Visit Romania!

[Fragony]

If you guys don't get angry if I chew on cables I just do that

[edyzmedieval]

Fortified monasteries in Romania, from Transylvania and Moldavia.


Putna Monastery



Sucevita Monastery



Biertan Monastery - built between the 15th and 16h century



Prejmer Monastery - built in 1212 by the Teutonic Knights



Boian Monastery




More info can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Village...n_Transylvania

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Biseri...03000273057520

[Gregoshi]

Lovely places and scenery.

[drone]

Prejmer Monastery - built in 1212 by the Teutonic Knights

I know it's just the camera perspective, but it looks like someone put a church in a football stadium.

Great pics.

[edyzmedieval]

Some more pictures.

Colilia Monastery, Dobrogea



Haystacks on a field



Detunatele in the winter



Vatra Dornei

[Fragony]

Maybe I DO need to visit Romania. Will I be able to get by in English

[edyzmedieval]

Maybe I DO need to visit Romania. Will I be able to get by in English

In Bucharest there shouldn't be much problem to get by. Albeit, Top Gear when they visited they had some problems with their pathfinding around the city but when in serious doubt always ask at the hotel/hostel, they will be more than glad to answer.

For the members of TWC, the thread is here - http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=448442

[edyzmedieval]

Some more pictures to delight your eyes. :)

Riding in the field



Dracula's Castle - Bran (it's actually Poenari but I'll go with the flow :P)



Fields near Suceava, northern Romania



Peles Castle (during winter)

[Prussian to the Iron]

Wait, they have electricity AND Camera's in Romania? news to me.

[edyzmedieval]

Wait, they have electricity AND Camera's in Romania? news to me.

Maybe I should rename this to Surprising Romania.

Couple of more pictures, as usual, taken from here - http://www.facebook.com/273.ro

Apuseni Mornings



Ostrov Lake



Parang Mountains

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

How you get money to go to all of these places?

[edyzmedieval]

How you get money to go to all of these places?

I've seen many of them but not all. And these pictures are taken from a Facebook group which tries to promote the beauty of Romania worldwide to encourage tourists to visit.

www.facebook.com/273.ro

[A Nerd]

I am still waiting for my ruins edyz! >:| :)

[B-Wing]

I actually have a cousin in the U.S. Marines who is currently serving in Romania. He's stationed near Constanta, which is on the Black Sea coast, so he hasn't been able to see any of the mountains (which would be my main interest). He mentioned that there's a constant wind that blows there, which we're unaccustomed to. He likes the bars and restaurants.

[Empire*Of*Media]

I cant believe how Romania is beautiful!! now im happy that i loved Romania before!!
Viva RomaniA !!!!! (what is Hello - Thank u - bye -and Viva InRomanian?!?!)

just 1 question,,,,,,is romania still having its folk culture like croatia or norway or sweden or they have been influenced and ordered by the NEW WORLD ORDER too?!?!

[edyzmedieval]

Hello - Buna! (or Buna Ziua, which means Good Day!)

Thank you! - Multumesc! (informal - Mersi!)

Bye - La Revedere!

Viva - Viva

[edyzmedieval]

Since scary Halloween is coming up, perhaps a little outlook on Dracula should be a starting point for your costume on the 31st.





So what is the real story behind Dracula? Are the legends to be believed? Was Vlad as bloodthirsty as he was depicted? Did he really love to impale people for his own cruel fun? :hmm:


Short answer, yes. Longer answer, no. Vlad was not different from any of the other princes and kings, but he had his unique methods. Given the fact that he stayed on the throne for so long with such a ghastly preference… well, that says a lot.

His little reputation of a blood thirsty monster came from German pamphlets spread throughout Transylvania and Europe that depicted him as far as the imagination could go. One of the main reasons for this legendary cruelty was his relative tactic of impalement – a number of historical sources mention Vlad conducting raids south of the Danube into Ottoman territory. The men, women and children were impaled and displayed down the Danube and along the roads, shocking both the invading Ottoman army and the already frightened locals. Vlad had frequent battles and wars with the far more numerous Ottomans, so he had to resort to everything he could do defend his little principality.






Despite what everyone thinks, Bran is not Dracula’s castle.

In fact, Vlad Tepes had nothing to do with Bran, which was built first by the Teutonic Knights in the 13th century. The splendid castle you see today was taken care of by Queen Marie of Romania back in 1921, fully restored by 1929. Vlad on the other hand had his own castle called Poenari, and the legend of Poenari is just as interesting as the Dracula created by Mr. Stoker.

During the end of the 15th century, around 1460, Vlad had to create his own stronghold that would guard the pass between Wallachia and Moldavia. Right on top of a rock, guarding the flowing river and the snaking roads underneath, Vlad rebuilt the castle of Poenari established back in the 13 century. But this castle wouldn’t be rebuilt by simple workers – no, no. This is Vlad, and Vlad hated his boieri (nobles) for constantly plotting against him.

According to legend, Vlad used the boieri as unskilled workers, breaking their backs as they carried the heavy stones to the top of the rock. Scores of them died, but the castle was completed and it soon became operational and quite useful for Vlad’s defence purposes. In reality, he used specialised workers, but back then even the smallest bits of gossip ended up as truth.

Tepes was a different kind of king. He wanted to defend his principality at all costs and as such used every tactic he could think of, making him one of the more popular Romanians (if you can call him that) in history.

Impaling people was relatively common in the medieval age but he brought it into public perception.




If you want to have the complete story, I outlined a couple of more bits on a post - http://www.randomwander.com/draculas-little-legend/


Oh, and enjoy your Halloween! I hope Vlad makes your party more enjoyable

[Fragony]

Well he did was kinda naughty, first known case of biological warfare. He send out plague victims to infiltrate enemy lines, and even catapulted plague victims into cities. That's just rude

[edyzmedieval]

That's just rude

[A Nerd]

Nice to see this thread is still going edyz. Your pictures of Romania are always beautiful and fun to admire. :)

[burphat]

I have always wanted to visit Romania. I am looking forward to try the food. I can't wait to have Ciorbă ,pască and cozonac. My friend who visited last year keeps on telling me beautiful Romania's culture is.

[edyzmedieval]

If you can, do it around Christmas time - plenty of snow, beautiful scenery and amazing food! (Pasca is more or less done more on Easter, Cozonac is the choice for Christmas)

[edyzmedieval]

Sucevita Monastery - a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

[edyzmedieval]

1st of December is Romania's National Day, so to all of my fellow Romanians, a belated LA MULTI ANI!

A picture from this year's military parade.

[edyzmedieval]

A Happy New Year from us over here in Romania, and as a little bonus, here's a shot of winter in the countryside.

[Gregoshi]

This is still a great thread. Thanks for updating it from time to time edyz.

[Vlad Dracula]

Everyone knows Vlad Dracula made Romania even more famous and infamous he was a hero but to others a devil!

[Fragony]

Everyone knows Vlad Dracula made Romania even more famous and infamous he was a hero but to others a devil!

Well impaling people (that's cruel lol) and catapulting plague-victims or letting plague infiltrate is kinda mean. Using disease as a weapon is kinda brilliant though, brilliant but kinda sadistic

[edyzmedieval]

A lot of the details are pretty much made up in legends. There's considerable exaggeration with regards to the local Saxon chronicles, despite them having historical basis (real eyewitness accounts).

However, Vlad was an enemy of the local Saxon merchants - so they had a good reason to publish all sorts of stories about him.

[edyzmedieval]

Bucharest today.