Hi Gram!
I woke up and went to the gym early this morning to get my workout in before our train trip. I was still a little sore from the last workout, so I took it easy with everything. Back at the apartment, I stretched a little then got ready for the trip, packing a daypack with snacks, water, headphones and my book. Bob and Amber finished up their workouts, some yoga and stretching, then we all headed out the door.

We took the #4 bus toward the train station, which was uneventful until the end. An official got on the bus and asked for our tickets. Since we paid with credit cards and I’d used my phone, I wasn’t sure how to prove to him that I’d paid. Eventually, I figured out a way to show him a receipt on my phone and everything was fine. At the train station, we stumbled through the tourist dance of figuring out how to get a ticket and which train to get on. Luckily, our train was already in the station so we got right on. It departed a few minutes later and we were on our way!

For this train, tickets are bought on the train, so Bob bought our tickets when the man came around. We spent the next hour watching the world go past the window, something that I always love. Seeing the land go from city to country to mountainous, passing through tunnels, hearing the horn, watching as we pull into another station.. it’s just a joy.

The station had a train museum that we decided to check out later, plus an old train and a 1950s car with train wheels instead of tires, so we walked around and got a few pictures before leaving the station. The main drag through town is up a hill, so we got in some stairs on our way to seeing what we were going to see. I think the town is a ski town because a lot of the shops and decorations were ski themed. We walked up and down the street admiring the shops and restaurants, then settled on a cute one with outside seating for brunch. The food was delicious, the waitress was very direct and efficient, and we enjoyed watching people stroll by as we ate. When I went inside to use the restroom, the interior of the restaurant blew me away. Cute little red velvet booths, retro light fixtures, and wall hangings made it feel like a supper club from the 1940’s.

We finished brunch and aimed for the park nearby. The whole scene was picturesque with a fountain in the middle, locals lounging on the lawn and perched on park benches, and children playing. I laughed watching two kids playing hide and go seek, hearing the little girl count in Romanian as the little boy ran and hid behind a tree. The park was a painting come to life. We continued on through the park to a lane that led up to the castle. A gentle slope that wound between trees and a hill to one side, a stream with waterfalls providing a nice soundtrack to our walk.

The castle itself was great. Built in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s as a summer getaway for royalty, it felt a combination of over the top and charming. There was a little confusion when we got to the castle; we bought tickets with timed entry between 2pm and 4pm, then found three lines that weren’t moving. One was for the English tour, one was for the Romanian tour, and one was for general admission without a tour guide. The general admission line was the longest, winding out and arcing to the right for a hundred meters. None of the lines moved for the first 10-20 minutes that we stood there, the sun beating down and making everyone warm. I think there might have been a medical emergency in the castle because some authorities in uniforms all walked out, then the lines started moving. Our tour group was a little bigger than I would have liked. The tour guide would explain the features of a room as she got into the room, but half of the tour group was still in the hallway or the room before it as she spoke. I pushed my way to the front of the group so I could hear her, always standing off to her side and close so I wasn’t blocking anyone. She explained the modern conveniences such as plumbing, electricity, and HVAC which were unheard of in castles up to that time. The biggest takeaway for me was how massive the place was. At one point, we were shown a small apartment the queen could use when she needed to rest without having to walk back to the other end of the castle or up or down the stairs of the 4 floor building. We also saw an organ that could be played from either side with pipes that were routed up and into the main chamber that included a stage and seating for a hundred people. The tour ended back near where we began, so we walked out and around the grounds to get some pictures of the facade and gardens. I was just amazed at the amount of maintenance required for all of the wood on the exterior, the gardens, and the stonework.

Done with the castle, we found a path that led down a different hill, winding past houses big and small. We saw a foundation being dug, a huge machine drilling deep holes for pylons that the house will rest upon. The footprint was enormous, making me think that it will be a hotel or other commercial space. I mean, that can’t be for one family, can it? I guess I’ll never know. On the way up the hill to the castle, we’d seen a woman selling berries that we decided we’d get on the way out. She wasn’t there when we left, but we found that she’d moved to the other hill and was standing along the sidewalk there. We bought a basket of strawberries that we shared and enjoyed as we watched the people and buildings go past.

Down in the village again, we wandered the main road a bit more, then stopped to get a treat. There’s a spiral bread that we’ve seen in a few of the other European cities, so we decided to give it a try. The versions that I’d seen were hand-sized, with some shops using them as ice cream cones. They came in different flavors, like cinnamon, chocolate, coconut, sugared or plain. Expecting that size, we ordered two of them to share. When we received our treats, they were each the size of a large loaf of bread, but hollow in the middle. We could have shared just one, but committed to what we’d bought, we happily consumed both slowly with some refreshing drinks, sitting on a half wall and watching the bright sunny day in front of us.

Once we were done with our treat, we headed back towards the train station. We had a little time before our train arrived, so we took the opportunity to check out the train museum. It was less of a museum and more of a collection of complex train sets, a table full of legos, and posters with facts for kids. Each train set had buttons you could push to activate something. Some were grand, getting a train running or lighting up a row of houses. Some were medium, turning on lights in one house or making a merry-go-round turn or causing a waterfall to run. Some were tiny, like a button that triggered a paramedic doing CPR compressions or a guy sawing a log. It was very entertaining, keeping us occupied until our train arrived.

The train ride home was uneventful, similar to the ride there. We were all a little tired and rode in silence. Once we arrived at the train station, we waited for a bus that would take us back home. The first bus we expected didn’t arrive, but the next bus arrived early. We sat on that bus for around 20 minutes before it left and took us back to our apartment. Tired, I took a shower, cooked a few eggs, then headed to bed.