Too Square to be Hip
A narcissist's guide to travel and culture
Journey from Bucharest It was a warm day when I ventured out of chaotic Bucharest by way of a car rented from my hostel. Typical of Romania, the vehicle was ancient and it spewed a dark black smoke. The speedometer was no longer functional and navigating through the capital’s heavy traffic and erratic driving was …
Exiled from his native Rome, to the very border of the Empire by Emperor Augustus, the Roman poet Ovid lamented his fate… Tomis, land of the Helenized Thracians held no charm to him. Dismayed by the lack of the Latin language in this provincial outpost, he found time to write his Magnum Opus, Metamorphoses. Later …
Paris on the Danube they called it, that is until the Communist authorities got their filthy hands on it. What had once been, was quickly erased in a flurry of totalitarian efficiency when Nicolae Ceausescu rose to prominence. The dictator quickly put his mind to redesigning a one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, …
Secluded deep in the foggy Carpathians is a town of indescribable beauty, now frequented by a royal family with no throne. This royalty was born of necessity, foreigners to Romania, given the keys to power and naturalized to their adoptive country. Once they ruled Romania, wisely and diligently before calamity struck. In summers, when the …
A lone traveller approaches a forlorn castle, overlooking a pass, located deep in the mountains of Transylvania. Lightning strikes and the rain is coming down hard, the man/woman is drenched and weary. Seeking refuge the poor traveller makes his way up the ramp to the castle door. Little does he know his host is lying …
Sitting at the southern tier of Transylvania, hugging the Carpathian mountain on all sides, Brasov is surrounded by a sea of green hills. The city is located between Bucharest (along with the pleasant mountain retreat of Sinaia) and the Transylvanian Hinterland. For many, this will be their first (and sadly, only) stop in the province …
In the northern reaches of the province of Transylvania, you will find an economically wealthy region that is powering a resurgence in the Romanian economy outside of Bucharest. The large urban centers of this region are the cities of Cluj and Turda, cities that are rich in culture and steeped in history. When I approached …
After my visit to the Transylvanian city of Sibiu, I found myself wandering the Romanian countryside in a rental car. It was a sunny day and there was no highway in sight. The two-lane main roads gave way to narrow country roads where progress was slow – a refreshing prospect as I wanted to enjoy the …
Walking to my hostel from the train station in Sibiu, I could not believe the scene unfurling in front of me. The picture seared in my memory was the exact cityscape I had imagined in my mind before my visit, a Transylvania of old. The sheer marvel of the multicoloured Saxon buildings had drawn me …
After a night of little sleep with a merry band of singing Germans in Timisoara, I was off on an early morning train to the Romanian city of Deva to get my first glimpses at on of the most famous castles in Transylvania. I boarded the train at 6am, only half awake. I was in …
