Ah Romania! What can I say about Romania? Long gone is its reputation as a European *backwater famous for being the land of Dracula. With the death of communism in 1989 along with the brutal execution of the then President of the Socialist Republic of Romania Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, there was a new dawn, one in which gave birth to *the seedlings of the Romania that I would suggest you all visit today.
*The cat is out of the bag…out of the bag, across the garden, over the fence and into the street. It’s old news that Romania is a top travel destination with a *plethora of things to see and do. Get out of the Capital city and you will be *richly rewarded. I was particularly impressed with the Transylvanian medieval towns of Brasov and Sibiu with their German influences and old buildings dating as far back as the 13th and 15th century *respectively. Both towns are *nestled in the foothills of the stunning Carpathian Mountains – with clean mountain air and fantastic hiking on their doorsteps. Neither town would look out of place in the Alps, but without the price and the *droves of tourists. What’s not to love?
In 2019, Sibiu was named the ‘European Region of Gastronomy’ and it’s a title that is richly deserved. In fact, I could spend the whole blog entry *eulogising the region’s mouth-watering, *exquisitely *decadent, rich comfort food. My favourite dish of which was ‘tochitura’ a stew composed of polenta, cheese, egg, pork loin and sausage. The calories in this dish, you may ask? sometimes, it’s better not to know! *Hearty, rich and *bloody delicious, it’s up there with one of the best stews I’ve ever had. Best *washed down with seriously good local beer. I should also add that Romania wine is very *quaffable.
I could go on to tell you that Romania has a highly-skilled workforce and since joining the EU in 2007 has become an economic success story with the country’s economic growth being one of the highest in the EU since 2010. I could even go on to tell you that in 2023, it has the second highest internet speed in Europe being *pipped to the post by Denmark.
Quite simply, Romania is beautiful and has a lot to offer: picturesque towns rich in history, castles, warm-hearted locals, great scenery and a food and drink lover’s paradise. However, this is not an episode about the wonders and travel delights of Romania of which there are many, quite far from it.
Sometimes holidays don’t go to plan and if there was ever an example of this it would be my Romanian escapade. If you travel enough, *invariably something things go wrong, they *go awry – this is a story about one of those times. Mistakes were made and bad luck followed.
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For *definitions click on the definitions box below.
