Draga Misti, fotografiile tipului sunt fantastice, am mai vazut si altelele insa nu asa de frumoase .
Pacat ca nu stiu engleza sa-i citesc impresiile

Si mie mi-au placut la nebunie, si pozele, si povestirea

Cum nu stii engleza? Nu traiesti in state?

Daca macar unul din voi citeste, nu e degeaba. Oiski, imi pare rau ca postez in engleza, dar e foarte mult de tradus - si nu tradusul e problema, ca traduc instantaneu, dar de scris atata. Toxic, Sorin glumea - dar oricum el nu e in State.

Sibiu
Pulling into Sibiu, the outskirts of the city look like quite a few other towns, frankly. A bit modern, a bit ragged around the edges, a bit of that legendary Marxist style. But once you get closer in, even before the walled center, Sibiu is nice. We had some fun trying to get to the top of the citadel. You'd think this would be straightforward enough - there's a sign that says "Centru" as you pass through any city that has a center. Even an arrow. Yet in Sibiu, we'd drive back and forth past the ramparts, pointing upward and trying to figure out why getting up there from down here should be so much harder than you'd think. The trick: Turn off of the main drag that comes in from either Brasov or Deva (depending on your direction and turn not onto the street directly in front of the Bulevard Hotel, but on the one running parallel to it. This will take you right to the cathedral and around behind the piatas without ending up driving right into the square and pedestrian areas.

Sibiu, without a doubt, was my favorite urban setting in Romania. And darned but we didn't allow enough time for it because we did have one reservation within Romania a couple of days later and I wanted to get well up into the mountains at least once before then. If there is one thing I'd have changed about the trip, it would have been to spend more time in Sibiu.

Sibiu has much of the jewelbox feeling of Timisoara, but in an atmosphere that's less edgy, more laid back, less concerned with the presence of outsiders. There's good and bad in that. I like edgy. But as a foriegner, you can't help but notice that you get noticed as you travel around. In Timisoara and in small towns, people will watch you. People would walk out to meet each other in the road as we pass and huddle, pointing at the car as we drove on. Harmlessly, so it didn't bother us, but Sibiu and the following time in Sinaia were a break from that feeling. That is, except for the Eyes of Sibiu! Feel free to imagine a dramatic crescendo here.

The old town centers around 3 plazas at different elevations. The Piata Mare (the Large Square), Piata Mica (the Small Square), Piata Huet (the Square I didn't translate). Each are cobblestoned and Piatas Mare and Mica are interconnected by walking beneath the town's clock tower called the Councilor's Tower. There are towers all around the outer points of the old town. Around the Piata Mare's edge and on the side streets leading off are the Evenagelical Cathedral (Vlad's son is buried here. Sorry, can't escape the connections), the Brukenthal Museum and museums on ancient phamaceuticals, transylvanian artifacts and the history museum. The Piata Mica is the more interesting of the two main plazas. It is in a "C" shape, wrapped around a decending ramp of street proportions down into the new town. There is an ornate cast iron bridge that spans the ends of the "C" to cross over the ramp. This is called the Liar's Bridge. The legend - there's always a legend - is that if you tell a lie on the bridge, it will collapse beneath you. Therefore showing contributing negligence in any subsequent lawsuits. Beautifully restored buildings surround the piatas.

It's an active center, but be aware that if you need an ATM, you may to walk a couple blocks to just outside the ramparts to Piata Unirii. We found 2 there across the Coposu Blvd at the mini-mall. As we arrived, droves of people were getting off work and across the piatas.

Sibiu is called Hermannstadt by the Saxons, who built the city. They were brought in by the Hungarians when this was Hungarian territory and given land and rights in exchange for holding the lines of the frontier. They built a series of fortified cities across Transylvania and villages would fortify the church as a peasant fortess. Sibiu was one of these cities. Almost every town, big and small, in this area has a Romanian name, a German name and a Hungarian name. Even Transylvania itself is called Transilvania, Siebenburgen and Erdely in those three languages, respectively.

Oh yeah, the plot. We pulled into Sibiu as it was getting dark and we finally found our way above the walls. Still, we were trying to get to a hotel called the Imparatul Romanilor (aka The Roman Emperor). A nice old building with lots of character. We circled more once in the old town and parked back behind Piata Mica as we didn't have our bearings really. Left the bags and walked across both piatas to get to the hotel, which is just off Piata Mare, half block down on Strada N Balsescu, which is a pedestrian street, sort of. Saw a few cars, but also a blockade. We went into check in and find out about parking. They gave us a route that wound around to a small lot right behind the hotel. $1.50 a night for guarded parking.

This hotel is not characteristic of most of the rest of the trip but it was closest to the center, which is a biggie for us. And as it turns out, we really liked our room. But we paid $70 per night for it. Only the hotel in Sinaia cost as much. But the room. Had a kind size bed, turned on a diagonol. And still you couldn't reach the walls while sitting on the edge of the bed. Had a mini-fridge, tv and a soaking tub. But the reason I liked this room (remember, this sort of thing is usually not a big deal for us) was the view. We were on the top floor and out the window is a full on view of the Orthodox cathedral. Wow. It's modeled after the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul and the light hit it perfect in the morning. You have to see a picture to get a small part of the full effect.

http://www.travelisfatal.com/ro/Sibiu/pages/sibiu_cath.html

We ate at a little restaurant just across the street and down a bit called Restaurantul Mara. Nothing fancy at all about the furnishings, but the wait staff is young and very nice and professional. Here we had some food that was more traditionally Romanian. Sarmale is a pork spiced meatball cooked within either a grape leaf, or more likely as in this case - cabbage. Tada! There's one down from the title. And here it was very very good. I had it a couple of times later and it was never quite as tender and flavorful as it was here. There was a light sauce with it which had a swirl of sour cream to top it off. Then there is the wine. My wife doesn't really care for red wines. We did find a Chianti she liked once, but never found it available again. So, anyway, we mostly choose a bottle of white when we both have wine. It's ok with me, I like some of either. We picked a dry Reisling off of the menu. Dry is good as long as it's not terribly acidic. Not at all like the sweet Reislings. Throughout the trip, we always picked Romanian wines and they generally ran about $4. Only had a couple of clunkers but the Varancea Cotesti at Mara was a winner. Total meal for 2 - 595000 lei. A little over $18.

Took a walk along the squares down to the ATMs and then up to the Hallers Bastion before turning in.

In the morning, I wandered out early (again??) and went looking for the light. There were groups families spilling out of arched entryways and gated courtyards everywhere as kids all tromped around me heading for school. We wandered around and went down once covered staircase to the new town and back up another. Breakfast was included in the room, so we ate in the hotel dining room from the buffet, then wandered some more, down to the cathedral and back. Now, about the eyes of Sibiu. There is building after building that have "eyes" within the roof. Usually a pair of ventilation openings that appear as eyes. I didn't make this term up - Sibiu is famous for them. And it really does feel like you're being watched by the town itself. Check the Sibiu section of the pictures, on the last of the Sibiu pages to see what they look like.

As I said, I wished we'd had more time and someday, I think we'll visit Sibiu again. But on this day we walked over to the little grocery across the way, a couple of doors down from the Mara. They had a nice selection of fresh pastries at a separate counter just inside the door. We picked up a couple of fresh french cremes (we used to call the creme horns) for 20 cents each and were on our way to the mountains for a walk.

The Fagaras Mountains
Heading east out of Sibiu, we got most of the way along to the town of Fagaras when we decided to discuss what we wanted to do next. What we both felt like doing was on a southern turn off about 10 minutes behind us. We'd both thought that taking in a little mountain scenery would be nice, so we doubled back and took the road towards the Trans-Fagaras pass. The Fagaras is the highest range in the Carpathians, and this pass is one of the few crossing them and the highest. It's usually only open in warm weather months, but it had not snowed yet this year. Some patches of snow remain on the ground all year, but it was very pleasant temperatures. The mountains in this area are up to 2500m, with Moldoveanu the highest at 2544m (8346ft). Views are spectacular up here. We stopped at the Balea Cascada (waterfalls) and took a walk on the path up along the stream to the waterfalls, which are also the highest in Romania. The path is rocky, occasionally crosses the shallow stream, and has a fair rise to it, but it's a very pretty walk and we're not really hikers, so it's doable as a casual walk.
There's a cable car that runs from the parking area to the top at Balea Lake and crosses over the falls. The cars were closed in late October.

After the walk, we drove the remainer of the stretch to the lake on some hairpin ledge driving. There are guards and walls though. The ice lake itself isn't very scenic I thought, but it was good to go to the top of the pass. We turned back here and got back to our original route. Starting from the south end at Curtea de Arges would have probably been even better as a route.

The Bucegi Mountains to Sinaia
Back on the main road, we headed the direction of Brasov, but veered off again near the town of Sinca Veche. I almost hesitate to tell this bit. Well, what we did next was pretty off-beat and based on an account I read on Octavian's site spirit.ro. Sorry Octavian if you come across this and it doesn't come out exactly right. I'm sure the experience would have been different if we weren't so language challenged. Anyway, we went up to see what is an old makeshift temple in a small grotto. This was supposed to have been used as a hidden place of worship over the course of centuries.

Driving up a small dirt track out across a pasture, we found a man leaning against a post, just out in the middle of nowhere. He waved us in and he walked us up to the grotto. We followed him up the hill on a dirt path until we came to the opening. After a bit of negotiation on price (negotiation meaning that he spotted the best color bill peeking out of my wallet) he pulled aside a grate of lashed wood sticks and he walked us in, ducking as we entered. There was a hole dug to the surface above to let in light and a couple of alters carved into the walls. Oddly, in addition to many Christian symbols and artifacts, there was a Star of David carved on the wall and a yin and yang symbol. I can't vouch for the authenticity of all this, but he motioned us through the rituals at each point and gave us home made candles to light at the right points. My wife is catholic and this made more sense to her than it did to me, a german protestant, but I enjoyed it none the less. There was a pile of coins on main alter and he motioned for us to make an offering. I dug what coins I had out, split them between us and we added them to the pile. We snuck a grin at each other as he noticed that I'd somehow mixed my Hungarian coins with the Romanian and picked them out to carefully hand back to me. Apparently there aren't any exchange booths in the great beyond.

We wrapped up our look around and headed down the hill, each of us getting a hug from our guide before we exited the pasture and were underway again. The road out of Sinca Veche towards our destination at Sinaia was a great drive through fairy tale scenery, with rolling hills and valleys draped in a layer of fog, still exposing the farms ahead and the hilltops overhead. It was easy to see where all the tales of creatures and beasts come from.


Sinaia
Sinaia is a town set in the Prahova mountain valley, just outside the boundaries of Transylvania, in Wallachia. A ski town part of the year, it's ringed in mountain views. There are cable cars in summer and winter to take you to the tops. There a number of hiking trails and apparently there has been quite an issue with bears lately. 80% of all large carnivores in Europe are said to be in the Carpathian ranges of Romania, with not only bears, but wolves and lynx also sighted.

There are many towns between here and Brasov to the north, such as Busteni and Poiana Brasov, but those seemed to be filled with modern lodge-type hotels and we prefer something a little more old-world. So, we picked Sinaia and the Palace hotel, which is a turn of the century building but very still very westernized. Nice enough though and this area is more expensive. Paid $76 per night. The room was ok and large but the full size fridge in the room hummed. We plugged it back in in the morning. The views out the window were very nice, overlooking the wooded park and the mountains beyond. The breakfast was ok.

In Sinaia, there is the Peles Palace, a large estate home of King Carol built in the 1870s, but modeled after German Schloss and set nicely above the town. Just near the hotel and park is a WWI cemetary.

Our favorite bit though was the walk up to Sinaia Monastary, namesake of the town, itself named for a stone brought back from Mt. Sinai. There's a long stretch of stone stairs leading along the wooded hillside to the compound, but you can also drive up there. Inside the walls, there are two squares, each containing an Orthodox style church - the new Church and the Old. We visited the new but focused primarily on the old church. As we walked around, a number of Romanian groups of kids and teens worked around our slower pace. As we stood in the portico of the old church, looking at the frescos over our heads, we noticed a man in the doorway of one of the side buildings that make up the outer walls. He was waving to us and calling us over from across the gardens.

He was the handyman for the monastary and took us through the side chapels and buildings, pointing out faded frescos, mausoleums and alters in Romanian, writing the dates of things in the dust with a stick when necessary. In between his carrying of buckets and boards, he would rush back to us to explain that the old church was from 1572 or that the frescoes in the private monk's chapel were from 1690. On our way out of the gates back to town, he paused once more, pointing up to the belltower by the gate, giving it's year and weight in numbers scratched on the ground.

We found a canine friend in Sinaia as we did in most over spot we stopped. One of the things that we noticed, being animal people, is that dogs run loose everywhere. What we were always happy about is that we did not ever see a dog that appeared to be mistreated, neglected or starving. I'm sure that happens and understand the problem exists in Bucharest, but for where we were, it seemed to mostly be that dogs did their own thing. We scratched behind a lot of ears on this trip.

Bran
Within easy driving distance from Sinaia is the defensive structures of Bran Castle and Rasnov Fortress.

Bran Castle is easily well known tourist attaction in Romania. Every tour goes there, I'm sure. And as you pull into the parking lot, you can tell it. There are booths set up even in the time of year we went selling everything from handicrafts to spooky music CDs to schlocky monster masks. This is routinely and constantly referred to as "Dracula's Castle", despite the fact that the real man barely spent a night there and it wasn't his castle.

The Saxon castle itself sets well up on the hill and is actually impressive from a distance. It's really not that large once you're in it but it is well maintained and features timber framing and multi-level interior balconies over the courtyard. You're charched 80000 lei admission at the gate below, near the open air museum of village type buildings. Once up at the castle, you're directed to your right and are self-routed through that direction until you emerge from the other end, having passed various roped-off rooms with period furniture along the way.

It's ok... but my feeling is that it does not compare to the experience at Rasnov. If you go to both, do Bran first. Bran will be a let down if done the other way, as far as I'm concerned.

We did however find a very good little family run pizza place in town though called Bella Italia that makes fairly authentic Italian style pizzas and has a guesthouse about.

Rasnov
The Fortress at Rasnov is perched high above a dusty working town with a smokestack or two and you can see it from miles around. An entire small walled twon sitting on the top of a hill, a large crucifix mounted prominantly to the face of the most visible building. The restoration of the fortress is still going on, but it's quite impressive as it is. Once you find your way up there (off the main Sinaia road, on a small gravel road past the sports fields), you can see for miles from up there.

There is a turn of history of how the peasants built this fortress and how effective it was in holding off the Tartars and the Turks who attempted to siege it. You spiral your way around to the gates and enter, paying your 40000 admission ($1.20), then passing a display of implements like carts, stockades and cookware. We were a little amused though by the fact that in the course of restoration, someone had thought it a good idea to cut a couple holes in a very visible roof for modern insulated skylights for an office.

We continued on through this uninhabited stone town, spiraling upwards to the very top of the town. What views across the entire valley and the hills in 360 degrees beyond. We wound our way back down to look at the interior displays of unearthed wooden and ceramic pieces in the lower buildings.

No way were the Tartars sneaking up on this place.

Harmann and Prejmer
We headed off from the Sinaia area towards Sighisoara and caught these two small towns along the way. We'd really wanted to see Brasov and the Black Church, but figured we could backtrack later. It never happened, and that's regretable, but we had 3 days of reservations in Sighisoara.

There are a multitude of Saxon originated villages spread out across southern Transylvania, each with a church in the center which had fortified walls surrounding it. This is where the townspeople would house their valuables and foodstores, a refuge in case of attack. Many of these are still standing and we visited several of the best preserved on this trip.

We stopped at Prejmer enroute and took a few photos of it's octagonal clock tower from outside, as it was closed, and moved on to Harmann. Here we found the gates open and the caretakers raking leaves in the inner yard, and issuing reprimands in German to David, their very active 3 year old son. We wandered around inside the walls as they worked, equally enjoying the bright day, the buildings and the boy rolling around in the leaves they'd just raked. As we made our way around to the outer gate again, the gentleman asked if we'd like to see the inside of the church itself. He took us in and instantly it reminded me of some of the old churches in the small river towns in Eastern Missouri near where I'd grown up. We talked about the similarities as the towns at home had many of only a generation or two ago who spoke only German and here in Romania, this was also an enclave where "Saxons", Germans of western Germany had settled back in the 1400's.

He told us about how until only 10 years ago, the village had been home to over 2000 German speaking residents among the ethnic Romanians and Hungarians. Now, since the revolution of 89, there are less than 200. The exodus of these people back to Germany is apparently widespread and continues.

The church itself is simple, yet elegant, with vaults, a gold guilded alterpiece and a pipe organ. Member's cushions and personal items remain in the pews, holding their seats.

We thanked our host for his time and purchased a couple of postcards to help in support of the maintenance of the church and headed up the road through similar villages such as Bod and Homorod, chasing sunlight on our way to Sighisoara.

Next - Sighisoara, the Pearl of Transylvania, Birthplace of Vlad - on Halloween

Nici nu am spus si nici nu cred ca cei care merg prin tara/lume cu , cortul is golani sau altfel( ca mai sunt
si uscaturi, asta-i alta poveste).
Am inteles despre ce anume vorbeati, am vrut doar sa extind un pic subiectul.Asa cum pentru voi o excursie
in Ro , in cazul de fata, 'arde' mai mult sau mai putin la buzunar, aceeasi situatie e si in cazul celor de care vorbeam.
Pentru ei asta e "excursia' verii, chiar daca "traseul' e mai scurt.
Stiu ca atunci cand mergi iei si copiii cu tine se schimba problema radical, oricat de 'caliti' ar fi.


ps
Cat despre turistii straini care-si permit sa stea la hoteluri " de lux" , ce pot sa zic decat 'bravo lor!"?

Misti - super comentariile !!!

Sighisoara
This town, at least the citadel, is not to be missed. I've read somewhere that it is the possibly the best preserved gothic citadel anywhere, but I have a lot of travel to do before I could verify that. Don't mind trying though.

It's not a big center, but once you're inside the walls, you're back in time. The origins here go back to a Roman citadel, but the current look is all medieval Saxon, back around the 16th century. What I like about it is that it's not squeeky clean and all restored for the tourist public. But you can't mistake here that they are well aware of the value of tourism. There are 4 small hotels in the citadel and a couple restaurants and internet cafes. I don't think you could go wrong with any of them. The Hotel Sighisoara is the largest at 28 rooms, I think. The Casa Cu Cerb (House with the Stag) is the most recently renovated and has a very good restaurant in the barrel vaulted center. The meals and service at Casa Wagner were both better though, and we found out here that even though the wine (Jidvai this time) is good and really cheap, two bottles is not necessarily better. There's also a little place called International Cafe with assorted baked things and has some very Americanized food choices if you're feeling like a bit of home: PB&J sandwiches, brownies, chili and cornbread.

Ultimately, for a place to stay, we chose option 4 - Casa Legenda, a small guest house. This is a hands off sort of operation (the room is not made up daily). But the decor is unique to each room, very homey with heavy arched wooden doors and wooden floors. Ours, the Countess room, opened directly to a little entryway outside, as did the "Old Room". Price was 1200000 ($36) per night. You can see the picture of the rooms at the website: legenda.ro

There is an internet cafe right next door that charges 50 cents per hour. The computers are almost as old as the building.

Back to the sightseeing, I'd say this one is a do not miss. I'm not sure you really need the three days we gave it, but it's also a good base and has decent rail connections to Sibiu, Brasov and Targu Mures. Ultimately though, the appeal of this town comes from the architecture and feel. We parked in a lower lot and walked up the stairs with just the backpack to find the Legenda. The tunnel-like entrance to the walled area is hard to locate and requires driving through a residential area, so we went back to bring the car up later. We were later able to drive around and park inside the walls. From the parking lots below, it would appear this is probably not the case in high season.

As we topped the stairs, we came right up on the covered walkway beneath the famous gothic clock tower. This is the symbol of Sighisoara. It has working wooden (nearly life-size) characters parading out each day, a different one each day, almost like a cuckoo clock. The tower itself is very large at 64 meters high and topped with a main spire and 4 surrounding ones. Very transylvanian. You can climb to the top during hours for a small fee (can't recall, and there is also a mesuem of torture devices and an old pharmacy inside. The most interesting part is that you can see the internal clockwork mechanisms and have a close up peep at the wooden characters. Then outside, you have an unobstructed view each direction.

We headed right, around the tower base and came up on a large crowd around costumed players, conducting a mock witch trial. Very animated, only Romanian spoken, but cute to watch. Lots of theatrics. It was a campy introduction to the city, but we enjoyed it. One block up is the house that Vlad himself was born in, and then across the tiny square and right again and there is the Legenda.

If you go straight at the square, you see the covered gates to the citadel. If you make a left (the Casa Cu Cerb is on this corner), you pass the Hotel Sighisoara and keep ascending the cobblestones until you reach the old covered wooden staircase (built in 1542). The staircase takes you to the very top of the hill, surpassing the height of the clock tower, to the church on the hill and the "old" German cemetary. I say old, but in fact, while it obviously has been here for centuries - activities, local visitors and recent dates show that it's still growing. (I was looking for a better word but "active" hardly seems correct).

Shoring up the outer walls at various points are 9 out of the original 14 towers, each labeled for a different occupation. There is a nice walk with a view of the modern town partially around the outside of the wall. This walk looks out on the modern black and white orthodox cathedral.

For those who are curious: No, there isn't really any activities, even in Sighisoara that are "Halloween-ish". But it was kind of intriguing to be there on that day, even if it was just as happenstance. We saw a jack-o-lantern in one pensiune window and that was it. The next day though is the Day of the Dead, a memorial day, and there were families everywhere taking flowers to the cemetary.

Shopping: We rarely shop, especially not for ourselves. Gifts sometime. Here though, we bought a couple of nice small carved ceramic vases for friends and this rolled glass vase by a local artist for ourselves. It has several layers of etched glass, each layer a different color, layered on after etching scenes into the prior layer. Gives it a 3D look and must have taken a long time to do. About $20.

Well, we covered the cabbage back in Sibiu (and frankly, a few too many times in other meals on the trip). It was here in Sighisoara that the blessing occurred. On approach to the old wooden staircase, we could see an older woman tucked just inside the entrance. She was selling black walnuts from a plastic bucket there and tried to get our attention without english, but with a nice smile and a wave toward her wares. We declined, just being on our way up and all. Several steps up was a young Russian girl who was growing impatient in trying to get a photo of the light breaking through at odd angles from the side slats of the bridge. Just as she'd get set, someone would appear at the top or from behind and get in the way. This time it was our turn to be the pests, but we waited and we got into a conversation about photography and cameras, us both trying to get the shot (got it!).

We wandered around at the top, looking at the church and at the headstones and of course, the views back towards town. We headed back down the staircase and decided at some point that we both sort of liked the idea of some walnuts. So we signed that would like a bag. What a sweet lady, after standing all day, even though we had no idea what each other said. And the walnuts were delicious at about 26 cents for a big bag (cracked, still in the shell). Munched off and on all day on these things and then decided it would be nice to have more for a day trip the next day. We walked back up as light was beginning to fail and motioned that we'd like another. Worked as hard as I could to ask in what Romanian I knew. Goodness, the response! She pointed to each of us, then pulling the corners of her mouth up with her fingers and reaching to ours to do the same. Ear to ear smiles from her as she hugged my wife and made the sign of the cross for each us and nudged us together. We each managed a "multumesc" (thank you) but overall, we got a bit of what all was going on. Not much. I handed her the same amount as before, and she dumps the remainder of the bucket into the bag, so that it would barely close. More hugs, more "talking" and a photo. More signs of good wishes. We sure felt blessed anyway.

As we walked away, we spot the young Russian girl again, still with her camera. She looks at us... looks at the walnuts... and we all crack up laughing as she teasingly rolls her eyes and shakes her head at us. Could we really be such soft touches? It was a good visit.

Atentie la alerta de viitor hotel - vorbind de turism - in bold.

Near Sighisoara - Biertan, Medias, Cris, etc
While Sighisoara could conceivably be be "done" in a day, I'm glad that we chose to base here for a little while. There are a number of other interesting places within an easy drive, some of which may be more difficult with public transport. I'm no authority there, but assume in the absence of trains to some of the places up next, there'd be public buses.

We set off south on a secondary road out of Sighisoara and were quickly out of town, passing through village after village, in the direction of the town of Agnita. A distinguishing characteristic of almost every village along the way is of a walled church. As in the case with Harmann and Prejmer, these were built as a defensive base for the local Saxon population, but each is different in some way. Many are unfortunately in some state of disrepair, but looked at another way, this seems to add to the sense of history surrounding them. For instance, the first we passed, in the town of Saes, has a clock tower that is split from top to bottom.

I want to insert a logistical note here which would have been useful earlier. The Freytag & Berndt map of Erdely/Transylvania was invaluable in locating these buildings. It has the names of each town in Romanian, Hungarian and German (where applicable) and a very good legend showing churches, castles, etc. The only drawback was that it cut off Bucovina, which makes sense, as that isn't in Transylvania. We did not see this map anywhere along the way, so if you're driving, I'd get it ahead of time.

Without trying to describe each town and each church (ok, ok - no cheering), just be aware that if you're into exploring, you can't go wrong wandering anywhere just south of Sighisoara. We passed each town, skipping some churches, checking out others. In Agnita, we drove to the center of town to check out the church there, bigger any we'd past so far, but similar. From here, we headed north, enjoying the rolling countryside.

Our next big stop was the city of Medias. It's not terribly attractive on the outskirts, but this is something you get used to after awhile. Continue to the center - parking is easily found near the main square. Medias is also on the main train line coming from Sighisoara. The old center of the town is very pleasant, with a host of colorful buildings surrounding a flower filled square. Never saw a tourist here anywhere, but that's true for most places we went. Above the square is a giant clock tower and other lookout towers. It's a nice walk going up the hill and finding your way back down around the brightly painted yellow and red church and through covered arched walkways. There's a very nice looking cafe just to the left of the square as you're facing the towers, but we opted to walk down to the base of the hill, to the modern town. We walked through the market, with hordes of vegetable and flower sellers filling quite a good sized area. Back around, we stopped in a little bakery and bought ourselves a slice of very questionable pizza. Here's something... uh, interesting. Something I'd read and caught just in time. You may want to ask for your pizza without catsup. I just caught her before she squirted the Heinz bottle. Of course, you may choose otherwise. Either way, the pizza was so-so, but the cakes were pretty good. Fended off a young boy who slipped in while my wife's back was turned and slowly was reaching for her bag. A quick little thing where I looked like I was coming out of my chair and he vanished. (I'm very scary)

From here, we went on to Biertan. Without a doubt, the largest and best preserved of the walled churches we saw. Imposing as it sits on a rise in the middle of town, it's double walled and there's a covered wooden staircase to the top. Biertan and it's church is a Unesco world heritage site. The town itself is small and well kept and there's a cafe at the base of the hill. At the top, there was a young lady sitting and reading on the lawn who walked us in and gave us a brief tour, in English, then allowed us to have our own look around, as she waited and answered our questions. She showed us to the treasure room of the church where the town valuables were kept. She explained that the door required both a key and a specially formed crank to unlock two different mechanisms. Inside the door, 14 iron rods slide into the floor and door frame in every direction. Overall, in my opinion, I'd say that Biertan would be the best single choice for a village to visit in this area. No charge for admission to the church, but there is a donation box.

From here, next was Cris, which is fairly close and moving in our clockwise circle back towards Sighisoara. We set out to see the church here too, but it didn't really turn out that way, and the church itself, while worth seeing, didn't compare to the impressiveness of the one at Biertan. But we enjoyed this stop most for another reason. There was also some sort of castle showing on the map, but I hadn't read anything about this.

Our first impression of the town was rather funny. We're driving down the main drag, which is really just a small paved road through town, when we see something of some size lying in the road ahead. We slowed way down, creeping forward, both of us leaned forwad trying to make out what it was. At first we thought maybe a horse, but a few yards closer we could see clothing and a bicycle wheel poking up from behind. A bicyclist was hit, we thought. We could see a number of people standing on a bridge on a side road ahead who were also looking. Two of the young guys from the crowd run down to the man in the road just as we're getting close and together lift the man to his feet just as we're getting there. The man who was just lying there a minute ago was napping, or more accurately, sleeping it off. He grins at us, red faced, stumbling and amazingly enough, takes a drag, as he still has his cigarette lit. The two young guys are laughing, wave and shrug. Welcome to Cris.

We eased past, turning over the bridge and spotted the castle in semi-ruin there above us. We turned into a gravel drive that led up the small hill but found that the 3 winged castle was fenced off at the opening. Figuring this was going to be not much more than an opportunity to snap a picture, I stepped out and just left the car running. It was then that a man in a sweater and cloth hat appeared out of nowhere and came to the gate in the fence. He came out and waved, motioned back to the castle with a questioning expression. I sort of nodded that way, pointed at myself and asked "da?" Nodding, he pointed at the car, made a turning key gesture with a "la machina". Yes, probably a good idea. From there, this very kind gentleman walked us through Bethlen Castle for well over an hour and a half with not another soul around. All other plans fell by the wayside. This gentleman was the caretaker for the property, which is currently being renovated to be turned into a hotel complex. Looks like it's going to be nice, but they are only in the initial stages of restoration now. It's funny but even though he spoke 3 words of English the entire time and us only a few more of Romanian, it's amazing how you manage to understand. Then there's that disturbing habit I have of nodding even when I'm not getting a word, but that's a matter for some other forum.

We climbed towers on rickety spiral staircases, went down into the cellars, from wing to wing. He diagrammed the property on the ground and pointed at the towere at each corner of the structure. "Uno, Due, Trei, Patru" as he pointed at each. As we walked around, he would refer to each tower by number. He gave us the history, pointing at the central turret, saying "ani" and scratching 1360 onto the ground. Pointing to the adjoining Italian style loggia, the number was 1402. He was always sure to make the gesture of a camera in use when something significant was near, such as the family crest of the Bethlen family, or the well carved from solid block of stone, or the original vaulted chapel. Charades communicated the spot where the new bar would be (drinking), where the dungeon was, or where alcove where hangings were performed (the old self hanging by a noose clue was pretty obvious). He made the motion of a trap door to show where the victims would drop afterwards. He showed us frescoes that are to be restored from photographs soon. At one point, he took us into the office and motioned that the camera should be put away before we entered. He then walked us through the blueprints of the plans for the hotel, re-using the gestures from before to point out each room on the plans.

Although we could have easily stayed longer, we'd taken enough of this man's time, said our goodbyes and thank yous and were off, back to Sighisoara.

Frumos scrie Americanu

Sorin.

Chestia cu hotelul ar putea fi interesanta, daca nu fac din el un kitsch total...

Din poze pare ca au un pic de minte cei care-l renoveaza. Sa vedem ce-o sa iasa, daca iese cum trebuie o sa fie o locatie superba.
Daca v-a placut, va pun si continuarea. Sfarsitul e chiar haios.

Bicaz and Bucovina

The road out of Sighisoara to Bucovina can take you one of two ways - Up through Targu Mures, Bistrita and then the Borgo pass made famous by Bram Stoker or you can go through the Szekely land and through the Bicaz Gorge. We chose the latter, as we weren't on any sort of literary agenda.

The Szekely land is an area that is still primarily Hungarian and the churches were different than we saw elsewhere. We stopped only briefly though, as our goal was to get to Bucovina. We made our way through until we reached Gheorgheni and connected with the road to Lacu Rosu (Red Lake) and Bicaz. The scenery on this route is phenomenal, with the gorge being the centerpiece of the drive. After stopping off to eat a excellent lunch at a lodge on the shore of Lacu Rosu, we headed back into the mountains. You arrive at the gorge after passing ever more dramatic views of rock formations, until the gorge is upon you, literally looming above you as the road cuts through beneath the overhangs. Rather than to go on and on, have a look at the photos for this location. They do a better job than I can. Yosemite has competition. One particular peak reminds me a little of Devils Tower in Wyoming as well, but with a cross mounted at the summit.

At the town of Bicaz, we swung north and drove along Lake Bicaz and more great views before branching off in the direction of Targu Neamt. We finally (this day was mostly driving) made it to Gura Humorului, a large town amongst the monastaries that we'd come to see. Finding no ATM at first, we drove down the road towards Voronet and settled in at the Casa Elena. This was a very nice "guesthouse", although they have recently expanded and have a much large building to the back now. They also had a small restaurant and an excellent wait staff. More local wine and mititei, a type of spicy local sausage We finally found an ATM in town with the help of the folks at Elena, but it wasn't easy. It's right in the center of town. If you find the Best Western, it's right across the street, diagonally. The next day, it was out of order, so we lucked out as we needed to pay for the room in cash. The room was mid-range - not to basic, not flash. About $32US.

The stars of Bucovina (Southern Bucovina to be precise- Northern Bucovina is just across the border in Ukraine) are the painted monastaries. There are a number of other monastaries in the region with similar architectural styles, but 4 of them were painted centuries ago (16th century) with frescos that cover the exterior of the central church and still remain painted today. Absolutely phenomenal. Each a cigar shaped church with drastic wrap-around eves, completely (with one exception) covered in brilliant pictoral stories of martyrs, the crucifixion and judgement day. 3 of the 4 of these are surrounded by fortifications and each are attended to by orthodox nuns. Each monastary is known for a signature color. As you walk around these buildings, the art tells a story, panel by panel.

There is a small fee to enter each one and an additional small fee to take photos (this was true at other sites as well, but I've neglected to mention it. The camera fee is usually around 20000 lei, about 75 cents US)

The hotel is right up the road from the monastary at Voronet, so we were able to visit bright and early. It was rainy and a little chilly all day in this area, but manageable. Of the four monastaries we visited in the region, this was probably our least favorite. I think though, that was because there was construction on the pathways around it going on, and you couldn't get close to it. Still, the sight of the church is pretty inspiring and as each panel is about 5 foot tall, we could still admire the art, which is faded near the base due to the elements, the rest amazingly preserved. The color here may be found in some crayon boxes. It's called Voronet Blue. On one side is the Creation, the other, Judgement Day.

Moving along we went just north of Gura to Humor. Humor is red-based. While the themes are similar on the exterior, the interior of this church is just as fully covered. It's unique from the others by having the most elaborate interior. Inside, the theme is the martydom of the saints, with all the inhumanity of the tales on display. There is a mausoleum in one chamber and a stunning alterpiece at the end.

After an aborted attempt to take a white road from Humor, which quickly devolved into a mud plain, we backtracked to Gura and went the longer way around north to Sucevita. This was easily our favorite. Similar admission pricing, plus a 50 cent parking fee across the road. Sucevita is the most heavily fortified of the 4 monastaries, looking quite like a small fortress from the road. Inside the other walls sat the familiarly shaped church, this time in green. This church is larger than the others and we found the nuns out and about, arranging flowers at a table on the side and tending the garden. The church here is noticeably larger than the others, but almost bare on one side. I'd read that a painter had fallen and died and that the rest refused to finish the work, as an omen. None the less, the side that IS finished was my favorite. It depicts a ladder running diagonally the full height of the wall, with the march of man upwards, rung by rung. Above them angels assist, while those who were unsteady fall, devoured by the demons waiting at the foundation of the building. Further, Sucevita is ringed with tree covered hills, shrouded in a mist on the day of our visit.

Finally, there is Moldovita. And not to give short shrift to this place, but it's harder to find it as memorable, having already seen the best of the art and your own personal favorite beforehand. It's also a small fortress, the paintings are based around yellow as a theme, but are more faded than the others. It's theme is Constantinople, under attack by the Persians. The town itself is nice as well.

After leaving the area of the monastaries, we passed through the town of Ciocanesti, worth mentioning for it's unusual houses. The majority of the homes in this town are covered in unique geometric patterns, no two alike. We saw nothing else like this in any other town in the area or in Romania. I am still not sure what is the reason why this one town has taken to this practice, but I'm glad they did.

From here, we cross the Prislop pass for more views, then decend into Maramures, the most traditional area in Romania and home to the wooden churches.

Maramures
Maramures is the most noticeably traditional area we visited anywhere along the course of our trip. After passing through over the Prislop pass, we made our way up to and settled in the main town of Sighetu Marmatiei, also known as Sighet. The town itself is a suitable base for setting out towards the famous villages that surround it, but it also has a number of things to see there in town. Sighet isn't a particularly inspiring place, but it's also not unattractive. We stayed at the Perla hotel, having arrived too late to go knocking on doors for a homestay type place. I don't know, we weren't feeling that warm and fuzzy about the Perla's staff really, having gotten a general feeling that we were a bit of an imposition. A few smirks and a nod that the room was upstairs. Later one of the two at the front desk was also the waiter in the little restaurant and one of the dishes came out with one of those toothpick American flags. Could have been intended as a nice gesture - I don't know. Still, the room was clean, fairly roomy and it cost $26, so all's well.

In Sighet, the former Communist detention center for dissidents has been converted into a museum. Additionally in town is the home of the writer Elie Weisel, a folk art museum and an open air village museum. For us though, the focus was getting to a few of the Unesco listed villages in the surrounding area.

Branching off from Sighet are two valleys - the Mara and the Izei. We spent the majority of one day exploring around the Izei valley, heading as far west as Ieud. In Ieud, we drove into the village and immediately saw people everywhere of the older generation dressed traditionally, with men in wide brimmed hats and the women in colorful skirts and aprons, wide red and black horizontal strips being a predominant pattern. This sort of thing isn't retained for the benefit of tourism, but is just a part of life. Very few cars are seen here, except on the main road passing through near the towns. In fornt of houses, etc, only an occasional Dacia sits, but horses are everywhere. Every home has a tall wooden fence in front, each fence accessible through a wide carved wooden gate with a mini-"roof". No two gates are alike and each one has a small bench outside, where the women sit and talk and sew. Except at lunch time. At lunch, it seemed the towns were abandoned, everyone adjourning for lunch.

We pulled into Ieud, and like so many villages here, a tall, tall steeple of unfinished wood pokes up from above the homes. Everyone one of these churches are different, but it's obvious that together they make up a unique style that makes them exclusively a part of this region. Ieud has the oldest of these, built in 1364. Ieud, I'd read, was also one of the most traditional, evidenced by the fact that there'd been no divorces here for 300 years of people tracking that sort of thing.

After we pulled in, we wandered to old graveyard but found that church was locked. Ah well, it was still impressive from the outside, it's steeple so huge in relation to the size of the church itself. Clad in rough hewn dark wood and intricately cut and fitted pieces of wooden shake roofing. We wandered back out through the gate to the road where the car was parked when a man approached from across and up the road a little ways. He pointed at the church "biserca?". We nodded, hoping we'd understood the question and he headed off to another house and brought out a lady bearing a key. She didn't speak but a few words of English, but took us in.

Inside it's like another world. Nothing at all like those cathedrals of the cities or even of the simple Saxon churches. This church is as rustic and handfashioned from local logs as the outside is. Religious memorabilia abounds inside, decorating the walls with prints of the last supper, of icons and artifacts from wherever they may have been available. One was a Jesus hologram, his eyes following you around the small hall. I would motion to the steep ladder leading to the balcony. The woman responds "It is possible". (This caused us to hold back a grin, as "It is not possible" has been a running phrase throughout the trip whenever a dish was not available or a place not open). And the long white hand embroidered scarves are draped over everything - every painting, table, light fixture and window frame. Every scarf has a different pattern.

Grandeur isn't what you'd think of to describe these churches. But don't miss them.

Near Ieud is Poienile Izei. It too has a wooden church, which sits up on a hill next door to the new church. It's a bit harder to find as the town is hilly. We went the wrong way and sat as we watched a crew trying to back a truck through this town. Townspeople came from everywhere to watch as well, A few engaging us in a conversation of mime to discuss the goings on. Finally, we decided to back up and try going around somewhere else when we happened on the church we were looking for anyway. It's off to the left hand side of the main road. This church is in a picturesque setting, a graveyard steeply climbing away from the entry gate to the church above, haystacks piled among the grave markers. Unfortunately, we did not find the keeper of the key here, likely that they'd gone to see the excitement with the truck.

As we drove around these areas, I'd talked several times about the photos I'd seen of people from the area and how it's not so easy to just walk up and ask for a photo. We'd seen a group of elderly ladies on either side of the road as we'd entered town, one weaving from wool she had wrapped around a stick. What interesting features they'd had. My wife says, "well give me the camera, I'll ask" and as we head back out of town, she does. Holds the camera up as we approach the woman and the woman nods. Smiles and holds up her work as the picture is taken. What happens next is... well, unique. She says something to us which we don't understand. Even gestures that aren't getting through to us. The two women, sitting across the road, each dressed in all in black are laughing as our subject gets louder and louder. Thinking the best recourse after several minutes of miserably failed communications is to pull back! This is when one of the two on the opposite side, who are both still laughing to tears, gives the biggest, most oddly satisfied smile I've seen in some time - as she drags her rigidly held forefinger slowly across her throat. LOL I kid you not.Anyway, we also visited the beautifully kept monastary at Barsana and the village of Calinesti and Desesti in the Mara Valley and the Meery Cemetary of Sapanta

The Merry Cemetary of Sapanta (can't remember the exact admission but apprx. 30000 lei plus camera fee) is without a doubt an unmissable part of Maramures. It's due east of Sighet and just a mile or so from the Ukraine border.

For the last several generations, nearly every single person buried here has a tall wooden marker carved, with a depiction of their life on the front and often, a similar depiction of their death in the back. Each board is usually blue, with the older ones fading among the new. Many also carry a verse to explain the person or to explain their departure. While my Romanian isn't good enough to read them, I've seen a couple which had been translated. My favorite:

Here lies my mother-in-law.
Had she lived another year,
I'd have lied here.

More often though, from the carvings, as simple as they may be, the feeling is poignant or solemn, such as seeing a mother depicted with her children, or of a farmer beheaded by a man in uniform. This place could take as long as you'd like to look.

With that, we leave Romania and enter Hungary at the town of Petea, after gassing up and giving the little bit of leftover lei to some young kids who were playing in a town near the border.

Sfarsitul vizitei in Romania.
Textul de mai sus l-am pus in Bold ca sa-l discutam un pic: ce credeti ca a fost gestul ala? Suntem off-topic daca ne dam cu presupusul?
On-topic putem sa discutam ce credem ca se poate face in continuare ca sa avem cat mai multe povesti frumoase ca asta.
De remarcat ca povestitorul nu a fost mai deloc negativ, nu s-a cramponat de micile probleme, nu si-a axat deloc povestea pe un punct de vedere al celui obisnuit cu confortul de-acasa (greseala care multi turisti straini o fac, fie ca viziteaza Romania sau Paris).
Il invidiez ca a ajuns la Sapanta, e un loc unde se pare ca niciodata cand sunt in Romania nu am suficient timp ca sa-l vizitez.
Vreau si eu un castel in Romania sa-l renovez si sa-l fac hotel!

Am dat de alta povestire, de data asta a unei romance plecata din tara in adolescenta si care viziteaza pentru prima data in '97. E veche dar nu mi se pare ca nu ar fi inca de actualitate.
Probabil ca pe unii ii va irita, altora le va place stilul ei. Mie mi se pare un portret-caricatura facut cu dragoste.

Sunt foarte realiste insemnarile ei, deloc exagerate. (Daca cineva ar vedea Impresiile mele despre Bucuresti, cu siguranta m-ar cataloga in fel si chip ). Unele lucruri descrise de ea s-au schimbat, altele nu. Eu m-am intrebat de multe ori cum am putea sa ne schimbam mentalitatea si atitudinea (noi, romanii), ca sa scapam de toate etichetele care ni se pun, ca sa nu mai existe impresii precum cele facute Edelinei, de exemplu. Si, dupa atatia ani de trait aici, urmarindu-i indeaproape pe romanii din jurul meu, am ajuns la concluzia ca asta nu se va intampla niciodata. Avem balcanismul in sange...

am fost (nefertiti&me) 5 zile la mare (Olimp).

capitolul 1. Rezervarea

n-am vrut sa mergem cu bilet asa ca am luat la rind pe net statiunile si hotelurile.
unele situri zic pretul pe camera/zi, altele pe persoana si perioada, altele pe zi si persoana, unele explica treaba asta, altele nu.
majoritatea hotelurilor n-au site al lor, la unele gasesti fotografii cu camere, la altele nu. numere de telefon ioc, dar daca ai suficienta energie, le gasesti (unele) in pagini aurii.
unii te obliga sa iei micul dejun, altii nu.

intr-un tirziu am mers la un hotel de 2 stele, pentru ca era singurul care in mod evident avea vedere pe mare (criteriu).
i-am gasit nr. de tel., am sunat, am aflat ca au locuri suficiente (aveam sa aflam de ce).

capitolul 2. Cazarea

ajunsi in camera hotelului cu pricina am constatat:
- ultima renovare al acestuia trebuie sa fi avut loc pe vremea lu' ceasca. se vedeau pe tavan urme de tencuiala unde s-a mai reparat o teava sparta, dar nu s-a mai zugravit.
- mobilierul era din furnier ieftin puternic degradat, culoare fiind acel oribil maro intilnit la mai toate piesele de mobila de pe vremea lu' ceasca.
- televizorul prindea cam 50% din programe cu pureci si probleme de ton.
- sezlongurile de pe balcon erau ok, dar prezentau urme de uzura intensa
- prizele erau neschimbate de la descoperirea electricitatii. nici una nu era libera (ca sa mai incarci un mobil). cind incercai sa scoti una din lampile la fel de vechi ca mobila, ieseau cu totul.
- in baie, bazinul nu se inchidea perfect, ceea ce dadea nastere la un flux continuu de debit redus si zgomot usor enervant in scoica.
- am gasit o goanga semi-moarta in baie si una cit se poate de vie sub paturi.
- presiunea la apa calda era ok, in schimb trebuia sa astepti vreo 2-3 minute de la deschiderea robinetului
- plaja era putintel murdara, dar nu peste masura. vazuram la plaja altui hotel o cantitate insemnata de scoci putrezind (cu mirosul aferent) dar in rest a fost acceptabil.

capitolul 3. Masa

dejunul era inclus in pret dar n-am beneficiat de el din cauza orei militaresti (7-9) la care se putea servi (n-a fost zi sa ma trezesc inainte de 10).
"restaurantul" si echipa erau parca scosi din epoca de aur:
am avut ocazia sa mincam acolo intr-una din seri. aduce chelnerita meniul. mentionez ca tot ce am comandat oriunde era de pe lista de meniuri inminata de personalul localului respectiv.
io: crap prajit cu mamaliga si mujdei
chelnerita o intinde pentru a se intoarce peste vreo 3 minute: " nu mai avem crap."
io:
ea: "dar avem salau"
io: "no bine, apai adeti incoa salau"
5 minute mai tirziu...
ea: "da n-avem mamaliga"
io:
ea: "si nici malai"
am luat ce-o fost (adica cartofi)
in timpul ospatului (mincarea in sine nu era rea de loc) apare un pui de potaie. intra in restaurant si se urca cu labele pe o masa unde tineau tacimurile. pesemne credea ca acolo-i crapul prajit.
l-a detectat una din chelnerite care l-a mingiiat, a fost linsa (de potaie), l-a luat in brate (potaia) si a mers cu el/ea (potaia) in bucatarie, faza la care io-mi imaginam deja un punct nou in lista de meniuri "paprikas de miel" pentru a doua zi.
iese totusi cu el si o farfurie de oase pe terasa pe care i le arunca.
javra, in mod evident obisnuit cu mincaruri mai alese (crap prajit ) a rontait o bucata de os, le-a imprastiat pe celelalte omogen pe terasa (unde cred ca au si ramas, cit am stat acolo nu le-a adunat nimeni) si s-a carat spre locuri mai primitoare (si evtl. dotate cu malai).

cu o singura exceptie, in toate restaurantele frecventate, la tot ce am comandat lipsea cite ceva. ba nu era ciorba de burta, ba nu era crapul prajit (da, am mai incercat si in alta parte...), ba i-au turnat la nefertiti cola in santalul de grapefruit (desi paharul era plin) dind apoi vina pe mine ("de ce nu-mi spuneti domnule ca torn in paharul gresit" desi paharul (gol) de cola era pe masa), ba aveau 2 din 7 sortimente de bere.
singura exceptie era un restaurant numit "Ancuta" , dar si acolo la prima incercare uitasera de comanda lu' nefertiti.

mancarea in sine (incluzind alternativele obligatorii la fazele de "n-avem") a fost OK peste tot, in privinta asta fiind totul in regula.

oh si intr-un local de ambianta furculisioneasca, nefertiti a baut cel mai oribil gin din galaxie.

absolut peste tot muzica era data sa se auda pina in turcia, originea probabila a acestui gen de manifestare balcanic. cumva patronii localurilor par sa nu inteleaga (sau poate li se rupe ) ca ar fi bine ca clientul sa se simta bine si scopul principal al localului nu este divertismentul angajatului (de regula de-abia iesit de pe bancile scolii).

colac peste pupaza: mi-e clar de ce Bulgaria are success mai mare in domeniul turistic in ceea ce priveste litoralul.
- oare de ce hotelul n-are un pliant cu harta statiunii si o lista (cu repere pe harta) a celor mai importante obiective si a restaurantelor (indicind specificul si orarul), barurilor si cluburilor?
- ce-i asa greu sa inlocuiesti fetele de masa cu gauri?
- sunt chiar asa scumpe cartoanele pe care se aseaza berea? (ca n-am vazut nici unul)
- daca exista fluctuatii importante pe lista de meniuri, de ce nu se actualizeaza aceasta, evitind faze penibile?
- ce-i asa greu in a verifica daca inscriptiile pe alte limbi (in special cele de bun venit) nu contin greseli de ortografie elementare?
- citat nefertiti: "cu prunci nu faci turism". prea multi copii pe post de chelner, evident depasiti de moment cin localul se umple 50%. ei fac ce pot, dar cam atita pot.
- oare de ce nu trece cite unul dimineata pe la 6 sa curete plaja si cu ocazia asta sa goleasca cosurile de gunoi umplute din ziua precedenta?
toate cele de mai sus nu necesita investitii stufoase ci un minim de interes si bun simt. in alte tari chestiile astea se fac si raportul pret/performanta se imbunatateste considerabil.

Concluzia mea in ce priveste litoralul romanesc: pentru ce conditii si servicii iti ofera, preturile sunt mult prea mari. M-am convins, o data in plus, ca nu au progresat deloc in ultimii 10 ani. Si, ce e mai neplacut, lipsurile se inregistreaza la chestiuni elementare de civilizatie, nu la alte capitole, care deja ar tine de lux. De vina e si 'turistul' roman, care zice: 'las' ca e bine si asa'. Da un sac de bani pe niste servicii de doi bani, dar e multumit ca 10 zile s-a balacit in apa marii si nevasta n-a mai gatit, a papat si ea la restaurant. Cum a fost servita si ce i s-a servit, asta n-o mai interseaza. Apai, la faze din astea, nu pot sa spun decat ca ne meritam soarta.

Nefe....vezi ca totusi am reusit, cel puti aici, sa fim de acord

Totusi sper ca ati avut o super vacanta impreuna

La mai multe...

Sorin.

vacanta chiar a fost super. acuma io cam stiam la ce ma bag si am vrut de-al draq sa merg in RO la mare pt. feeling, ca altfel mergeam in alta parte, asa ca eram dispus sa accept toate cele descrise mai sus fara sa ma enerveze. unde mai trebuie sa adaug ca, fata de salariatul normal din RO nici n-a trebuit sa fac mari sacrificii, deci puteam sa vad treaba mai lejer.

dar majoritatea chestiilor de mai sus s-ar putea elimina cu putin bun simt si profesionalitate in turism. nu stiu de ce am impresia ca hotelul la care am stat n-a fost privatizat inca

definitiv mai mult ma enerveaza starea CFR-ului si mentalitatea oameniilor ce-i intilnesc p-acolo.
io-s fan cale ferata, si chiar imi place sa merg cu trenul, circul cam 35-40 000km/an, dar ce circula pe sine intre orase in RO nu merita nume de cale ferata. cel putin nu in sec. 21.
si avind in vedere, intilniriile avute in "rapidul" Bucuresti-Timisoara, unde draq m-a pus sa mergem clasa a 2-a, trebuie sa zic ca "organizatia" e intr-un fel pe masura onoratei clientele, sau cu alte cuvinte, daca s-ar fi aflat un extraterestru in trenul ala, si-ar fi sunat nava-baza si ar fi communicat ca Pamintul nu e pregatit pentru Primul Contact.

si tine si asta de turism...

nu pot sa nu ma bag si eu citind povestea lui dead-cat cu restaurantul
am fost acu x ani intr-un restaurant in TM cu niste nemti de pe aci veniti acolo in vizita si am comandat gratar cu cartofi si peste cartofi era rasa branza si altii alt fel de carne , nu mai stiu
no amu sotul meu alergic la branza puturoasa a zis ca la el fara branza peste cartofi , va rog
vine chlenerita cu farfuriile si zice sotul , da v-am rugat fara branza , ea zice, nici o problema si baga furculita in carne si face rocada mica in fata noastra si cu degetele ei.Adica carnea potrivita pe langa cartofii potriviti
Nemtilor le-au sarit ochii ca la melc si am inceput sa rad ca o apucata cu sughituri ca daca alegeam varianta cealalta cu rusinea si intratul in pamant as fi intrat asa de adanc ca as fi iesit pe zidul chinezesc

Sunt sigur ca te referi numai la hotelurile de maimult de 3 stele. Sunt mai mult decat sigur... la cele de 2 stele preturile sunt decente. Nu sunt mici, dar ganditi-va ca firma respectiva trebuie sa supravietuiasca cumva. Ganditi-va numai cat ar insemna, la un hotel de 60 de camere, sa zicem, numai schimbarea tamplariei la geamuri, iar asta in conditiile in care pe litoral banii se scot numai vara. La care adaugi restul de taxe (care nu sunt mici deloc) si alte cheltuieli de intretinere in extrasezon. Cum vreti, oare, calitate si confort, daca pretul camerei ar fi foarte mic? Bugetul nu poate permite decat mici imbunatatiri...

Nu. Tocmai, ca ma refer la cele de 2 stele. Si nu e treaba mea, ca turist, sa ma gandesc la problemele manageriale ale patronilor. Daca nu sunt in stare sa se descurce, sa lase pe altii.

Daca nu esti constient de realitatile vietii din tara, mergi in strainatate, am auzit ca acolo e cool...

Meserie argumentul tau!

Din semnatura ta sa inteleg ca lucrezi in turism?

Se apropie Sarbatorile de iarna. Poate face cineva aici o comparatie intre preturile si serviciile oferite de agentiile de turism pentru afara ( prin zona, nu departe de noi) si cele din tara ? Ma refer la cele pentru bugetari, cum se spune, nu la cele de fite !

Chiar poti sa mergi undeva cu un salariu de bugetar? Nu ma refer la bugetarii din parlament, of course.

Depinde de care bugetar esti March. Daca celalalt membru al familiei este cu un salariu rezonabil iti poti permite un sfarsit de saptamana in Elvetia la schi dar eu una daca as avea banii necesari m-as duce la Sinaia.Mie una Sinaia si Busteniul mi-au ramas in inima ( la Busteni mi-am proiectat juniorul) Iti doresc sa ai parte de o vacanta cat mai placuta

ssSi acum sa revin la oile noastre. Turismul romanesc lasa de dorit desi sunt unele hoteluri in care intri cu drag. Cel mai mult cred ca tine de conducerea bazei hoteliere, de cum se organizeaza, ce servicii ofera turistilor , ce preturi.Daca oferta este tentanta atat ca pret cat si conditii eu cred ca atunci avem de castigat si noi turistii si ei ofertantii.

Nu vad de ce: chiar si cu preturile si conditiile care sunt acum, cererea exista, si nu este chiar mica...

Dinozaurii de Hateg aduc profit

Universitatea Bucuresti va transforma zona Hategului intr-o atractie turistica, amenajind un geoparc al dinozaurilor pitici cu hoteluri, pensiuni si restaurante. Descoperirea ramasitelor de dinozauri pitici, unici in lume, in Tara Hategului

Nu stiu in Elvetia, dar in Austria poti merge sigur cu 215 euro 3 zile.

Pentru ce? Sa te enervezi pe banii tai? Sa vina chelnerul cu ciorba si sa ti-o arunce pe masa, sa iti lase scrumiera sa arate ca piramidele egiptene de atatea mucuri? Pt ca asa se intampla in majoritatea covarsitoare a localurilor de categorie medie. Cand tot pe banii aia poti avea servicii decente!

Acest topic a fost editat de mariusc2: 6 Dec 2005, 11:21 AM

Cred ca nu ne trebuie realizari extraordinare pentru a atrage turisti. Asa cum au spus multi ne trebuie servicii oneste (nu japca) si mai multa curatenie prin tara. Serviciile oneste vor fi greu insa de realizat, majoritatea patronilor din turismul romanesc sunt persoane puse pe capatuiala imediata, vefiind obisnuite cu dezvoltarea unei afaceri pentru termen lung. Cred ca dezvoltarea turismului rural (chiar in detrimentul turismului 'mare') ii va face pe acestia sa reconsidere modul in care inteleg acum sa trateze turistii.
Foarte importanta este si dezvoltarea infrastructurii. Fara niste autostrazi care sa strabata tara mai greu atragi turisti straini in procente de masa. Dar pentru asta trebuie bani si sa se urgenteze lucrarile la proiectele existente. Aeroporturi nu indraznesc sa sper sa avem curand, poate ca vor aparea companii private care sa asigure curse ieftine intre Otopeni,Timisoara si punctele de atractie turistica de pe litoral. Nu stiu insa ce se va intampla cu aeroportul Kogalniceanu din Constanta acum dupa ce s-a hotarat ca facem baze NATO pe acolo. Asta s-ar putea sa influenteze negativ si turismul pe litoralul romanesc. Sau pozitiv: vom avea multi soldati pe litoral si asta tot timpul anului. Si ei pot atrage si multi teroristi prin Romania.
Parerea mea este ca pe termen mediu turismul romanesc nu se va schimba in bine. Singurul pe care-l vad crescand este turismul rural. Si pentru cetatenii romani va continua turismul prafuit la preturi ridicate pe litoral.

Acest topic a fost editat de Leonardo: 6 Dec 2005, 08:55 PM

Pentru petrecerea Sarbatorilor de iarna comparati preturile de la noi cu ofertele pentru tari precum : Grecia, Tunis, Malta, Maroc, Cypru .

Modernizare , modernizare si iar modernizare . Sunt multe locuri din tara care pot atrage publicul ,dar nu e exploatat la maxim .
Fiecare zona ori cat de saraca ar fi are ceva cu care sa atraga turisti , dar ramane aceas problema nu avem banii pentru refacerea unor zone cu potential turistic .

In afara de promovare, care cred eu e pe primul plan, cea mai mare problema ramane calitatea serviciilor. Serviciile fara cusur sunt o promovare mai puternica decat orice spot.
In plus, noi ducem o acuta lipsa de programe turistice vandabile. Avem o super tara dar nu stim ce sa ne facem cu ea!!