Romania is a mixture of mountains and cities, monasteries and cemeteries. To make that more alliterative I should say, mountains and monasteries, cities and cemeteries. A mixture of the miserable and the fascinating and fun and funny.
Romanian Flag
We flew into Bucharest in the south, then north to central Brasov in the mountains to see hiking territory, a couple of wineries, and castles and cemeteries.
Magnificent, Romantic Castles
The most famous castle is Dracula's castle.
A long walk uphill on a wide pedestrian pebbled road leads past banners displaying his cruelty. The castle has an entrance and an exit, a viewpoint or two, down over the rocks and green trees of the valley. Pay the entry fee and inside it has historical exhibits, wonderful old furniture and a maze of rooms - and lots of stairs.
If you are brave enough, towards the end, there is a room about nasty things done in the old days. The guides and literature make the point that in medieval times equally nasty things were done in other places within the country and in other countries. (In fact, we have seen some pretty nasty stuff in modern times.)
What??? I was shocked.
The smiling guide said to me, "You have Henry."
"Pardon? My husband's not Henry."
"Henry ate. Henry ate king."
"Oh - you mean Henry the eighth?"
Yes. Hang on a minute. I reconsidered. You and I must consider, that the wicked Dracula was a bit like Henry the eighth.
Go back further in history. I mean, for example, in Britain we have in the holiday town of Hastings, on the south coast, a tourist attraction, famous for the battle of Hastings.
Losers are martyrs. Like saints, many of whom had grisly ends.
The French name all their children after saints. The whole of Christianity, at least the Catholic part, is based on the image of the torture of Jesus. Nobody is bothered about churches being tourist attractions nor figures nailed on crosses frightening children.
Winners are victors. Distance lends enchantment to the view. The Romans crucified people, which was a form of torture, a slow death. We celebrate their straight roads, and the arenas. And Bayeux has a tapestry, showing Harold with an arrow in his eye. Then there's, Henry VIII, who executed his young wives. And the British royal family are proud to be descended from them.
The town has grown up around Dracula's castle with restaurants, cafes and souvenir shops.
At the top is an exhibition on films about Dracula. Rather jollier than the real count Dracula story. The real 'Dracula' was a ruler with lots of descendants. Who owned the infamous ancestor's castle. And were proud of it.
You can't miss the castle which you see driving towards it from the mountains. You might miss the nearest car park when driving around a one way system.
If you can't get in to see the castle, at least, take a photo of it.
Magnificent Monasteries, So Colourful
We started with Dracula's castle, then moved on to monasteries, on side trips from Brasov.
Painted monasteries. there are several, all in different directions. I took two or three different trips. Every one different. Each one taking a morning or an afternoon. An hour to drive there. An hour to park, buy something, follow the guided tour or arrows up and down and out by another exit and back to the car park. Plus a stop of tea and toilets.
One is huge with line ups and several restaurants and several churches and chapels, each with lots to look at and read and timed entry for groups.
Another is a city, a walled circular building with dozens of different rooms on six levels for different trades, and several chapels, and a central church.
One being renovated, a passer by says,
"Ask in the shop opposite, they know somebody,"
Yes, he says, "I know the caretaker with the key"
He says,. "I know the lady behind the shutter. Just a small donation for the ticket,"
"Mind the holes in the floor. I can't take you up the stairs. Not much to see except - the wonderful - well if you promise to be careful, at your own risk."
"Perhaps you would like to make a small donation to our wonderful building. Thank you so much."
Our group all have different views. One passenger says, "I didn't have enough cash, they kept asking for more, and they weren't taking credit cards. Yesterday was much better. A proper guided tour. This place was a tip. A building site. A cheek to charge us. Now I can't afford to buy a drink."
But our driver, who has hired the car, is more affluent and more enthusiastic. He says, "Don't worry. I paid for you. They were delighted to see us. And we were so happy. Much better than the orgnaized tours. We saw the real Romania. And I have some drinks we can share in the bag on the back seat."
We went hiking. Watch out for bears. to my amazement, guides organized bear tours. Different leaflets had different offers.
Low price hiking tour: 'No guarantee you will see a bear.'
Higher price hiking tour, lasts longer, goes further. "Guarantee you will see a bear, or you can take another tour next week." (But we were there only one week).
The biggest and best of the blue cemeteries - The Merry Cemetery.
One of the biggest, the Merry Cemetery has a leaflet. If I remember rightly, which is not guaranteed, one man started it. His family's grave marker. If you cannot afford to buy a stone and to carve stone, then use wood, and paint a picture, with blue against the evil eye. Necessity is the mother of invention. Perhaps the painted monasteries gave him the idea, or the access to paints.
Then others requested him to do the same for them. His painting skill improved. What started as a labour of love became a business.
Until his whole family got involved in painting almost all the graves in the cemetery. He and his family moved elsewhere and started another. And another. Other painters and areas copied. You could copy too.
Notice the little scenes of the life of the person who died. The couple getting married. The church official in his robes. The white doves.
Wikipedia handily reminds me. The man started it all in 1935. His grave is in this cemetery, where you see his little blue painted marker.
The founder[edit]
The cemetery's origins are linked with the name of Stan Ioan Pătraş, a local artist who sculpted the first tombstone crosses. In 1935, Pătraș carved the first epitaph and, as of the 1960s, more than 800 of such oak wood crosses came into sight. The inscription on his tombstone cross says:
| Romanian De cu tînăr copilaș Cîte zile am trăit Vai săraca lumea mea | English Since I was a little boy All along my life Oh, my poor World |
Funny epitaphs[edit]
| Romanian Sub această cruce grea | English Under this heavy cross |
Gallery[edit]
So you will see several smaller cemeteries. Just stop by any church when you see the gravestones' triangular tops.
Allow time for a stop or two. At first it is tempting to rush in, shouting back at the driver, "This is great. You must see!"
I walked slowly and seriously and respectfully. The person you meet might be the cheerful caretaker - or a distressed recently bereaved widow.
But in the merry cemetery, like New Orleans and other places, they think the deceased has gone to his or her happy home in heaven to be reunited with family and meet the saints, so forget your own loss, for the sake of the moving soul, like waving goodbye to a child going to school, you must conceal your grief and console the confused and distressed, because a happy face and a cheerful send-off is required.
We stayed in a huge hotel which had a huge breakfast including sparkling wine. Outside was a huge pay car park.
Within Brasov you can take a self-guided walking tour, or go with a guide. You can walk along old buildings and walls. See the outside of a synagogue beyond high gates - like the Christian buildings, also bright with blue.
For our hiking group's last night party we wore souvenir t-shirts and Romanian dress. The master of ceremonies wore a black cape to look like Dracula.
If you like all things ghoulish, see my posts on Halloween here and on Dress of the Day.
Banish your blues. Romantic Romania.
Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bran_Castle
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Romania
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merry_Cemetery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Romania
https://dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com/
https://dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com/2020/10/dress-of-day-126-halloween.html
About the author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, visited Romania before Covid19 struck and is in constant touch with Romanians. See other posts on the Romanian language, other languages, other destinations, and keeping in touch online. Please share links with your favourite posts. You might also like my other blogs on giving speeches and Dress of the Day, smile with Angela.
No comments:
Post a Comment