Got up this morning, packed and got out of the Airbnb around 9:00 am. We first went down to the City Center and had a cup of coffee at the Starbucks.
Then we hit the trail about 10:00 am. Our first stop was the community of Săcele, about 30 km southwest of Brasov. This is the largest community of gypsies in Romania. We drove through the community and on down to Lake Săcele. We then retraced out steps back toward Brasov. There really was not much to see in Săcele. Lots of people standing around, some shanties, some horse drawn carts and lots of trash scattered around. The people seemed friendly enough. They would wave back when we waved to them.
 |
| Săcele |
We took the northernly bypass around Brasov and headed northwest. Our route was the Transfăgărășan or DN7C, which is a paved mountain road crossing the southern section of the Carpathian Mountains of Romania. It has national-road ranking and is the second-highest paved road in the country. It is near Moldoveanu Peak, the highest summit in Romania. It was a solid three hours of tedious hair pin turns. I was a wreck by the time we returned to straight highways. The entire drive took almost eight hours.
Once the worst of the highway was behind us, we stopped at a local restaurant for a late lunch. I had Romanian goulash and Maria had baked salmon. For desert we had Romanian donuts. Maria suggested splitting one serving but I insisted on a serving apiece. Mistake on my part. I was able eat one half of mine and Maria didn't quite get that far. But it was good!
We found the Epoque hotel without problem and checked into our suite.
 |
| Sitting Room |
 |
| Smaller bedroom |
 |
| Larger bedroom |
 |
| Terrace |
 |
| City view from the terrace |
We came down to the bar for a night cap. I will be getting up at 4:30 am for my 7:40 am flight. I will need to diesel up the car and find the rental car return.
They claimed to have Moscow Mules, which we tried. They were OK, but not quite right. They used Ginger Ale instead of Ginger Beer.
No comments:
Post a Comment