Sinaia

Sunday morning everyone was feeling a bit under the weather after the previous evening's shenanigans, so it was a pretty slow start to the day.  Eventually people began to emerge and began getting organised to go their separate ways.  We had been invited to join Iulia, Ben, their parents and a few other friends for a trip into the mountains which although was pretty last minute, as we had nothing else really planned we decided to take up.  After saying goodbye to everyone else we got back into one of the mini buses and hit the road, bound for Sinaia, stopping en route for some much needed McDonalds to ease the hangovers!  Sinaia is a town backed by the Bucegi Moutains and surrounded by beautiful forest, making it a popular holiday destination in both winter when it is covered in snow and becomes a ski resort, and in summer when the cool mountain air attracts many people from Bucharest, who come to escape the heat of the city.

Arriving in Sinaia later that afternoon after a very wet and slow journey (in Romania the average speed on the open roads is about 50-60 per hour at best due to the poor conditions) we pulled up outside a beautiful hotel.  The hotel was just beneath the famous Peles Castle, and apparently used to be the old stable block for the palace.  After settling into our rooms we met up with Marian, Iulia's dad, who told us that a booking had been made for dinner at a restaurant nearby.  We set off on foot down the road, noticing the warning signs to beware of wild beers along the way, not to mention the giant traps that were set up in the forest!

The restaurant was Romanian style where basically you eat as much meat as you can, with waiters constantly bringing huge skewers of sausages, chicken, lamb, beef and pork to the table, which wass then served onto our plates.  They kept plates of fried potatoes, bread and salad topped up on the tables, so by the time dinner was over we were all pretty stuffed!  Then the left over wedding cake emerged, washed down with generous servings of armaretto.  Everyone was pretty tired after a busy weekend, so the combination of lots of food and drink meant most of us were struggling to keep our eyes open, so it was back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

The next morning everyone slept in and we met up for a late breakfast at the hotel before heading up the hill to check out beautiful Peles Castle.  Set within green meadows and overlooking the town, the building is stunning and almost Bavarian in style.  It's construction began in 1875 when it was intended to be a summer residence for Romania's longest serving monarch, King Carol I.  However, 39 years later, is was only completed a few months before the King died.   Unfortunately the inside was closed to the public the day we visited, but we still enjoyed looking around the outside and wandering in the beautiful gardens.

Returning to the hotel after our visit to the castle it was time for a quick repack before heading into the mountains.  The reason we were going up there was because Iulia's family had friends who manage a cabana up in the mountains, just at the bottom of a ski field.  Gigi and his wife's daugter had recently had her first birthday, and as Iulia was the little girls godmother, it was Romanian tradition for her to give her her first haircut.  The trip up the mountain was amazing, we had to take two separate cable cars which took us to an altitude of 2000 metres.  Then it was a half an hour or so hike down the very steep, grassy ski slope to the cabana.  Tim did very well walking down the hill with a pack loaded up not only with our things for the night, but several bottles of home made wine and vodka as well weighing him down!

The cabana was lovely, very homely with loads of space for everyone.  As soon as we arrived we were seated at a huge table that was set for lunch, and then the shots came out!  Tuica (the plum brandy we had tried before) and a lovely blueberry liquor were served.  The boys decided to head out to the veranda to help with the barbecuing of a lamb that had been killed that very morning in our honour!

















From that point on (about 2pm) the eating and drinking continued well into the night.  We were fed incredibley well, with food and drink being constanly replenished, and between courses we wandered out on to the veranda to admire the views of passing shepherds and herds of sheep, while the cabana dogs firecly protected their territory.  At the cabana there are about 12 dogs and puppies, which Gigi keeps for protection from the bears and wolves that roam the mountains.  Apparently the bears can be particurly dangerous towards the end of winter when they wake up starving from their hibernation.  Gigi said that on several occasions his life had been saved by the bravery of his dogs - a specially bred for the mountains.

The actual hair cutting ceremony took place later in the evening, with the little girl Talia being given a special bath by her godmother, while all the girls in attendance got to watch.  After Talia had been dressed in a pretty new dress she was bought out into the dining room, where she was sat on a table surrounded by various objects.  This is a Romanian tradition where babies are encouraged to choose objects from the table, and what they choose has significance to what their future might hold.  Talia chose a mirror (signifiying beauty), some money (signifying wealth) and a cell phone (not really sure what that meant!).  After that it was time for Iulia to cut Talia's hair, not that there was much to cut really!  It was amazing to be part of such a special family tradition.  We slept incredibly well that night as a thunder storm rolled around the cabana.

The next morning dawned bright and clear and we began the day with another incredible meal, a breakfast of omlettes and, you guessed it, more meat!  We had not really been looking forward to the hike back up the ski slope but as a suprise Gigi had very kindly arranged for the chairlift to be put on specially for us!  So it was a fun ride back up to the top, where we then caught the two cable cars back down to Sinaia.

After saying goodbye to everyone it was time for Tim and I to head off to the station to get a train to Cluj, where we were due to fly from the next day, while the others went back to Bucharest.  It had been an amazing few days and we are so glad we took up the offer of joining everyone for an experience that we would never have had if we had continued exploring Romania on our own.  It had been amazing to be part of such special family times and something we will remember for a long time to come.

The rest of our time in Romania was not so much fun unfortunately.  We had a long, slow train journey up to Cluj, with the train running very late and seeming to crawl along the tracks.  The EU are investing a lot of money in improving Romania's transport links, but obviously this is not going to happen overnight.  So we ended up arriving in Cluj about 10pm with no time to explore the town, checked into our hotel, grabbed a quick pizza dinner and hit the sack.  The next morning we were up at 3.30 am to get a cab to the airport for our flight home to London. Romania is not a place we probably would have chosen to visit ourselves without the excuse of the wedding, but it is a destination we would really recommend for people wanting a unique experience.  It had been a fabulous trip and a huge learning curve for both of us, we can't wait to see more of Eastern Europe one day!