Sunday, December 30, 2018: Brasov to Bucharest:  

            Our destination is Bucharest, stopping several places on our way.  

            Near Brasov are two Fortified churches, Harman and Prejmer.  According to Google, they are open today.  Wow, Harman is lovely. There is a 36 ft high wall, reinforced with 7 towers.  You walk through a narrow passageway to the inside courtyard surrounding the church.  There is living space, and storage space built into the wall on two levels. The person from whom we purchased the tickets was very helpful, making sure we knew where to go and what to see.  The museum rooms nicely displayed items used in schools, homes, kitchens, etc.  We found the upper walkway that allowed us to walk inside the wall, around the perimeter of the fortification.  The church was typically simple Lutheran, with three naves where the people sat.  One pew section had only backless benches, for the married woman, as their clothes (costumes) did not allow them to sit against the back of a seat.  Soft organ music was playing, adding an inspirational feeling to the church.  In one corner of the church there was a narrow ladder/stair that took us to the bell tower, and a great view.  The church bells ring every 15 minutes, and we were warned that if we are in the tower when the bell rang, it would be loud.  We can agree, as the bell rang while we were standing under it.
 

One Last View of Brasov

Harman Fortified Church

Rooms in the Wall

Walk-way inside the wall

Painting on Wall of Old Chapel

Benches with no Backs

Loud Bell in Bell Tower

A Room in the Wall

            From Harman we went to Prejmer to see that fortified church.  This fortification was somewhat similar, yet completely different from Harman.  To enter, you walked through a 10 ft long vaulted tunnel-like entrance. This fortification has 5 watch towers. Once you were inside the 36 ft high wall, you said, WOW! From the interior courtyard you could see doors to the 270 small rooms built into the wall. These rooms were on four levels, with stairs going up to clusters of rooms.  The inside of the wall was completely lined with rooms, and a maze of stairs.  Several rooms were open for viewing.  Behind the rooms on the top level, under the roof, was a walkway that took us around the perimeter of the wall. The rooms were built as a refuge for the town if it came under attack from invaders. The church in the center of the fortification was large, but simple with few decorations.

Prejmer Fortified Church

270 Rooms in the Wall

Walk-Way Inside the Wall

            We are so glad we took the time to stop at both fortified churches, since they were open today. They were wonderful!

            Our next destination was the Peles Castle and Palace.  This was the summer get-away for King Carol I and Queen Elizabeta of Romania, as well as King Ferdinand and Queen Marie.  To get to the Castle we drove through a couple of crowded ski resort towns.  Fortunately, we were going against the traffic, so we kept moving.

            After parking at the Castle, we had a 900m (1/2 mile) walk uphill to the Castle and Palace.  Most of the walking surface was good, except for the last 200-300m, which was completely snow and ice covered.  We were hoping to go through the Castle on our own, but everyone had to be part of a tour.  Our English Tour group was too large to enjoy the beautiful castle.

The Castle has 160 rooms, and we bought the extended tour which included the ground level, 1^st & 2^nd levels.  The ground floor was the reception area for guest, so it was exquisitely furnished. The carved wood throughout the Castle was amazing.  It also included modern conveniences like forced air heating, central vacuum system, indoor plumbing, and electricity. The Castle was built in the 1875-83, so these items were slightly ahead of their time.  When we went to the second level, we lost half of the group, making the tour of the living quarters more enjoyable.

After the Castle we went to the Palace which was 200-300m away.  The Palace was not as elaborate, yet very nice in its own way.

Typical Romanian Town

Carrying Firewood on a bike

Peles Castle

            Our next destination was our hotel near the Bucharest airport.  Thanks for Google Maps we have had no problems navigating from place to place.  Google maps makes traveling easier.  We drove directly to our hotel, relaxed for half an hour, before going to our dinner reservation at the Hard Rock Café.  It was nice to have a good American Hamburger.

            Back to the hotel and a good night’s rest before our flight tomorrow to Vienna.

Bucharest Arch de Triumph