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

Part I: Turkey (the Country, not the Meat)

Just got back from 3 weeks abroad and looking forward to sharing stories! I went with one of my oldest friends, Adam, who will be contributing beer insights to many of these travel-related posts (I will obviously be covering my thoughts on the wine of each country). 

The first stop of our Eastern European adventure was Turkey. We flew into Istanbul and hopped a Havantas bus to Taksim Square. The Square itself is fairly touristy but there's lots of side street and alleys offshoots filled with bars, restaurants and cafés. There is one bordering area near where the Havantas bus drops off that is a little dicey (i.e. man with a switchblade) so don't wander alone. We stayed in a great Airbnb apartment on the other side of the Square.

Taksim Square

There are lots of street vendors in the Square selling simit (round bread loops that taste like hard sesame bagel) and roasted chestnuts (dry but meaty tasting and very filling). As you can probably tell, I wasn't too keen on the street food. The Turkish man I sat next to on the plane on the way over had been living in Canada for the past year raved about the kebabs, so for my first dinner I had to get a lamb kebab at a cafe near the Square. A lot of the kebab meals are served with a salad of diced tomato, cucumber, cilantro and jalapeno, known sometimes as a Turkish Salad but also very popular in Israel (called a kibbutz vegetable salad there). For dessert we were talked into kunefe, a flat, baked dish sitting in syrupy sweetness. After dinner we walked down to the Bosphorus (an easy 10 minutes downhill from Taksim). There's a nice walkway along the river that I ran the next morning as well, with lots of cafes, a park and some historic buildings/mosques.

Random yet modern mosque along the European side of the Bosphorus

This is also when I discovered the "cats of Istanbul." When I was in Bosnia years ago, they had cities overrun with alley-cats but there they were treated the same way one would treat a rat. In Turkey, people leave out food, water and litter out for the cats. The cats seem relatively well behaved and while I don't know if I would pet them (that took a lot of willpower), they were definitely far from mangy. My favorite were the rows of cats that sat behind the fisherman, waiting to see who would share their catch.

The next day it was time to see the sites. Before the days activities we grabbed breakfast at a nearby pastry shop and cafe. I was excited to try the infamous Turkish coffee but was a little disappointed. This cup was overly sweet. For a pastry, we tried a layered noodle dish, comprised of long, flat noodles and layers of cheese in between. This breakfast is known as a water borek, which I didn't like at first but grew on me. We took the metro tram over to Old Town and toured the famed Hagia Sophia.

Inside of the Hagia Sophia

It was mind blowing to be in a building that old. Overall it took us a little over an hour to walk around inside it and read all the historic plaques (and of course task lots of pictures). After that you can walk the grounds and get a great view of the breathtaking Blue Mosque.

View of the Blue Mosque from Hagia Sophia

We then strolled the nearby neighborhood, stopping at a cafe for cay (chai tea). This tea, served in a little glass cup with a tiny spoon and 1-2 sugar cubes is pretty much the national drink. It's served with pretty much every meal and people sit around at cafes sipping on it all day long while playing backgammon (apparently the national game of choice although we saw a couple domino bars).

Cay

 It's a pretty easy walk through the neighborhood to get to the Spice Market, which is mainly inside and smaller than I thought it would be. However, I think it's still worth checking out as the aromas and colors are spectacular.

Walking out of the Spice Market puts you on the Bosphorus River by one of the main bridges. We went there during the season where anchovies swim up the river to the fisherman were out in full effect, as well as the cats. Back to the bridge, underneath the bridge is filled with seafood restaurants. A common recommendation is the fish sandwich. The restaurants are a little pricier but not as steep as I expected. And you get to sit right on the Bosphorus.

Lunch: Lamb meatballs because I don't like fish.

After lunch we walked up to the Galata Tower. It's about 15 TL to wait in line and go up the tower. You're already on a hill with great views of the city so we passed on going up the tower and wandered back down to the river. We found a hookah bar there that had come recommended. In Turkey, hookah is actually called nargile. We sat there smoking and drinking cay. While lots of patrons sit there for hours playing backgammon or domino's, we represented the Midwest by bringing a travel cribbage board! After a few hours there, we started walking back to Taksim. We stumbled across a loud protest about to get tear gassed, a snapshot of the current climate in Istanbul. We grabbed dinner at Babel Cafe, located in the Chigar neighborhood near Taksim.

Babel Cafe

I had minced meat wrapped in crispy fried filo dough, which was tasty and not at all like the pot pie I was expecting. The red wine in Istanbul is okay but very earthy tasting (almost like a sub-par Merlot). The big beer here is Efes, which Adam was a fan of because it's the local beer of choice here that he would describe as "a generic pilsner beer like major brand beers." The other local beers here are more malty and not as good. I'd definitely recommend checking out the Chigar area and eating at Babel, it was a cute neighborhood that gets hopping on a Saturday night.

Dinner at Babel Cafe

After dinner there was a slight hiccup when an ATM ate my debit card but after making a very expensive phone call to CapitalOne we were back on track and had drinks in a couple alley offshoots of a big shopping road/pedestrian promenade that leads up to Taksim.

The next day we hopped a ferry to the Asian side of Istanbul. Before hopping on the ferry, I gave Turkish coffee another try. This cup wasn't sweet like the day before, it was incredibly potent. The bottom of the cup was covered in a coffee grind sludge. So to which experience was more authentic I do not know but either way I'm not a huge fan. The ferry is a cheap way to get the great boat views of all the mosques from the Bosphorus. Cruises will run you 20-30 TL while the ferry is 3 TL for a Jeton one-way token. We got off at Kadakoy and went to the nearby neighborhood.

Building near Kadakoy port; ferry on left

There were a ton of bakeries so we grabbed this long, thin stuffed pastry which was flaky on the outside and filled with some version of feta, potato or meat. Apparently this is another version of borek, which I hadn't had since my trip to Bosnia (in Bosnia it resembles more of a savory cinnamon roll).

Breakfast borek & assorted pastries

We strolled the neighborhood a bit more, then went down and enjoyed a clean, spacious river walk that led back to the ferries. Back on the European side we grabbed our bags and headed to the Havantas bus pickup. On the corner there's a place that serves doner (freshly shaved meat that you watch them carve off from a spinning meat stick) that you then make into a sandwich, little filled tortillas, kebabs or just eat straight. I also got real baklava, which is amazing here. These were flaky outside, which a sugar substance and walnuts on the inside. All dessert lovers visiting Turkey must try the Baklava!

Doner in 2 forms, Turkish salad, baklava

And where were we off to on the buses you ask? We grabbed a plane at the airport on the Asian side and took a 50 minute flight to Cappadocia, a region on central Turkey known for amazing rock formations. We stayed in the city of Goreme, which is one of the coolest places I've ever seen.

View of Goreme from our hotel balcony

All the hotels are carved into rocky cliffs. We stayed at Taskonak Hotel, which I highly, highly recommend! An ex-pat named Andrea runs it. She's extremely helpful and made us a hand drawn map of hiking train recommendations. She also makes an amazing homemade breakfast buffet every morning (which is included in the already low price of the lodging). The breakfast includes local cheeses, fruit preserves, honey, breads, pancakes and more, all locally grown and homemade!

Her husband runs a nearby local bar and restaurant named Fat Boys. Don't be scared off by the name, the food is great! The first night I had the mixed grill, a giant plate of different Turkish meats. The second night I had their special, lamb with yogurt sauce.

For a full day in Cappadocia, wake up between 7-7:30am to catch all the hot air balloons flying above the fairy chimney rock formations. I hear if you don't have a crippling fear of heights you should definitely take a ride. While I'm sure the view us breathtaking, I'm not one to stake my life on hot air.

For hiking, we started walking toward the small town of Cavusin, where the people live in little holed out homes inside of rocky cliffs.

Cavusin

There's a big ridge next to the town that we went about 2/3rds of the way up and then started walking the length of the ridge. After the ridge, you go through Red Valley, then Rose Valley (named got the pink tint of the rocks). On the way back to Goreme there's also Sword Valley but we missed the turn for that. We took a couple fun detours along the way but for an experienced hiker this who trip takes approximately 4 hours.

Somewhere above either Red or Rose Valley

After returning from the morning hike, we found a borek joint in town and had a quick lunch and cay. Although before the cay we ordered a round of Ayran, a Turkish drink that comes in a container that looks like yogurt with a straw and tastes like milk left in the fridge too long (thick and slightly sour).

Borek, Turkish salad, Ayran

While the town is small and super cute, it's centered around tourism so it's mainly bars, restaurants and shops selling memorabilia. In the afternoon we walked 1 km to the Open Air Museum, which is 15 TL. The Museum is a bunch of rock formations that used to be churches back in the 10th-12th centuries, where Christian monks and nuns lived and worshiped.

Open Air Musuem- one of the many cliff buildings

It was one of the first UNESCO World Heritage sites in Turkey. They've uncovered a lot with walls of painted frescoes that are pretty neat to see. They're still excavating one where you can watch students of a local university work in the cave.

Fresco inside the caves

We finished off the evening drinking from one of the hotel decks, playing cribbage (of course) and taking in a pretty spectacular sunset. Cappadocia is home to most of the Turkish vineyards and produces some smooth, dry red wine that goes down pretty easy.

Sunset over Goreme from our hotel balcony

The next morning we headed back to the airport (about a 1 hour van ride) and hopped a quick flight back to Istanbul. This time we were staying on the Asian side. The Havantas buses drop you off at the Kadakoy ferry stop, so we grabbed lunch in that area again. Our Airbnb for the night was a 30 minute cab ride north, right above UXX. We hopped a ferry at the nearest stop and rode it as far up the Bosphorus as it goes, then came back down. We drank cay at a popular cafe on the river and grabbed some last doner for dinner. It was an early night in, as jet lag was finally in full effect.

Bosphorus Bridge changing colors at night

The last morning I went for a run along the Bosphorus a little further north, where mansions line the river. For my last breakfast I grabbed some kind of meat borek and some last baklava (so hard to say goodbye too). Of course credit card issues kicked in but they just gave me the food for free. Overall, I felt the Turkish people were very friendly and helpful. They always tried to help us, whether they spoke English or not. I did get a couple interesting looks from some conservative men of the older generation but that was to be expected in such an Islamic area. We only saw one protest and it was mainly comprised of students. The riot police were lining up with tear gas so we didn't get too close, but it didn't look to be by any means a violent protest. Just watch out what areas you choose to wander in!