to the citadel and the Joseph Haydn restaurant to try some other items at the menu. As expected, it was an excellent evening with an excellent dinner, and even some good icecream at the end.
We arrived to the Double Tree at 10:00, and were supposed to receive our room only at 15:00, so we decided to leave our luggage there and walk to the train station to buy our train tickets back to Bucharest. We bought the tickets, went into a supermarket to buy some things, walked a little through the modern center (it was a little more lively during the day comparing to the previous night) and returned to the hotel around 12:30. At 13:00 the hotel manager called and told us our room was ready. We went up to the room, changed clothes to spa clothes, and went down to the spa. There, Lili went to the sauna while I went to the pool. The pool was very nice, water around 25°C, and two waterfalls for hydromassage at the border which were very, very nice indeed.
We stayed at the spa until 15:30, and also set a massage for each one of us for the next morning.
In the afternoon/evening, Lili and me went back to the citadel and the Joseph Haydn restaurant to try some other items at the menu. As expected, it was an excellent evening with an excellent dinner, and even some good icecream at the end.
We woke up in the following morning, had breakfast and went to another walk in the modern center - we needed a supermarket again. On our way, suddenly Lili stopped and said "What a good smell!". The smell was really very good, and came from the ventilation system of a small restaurant placed in the building of a small pension, very near our hotel. Nothing touristic. "I want to have dinner here!", she said, and we agreed we would do it that evening.
After the walk and the supermarket, we went back to the spa, had our massages and some hours of pool/jacuzzi/sauna, a very relaxing afternoon. Then we went to rest a little for the evening.
In the evening, we went out to walk a little at the area surrounding the hotel, and after that, to have dinner in the restaurant Lili had discovered in the morning. The restaurant was called San Gennaro, it was part of a pension or small hotel by the same way, and I can say that was the place in which we had our best meal in Romania during this trip. It was a local restaurant, very simple, no special design, and filled with local people, maybe locals from Sighișoara, maybe tourists from other cities in the country. We were then only tourists from another country there.
We began with a starter, Lili went for a salad, and I chose the fried cheese starter. The salad was excellent, and I received a quickback to my youth in Brazil when we used to go to bars and have snacks of Fried Provolone Cheese, with two difference: there they were cut in small cubes or balls, while here they were two large triancles like half a slice of bread, and there they used Provolone cheese, while here they used Gouda cheese. It was fantastic.
For the main dish, Lili chose the Crispy Chicken Schnitzel while I chose the Viennaise Schnitzel. My schnitzel was excellent, I don't remember exactly if the meat was pork or cow meat, but it was fantastic. Lili's Crispy Schnitzel was more than fantastic - instead of using breadcrumbs for the crispy covering, they used corn flakes, and that gave a crispness that we don't see very commonly.
To end with a desert, we asked for a Papanași, and got the best Papanași we ate in Romania up to today.
During dinner, we received José and Maya's picture from Balea Lake, the place that they were visiting that day.
After the walk and the supermarket, we went back to the spa, had our massages and some hours of pool/jacuzzi/sauna, a very relaxing afternoon. Then we went to rest a little for the evening.
In the evening, we went out to walk a little at the area surrounding the hotel, and after that, to have dinner in the restaurant Lili had discovered in the morning. The restaurant was called San Gennaro, it was part of a pension or small hotel by the same way, and I can say that was the place in which we had our best meal in Romania during this trip. It was a local restaurant, very simple, no special design, and filled with local people, maybe locals from Sighișoara, maybe tourists from other cities in the country. We were then only tourists from another country there.
We began with a starter, Lili went for a salad, and I chose the fried cheese starter. The salad was excellent, and I received a quickback to my youth in Brazil when we used to go to bars and have snacks of Fried Provolone Cheese, with two difference: there they were cut in small cubes or balls, while here they were two large triancles like half a slice of bread, and there they used Provolone cheese, while here they used Gouda cheese. It was fantastic.
For the main dish, Lili chose the Crispy Chicken Schnitzel while I chose the Viennaise Schnitzel. My schnitzel was excellent, I don't remember exactly if the meat was pork or cow meat, but it was fantastic. Lili's Crispy Schnitzel was more than fantastic - instead of using breadcrumbs for the crispy covering, they used corn flakes, and that gave a crispness that we don't see very commonly.
To end with a desert, we asked for a Papanași, and got the best Papanași we ate in Romania up to today.
During dinner, we received José and Maya's picture from Balea Lake, the place that they were visiting that day.
Balea Lake, a spot on the Transfagarasan road, is a lake on the top of the mountains, at 2,000 meters altitute. It was covered with snow, as usually in this season.
Next morning, at 9:00, we were already checked out from the Double Tree and at the train station, waiting for the train that would take us to Bucharest.
When the train arrived, we had a kind of a bad surprise: the train had a very weird way of numbering the seats - until today I haven't managed to understand the algorythm they used, and despite the fact that we had seats 72 and 73, they were not in the same row and we were separated. Worse than that, both seats were with their back to the direction of the trip, something that Lili can't stand. Then we decided to invade two empty seats in the same car, that had their direction consistent to the direction of the trip. We had a very good 3 hours of trip until in Brasov the owners of those seats arrived, and we found another two empty seats that took us until Bucharest.
The length of the trip: 6 hours. Looks tough, but if you focus on looking at the beautiful views outside instead of being lost inside the train, the trip goes quite fast. I took a lot of pictures of the views on the way, here are some examples.
Next morning, at 9:00, we were already checked out from the Double Tree and at the train station, waiting for the train that would take us to Bucharest.
When the train arrived, we had a kind of a bad surprise: the train had a very weird way of numbering the seats - until today I haven't managed to understand the algorythm they used, and despite the fact that we had seats 72 and 73, they were not in the same row and we were separated. Worse than that, both seats were with their back to the direction of the trip, something that Lili can't stand. Then we decided to invade two empty seats in the same car, that had their direction consistent to the direction of the trip. We had a very good 3 hours of trip until in Brasov the owners of those seats arrived, and we found another two empty seats that took us until Bucharest.
The length of the trip: 6 hours. Looks tough, but if you focus on looking at the beautiful views outside instead of being lost inside the train, the trip goes quite fast. I took a lot of pictures of the views on the way, here are some examples.
During the trip, Lili told me that in Bucharest, besides visiting the Ceaucescu's House, she has heard that also the Victoria street was a good place to go. I answered to her, "You are in your lucky day, our hotel is at the Victoria street". And indeed it was. The Capitol Hotel Bucharest was at one of the ends of the Victoria street, a very nice 4-star hotel at a very accessible price, and with excellent rooms and service.
We took our room and went to explore Victoria street. We had a feeling that ALL Bucharest were there walking in the street, and although it was a Saturday night, it was strange. It was packed with people. Asking around, we discovered that once every year, for ONE weekend only (Saturday and Sunday), there is a Lights and Laser festival on this street, called SPOTLIGHT, from 19:00 to 23:00. We were lucky enough to arrive exactly on that weekend. It was still 17:00, so, after some walking around, we sat down to eat a pizza on a nice pizza bar at the street and waited for the beginning of the festival.
It was worth waiting. It was a feast to the eyes. Laser projections on the streets, movie projections making the buildings on the street look alive, a giant blue light whale in the sky, and a non-ending number of other expositions all around the street. It was beautiful. In most cases, I recorded video of the street show, but here are some pictures I still managed to capture.
We took our room and went to explore Victoria street. We had a feeling that ALL Bucharest were there walking in the street, and although it was a Saturday night, it was strange. It was packed with people. Asking around, we discovered that once every year, for ONE weekend only (Saturday and Sunday), there is a Lights and Laser festival on this street, called SPOTLIGHT, from 19:00 to 23:00. We were lucky enough to arrive exactly on that weekend. It was still 17:00, so, after some walking around, we sat down to eat a pizza on a nice pizza bar at the street and waited for the beginning of the festival.
It was worth waiting. It was a feast to the eyes. Laser projections on the streets, movie projections making the buildings on the street look alive, a giant blue light whale in the sky, and a non-ending number of other expositions all around the street. It was beautiful. In most cases, I recorded video of the street show, but here are some pictures I still managed to capture.
The following day was the last day of our visit. We began by visiting a shopping center, the Parklake Mall, which was not very interesting, except for the architecture and the park nearby with the lake. We returned to the hotel quite quicly.
In the afternoon, we took an Uber to the Ceaucescu's House, where we were to meet José and Maya for our last day, both couples flying back to Israel in the next morning. On our way to Ceaucescu's house, we saw an interesting thing: a Karting Tour of Bucharest, a line of Karts travelling in the middle of the Bucharest traffic. We asked around and discovered that this tour begins at the Promenade mall, and can be ordered in advance.
Ceaucescu's House was an interesting visit. It was interesting to hear about Romania in its communist days. It was clear that they showed only the positive points of the government, forgetting all the people he killed and that he and his family were put down in a violent revolution and went down into history's Hall of Shame. But the most interesting thing I've noticed was that the house, despite its enormous size, with 40-50 rooms that made 5 separate apartments in the same house, was not a very rich house - well, maybe yes if we compare it to the poverty in Romania at the time, but not if you compare it to the castles of other leaders that we managed to see on TV in the near past, like Saddam Hussein's houses, Assad's or even Ghadafi houses. Ceaucescu's house was mostly in wood, if compared to those other leaders' houses with all the gold. The few golden items in the house were gold plated. Unfortunately it is forbidden to take pictures or record videos inside the house.
After the visit at Ceaucescu's house, we took José and Maya to the Victoria street so that they could also see the festival we had seen in the previous day. Before the festival began, we entered a place called Mayfair 39 to eat the craziest dessert we have eaten in our life: it is a building of very fluffy pancakes with cream and a topping that you choose from the various possibilities in the menu. An incredible dessert which is a full meal.
In the afternoon, we took an Uber to the Ceaucescu's House, where we were to meet José and Maya for our last day, both couples flying back to Israel in the next morning. On our way to Ceaucescu's house, we saw an interesting thing: a Karting Tour of Bucharest, a line of Karts travelling in the middle of the Bucharest traffic. We asked around and discovered that this tour begins at the Promenade mall, and can be ordered in advance.
Ceaucescu's House was an interesting visit. It was interesting to hear about Romania in its communist days. It was clear that they showed only the positive points of the government, forgetting all the people he killed and that he and his family were put down in a violent revolution and went down into history's Hall of Shame. But the most interesting thing I've noticed was that the house, despite its enormous size, with 40-50 rooms that made 5 separate apartments in the same house, was not a very rich house - well, maybe yes if we compare it to the poverty in Romania at the time, but not if you compare it to the castles of other leaders that we managed to see on TV in the near past, like Saddam Hussein's houses, Assad's or even Ghadafi houses. Ceaucescu's house was mostly in wood, if compared to those other leaders' houses with all the gold. The few golden items in the house were gold plated. Unfortunately it is forbidden to take pictures or record videos inside the house.
After the visit at Ceaucescu's house, we took José and Maya to the Victoria street so that they could also see the festival we had seen in the previous day. Before the festival began, we entered a place called Mayfair 39 to eat the craziest dessert we have eaten in our life: it is a building of very fluffy pancakes with cream and a topping that you choose from the various possibilities in the menu. An incredible dessert which is a full meal.
CONCLUSION
I love Romania. In 2017 I had the most lovely possible motorcycle tour in the country, and this trip only confirmed it. The country is beautiful, the people are among the nicest in Europe, and the cities are thrilling and full of life.
Regarding Via Transilvanica: I loved the two days that we had there. Would I do the hike again??? Definitely not. A man has to understand and accept his limitations. The problem is not Via Transilvanica, it is me - I am over the age (and definitely over the weight) to do these things, despite the fact that I loved doing them 40 years ago. But the place is beautiful, if you have the physical preparation and the spirit to do it, I recommend it.
Uber works only in Bucharest. In the other places, we had to relay to taxis. But the price of the taxis in those places is so low that everything is fine.
The SPOTLIGHT festival was the topping on top of the cake, which finished our trip with a golden key. If you have the chance to plan your visit to Bucharest on the weekend of the festival, do it.
Last but not least: I have prepared a video of the whole trip - 20 minutes of pleasure. Here it is for your delight:
I love Romania. In 2017 I had the most lovely possible motorcycle tour in the country, and this trip only confirmed it. The country is beautiful, the people are among the nicest in Europe, and the cities are thrilling and full of life.
Regarding Via Transilvanica: I loved the two days that we had there. Would I do the hike again??? Definitely not. A man has to understand and accept his limitations. The problem is not Via Transilvanica, it is me - I am over the age (and definitely over the weight) to do these things, despite the fact that I loved doing them 40 years ago. But the place is beautiful, if you have the physical preparation and the spirit to do it, I recommend it.
Uber works only in Bucharest. In the other places, we had to relay to taxis. But the price of the taxis in those places is so low that everything is fine.
The SPOTLIGHT festival was the topping on top of the cake, which finished our trip with a golden key. If you have the chance to plan your visit to Bucharest on the weekend of the festival, do it.
Last but not least: I have prepared a video of the whole trip - 20 minutes of pleasure. Here it is for your delight:
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