Part II: Bucharest, Not Budapest

From Istanbul we hopped a flight to Bucharest, the capital of Romania. We were lucky enough to find an amazing Airbnb 2 bedroom apartment on the main street with a balcony view of the Parliament Building (or People's Palace), which is the 2nd largest building in the world after the Pentagon. While the building appears enormous already, spanning a full city block (communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu removed an entire neighborhood to build it), there's also many meters to it located entirely underground.

Sunset view of the Parliament Building from our balcony

Our first night there we walked over to an area known as the "fun zone" in Old City near Strada Lipscani. There we ate at a historic restaurant serving traditional Romanian fare called Caru cu bere. This translates to "beer wagon" and was the first beer spot in the city. I tried a sip of their national liquor Tuica, which is supposed to be plum flavored but don't be expecting some kind of fruity brandy. This liquor is so strong I couldn't taste any distinguishable flavor other than alcohol! I order the red house wine, which was a vast improvement over the Turkish wines.

Beer, house wine and Tuica

I ordered a traditional dish, sarmale, which is minced meat and rice rolled in steamed cabbage leaves, topped with sour cream and served with a side of polenta. This dish embodies all of the elements that make a perfect Eastern European meal, so I ate it for at least one of meals a day for the duration of Romania.  

Sarmale at Caru cu Bere

We then went bar hopping down the main street and ultimately ended up at a great dive bar, 1974. Many red wines, beers and cribbage games later it was off to bed so we could be prepared for our full day in Bucharest.

The next morning we grabbed some street breakfast on our way into downtown. I had a warm apple strudel pastry, which was fantastic. We went to the main square in downtown for the free walking tour. Our guide was adorable and super excited to be showing a sizable group her city.

Square in downtown Bucharest where we started the tour

We saw a lot of old churches, museums and monuments. There's a lot of history behind such an urban cities, from the Hungarian/Saxon wars, Romanian royalty and Communist era. Most notable trend: they like to call any large, old building a "palace."

Is it a palace? Nope, just a nice bank.

We had lunch in a neighborhood where the tour ended. I had the schnitzel, which was breaded with cornflakes. It just tasted like above average fried chicken and I had good envy of Birr, who got the sarmale. 

Schnitzel

After that we walked back to the Parliament and took a tour of the inside. Tip: make sure you bring your passport, as the government still resides in the building so security is tight. The tour is okay, but instead of going into the interesting and controversial history of the building it was simply recited facts about the decor. A huge disappointment, would recommend a museum over this tour. An interesting factoid though (that we learned on the free walking tour though) is that Nicolae never got to make a speech from the grand balcony he put on the Parliament building. The first person to do that was Michael Jackson once Westerners were allowed to come perform. He famously greeted the city as Budapest, not Bucharest. Since then this has been a common error for many visiting celebrities and bands. That night we went to the other historic restaurant in an old inn, Hanu lui Manuc  There's a huge courtyard that you sit outside in and they have live musicians. I had the sarmale again, which was still good but not as good as at Caru cu Bere. So after dinner we went back to. Caru cu Bere and sat at the inside bar area for a drink, which is pretty cool looking.

Courtyard seating at Hanu lui Manuc

The next morning we hopped on a rental car and headed North to Brasov. On the way to Brasov we stopped in a small town in Prahova County in the Carpathian Mountains to see Peles Castle. As a head's up, there's a lot of crazy windy roads and the castle route is not labeled so ask a local to point you in the right direction. After you park and walk up, there's a Germantic looking mansion, so we thought this was the castle. It is technically a castle but seems more like a large house. It's where King Ferdinand and Queen Marie lived with their children. It's interesting to read about all the different rooms.

Ferdinand & Marie's Castle

The actual Peles Castle is  a more neo-Renaissance that of King Carol I, which you will see if you round the bend. It's much more grandiose. It's a separate tour ticket that you have to buy. The inside is much more lavish and ornate with an amazing amount of wood detailing and some originals from Austrian artist Gustav Klimt in his younger years.

Pele's Castle

After that we hopped back on the road. Then the town was having a festival so we grabbed lunch from a tent. They had so many kinds of meat on the grills. I had these traditional sausages called mititei, which don't have casing and remind me of a breakfast sausage but way better. It's lamb, pork and beef ground up and mixed together with a lot of spices.

I'd highly recommend renting a car, the countryside is beautiful. It's very mountainous between Bucharest and Brasov, with lots of fun, windy roads to drive. In Brasov we stayed in the cute historic area in an Airbnb directly across from the main square (Piata Sfatului). They have a "Brasov" sign on the mountain above it that looks like the "Hollywood" sign.

Basov view from the main square

That night we went to the a nearby recommended restaurant under the Bella Muzica Hotel, located in an old wine cellar from the 16th century. While the ambiance is cool, the food is hit or miss (and there's a weird underlying Mexican theme mixed in with the Romanian fare). I had the goulash which was just a bowl of meat and not very stew-like.

My goulash with Birr's stew that came in a hollowed loaf of bread

After that we walked down a side street off the main square. All the bars are hidden in alleyways off the side streets. Everything looks dead, you just have to pick an alley and walk down it and you'll find yourself in a crowded (and very smoky) bar. We found a cool place called Muzik Cafe, which was really fun. We went to a second bar, Britania, that was a much younger crowd (there's a couple universities in Brasov). 

The next day we drove out to Bran, which was a gorgeous drive. You go back through the mountains but then end up in the valley where it's vast fields of sheep. This is where Rasnov is (I guess they have an even smaller version of the Brasov sign that says Rasnov but I didn't see it). Bran's another 10 minutes from that. We parked and went to tour the Bran Castle (known as Dracula's Castle even though that's obviously a myth).

View of Bran's Castle

Vlad the Impaler was one of its many residents, and a brief one at that. It was mainly used as a military fort for the Ottoman Empire and ended up with Romanian royalty.

A view of Bran from inside

After that we were lucky enough to have another town festival happening, so we left the castle grounds and went there for lunch. I had a bowl of diced steak meat and a ball of polenta with local cheese in the middle, fresh off the grill. Highly recommend the polenta ball if you home across it. 

Village man grilling vegetables

Back in Brasov we did the free walking tour with the same company as the one in Bucharest. They only had one tour time, which was 6pm. While we saw a lot of really interesting and beautiful landmarks, it was a bummer it took place at night. By the time we got up to the watchtower for a view of the city it was already pitch black.

Walking Tour- Narrowest street in the world is in Brasov

That night we went to dinner at a traditional place on the corner called Sergiana. It came recommended by a couple locals but was pretty touristy and had horrible service. We also waited almost an hour to be seated, while everyone else walking in got tables before us. I got the sarmale again but it was nothing too amazing.

In the morning we took off driving north with our new friend Sheryl, who we met on the walking tour the night before. She needed a ride to Cluj and agreed to come on an adventure day with us. The first stop was the Old Town area of Sigisoara to see the famed clock tower. It's a super cute town but the clock tower was a little underwhelming when it struck the hour.

Sigisoara Clock Tower

There's a lot of restaurants with patios in the area, so we grabbed lunch there. I tried to explain to the server that I just wanted a small plate of the mititei but ended up with  a giant platter of mititei  spare ribs and fries.

Mititei on the left, with a lot of other meat

After that we hopped back in the car and kept heading north. We left the more mountainous region and ended up in endless fields (mostly corn for all the polenta I assume!), rolling hills and small towns. Again I stress how the countryside is beautiful. Our next stop was Salina Turda, the salt mines near the Turda Gorge. It sounds really random but was one of the coolest experiences. The shafts of the mine that you walk down are covered in crystallized salt.

Descending into the mine

You then go down 26 flights of (slippery) steps until you get to the bottom which is a random game area with things like ping pong and skeeball.

Arcade at the bottom

The best part is there's a salt water pool that formed and you can rent a little rowboat and paddle around in it. I risked a taste of the water which was like super salty pickle juice. The whole place is lit with hanging LED lights, which make it look eerie and otherworldly. I recommend this unique experience to anyone in the Cluj-Napoca area.

A view from our rowboat in the mine

After that we made it to Cluj. We stayed at the Retro Youth Hostel, which was near a popular square. The hostel was cheap and your average hostel experience, but a good location. Tip: skip  the free breakfast advertised, it's made by employees who can't cook. The night we went to a restaurant on a parallel side street, which was pretty cool. I started with a plate of assorted local cheeses, which were really good (watch out Wisconsin and California!). For dinner I had the sarmale one last time, which ended up being the second best version after Caru cu Bere. 

More sarmale- Can't get enough!

We then walked around checking out the bar scene. The city itself is a very young college town . We saw a big street protest about the Rosia Montana issue (read about this, it's intense). If things go wrong with the high cyanide levels it would be Europe's 2nd worse ecological disaster after Chernobyl). There was a music fest going on in the square and we stopped to listen, then made our way to their dubbed "fun zone" but it was Sunday and dead, so we ended up playing cribbage at a super smoky bar across from the hostel.

The next morning I sat at a cafe off the main square after the gross hostel fare (finally a city with plenty of coffeehouse options!). After that we walked around town for a while but it was cold and gray. When it started to sprinkle we went back to the same place we went for dinner and I got a plate of local meat and cheese (two things the Romanians excel at). Luckily it didn't matter it was a dreary day as then we were off to the airport.

A rainy day in Cluj

To summarize the drinking there, I always ordered the local red house wine. While it's cheap, it's an easily drinkable and tasty option. At farmer's markets and roadside stops you can buy Must, a fermented, alcoholic drink that's sweet but strong. Here's the Romanian beer rundown from Adam: There were two main makers, Heineken and Ursus, that produce a handful of local varieties from each. Ursus Black was a standout lager in a porter fashion with a smoky taste, different from any other beer available. Their Premium was a disappointment. The Timisorena was a nice well rounded pilsner. My favorite of the local beers was Cjuc, by Heineken  and a favorite among the younger people. It was a cheap and good tasting option. Golden Braugh was another good cheap option. There's also a local brewery in Brasov, Ciucas, which produces a mass generic pilsner and a go-to for cheap beer drinking. Overall the variety of options triumphed over the Efes of Turkey.

Must