Romania

  Sunday, September 14, 2025   Bucharest and the Enescu Festival   Today was the event which precipitated this trip to Romania, the concert at which Avner Dorman’s Tanyaderas was played in the Romanian Athenaeum.   We slept late, had a late breakfast, and spent almost three hours wandering Bucharest, especially the old city, where there is a vibrant life of cafes, galleries and shops.   The George Enescu International Festival includes over 95 concerts and performances taking place over about 29 days, and the concert by the Berlin Academy of American Music began at 10:30 PM on this Sunday night.   Amazing.   We had a dinner reservation for 8 PM at a lovely restaurant about halfway between our hotel and the Athenaeum, and as we were leaving a bit before 10:00, people were still arriving to sit down.   We arrived at the venue a little after 10:00.   At the entrance is a bust of Enescu:   The lobby is lovely:   The concert hal...

  September 12-13, 2025   Sibiu and the Transfăgărășan Road   We began the day with a walking tour of Sibiu, a former capital of Transylvania.   The town hall is impressive:   And the walls of the town have strong buttresses:   Typical of the architecture of the town is “eyes” on the building roofs:   They are seen everywhere, and according to Perplexity,   These are uniquely shaped attic windows or skylights that resemble eyes looking out from the rooftops. They were primarily built from the 15th to 19th centuries and serve a practical purpose as ventilation windows for the attics, which were used to store goods requiring a dry environment. Beyond their functionality, they have become a distinctive symbol and tourist attraction of Sibiu, earning the city nicknames like "The City with Eyes" and "The City Where Houses Don't Sleep."   We went to the Brukenthal Museum which houses an extensive collection of Romanian art on the first floor....

 Thursday, September 11, 2025  Sighisoara and Biertan   We began our day with a walk through the old town of Sighisoara in a light drizzle, and came to the home which purports to be Vlad the Impaler’s residence for four years.   Our guide, Alin, with Kathy in front of the building, says it’s unlikely.   The plaque on the wall says, in Romanian (translation by Google), “In this house lived between 1431-1435 the ruler of Wallachia, Vlad Dracul, son of Mircea the Elder.”   The entire old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and has no cars other than those belonging to the small number of residents.   Here is the face of the clock tower on the town hall which I showed yesterday:   We climbed up the stairs to the clock and were able to see the mechanism dating to the 1600s:   There were some small rooms in the tower with exhibits, and one was of Hermann Oberth, of Transylvanian Saxon descent.   He was a physicist and rocket pioneer in the...

  September 10, 2025  Peleș Castle and Sighisoara   Today we left Brasov and drove to Peleș Castle, one of the most remarkable buildings I’ve ever seen.   Peleș Castle (pronounced Pelej with a shju sound for the j) really is a palace.   Bulit from 1873 to 1914, it was the palace of King Carol I of Romania, and has its own Wikipedia page here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pele%C8%99_Castle     The castle has 34,000 square feet of space and comprises over 170 rooms.   Here’s the courtyard with a beautiful mural:     The upper part of the entrance hall:   The room of armor:   I had to show this execution mask—placed on the head of the condemned before beheading so that the executioner wouldn’t have to look at his face:   There are stained glass windows throughout:   The doors from room to room are intricately carved:   The King received gifts from various communities which are on display; here’s a menorah...

  September 9, 2025   Bran Castle and Brasov   We left Bucharest this morning to drive to Brasov, with a stop on the way at Bran Castle.     Bran Castle started life as a fortress, rebuilt from a ruin in 1382.   Its purpose was the defense of Transylvania from Walachia, the portion of Romania we’ve just come from.   Over the years it became a castle with a royal residence, but it is most famous as the home of Vlad the Impaler, and, with little evidence, of the reputed castle of Count Dracula, the fictional creation of Bram Stoker.   It is imposing:   Inside, there is no furniture nor any furnishings from the original fortress/castle.   Here is a view of the courtyard from one of the high floors:   There is a display of the rulers; Vlad is on the right here.   The passageways climbing around the castle are not easy:   There is a major display of torture instruments, along with engravings and drawings of their use. ...