Visiting Romania

After the end of the second world war, during Russia's offensive against the Nazis, many small countries fell under the umbrella of the Soviet Union. When the wall came down and the cold war ended, many of these small republics declared impendence and one of these countries is Romania.

Tourists from the United States can get to Romania by boarding Austrian Airlines. This is the preferred carrier since it has daily flights from the Atlantic as well as to other cities in this country.

If the people are traveling across Europe and have arrived from another country, it is still possible to get to Romania by riding the train, renting a car or on a bus. The travel time will be from 2 to 6 hours depending where the person is coming from given the terrain.

Romania has some sights to offer people dating back to the middle ages. The most visited castle in this country is the Peles castle that is the work of German new renaissance architecture.

It has over 160 rooms and each room shows signs of excellent craftsmanship as done on the windows, chandeliers, leather, ebony and ivory sculptures.

A smaller castle not far from the first is Pelisor Castle. It has 70 rooms. This smaller version was constructed a few years after Peles was built since the new king did not appreciate the vastness of the other structure.

Both of these places can be found in the town of Sinaia that is situated at the foot of the Bucegi Mountains in the Prahova Valley.

Another historical castle that has importance in Romanian history is the Bran castle. This fortification, which is often, called Dracula's castle served to protect the citizens from invaders.

Most of the castles in Romania are open from the Tuesday to Sunday from 10 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon. People should not plan going there then on Mondays since this place is closed. It is best to do other things then to make the tip worthwhile.

To the east of Ukraine is the Black Sea. There are many fine hotels and beach resorts along this area. Some of these places have remnants of Greek culture as far back as the 7th century B.C.

The main beach resorts covers a total of 45 miles and these include places like the Eforie, Mamaia, Jupiter, Neptun, Saturn and Venus.

There are also health spas in this country to help the body relax after walking up the steps of castles and museums that is exhausting for those who don't exercise often.

The two most famous rejuvenation treatments known as the "Gerovital" and the "Aslavital" can be availed at the beach resort before continuing on with the tour. 

Romania also has treasures such as the Voronet Monastery Church in Bucovina that can compete with the Sistine chapel in Rome. This is because most of the artwork in this place and others were hand painted and are still in good condition today.

In most of the monasteries and churches are excellent vineyards so the tourist can taste something another glass of wine that is just as good as those produced in Italy or France.

There are a lot of places and things to see in Romania. This just shows that the former Eastern bloc countries are worth visiting just like those in the West.