Friday, 11/8. A long day trip north to the mountains of Transylvania. Heavy traffic to get out of the city, which does not have any highway connectors. They have a highway ring, but it’s too far out of the city to be helpful. Someone is expecting the city to grow a lot. After nearly 3 hours we reached Sinaia in the Prahova Valley. “Pearl of the Carpathians” due to the beauty of its natural setting and the elegance of its architecture. Very Alpine. Visited Peles Castle, former summer residence of the Romanian Royal Family. It’s much more like a palace. Incredible artwork and design. I could have spent all day admiring it’s interior. The exterior is fine too, but most of the building is being repaired, so there was a lot of scaffolding.

Next stop was “Dracula’s Castle”, so named only because it bears a striking resemblance to Bram Stoker’s description. The story is that readers of the book (or watchers of the earlier movies) stopped by and begged the owner for a tour. The owner saw dollar signs and began offering tours at a price. Bram Stoker, an Irishman, never visited Romania and never saw the castle. Prince Vlad “the Impaler” (surname Dracula) occasionally used the Castle. Perched atop a 200-foot-high rock, but very close to the town below. For the joy of foreign visitors it was decorated in Halloween-themed style. I asked Dan our guide if Romania celebrated Halloween. “No”. The Castle’s interesting setup was as the home of Princess Marie, the very popular British wife of Romania’s crown prince and granddaughter of Queen Victoria. I enjoyed the factual history more than the mythical one.

Last stop, Brasov. It’s a very old city with a wealth of very interesting architecture. Had a very late lunch in a past dungeon. Hungarian goulash. (Understandably, Romania’s most disliked country is Hungary.)

The drive back was far longer than we expected. Not enough roads, too many cars. Endured a 40+ minute slowdown for no apparent reason. Arrived back at 8:30.

Romanians have placed themselves in my rankings as the worst drivers in the world, mostly due to their unpredictability. They absolutely force other drivers to take preventative measures. Since I’ve noticed that everyone has one eye on their phones, this is scary.