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transylvania
for the last several days, i have been riding around transylvania. it is a magical place. physically, it is surrounded by the carpathian mountains. It is beautiful. rolling green fields and deep valleys that are crowned by steep mountain ridges. herds of cows, goats, sheep, and horses grazing in pastures, interrupted by fruit tree orchards and farms cultivated with corn, potatoes, tomatoes, and all other kinds of vegetables. there is a strong feeling that i have travelled back in time. old weathered men driving horse drawn wagons carrying lumber, or potatoes, or hay, or pumpkins. shepherds looking as they must have a hundred years ago. if they had the money, i am sure a dentist could do very well here. i have seen quite a few smiles, with only a few teeth.
the villages that i pass thru are small, sometimes 50, or 100, or 200 houses. the houses also tend to be small, and old, and in varying stages of construction or destruction. they are built right on the road. some of the houses seem like they have been there for centuries. some people have cars, but they may have to drive 40 or 50 kilometers to get gasoline. i see that they have natural gas, because the mains are above grade. Where they cross the road, they go up and you actually drive under the main.
These people live of off the land here. right now they are getting ready for winter and… you just see it. it is all so…basic. people working, children playing, walking along the two lane road as I zoom by at the 100kpm speed limit. Many of them wave or smile. It is surreal.
during the middle ages, the people in this area built fortifed churches which had massive walls around. they were little forts with a church where peasants could take shelter from invaders. there are literally hundreds of these, one in each tiny village. most are still in use today.
the tourist areas, bran (dracula’s castle), and the medieval germanic towns of sibiu, sighsoara, brasov, sebes are all very cool and loaded with tourists. there is so much history in transylvania, as well as neighboring wallachia, and moldova. the native dacians fought and assimilated with the romans. then for centuries, they had to fight anybody who wanted to try and conquer europe from the east. they were farmers who turned out be ferocious fighters. there is definitely a mystical feeling that you get in this part of the country.
the other day, i checked into an exquisite old hotel, which was remodeled. my room was small about 12 feet by 20 feet but it had 15 foot ceilings. it looked and felt a little strange, but it had the best hot water shower (no bidet). when i walked into the room, i noticed that the drawer in the right side night table was opened, so i closed it and went out for dinner (another great one…way too many). upon my return, i noticed that the same drawer was opened.
i could have sworn that i closed it, (maybe i didn’t) so i closed it. About 2 am (2:18 am), i awoke, went to the bathroom, and when i climbed back into bed i noticed that the drawer was opened again. ok joe, you try to go to sleep after that one. there isn’t enough vodka in transylvania. i left the drawer opened this time, and listened to the clock tick for the next four hours.
it snowed in bran overnight, and i am going to make my way back to bucharest today.
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