Sinaia, Romania

Experiences pour in so rapidly, and the world whizzes by so quickly when you cross almost half a country every day! Christmas eve was a particularly busy day, starting the day in the dark, catching a very full bus from stunning Sibiu at 6:30 am to arrive in Sinaia about 3 hours later. Sinaia is a very small town in the middle of a pass through the Carpathian mountains. It was a difficult stop to fit into my plans, even though it's roughly on the way toward Istanbul. I only found three couch surfers there, of whom two declined and one must be traveling. Although hotels exist, I couldn't find anything reasonable online.

So why bother with this little town? I wanted to find the Peles Castle - where the king and queen of Romania used to reside - for two reasons: one, it's apparently the most beautiful castle in Romania (and one of the nicest is Europe), and two, queen Marie was a member of the Baha'i Faith!

Because I was now lugging around my huge luggage, and since I had no directions to the castle, I considered taking a taxi, but this thought didn't last. I went into a car parts store and asked if they knew how I could get a bus ticket out, to Bucharest, since the last one I took was over filled and I didn't want to get stranded. None of three young guys working there spoke English, but they called to a lady in the back who could. She told me to find the bus ticket guy who wanders around the street outside. Weird. Then I asked about the castle. Take a taxi she said, since it's an hour walk up, up, up. One of the boys said 30 min. and explained, through her translation, the route. Outside, unbelievably, I found the wandering bus ticket guy who told me to be back to that spot on the road in about 5 hours. Perfect. But my heavy luggage... I got a brainwave and went back into the auto parts store and asked the lady if I could store my huge bag there, for a fair price. She said yes and refused payment. Bring me some chocolate, if you like, she said. Score. What a heavy burden lifted, literally.

It was a beautiful trek up the mountain to the castle, on stairs and then an ancient cobblestone path winding through dense forest, with a thick carpet of snow. It was an unseasonal 6C. Signs posted warnings of bears in the area! Tiny songbirds sang for me as I climbed.

The castle and surroundings were pretty impressive. The detail and ornamentation inside was unbelievable. Room after room, decked out so lavishly. And I only paid to see the first floor! One of the rooms was the armory, which I estimate had about 700-800 weapons mounted on the walls: swords, spears, rifles, etc. In a glass case on the mantle was a 6th century executioners sword, and I couldn't help but shudder to think that it looked well used.

Next to this castle was a smaller one, where princess Marie and prince Ferdinand lived until they inherited the throne. I kept imagining what it must have been like living here. It seemed so hard to get to and remote for me; what must it have been like in 1900? The forest surroundings and snow tipped mountains were very charming, but it must have felt so isolated. A mural on one wall at the main castle showed an epic battle between two soldiers, several dogs, and two bears. I think the bears were winning.

Queen Marie, who embraced the Baha'i Faith, passed away in 1938. I scanned the library room for Baha'i books but didn't find any quickly, and didn't want to spend all day in that one room. She was apparently well read in many languages, and quite an artist. A giant book of her poetry, written in semi-calligraphy over her own paintings was on display. One phrase really stuck with me as I began to wonder if her life here was very challenging: "If 'tis madness to remember, 'tis drearier far to forget."

On my way back down to the main road I bought a few Snickers chocolate bars. I found my luggage intact, kept one bar for myself, and waited by the road for the bus. The ticket guy appeared out of nowhere and assured me of a seat. I stood with a hitch-hiker who agree to ask any stopping autos if there's room for me too. Eventually the late bus arrived, the hitcher gave up and we all packed into a small mini-bus van. Yes, there was a seat for me, the last one, but not for the sweet old lady who came after me. I guess when you're a nice guy, there are no seat guarantees. But I didn't need to stand for long, as someone got out at the next stop. Bucharest here we come!