Viking European Sojourn River Cruise Day 3/27 - Peleș Castle and Brașov
It was a travel day today of sorts. It started with us putting our big bags out by 7:30 AM. The white tag we added meant that the hotel would pick them up and hold them for us until our return in two days.
We grabbed a nice breakfast in the hotel, compliments of Viking, and got our carry-on bags ready for our two-day trip to Transylvania, specifically Brașov. Between our ship's pre-cruise guests, guests departing on a different Viking cruise this morning, and a slew of folks traveling on a Tauck river cruise, the lobby was a zoo.
Our cruise folks were split into two groups, the orange bus group and our blue bus group. We boarded the buses and were off for northern Romania. We made a brief stop at Ploiești Shopping City as a restroom break and to allow Viking to grab some additional bottled water for us for the next couple of days. Fully restocked, we continued our journey north.
In places, the traffic was crazy. Stop and go for several miles. We were in and out of the rain as well.
we finally reached our next stop where we got off the bus (in the rain) and made the walk to Peleș Castle. As soon as you enter the grounds, the supporting buildings come into view.
The castle was undergoing significant renovations and had scaffolding all over the outside, spoiling the view of the castle. It's too bad as it was lovely.
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| A fun downspout |
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| The main courtyard and entrance |
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| Romania's first and second kings |
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| Romania's third and fourth and final kings |
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| The castle was built by the first King of Romania, Carol I of Hohenzollern–Sigmaringen, between 1873 and 1914 using his own personal funds - not the country's funds |
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| The castle has a blend of styles and included central heating, an electric elevator, and electrically opening roof - all advanced tech for the time |
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| A staircase to nowhere - a design element by the architect - that's him underneath, holding up the stairs |
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| The electrically opening roof is right above this and turned the stained glass into a skylight |
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| King Carol I |
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| The armory |
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| The metal in this crown came from metal taken from a captured canon |
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| The music room with the original harp and piano |
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| Those chadeliers are Murano glass from Venice and were carried by hand from the ship to the castle - over 300 miles |
After completing our tour, we made the short drive to nearby Sinaia where we had free time for lunch.
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| Our lunch choice |
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| Arlona had yummy pork pastrami |
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| I had pork schnitzel - also moist and tasty |
We had a little free time and wandered around for a few blocks.
Our bus arrived and we made the final push to our hotel, the Radisson Blu in Brașov - finally in the Transylvania region.
After checking in, we took a brief walking tour to the city center, hearing about the German, Turkish, Hungarian, Russian, and other influences that made Romania what it is today.
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| We walked to a major pedestrian street, Strada Republicii - you can see the medieval McDonalds (hint: it's not really medieval) |
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| A glimpse of the Black Church's roof |
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| A plaque honoring a King Mathias who ate six eggs - yup |
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| This hill used to have an area of cut trees that spelled "Stalin" to honor him - once communisam fell, the Romanians planted trees to fill in and added the Holleywood-style sign as a slap |
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| A cable car |
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| Strada Michael Weiss |
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| Fun details were there to be seen |
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| The White Tower - one of two 15th century towers used to overlook and protect the city |
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| The Council's House |
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| The Council's House |
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| The Council Square |
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| The Black Church with black coffee right next door |
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| The Black church is the parish church of the Evangelical Lutheran community in Brașov |
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| It got its nickname when a fire in 1689 scorched its previously light gray walls |
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| Another look at The Coucil's House and Council Square |
We returned to the hotel and stopped in the Sky Bar on the roof for a drink and to look at the view. Unfortunately, it immediately started raining so we took our drinks down one level and chatted with other guests from Knoxville who we will be cruising with.
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| Of course, I tried a local beer - Czell unpaseurized natural beer |
We're still pretty beat from travel so we called it a night and return to the room. we were able to catch a little of the Olympics, again, in Romanian, before hitting the hay.
We have a ten-hour Transylvanian Highlights tour tomorrow.
How’s that beer compare to other European brands?
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