After a great time in Budapest we ventured to Bucharest, Romania, to meet Stacia's friend Meagan! Meagan is a teacher at the American International School of Bucharest. Our first night there we hung out at her adorable apartment, met her awesome cats, and enjoyed some great Romanian snacks and wine.
We also hit Bucharest on the right weekend! Meagan's school had organized a wine tasting trip for their teachers and we were lucky enough to be able to come along with her! We were driven out of the city to a winery in the country and given a tour of the winery - and saw a warehouse full of wine! From there, we were given food upon food upon food. We started out with homemade bread, tomatoes, onion and the biggest block of cheese I've ever seen (which he said the neighbor made yesterday. So awesome). At this point we didn't know there would be more food (and were so excited with the block of cheese) that we may have overdone it a little with the portions. All of a sudden they started bringing out huge bowls of meat (lamb that was slaughtered yesterday he said - I tried not to think about it) and all these different kinds of salads. You better believe I made more room in my stomach. And after this course desserts galore! Oh my! To top off all the food, with each food course we also tried about 2 different kinds of wine. Where are we?! How did we get here?! Is this the best day ever?! I think so. After our glorious day at the Romanian winery we headed that night to the Kings of Leon concert at the National Stadium. Yes, this was pretty much the best day ever. The next day the weather was not in our favor and it was quite rainy, so we had a fun day laying low, catching up, and figuring out how to pack bottles of wine back in Janine's suitcase (she had bought a few at the winery).
Janine left us in Bucharest and Stacia and I continued on in Romania to find some hiking. About 5 minutes after picking up our rental car we got stuck on a dirt road with a cow blocking it. Welcome to driving in Romania. We thought we were headed to a small village called Brasov - turned out it was the booming metropolis of Brasov. They even had a Hollywood sign up on the hill. They also had an adorable Old Town area (we've been to a lot of Old Towns) where we had some authentic Romanian cuisine (stuffed cabbage was a fan fav). On our way to Brasov we drove through some amazing areas with huge Rocky Mountains - not at all what I pictured for Romania.
We ended up seeing both Peles Castle and Bran Castle (Dracula's castle). Although we only saw it from the outside, both of us really liked Peles Castle. It was nestled in the green mountains, had an amazing garden and grounds and spectacular articecture. Bran Castle was cool (and much older) but it was packed with tourists!
While in Brasov we hiked to the top of Romania's biggest ski resort Poiana Brasov (among the bears...which we learned about along the way from fellow hikers, whoops). Whoever has the Coca Cola marketing contract for Romania has really gone above and beyond - there were Coca Cola signs everywhere - especially on the ski hill (fencing, gondolas, padding) but also in all the towns! And the marketing worked - when we were done with our hike all I wanted was a Coke. We also ended up hiking up to the Brasov Hollywood sign which gave a great view over the city.
Highlights:
- Getting to meet Meagan - she was a wonderful hostess!
- Wine tour in Bucharest - I'd like to be a teacher in Bucharest now. Just kidding. Kind of.
- Hiking in Brasov - it was pretty cool to see a ski resort in this area!
- Peles Castle - such a cool setting and a sweet castle.
- Brasov Old Town - one of my favorites so far!
Lessons Learned:
- Romanians like their Coca Cola.
- They drive like crazy people around here. And there are no lines painted in the roads - it's just like one blob of cars weaving in and out. Good thing Stacia drove the whole time.
- They have awesome wine! Unfortunately they don't export to the U.S. - or this would be my go to wine all the time.
- While we didn't spend a ton of time doing 'tourist things' in Bucharest, it was fun to see more daily life with Meagan!
- Sometimes not planning can really pay off - we stumbled upon Peles Castle and didn't realize how cool Brasov would be!
Peles Castle.
Some of the food from our wine tour!
A view from the top of Poiana Brasov Ski Resort.