22 Jun 2014 Timisoara to Beograd
We get an early start, bid goodbye to the friendly staff of Casa Leone, pick up the generous pre-packed breakfast, and walk out to the tram stop. It is 6:30 am. The 4 and 8 trams come by our neighborhood: 8 to the train station, 4 to the center. The 4 comes first so we take it. Two stations later, an 8 is right behind, so we hop off the 4 and on to the 8.
At 7:15 am we are at the train station. On track 7 is a cute 2 car train that has been badly tagged by graffiti artists. There is no engine car - just two cars that join without walls in the center. We take two seats at one end - it turns out to be the end. There are maybe 10 folks traveling onward into Serbia, including a father and daughter from Grenada, Spain, who have come to accompany their son/brother who is going home after a year of studying in Bucuresti.
The other 10-15 folks are going to tiny spots in rural Romania south of Timisoara.
At 7:48 we are off. Our breakfast sandwiches are delicious. We are quickly back in the boonies. At 9:00 we are at the border. The Romanian police pass through the cars and stamp our passports as we leave the country. Then the Serbian police come through the cars and collect our passports. By 9:30 we get our passports back. We have Serbian stamps, and the time now 8:30 am, since we are now on Central European Time. At 8:52 (apx) we pull into Vrsac in Serbia. There is a Serbian train ahead on the tracks. Mike wanders around the station looking for a way to buy Serbian dinars or use an ATM. Nada, nix, nema.
At 9:40 we are off on a nearly empty Serbian train. We tool along through the flat Serbian countryside. At 10:47 we pull into Pancevo, and the train suddenly crush loads with locals going maybe 20 km into Beograd. Carol is in the restroom. Mike is asleep in a 4 seat group. A man comes along, shouts at Mike [in Serbian], and wakes him up. "Who do you think you are (or something to that effect)?" So the bags go up top on the racks, and we acquire 2 seatmates.
From Pancevo to Beograd we are in a crowded suburban train. Signs of industrialization appear. We cross the Danube (Dunav) and pull into the Dunav station. It is 11:30 am. We lack crucial items: no local currency, no water, no bus card. The station is empty. Welcome to Serbia.
It is unclear what to do. We 5 (2 of us, 3 Spaniards) walk one block to a busy boulevard. Carol sits down with both Froman backpacks and assorted day bags. She waits while the rest of us walk up and down the street. Finally, the walkers find a money changer who is open (it is Sunday and many places are closed).
Mike changes $50 US into 4150 dinar. The rate, 83 dinars to the dollar, turns out to be close to the best rate in town. He buys a bottle of COLD water, and two BusPlus cards, with 2 rides on each. One of the cards is fancy, and costs 250 dinar ($3). The other costs 40 dinar (45 cents). To this day, Mike never learns the difference between the two cards. (Maybe one is good for 5 years, the other for 3 months??). The rides, including long rides to the airport, on the card, cost 73 dinar (85 cents) each. BlusPlus cards are flash cards; you hold them close to a reader on the bus, and one ride is deducted. Enuf about transit.
Mike returns to Carol (who is beginning to attract negative attention [Gypsy?] from proper citizens); the Spaniards head on. We two are now refreshed and relieved. Time to hail a cab (a wise move when you don't know the lay of the land) to the Beograd City Hotel, where we have reserved a room for 52 euros (6275 dinar). It turns out to be located right across from the Central Train Station and the main bus station - perfect for us. It is also a fancy hotel (maybe even ****), with what turns out to be a very nice breakfast included. Indeed, a good deal even if pricy by our standards.
After we have settled in, we go for a walk toward the center. About 600-700 m partly uphill we are at Zeleni Venac bus station. Lots of buses leave from here, including the 72 to the airport, and the 83 to Zemun. Also here is a great vegetable and fruit market. We do a little shopping. It seems hardly possible, but a lot of the prices are even cheaper than Romanian market prices, e.g., cherries for 75 cents a kg.
We have restaurant, Prolece, in mind, that we discovered while searching "Beograd in Your Pocket" on the internet in Timisoara. We leave the bus station and the market, and cross a very busy street. A block or two up on the left is a shwarma restaurant with, wonder of wonders, a prominent mezuzah. The owners are Israeli, and Carol thinks to ask where there might be a synagogue in Beograd. Why yes, thank you for asking. Just go to the next block, turn right and walk a little bit. (We note that we really want to come back and get some shakshuka featured at this place, but the timingis never is opportune. Too bad.)
It is just after 2 pm. We follow the directions to Sukat Shalom. Quite an imposing building with a tiered portico. A sign outside says it was dedicated 15 Jun 1924. We pay a small admission and go inside to a beautiful, art deco style synagogue. Big tall ceilings and an upper section, once for the women. Now, pretty much just a museum.
Back to the main street. 5 more short blocks and we are at Prolece. Next door is a fancy ice cream shop. Tempting, but first some real food.
Restaurants listed by "In Your Pocket" are designated as 1 euro, 2 euros, and 3 euros on the website. This is a "1 euro" place, but actually rather stylish. It is packed, even though the time is well past 2:30 pm.
We sit down in the patio and order mushrooms with kaymak, sarmaluta (stuffed cabbages) with corn porridge, lamb soup, café latte, a draft beer. The mushrooms are incredibly rich because of the kaymak (butter cheese). Total 1733 dinar ($21). We are finally full. Would have been perfection except for the smokers surrounding us.
It is 3:30 pm. Off a block to the classy central street, which has been closed off to traffic. There is an office with tourist info. A large Plexiglas cube for donations to help those battered by the recent flooding. Cafes, ice cream, restaurants, museums, stores, and street entertainers. Musical buskers range from a talented folk group to an old guy with a violin whose off-key playing drives Mike nuts.
We walk into a book store and spot a very beautiful Serbian cookbook for $25 or so. Too heavy. Too expensive. The recipes didn't seem to be that interesting.
On the mall there is an art gallery which allowed people in as if it were a museum. Entry gratis. 3 stories of great 20th C. paintings. Much satirical art. Serbian artists were in the mainstream for every artistic trend.
Carol senses a good deal of style and panache in this part of Beograd. Some people are earning real money and have the means to look like Madison Avenue execs.
To the north of the pedestrianized street lies the Citadel. Looking down the street it seems near, but that is an optical illusion. We make the decision to visit the citadel tomorrow, so we stay in the neighborhood, looking for a store that sells bottled water, and another that fills up bus cards. The former was not too hard, but the latter turned out to be very difficult. We pass a very old mosque. Finally, we stop for a snack, and polish off our cherries.
We are now a little refreshed, but this morning's early start, the stresses of moving out, relocating, and even the time change are taking a toll on us.
We walk back along Terazije Blvd, a wide stretch of traffic. Finally, we come across a kiosk which fills bus cards, and we purchase some tickets for the next day. We pass two buildings which were bombed in the Kosovo wars and never repaired, and we are back at the hotel.
Evening is coming on, and we have business to settle. Our current plan: leave Beograd on 24 Jun. All day train to Podogorica, Montenegro. Then to Kotor and on to Dubrovnik, Croatia, on 25 Jun. To Sarajevo, Bosnia, on 26 Jun (we need to be in Sarajevo on 27 Jun for Carol's hiking trip). So we walk over to the train station to get the necessary train tickets.
BIG surprise: because of the recent flooding, the day train is suspended. NO day train. The night train schedule is unattractive. No day bus to Podgorica either. So we sit down over coffee at an internet café in the bus station (you have to pay for the internet even though you bought the coffee). Finally, we decide to fly to Dubrovnik on 24 Jun and take the bus to Sarajevo on 26 Jun. No Montenegro this trip, at least for Mike. Tickets are $175 US each, leaving at 13:35 and getting in at 14:40. We settle the deal online.
We are a little bit hungry so we order some fast food at the bus station: a large plescavica (a hamburger with a piece of spiced up meat). Cheap and uninspiring, but it quenches hunger.
Back to the hotel and to bed.
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Friday, July 11, 2014
21 Jun 2014 Timisoara
21 Jun 2014 Timisoara
As we spend our last days in Romania, two thoughts:
1) We need Mezzo TV in the US! We have feasted on uncut productions of "Billy Budd," "Turandot," Ariadne Auf Naxos;" long jazz sets; intelligent interviews, etc, etc. Add this to the folk channels and you almost wish for rain.
2) In some mythical past, there must have been "Ioan Cherrypit," who wandered Eastern Europe planting trees, just like Jonny Appleseed. Hope we will encounter Djon Cherrypit when we leave Romania.
Our lodgings are uniquely decorated in hippie, folksy style. This owner family has put a lot of thought into this property. One of the women running our pension has told us that Timisoara has a greater collection of old historic buildings than any other Romanian city. According to her, under the current mayor it has just been putting its priorities on developing industry and "building new" instead of restoring - though this has begun to change. Like several other Romanian cities we have visited, Timisoara has embarked on a campaign to become a future Cultural Capital of Europe. Best luck to all of them.
We get a late start. Breakfast in the pension. Nice meal, accompanied by the squawking house parrot. Out at 9 to catch a tram to downtown (even though our hosts tout taxi as the cheap, reliable way to get around town). We walk around and come to the downtown synagogue, the Great Synagogue. A sign outside identifies it as "The Synagogue of the Reformed Mosaic Cult." Quite a building. Gated and locked.
Around the corner is the office building containing the Jewish community offices. We get inside the main front doors and discover that it too is locked.
In the block or two nearby, we see the following historical buildings: "The Weiss House: The House with Lions;" "The Serbian Cathedral" (which we are able to enter); and "The Roman Catholic Cathedral." The whole downtown is torn up for reconstruction.
Luck is with us. In front of the Great Synagogue, as we come back to it, is a small tour group. We ask the tour guide where there might be an active synagogue. She says "Iosefin." We see it on the map, and hurry to get there by tram. It is in a neighborhood fairly close to the train station. We had considered a hotel near the station, but rejected the idea for fear that neighborhoods of train stations are sometimes rough. Now that we see it, it seems like a very interesting neighborhood, sort of like Queens. Oh well! But we are staying at a good place.
The tram we get on has two signs: No smoking! No ice cream cones!
We get to that synagogue around 11:15 am. It is closed. Behind is a house. We knock. A woman living there has a key, and lets us in to look around. She says that the active synagogue of Timisoara is in "Fabrik." We won't understand what she is trying to say until later in the day.
It is 11:30 am. We are near the bus station and the train station. We need to find a way to get to Belgrade in Serbia tomorrow. There is lots of confusion on this point. The European Rail Guide shows trains at 07:48 and 16:13. Each takes you to Vrsac in Serbia, where you transfer to a Serbian train taking you to the Beograd Dunav Station. Lonely Planet says there is one train at 5:45 am costing 70 lei each, as does some of the Timisoara tourist literature. Casa Leone says there is no reliable train and offers to arrange a door-to-door minibus for 110 lei each.
The bus station confirms that, indeed, there is no scheduled bus to Beograd. At the train station the stated information for the one-transfer trip is exactly as the European Rail Guide states. We buy 2 through tickets at 45 lei ($15.50) each. Later we show the tickets at Casa Leone. They are unbelieving.
It is time for lunch. But first quickly downtown to the "Memorial of the Revolution 16th-22nd December 1989." It is open only on Saturdays, and only until 1 pm. The tram works, but so does the 11 bus, which we take. It gets us right there.
The museum is alternately fabulous and questionably curated. Timisoara was the beginning point for the revolt in Dec 1989 that toppled the ruler Ceaucescu. On Dec 15, 1989, the authorities were attempting to evict a popular priest. A crowd gathered to protect him. Each day the crowds grew bigger, with some violence. The workers at each factory (Fabrik [aha!]) bravely rallied. By Dec 20 nearly all the cities in Romania had protests. The Dec 21 protests turned violent, esp. in Bucuresti, where the police fired live ammo into the crowds, killing hundreds. On Dec 22 Ceaucescu and his wife were arrested. They were tried and killed a few days later. All this is represented in the museum with pictures and contemporary newspaper articles. The protesters made new flags by cutting the Communist symbols out of the old flag.
The museum has dozens of these modified flags. It has a wonderful 30 min film. The warning that the film is not suitable for young viewers is correct - some very grisly scenes. But the museum also details everything possibly related to the Soviet Union from 1946 to 1989, including such things as a map of the gulags in Russia. It also has a piece of the Berlin Wall planted out front. The museum also has a room devoted to the help the Poles gave to the Revolution (probably because the photographer donated his material to the museum). The finishing touch was the ABBA music playing in the background. Really!!?! We left with a map of the artistic memorials to the Revolution found all around Timisoara.
We are out at 1:45 pm. New guests are coming in (so much for a 1 pm closing). We are across downtown from an internet café, and we need to (a) reserve a room in Beograd, and (b) find out some good things to do and eat in Beograd.
Our walk there takes 45 minutes. We seem to have gone the longest way reasonable to get there. But we have another lucky encounter. At the end, we ask questions of a local. He guesses we are Jewish, reveals that he is half-Jewish, and tells about the Fabrik Synagogue, the cemetery, and other interesting facts. He walks 100 m with us to the internet café.
We finish our internet searches around 3:45 pm. We eat some indifferent pastries and drink some coffee, which sort of revive us. Mike gets a little more money from a money exchanger, and Carol visits a tourist info office.
We stop at the Metropolitan Cathedral. Very grand inside. Outside are memorial plaques for the child chorus that was gunned down on the steps during the Revolution.
A quick tram ride to the synagogue at Fabrik follows, which we can now find. Locked tight. If there were any services, maybe they were on Friday night? Sort of doubtful. But we have seen 3 formidable synagogues today.
Nearby is a church that is holding back-to-back wedding parties. One party is just leaving, while another bride and groom are waiting. We see a whole lot of weddings wherever we travel - it seems to always include a photo taking session in a beautiful setting, a wedding service, and a party. Glad that there is all that hope.
By now we are really hungry. A tram ride, followed by a long walk through an old neighborhood, and we are at Casa Bunicii ("Granny's House"). LP recommended. It is just 6 pm and the place is packed with yuppie families getting ice cream, coffee and beer, and some eating full meals. One family is holding a birthday party for a toddler, complete with a lovely birthday song and a dunk into the icing. We needn't have worried that we would get there too early.
The design of the outdoor eating area is pure genius. A large well-equipped playground is part of the property, just beyond a hedge that provides a bit of a shield.
We order a cherry liqueur, an elderberry soda, duck soup, chicken breast in sour cherry sauce, and a grilled trout. Spectacular. We could have eaten more, but Mike's guess of how much money we would need left us with this amount. It is really important to end up at zero before exiting the country. How many lei do you want when you get back to the States, and what will you do with them? However, might have been nice to have had a little cushion for some appetizers, sides and desserts at this restaurant.
We walk back downtown for a 1 1/2 hour internet session, and then back to the pension. We have an early start tomorrow. On the same street as the pension is Loolish Gaming (sic), which also functions as an internet café. Across the street is the old municipal abattoir, which has been renovated (as a hotel?).
To bed. In lieu of a breakfast, the pension has agreed to give us a "to go" breakfast package.
Note: At some point during the day, we are talking about Romanians, Serbs, Bulgarians, etc. Our interlocutor says that Serbs are violent. After all, she says, the Mafia in Budapest is not the Russian Mafia, but the Serbian Mafia. Be careful, they are dangerous. What about Bosnians and Croatians? They are just as bad. She tells about a Bulgarian hotel owner at a fancy hotel on the Black Sea. A Romanian friend had driven there in his fancy $70K car and parked it in the hotel garage. He came to get his car. Not there. What car? the hotel owner said. You never had a car in our garage. This friend had good insurance, but if not, you go with a 5 figure cash reward, and miraculously the car usually shows up. Romanians don't do such things, but the others . . .
As we spend our last days in Romania, two thoughts:
1) We need Mezzo TV in the US! We have feasted on uncut productions of "Billy Budd," "Turandot," Ariadne Auf Naxos;" long jazz sets; intelligent interviews, etc, etc. Add this to the folk channels and you almost wish for rain.
2) In some mythical past, there must have been "Ioan Cherrypit," who wandered Eastern Europe planting trees, just like Jonny Appleseed. Hope we will encounter Djon Cherrypit when we leave Romania.
Our lodgings are uniquely decorated in hippie, folksy style. This owner family has put a lot of thought into this property. One of the women running our pension has told us that Timisoara has a greater collection of old historic buildings than any other Romanian city. According to her, under the current mayor it has just been putting its priorities on developing industry and "building new" instead of restoring - though this has begun to change. Like several other Romanian cities we have visited, Timisoara has embarked on a campaign to become a future Cultural Capital of Europe. Best luck to all of them.
We get a late start. Breakfast in the pension. Nice meal, accompanied by the squawking house parrot. Out at 9 to catch a tram to downtown (even though our hosts tout taxi as the cheap, reliable way to get around town). We walk around and come to the downtown synagogue, the Great Synagogue. A sign outside identifies it as "The Synagogue of the Reformed Mosaic Cult." Quite a building. Gated and locked.
Around the corner is the office building containing the Jewish community offices. We get inside the main front doors and discover that it too is locked.
In the block or two nearby, we see the following historical buildings: "The Weiss House: The House with Lions;" "The Serbian Cathedral" (which we are able to enter); and "The Roman Catholic Cathedral." The whole downtown is torn up for reconstruction.
Luck is with us. In front of the Great Synagogue, as we come back to it, is a small tour group. We ask the tour guide where there might be an active synagogue. She says "Iosefin." We see it on the map, and hurry to get there by tram. It is in a neighborhood fairly close to the train station. We had considered a hotel near the station, but rejected the idea for fear that neighborhoods of train stations are sometimes rough. Now that we see it, it seems like a very interesting neighborhood, sort of like Queens. Oh well! But we are staying at a good place.
The tram we get on has two signs: No smoking! No ice cream cones!
We get to that synagogue around 11:15 am. It is closed. Behind is a house. We knock. A woman living there has a key, and lets us in to look around. She says that the active synagogue of Timisoara is in "Fabrik." We won't understand what she is trying to say until later in the day.
It is 11:30 am. We are near the bus station and the train station. We need to find a way to get to Belgrade in Serbia tomorrow. There is lots of confusion on this point. The European Rail Guide shows trains at 07:48 and 16:13. Each takes you to Vrsac in Serbia, where you transfer to a Serbian train taking you to the Beograd Dunav Station. Lonely Planet says there is one train at 5:45 am costing 70 lei each, as does some of the Timisoara tourist literature. Casa Leone says there is no reliable train and offers to arrange a door-to-door minibus for 110 lei each.
The bus station confirms that, indeed, there is no scheduled bus to Beograd. At the train station the stated information for the one-transfer trip is exactly as the European Rail Guide states. We buy 2 through tickets at 45 lei ($15.50) each. Later we show the tickets at Casa Leone. They are unbelieving.
It is time for lunch. But first quickly downtown to the "Memorial of the Revolution 16th-22nd December 1989." It is open only on Saturdays, and only until 1 pm. The tram works, but so does the 11 bus, which we take. It gets us right there.
The museum is alternately fabulous and questionably curated. Timisoara was the beginning point for the revolt in Dec 1989 that toppled the ruler Ceaucescu. On Dec 15, 1989, the authorities were attempting to evict a popular priest. A crowd gathered to protect him. Each day the crowds grew bigger, with some violence. The workers at each factory (Fabrik [aha!]) bravely rallied. By Dec 20 nearly all the cities in Romania had protests. The Dec 21 protests turned violent, esp. in Bucuresti, where the police fired live ammo into the crowds, killing hundreds. On Dec 22 Ceaucescu and his wife were arrested. They were tried and killed a few days later. All this is represented in the museum with pictures and contemporary newspaper articles. The protesters made new flags by cutting the Communist symbols out of the old flag.
The museum has dozens of these modified flags. It has a wonderful 30 min film. The warning that the film is not suitable for young viewers is correct - some very grisly scenes. But the museum also details everything possibly related to the Soviet Union from 1946 to 1989, including such things as a map of the gulags in Russia. It also has a piece of the Berlin Wall planted out front. The museum also has a room devoted to the help the Poles gave to the Revolution (probably because the photographer donated his material to the museum). The finishing touch was the ABBA music playing in the background. Really!!?! We left with a map of the artistic memorials to the Revolution found all around Timisoara.
We are out at 1:45 pm. New guests are coming in (so much for a 1 pm closing). We are across downtown from an internet café, and we need to (a) reserve a room in Beograd, and (b) find out some good things to do and eat in Beograd.
Our walk there takes 45 minutes. We seem to have gone the longest way reasonable to get there. But we have another lucky encounter. At the end, we ask questions of a local. He guesses we are Jewish, reveals that he is half-Jewish, and tells about the Fabrik Synagogue, the cemetery, and other interesting facts. He walks 100 m with us to the internet café.
We finish our internet searches around 3:45 pm. We eat some indifferent pastries and drink some coffee, which sort of revive us. Mike gets a little more money from a money exchanger, and Carol visits a tourist info office.
We stop at the Metropolitan Cathedral. Very grand inside. Outside are memorial plaques for the child chorus that was gunned down on the steps during the Revolution.
A quick tram ride to the synagogue at Fabrik follows, which we can now find. Locked tight. If there were any services, maybe they were on Friday night? Sort of doubtful. But we have seen 3 formidable synagogues today.
Nearby is a church that is holding back-to-back wedding parties. One party is just leaving, while another bride and groom are waiting. We see a whole lot of weddings wherever we travel - it seems to always include a photo taking session in a beautiful setting, a wedding service, and a party. Glad that there is all that hope.
By now we are really hungry. A tram ride, followed by a long walk through an old neighborhood, and we are at Casa Bunicii ("Granny's House"). LP recommended. It is just 6 pm and the place is packed with yuppie families getting ice cream, coffee and beer, and some eating full meals. One family is holding a birthday party for a toddler, complete with a lovely birthday song and a dunk into the icing. We needn't have worried that we would get there too early.
The design of the outdoor eating area is pure genius. A large well-equipped playground is part of the property, just beyond a hedge that provides a bit of a shield.
We order a cherry liqueur, an elderberry soda, duck soup, chicken breast in sour cherry sauce, and a grilled trout. Spectacular. We could have eaten more, but Mike's guess of how much money we would need left us with this amount. It is really important to end up at zero before exiting the country. How many lei do you want when you get back to the States, and what will you do with them? However, might have been nice to have had a little cushion for some appetizers, sides and desserts at this restaurant.
We walk back downtown for a 1 1/2 hour internet session, and then back to the pension. We have an early start tomorrow. On the same street as the pension is Loolish Gaming (sic), which also functions as an internet café. Across the street is the old municipal abattoir, which has been renovated (as a hotel?).
To bed. In lieu of a breakfast, the pension has agreed to give us a "to go" breakfast package.
Note: At some point during the day, we are talking about Romanians, Serbs, Bulgarians, etc. Our interlocutor says that Serbs are violent. After all, she says, the Mafia in Budapest is not the Russian Mafia, but the Serbian Mafia. Be careful, they are dangerous. What about Bosnians and Croatians? They are just as bad. She tells about a Bulgarian hotel owner at a fancy hotel on the Black Sea. A Romanian friend had driven there in his fancy $70K car and parked it in the hotel garage. He came to get his car. Not there. What car? the hotel owner said. You never had a car in our garage. This friend had good insurance, but if not, you go with a 5 figure cash reward, and miraculously the car usually shows up. Romanians don't do such things, but the others . . .
Thursday, July 10, 2014
20 Jun 2014 Sibiu to Timisoara
20 Jun 2014 Sibiu to Timisoara
We are up early and head over to Casa Romana I for breakfast. As we walk, we realize how close both pensiune (hotels) are to the gara (station) when you are walking, not driving. Breakfast is an made-to-order omelet, some salad, bread, and coffee.
Back to our pensiune to complete check out and leave our bags at the office. First stop is the synagogue, which opens for tours at 9 am. We are there promptly at 9:15 and spend a half hour touring this beautiful property.
We walk back in, past Casa Romana. Across the street from the St. Ursuline Church is Placintaria Deo Gratias. This a real downhome eatery, the way great-grandma cooked in her kitchen. We order two placintas, a potato and a spinach. Superb. Too bad we already had a full breakfast. We spend some time chatting with the locals and promise to encourage Lonely Planet to list this place. The proprietress taken time to write down all the restaurant details.
By now the Ursuline Church is open, so we go in and look around. It was founded by the Dominican monks in the 15th century. It is more plain, and has a more Catholic feel than the Orthodox churches we have seen.
We head back uphill into Piata Mare. Since it is before 10:30 am, when the behemoth buses disgorge passengers, it has less of a tourist feel. We pass a place that serves gulas (goulash) for 15 lei and promise ourselves gulas for lunch later, when we are again hungry.
We walk to Piata Huet. While we are standing there, a gentleman comes up and asks if we speak German. He explains that he is Sachsen (Saxon), and that there is a substantial Sachsen presence is this part of Romania. He gives the German/Sachsen names for all of these towns: Cluj = Klaussenburg, Klossenbrigge; Brasov = Kronstadt; Sibiu = Hermannstadt; Sighisoara = Scheszburg; Sebes = Muhlbach. Of note: Sibiu was the Roman Cibinium. While Mike is chatting, Carol buys a book at kiosk and picks up some volumes being offered gratis (more weight in our backpack? bring it on!).
It is getting on toward 11 am. We leave Piata Huet for a view of Biserica Evanghelica, which isunder renovation and therefore closed. However, there is a small food and craft market. Carol buys some knitted items from a booth run by a co-op supporting battered women of Sibiu. Across, a vendor is selling preserves and "sirop de soc." Another vendor explains that "soc" means "flowers of the elder tree." The Latin name for Lobeda is atriplex (Latin). Now all we need to do is look up atriplex. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atriplex is not helpful)
It is close to 11:30 am and we wish to go to the Cibin market to the west of the center. We walk down a street to the WSW. Mirabile Dictu: we are free of tourists. It is almost as if the tourists are confined in an invisible fence. You walk 50 m away from the fence, and there are no more tourists. "Sibiu, so nice you need to walk away from it." We walk down Str. Mitropoliei and pass a lavishly decorated car. The owner said she bought it that way, nothing she did herself.
A few more feet and we are at the Cathedral. It was built between 1902 and 1906. Not as richly painted as some we have seen, but full of beauty notwithstanding.
We turn west down hill, pass by Beijing Restaurant. It is closed. Rats. Mike is once again foiled in his quest for Romanian Chinese food. Carol is not-so-secretly relieved.
Noon. We are at the busy busy open air market. We buy some cheese, salami, and two small pieces of smoked fish. (Oh, how Mike has missed his smoked fish.) Also: carrots, radishes, cherries, and peaches. After all, we have a long train ride ahead of us this afternoon. The tomatoes here, as in most of Romania, have pointed ends. There are a number of flowers and herbs for sale that we can't identify.
There is a vendor here on the side selling vegetable soup to market vendors and customers, so we order a bowl. Also some cooked mushrooms, some pickled tomatoes, and some bread. For less than 10 lei, we have a great lunch. So much for the 15 lei per serving gulas.
It is after 1 pm, and time to start heading back. We pass a map showing Hermannstadt (Sibiu-Cibinium) in 1650, when it was a walled city.
As we climb back to the Piatas we see our first tourists in the last 2+ hours.
We get in about 45 minutes of internet. This internet café is across from a tattoo parlor that is part of the International Tattoo Festival starting later this week (there is a Fashion Festival this week; we have seen a few models here and there, but no models with tattoos).
We have missed seeing what remains of the walls and turrets of Sibiu, the Ethnographic Museum, the open-air folk village museum (with the Romanian blouse exhibition) - but we have broken free of Tourist-stan.
Finished with our posts, we grab an ice cream and hustle back to the pension. We leave about 3:20 but, now that we know what we are doing, it takes less than 8 minutes to walk to the train station. We arrive with plenty of time for our 1545 train.
This train will get into Timisoara just before 2300.
We have a 5 seat compartment all to ourselves, but there is a family of 3 with a rambunctious 9-11 yr old boy behind us -- the whole trip.
The trip takes 7 hours, so we attack our food with pretty good success. About 7 pm, we pass through Deva, with its striking citadel. Too bad that we didn't have time to stop. A little later, we pass by a large power plant with three large smokestacks, and some towers that look nuclear.
Night falls, and finally we are in Timisoara.
In Timisoara, we board the 8 tram, as we have been instructed by the guidebook. Two locals tell us where to get off. From there, a 5 lei taxi ride gets us to Pensiune Casa Leone a little after 11 pm. The hosts are waiting up for us, and we settle in. And to bed.
We are up early and head over to Casa Romana I for breakfast. As we walk, we realize how close both pensiune (hotels) are to the gara (station) when you are walking, not driving. Breakfast is an made-to-order omelet, some salad, bread, and coffee.
Back to our pensiune to complete check out and leave our bags at the office. First stop is the synagogue, which opens for tours at 9 am. We are there promptly at 9:15 and spend a half hour touring this beautiful property.
We walk back in, past Casa Romana. Across the street from the St. Ursuline Church is Placintaria Deo Gratias. This a real downhome eatery, the way great-grandma cooked in her kitchen. We order two placintas, a potato and a spinach. Superb. Too bad we already had a full breakfast. We spend some time chatting with the locals and promise to encourage Lonely Planet to list this place. The proprietress taken time to write down all the restaurant details.
By now the Ursuline Church is open, so we go in and look around. It was founded by the Dominican monks in the 15th century. It is more plain, and has a more Catholic feel than the Orthodox churches we have seen.
We head back uphill into Piata Mare. Since it is before 10:30 am, when the behemoth buses disgorge passengers, it has less of a tourist feel. We pass a place that serves gulas (goulash) for 15 lei and promise ourselves gulas for lunch later, when we are again hungry.
We walk to Piata Huet. While we are standing there, a gentleman comes up and asks if we speak German. He explains that he is Sachsen (Saxon), and that there is a substantial Sachsen presence is this part of Romania. He gives the German/Sachsen names for all of these towns: Cluj = Klaussenburg, Klossenbrigge; Brasov = Kronstadt; Sibiu = Hermannstadt; Sighisoara = Scheszburg; Sebes = Muhlbach. Of note: Sibiu was the Roman Cibinium. While Mike is chatting, Carol buys a book at kiosk and picks up some volumes being offered gratis (more weight in our backpack? bring it on!).
It is getting on toward 11 am. We leave Piata Huet for a view of Biserica Evanghelica, which isunder renovation and therefore closed. However, there is a small food and craft market. Carol buys some knitted items from a booth run by a co-op supporting battered women of Sibiu. Across, a vendor is selling preserves and "sirop de soc." Another vendor explains that "soc" means "flowers of the elder tree." The Latin name for Lobeda is atriplex (Latin). Now all we need to do is look up atriplex. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atriplex is not helpful)
It is close to 11:30 am and we wish to go to the Cibin market to the west of the center. We walk down a street to the WSW. Mirabile Dictu: we are free of tourists. It is almost as if the tourists are confined in an invisible fence. You walk 50 m away from the fence, and there are no more tourists. "Sibiu, so nice you need to walk away from it." We walk down Str. Mitropoliei and pass a lavishly decorated car. The owner said she bought it that way, nothing she did herself.
A few more feet and we are at the Cathedral. It was built between 1902 and 1906. Not as richly painted as some we have seen, but full of beauty notwithstanding.
We turn west down hill, pass by Beijing Restaurant. It is closed. Rats. Mike is once again foiled in his quest for Romanian Chinese food. Carol is not-so-secretly relieved.
Noon. We are at the busy busy open air market. We buy some cheese, salami, and two small pieces of smoked fish. (Oh, how Mike has missed his smoked fish.) Also: carrots, radishes, cherries, and peaches. After all, we have a long train ride ahead of us this afternoon. The tomatoes here, as in most of Romania, have pointed ends. There are a number of flowers and herbs for sale that we can't identify.
There is a vendor here on the side selling vegetable soup to market vendors and customers, so we order a bowl. Also some cooked mushrooms, some pickled tomatoes, and some bread. For less than 10 lei, we have a great lunch. So much for the 15 lei per serving gulas.
It is after 1 pm, and time to start heading back. We pass a map showing Hermannstadt (Sibiu-Cibinium) in 1650, when it was a walled city.
As we climb back to the Piatas we see our first tourists in the last 2+ hours.
We get in about 45 minutes of internet. This internet café is across from a tattoo parlor that is part of the International Tattoo Festival starting later this week (there is a Fashion Festival this week; we have seen a few models here and there, but no models with tattoos).
We have missed seeing what remains of the walls and turrets of Sibiu, the Ethnographic Museum, the open-air folk village museum (with the Romanian blouse exhibition) - but we have broken free of Tourist-stan.
Finished with our posts, we grab an ice cream and hustle back to the pension. We leave about 3:20 but, now that we know what we are doing, it takes less than 8 minutes to walk to the train station. We arrive with plenty of time for our 1545 train.
This train will get into Timisoara just before 2300.
We have a 5 seat compartment all to ourselves, but there is a family of 3 with a rambunctious 9-11 yr old boy behind us -- the whole trip.
The trip takes 7 hours, so we attack our food with pretty good success. About 7 pm, we pass through Deva, with its striking citadel. Too bad that we didn't have time to stop. A little later, we pass by a large power plant with three large smokestacks, and some towers that look nuclear.
Night falls, and finally we are in Timisoara.
In Timisoara, we board the 8 tram, as we have been instructed by the guidebook. Two locals tell us where to get off. From there, a 5 lei taxi ride gets us to Pensiune Casa Leone a little after 11 pm. The hosts are waiting up for us, and we settle in. And to bed.
19 Jun 2014 Brasov to Sibiu
19 Jun 2014 Brasov to Sibiu
Checkout is 11:30. Our train is at 13:00, so we plan to check out at 11:25 to get the bus to the train.
Breakfast is in the room, since we are carrying a lot of food, including bread and 3 of the "sheep" sausages from the night before. At 8, we are already packed and out the hotel doors. As we walk down the hotel stairs, we take a picture of the beautiful stained glass windows. In its prime, this must have been a great hotel.
This time we walk to just outside the gates. As we are walking along, we are met by 40 or so Polish teenagers, walking uphill to outside the gate where their tour bus is waiting. Where are they going today? The two or three kids we talked to didn't know.
We walk along the gate, then down to the Schei Gate. We get back to the Schei Synagogue at 9 am just as a woman showed up to open it. We pay 5 lei each, and stay for 10 mins. The woman tells us whose doorbell to ring at 64 Str. Castelului in order to see the Orthodox synagogue. And we are off. Just as we were leave, a Spanish Jewish tour enters. The tour guide paid for 40 or so tickets, which justified opening the synagogue for that day.
There is a very attractive kosher restaurant on the property, but no one is serving just now.
This time we are buzzed in at Str. Castelului 64. We head along the internal alleyway to the synagogue, which is on an upper level waaaaay at the back. It is locked and in bad repair, but we finally can see the once-glorious exterior. (This all sounds confusing, so here goes: In the old towns in this part of the world, an address is an entrance to a compound. Within each compound can be almost anything: a house and its back buildings; a number of houses; an apartment complex; a park; almost ... anything. To find a synagogue at the back on an upper level is not unexpected at all. Perhaps in 1890, this whole compound was owned by Jews and the whole thing made sense then.)
After viewing, we walk by the Pharmacy Café, just next to the Internet Café, and stop to get a fancy cappuccino, admire the inside (a recreated olde tyme drug store), and get access to a bathroom. The place is a coffee house, but the theme is an old pharmacy, and it is expertly executed.
Back to the market, where we find lobeda: red leaves used to impart sour to the traditional Romanian ciorba (soup). We have seen ciorba recipes in Romanian cookbooks and have never seen this leaf or any western substitute, but here it is for sale. We fill another bottle with crama wine for our journey, go elsewhere for 15 min of internet, pick up our bags, checkout. Goodbye Brasov, a likeable city.
We walk 150-200 m to our bus stop (that we had ascertained the night before), take the 51 bus to the train station, and in due time, get on the 13:00 train to Sibiu.
Our seatmates in a set of 5 seats are a couple deeply intertwined in each other.
Fruit trees, potential Gypsy dwellings, and countryside to view otherwise. Iffy weather.
We get to Sibiu on time, and take a taxi to Casa Romana 2. The walk would have been less than 10 minutes, but it was raining, and the maps were somewhat confusing. Because of the one way streets, the taxi drive had to go nearly 2 km to go 3/4 km to the room.
Casa Romana has been a Lonely Planet favorite. However, booking.com showed it to it as Sold Out, but showed Casa Romana 2 a few blocks away. It was only 27 euros, or 118 lei. Breakfast was 15 lei apiece at Casa Romana [1], so we signed up for morning eats. Our room was spacious, the TV worked (with lots of channels), the beds were comfy, and the hot water (after suitable time to warm up) was hot. Altogether, quite a deal.
We got directions to walk to the center of town. Out on the street with the do-not-enter one-way sign, to the end, take a left, and climb the hill. As we are climbing the hill, we see a meter and a gate. The gate has a number on it - the number of additional cars allowed into the center to park. Once that number hits zero, presumably no cars are allowed in until other cars leave. Simple & efficient.
We emerge at the Liar's Bridge, so named because if you lied while on the bridge it would creak (or so they say).
The intensely touristy area of Sibiu consists of three squares, Piata Mica (small), Piata Huet, and Piata Mare (great). We start at Piata Mica. Carol carefully examines the postings and determines that there is a free choral concert at one of the University buildings just SW of the center, and that there is a clothing festival at the Astra Museum beginning at 10 am tomorrow - the Romanian blouse.
The Astra Museum is a little hard to get to (being a number of km out of town, and requiring a couple of bus/trams, or some extended walking), but we plan on the choral concert.
Along our walk we come to the Council Tower, which has a very old clock with exposed mechanism near the top. For 2 lei each we get to climb the 7 sets of very narrow steep steps and are rewarded by a fine view of the whole city. It is now 5:20 pm.
We emerge into the Piata Mare. Disney could not design a better open plaza for tourists in groups or pairs to see and be seen. Selfie heaven in front of picturesque buildings. We head to the tourist info. Among other things, we ask if there is a map of the Sibiu transit system. We show him a copy we had photographed at the train station, which showed that it was accurate, eff. 23 Jun 2014. He said that we didn't need public transit (taxis or walking was fine), and that the info was false. On reflection this could have been true, because it was to go into effect in four days. Still the guy's attitude rankled Mike, who expects the tourist office folks to not actively discourage people wanting to take public transit. Sheesh, you should have to have transit, bathroom and Internet info at your fingertips to work at a tourist office.
Anyway, we head down the broad pedestrian promenade toward the SW. We pass a number of restaurants, the first of which is Crama Sibiu Vechi, highly recommended by a number of sources, including Lonely Planet. Faux Olde Rumania, and menus in too many languages. We pass. The next two restaurants are even pricier.
We are still hungry at the end of Str. Nicolas Balceasca, the tourist street (closed to traffic) that leaves Piata Mare to the SW. We grab a piece of pizza and two savory flaky pastries from a busy storefront vendor (12 lei), go into the park next to it, and finish them off. This is real street food, and just outside the tourist "boundary." No Gypsy violinists or costuming here.
It is now 6:15 pm. Someone has told us that an internet café exists about 3 blocks away. We walk over and find it. It is now 6:35 pm and so there is no time for internet now. We store the info, walk 1 1/2 blocks back, and find the hall where the concert will be. We walk in as the chorus is finishing their rehearsal.
The concert hall, empty when we walked in, is now almost full, and we are treated to slightly more than 1 hour of wonderful choral singing, mostly unaccompanied. There is little by major European composers; the program is almost entirely by Romanian composers, none of whom are familiar to us.
About 8:15 pm we are through. We walk back Balceasca St. and order a clatite with nutella from a store with a single woman cooking away. A clatite is basically a crepe with filling, cooked right in front of you. Not as good as the one at Romaneasca in Brasov, but still quite good.
On the way back through Piata Mare, we find another internet café, and store this info for future use. As we leave Piata Mare, we pass St. Ursuline Church. The choral concert will be repeated here tomorrow night, but now it is (drumroll) Closed.
We are almost at the pensuine, and we are back by 9:15 pm, at sunset. To bed.
Checkout is 11:30. Our train is at 13:00, so we plan to check out at 11:25 to get the bus to the train.
Breakfast is in the room, since we are carrying a lot of food, including bread and 3 of the "sheep" sausages from the night before. At 8, we are already packed and out the hotel doors. As we walk down the hotel stairs, we take a picture of the beautiful stained glass windows. In its prime, this must have been a great hotel.
This time we walk to just outside the gates. As we are walking along, we are met by 40 or so Polish teenagers, walking uphill to outside the gate where their tour bus is waiting. Where are they going today? The two or three kids we talked to didn't know.
We walk along the gate, then down to the Schei Gate. We get back to the Schei Synagogue at 9 am just as a woman showed up to open it. We pay 5 lei each, and stay for 10 mins. The woman tells us whose doorbell to ring at 64 Str. Castelului in order to see the Orthodox synagogue. And we are off. Just as we were leave, a Spanish Jewish tour enters. The tour guide paid for 40 or so tickets, which justified opening the synagogue for that day.
There is a very attractive kosher restaurant on the property, but no one is serving just now.
This time we are buzzed in at Str. Castelului 64. We head along the internal alleyway to the synagogue, which is on an upper level waaaaay at the back. It is locked and in bad repair, but we finally can see the once-glorious exterior. (This all sounds confusing, so here goes: In the old towns in this part of the world, an address is an entrance to a compound. Within each compound can be almost anything: a house and its back buildings; a number of houses; an apartment complex; a park; almost ... anything. To find a synagogue at the back on an upper level is not unexpected at all. Perhaps in 1890, this whole compound was owned by Jews and the whole thing made sense then.)
After viewing, we walk by the Pharmacy Café, just next to the Internet Café, and stop to get a fancy cappuccino, admire the inside (a recreated olde tyme drug store), and get access to a bathroom. The place is a coffee house, but the theme is an old pharmacy, and it is expertly executed.
Back to the market, where we find lobeda: red leaves used to impart sour to the traditional Romanian ciorba (soup). We have seen ciorba recipes in Romanian cookbooks and have never seen this leaf or any western substitute, but here it is for sale. We fill another bottle with crama wine for our journey, go elsewhere for 15 min of internet, pick up our bags, checkout. Goodbye Brasov, a likeable city.
We walk 150-200 m to our bus stop (that we had ascertained the night before), take the 51 bus to the train station, and in due time, get on the 13:00 train to Sibiu.
Our seatmates in a set of 5 seats are a couple deeply intertwined in each other.
Fruit trees, potential Gypsy dwellings, and countryside to view otherwise. Iffy weather.
We get to Sibiu on time, and take a taxi to Casa Romana 2. The walk would have been less than 10 minutes, but it was raining, and the maps were somewhat confusing. Because of the one way streets, the taxi drive had to go nearly 2 km to go 3/4 km to the room.
Casa Romana has been a Lonely Planet favorite. However, booking.com showed it to it as Sold Out, but showed Casa Romana 2 a few blocks away. It was only 27 euros, or 118 lei. Breakfast was 15 lei apiece at Casa Romana [1], so we signed up for morning eats. Our room was spacious, the TV worked (with lots of channels), the beds were comfy, and the hot water (after suitable time to warm up) was hot. Altogether, quite a deal.
We got directions to walk to the center of town. Out on the street with the do-not-enter one-way sign, to the end, take a left, and climb the hill. As we are climbing the hill, we see a meter and a gate. The gate has a number on it - the number of additional cars allowed into the center to park. Once that number hits zero, presumably no cars are allowed in until other cars leave. Simple & efficient.
We emerge at the Liar's Bridge, so named because if you lied while on the bridge it would creak (or so they say).
The intensely touristy area of Sibiu consists of three squares, Piata Mica (small), Piata Huet, and Piata Mare (great). We start at Piata Mica. Carol carefully examines the postings and determines that there is a free choral concert at one of the University buildings just SW of the center, and that there is a clothing festival at the Astra Museum beginning at 10 am tomorrow - the Romanian blouse.
The Astra Museum is a little hard to get to (being a number of km out of town, and requiring a couple of bus/trams, or some extended walking), but we plan on the choral concert.
Along our walk we come to the Council Tower, which has a very old clock with exposed mechanism near the top. For 2 lei each we get to climb the 7 sets of very narrow steep steps and are rewarded by a fine view of the whole city. It is now 5:20 pm.
We emerge into the Piata Mare. Disney could not design a better open plaza for tourists in groups or pairs to see and be seen. Selfie heaven in front of picturesque buildings. We head to the tourist info. Among other things, we ask if there is a map of the Sibiu transit system. We show him a copy we had photographed at the train station, which showed that it was accurate, eff. 23 Jun 2014. He said that we didn't need public transit (taxis or walking was fine), and that the info was false. On reflection this could have been true, because it was to go into effect in four days. Still the guy's attitude rankled Mike, who expects the tourist office folks to not actively discourage people wanting to take public transit. Sheesh, you should have to have transit, bathroom and Internet info at your fingertips to work at a tourist office.
Anyway, we head down the broad pedestrian promenade toward the SW. We pass a number of restaurants, the first of which is Crama Sibiu Vechi, highly recommended by a number of sources, including Lonely Planet. Faux Olde Rumania, and menus in too many languages. We pass. The next two restaurants are even pricier.
We are still hungry at the end of Str. Nicolas Balceasca, the tourist street (closed to traffic) that leaves Piata Mare to the SW. We grab a piece of pizza and two savory flaky pastries from a busy storefront vendor (12 lei), go into the park next to it, and finish them off. This is real street food, and just outside the tourist "boundary." No Gypsy violinists or costuming here.
It is now 6:15 pm. Someone has told us that an internet café exists about 3 blocks away. We walk over and find it. It is now 6:35 pm and so there is no time for internet now. We store the info, walk 1 1/2 blocks back, and find the hall where the concert will be. We walk in as the chorus is finishing their rehearsal.
The concert hall, empty when we walked in, is now almost full, and we are treated to slightly more than 1 hour of wonderful choral singing, mostly unaccompanied. There is little by major European composers; the program is almost entirely by Romanian composers, none of whom are familiar to us.
About 8:15 pm we are through. We walk back Balceasca St. and order a clatite with nutella from a store with a single woman cooking away. A clatite is basically a crepe with filling, cooked right in front of you. Not as good as the one at Romaneasca in Brasov, but still quite good.
On the way back through Piata Mare, we find another internet café, and store this info for future use. As we leave Piata Mare, we pass St. Ursuline Church. The choral concert will be repeated here tomorrow night, but now it is (drumroll) Closed.
We are almost at the pensuine, and we are back by 9:15 pm, at sunset. To bed.
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