Where on Earth Week 19: Brasov, Romania!

by Neil Woodburn on

Okay, gang. The next Where on Earth is going to be in a cave! With the lights off. And no one will be to guess it.

So, I boasted on Wednesday that no one was going to nail the location of the above photograph and I was proven wrong in less than an hour by Beanie (and then a few hours later by Jim).

Both correctly guessed Brasov, Romania.

I had the good fortune to visit this surprisingly wonderful town back in 1991. At the time I had no idea that Romania was blessed with such architecture–especially in the Transylvanian region. This was supposed to be home to countless gypsies and blood sucking vampires. The sight of gothic churches and beautiful buildings was contrary to every vampire and horror film I had ever seen. And I loved it.

Brasov turned out to be my favorite town in Romania, subtly combining the beauty of the Carpathian Mountains, the architectural influence of an early German population, and the quaint, rural joys of a town of just 284,000 people. And no, not a single one wanted to suck my blood.

Witchcraft in EU Courts?

by Iva Skoch on

Just as soon as Romania has been let into the EU, there’s double, double, toil and trouble brewing. A Romanian judge has been fined and demoted for practicing witchcraft in her court.

Elena Simionescu is alleged to have splashed mud, water, “other liquids,” as well as salt and pepper, on fellow judges’ desks. Should one think it was a simple culinary event, she admitted to sprinkling “holy water” on her co-workers’ desks, “in the spirit of good Christians’ rituals.” Other folks are more concerned: some were “convinced that she was casting spells.” The official line was that she used “unorthodox methods” in her court.

But, I guess it’s not too surprising, considering (according to the Sofia News Agency) that that country legalized witchcraft as an official profession last year.

Word for the Travel Wise (02/01/07)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Tonight I think it’s time to step our Romanian language game up a little by providing you with this simple and useful phrase to use during your stay.

Today’s phrase is a Romanian phrase used in Romania:

Cu placere. – You’re welcome.

If you’d like to know some real practical basics visit this Easy Romanian site. They offer proverbs, months, numbers, and days of the week. As usual Pimsluer offers great audio methods and Lonely Planet has a pocket sized phrasebook for Eastern European langs. BBC has the quick fix holiday downloads with the very, very, basics of the language worth looking into.

Past Romanian words: ciocan, no roc, multumesc, buna, ajutor, la reverdere

Romania to Buy Dracula’s Castle

by Iva Skoch on

The state of Romania has made one of its first announcements as a new EU member loud and clear: they want to buy the medieval fortress in Transylvania, Bran Castle (known also as “Dracula’s Castle“) back from the former royal family of Habsburgs, Reuters reports. The price tag? 60 million Euros.

The castle was confiscated from the Habsburgs by the communists after WWII and just last year the former royal family got it back through restitution.

The fortress was never actually part of Bram Stoker’s novel “Dracula”. However, Romania’s 15th century ruler Vlad Tepes who visited there, served as an inspiration for the author. The castle has been a tourist attraction ever since.

Changes in the European Union, 2007

by Neil Woodburn on

Every new calendar year brings about changes in the European Union which affect those who travel there regularly.

My favorite change is the addition of two more countries to Europe’s non-smoking club. Ireland was the first country to ban smoking in public places a few years ago, followed by Italy, Malta and Sweden. As of the first of the year, Belgium and Lithuania have followed in their footsteps. France, England and Finland will “toughen up their restrictions” as well this year according to an article on EuroNews.net. Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Portugal remain the smoky stalwarts, and the place to go for all you nicotine fiends out there.

2007 also brings the arrival of two new countries into the EU: Bulgaria and Romania. It will be a long time before the Euro is officially accepted in these backwater, post-communist regions, but citizens rejoiced on New Year’s with the realization that it will happen some time in the next decade.

Slovenians, on the other hand, celebrated New Year’s by extracting Euros out of local ATMs. This small post-communist country, once part of Yugoslavia, is the first post-communist country to officially change over to the Euro. Nine other post-communist countries joined the EU in 2004 along with Slovenia, but only Slovenia has been able to meet the economic requirements necessary to switch over to the Euro. This is great news for travelers tired of changing currencies. The bad news, however, is that both residents and tourists fear this will result in an increase in prices. Considering Slovenia is already one of the most expensive post-communist countries to visit, this is not a welcome prediction.