The mysterious stories of the houses in Cristian, Romania

Less than 20 minutes away from the big city of Brasov in Romania - watch this space for two posts about this city coming up this week - there is a small locality, Cristian. If you like hiking and you are trained enough, you can find a way to go there through the hills around. Or stop there and explore the place hour by hour for more than one day. A small train is coming up once in a while, and the cars are coming and going very fast.  A bus or a taxi can bring you faster in this little quiet paradise. Travellers visiting the area cannot be indifferent to the quiet beauty of the place and they usually stop for a long photographic trip wandering on the small streets or the hills around.

In the morning, the cows are slowly going to their pasture places, for coming back late in the evening. As within the small locality, you can easily find a lot of recluse corners, but also open areas with people grilling or enjoying the sunny weekends, close to disaffected communist constructions whose initial destination was long forgotten since.

There are the houses, each with its own story not easy to be told. In most of them used to live members of the German minority in Romania. At the end of the 1980s, while the communist dictatorship was reaching higher levels of absurdity and oppression, they left, bought by the German state, one by one, and I remember how from a summer to another, we drove through empty cities, with deserted houses, with an deep sadness in the air of a place - and country - where you were unlucky enough to stay, for too complicated reasons to understand to a child's mind.

After the end of communism, some people returned and were able to buy back their former properties, some new owners took them and changed them according to their non-local tastes. Some unlucky houses were just destroyed to the ground and in their places, new post-communist villas were built on their place not necessarily following the good architectural taste but rather displaying the joy of unexpected money abundance.

More or less repainted or rebuilt, most houses are still the same: parallelepiped elongated shapes on the fringes of the streets, with their half-circle entrances leading to large interior yards. Children are playing around or go walking with their grand parents, while their parents are working in the city or who knows, abroad in Spain or Italy.

The German minority settled on the territories of nowadays Romania starting from the 12th century, for economic reasons. They used to live in compact communities in Transylvania till the end of the 20th century, when the same economic - plus political - reasons brought them back to the Germany of their forefathers. Called 'Sachsen' or 'Schwaben' depending of the region they were originally from, they speak an old German dialect that used to be for a long time for me the only German language that I knew. (No excuse for my clumsy German language skills, I bet).

From a  political and architectural stage to the other, the houses can be read as an approximate history book. Some style mixture leads to completely unexpected results, when shapes of Greek columns, eventually coloured, are attached to old river stones and metal framed windows.

In the area near the city hall though, most houses were rebuilt keeping in mind the original 19th century local German architecture. Early in the morning, the windows are open and the careful investigation of the street life can start. Some Transylvanian houses do also have benches in the front of the houses where the old ladies can sit comfortably keeping an eye to all the social interactions and news. However, the street observation from the high of those windows looks more dignified and discrete, don't you think?

Caught between small streets and rows of houses, the square near the city hall looks like a perfect observation point too for understanding the secret life of Cristian.

In the middle of the day, the open windows look like embracing the visitor while keeping you in the front of the gates. When the evening comes, everything is slowly closing and the center of life moves indoors. The life of the streets, except the speedy trucks and cars outside , is getting quieter too after 8-9 o'clock in the evening. There are a couple of small shops open - most of it is done in Brasov anyway - and a pizzeria with a late night program, but without a hotel or proper accommodation, most tourists have left already. Renting rooms by locals is possible though, especially if you want to experience a perfect retreat experience, with good local food and healthy sleep after long walks in the middle of the nature.

The longer you stay, the more intrigues one might be about the local stories of the houses. Asking the locals about can lead to an interesting conversation, but doesn't mean that you will get too many revelations about the secret histories.

One afternoon, I spend my free time just walking the streets trying to catch on the camera the different styles of the houses and especially their windows. With local funds, most of them were introduced part of an open air exhibition offered to the visitors, but without too many details about their full history.

Near the city hall, there is also a small citadel, serving as a local protestant church, with some library resources.

The choice of the new colours for repainting the houses or only some details of them is sometimes hilarious, and the explanation should be either mysterious - maybe some colour combination can bring luck to the new entrepreneurs that decided to buy a property here - or clearly economic - those neon paintings are probably the cheapest ones on the market.

In most cases though the decent light pink shades were kept, with various decorations that are the trademark of the well kept houses in the Transylvanian villages. People living here are more careful to keep their face showing up well kept walls and entrances.

My short visit to Cristian was my last leg of my two-week trip to Romania - the longest stay in more than 5 years (more posts coming up this week as well). As usual, a mixture of more or less happy memories accompanies my stay there, but my visit to Cristian, after more than 20 years, reminded me of my inner child who will always keep asking lots of questions, ready to explore new territories and discover the mysterious stories hidden behind the wooden doors. As the houses are still reluctant to share their secret, I told to myself that maybe one day will spend more time listening more stories. Maybe a next time.

For more pictures from Cristian, have a look at the dedicated Pinterest board: http://www.pinterest.com/ilanaontheroad/cristian-romania/

Kishinev, my Easternmost European destination

I wanted to visit Kishinev for many years, but either I always rather took the plane in the direction of Western Europe, or I was too far away to include it in my short-term travel plans. Familiar with the history and with a couple of good friends from Moldova, I kept regretting that I'm not able to check the reality on the ground on myself. Shortly after the plans to visit Romania were established, the thought of paying a visit, although short, to Moldova, returned. What if? But with the never ending troubles in Ukraine, some worried friends advised me to rather go to the neighbouring Bulgaria or maybe better spend more time in Romania. But I hardly give up, especially when it comes to travel, so kept asking on travel forums and friends about what's like to be a solo woman traveller in Moldova. When I needed only one more inspiration to finally book my tickets, I met a young taxi driver in Bucharest whose emotional accounts from his home country finally convinced me that I should not miss the chance to go there.

Although it is possible to fly or to go by train, I rather decided to take a minibus, from Autogara Filaret, place that looked completely out of time. The round ticket goes around 40 Euro pro person.

The journey lasts around 8 hours, it's relatively safe - if you forget about the need to use safety bells which were completely broken - and the mini-buses on both ways are ready to go every 2 hours. There are around 3 companies operating regularly and phone reservations are also possible. Otherwise, it's quite easy to get a place without, if you are in the station at least 30 minutes before departure.

The custom checking was relatively smoothly, although during the summer time, the traffic was quite busy with people coming back home from Italy, Spain or France, among others. The country was recently included in the free-visa program of the EU, but many Moldavian citizens succeeded to get a Romanian passport - the two countries have a long common histories and for those with Romanian ancestors it was possible to get the citizenship - allowing them free travel and working opportunities in EU countries. On the way back though, the checking took much more, because entering the EU area involves some serious restrictions in terms of the quantities of cigarettes and alcohol that can be carried. As I was carrying only a small bag for my one night stay in Kishinev, I did not make too many worries and enjoyed looking out of the window. Once arrived in Moldova, the rich landscape kept my camera busy. Kishinev is situated in the middle of a beautiful natural landscape, one of the most favourite destinations for the weekend of the local people being the outdoor experiences of Rezervatia Codrii, a large area covered by forests, small hills and green paths.

For purchasing my tickets, using the Romanian currency was possible, and in many places in Kishinev, it was still allowed to trade with it. This goes too for Euro. However, for paying in restaurants in shops, you rather need to use the local money, colourful pieces of paper adorned with historical characters from both the Romanian and local history. Many exchange houses are open on Sunday too, especially near the train and central bus station, as well as on Stefan cel Mare avenue.

My first contact with the city was through its people: the driver of the mini-bus, kindly explained me where I should stop for reaching the street where I had rented a too large apartment; the owner of the apartment to whom I paid around 30 Euro for a huge 4-room complex - sometimes, the monthly salary is around 25 Euro, the country being considered the poorest in Europe - and who bought me some water, coffee and some small breakfast treats; the same owner who the next day insisted to pay my ticket to Dendarium park; the many anonymous people who helped me with directions either in Romanian, English and my very broken Russian. Thus, I felt not only safe, but also welcomed. Maybe the streets were looking bad and the contrasts between the very expensive 4x4 cars and the big holes on the roads were too big to ignore, but the warm hearts can open the eyes for long-time friendships.

Either part of Romania or the Soviet Union, Moldova regained its independence only recently. The National Museum of History presents extensive local interpretations of history, covering also the repression during the communist years, although there are a lot of historical events completely absent.

At the Museum of Art, although I was only 10 minutes before closing time, I was allowed to visit the Otto Dix exhibition featuring graphic war experiences during WWI. A couple of weeks later, I visited Dix's home in the German city of Gera, keeping in mind this encounter.

Most part of my time in Kishinev was spent walking the long avenues - especially around Stefan cel Mare blvd - noticing the local institutional architecture, strongly influenced by the communist/rigid Soviet architecture.

In the main square, the arch that was used as a meeting points for anti-governmental protesters in the last months. For now, the situation is stable, the only travel warning being related to the travels in the crony Transdniestr region, which is out of the legal and administrative control of Moldova where it reigns a pro-Russian communist Soviet-style government.

Almost each historical encounter in this city needs an addenda. For instance, this monument dedicated to the historical character of Stefan cel Mare was moved several times in the next decades due to various historical and political circumstances.

The institutional buildings are unusually big - sign that working for the public institutions might be a serious offer on a very unstable market - and pleasant apparitions.

The new national identity is displayed in the most simplest way and as often as possible, but in such an open warm way that you might accept easily the clumsiness of the very beginnings.

As in Romania, summers in Moldova are very hot and due to the high energy prices, not all the places do have air condition. After a couple of good hours of walking, I decided to have a foodie stop, trying some local specialities at Andy's Pizza, a local network with air conditioned restaurants all over the city. It's open 24/24 hours, with home delivery, fast service and very acceptable prices. The menu was in both Russian and Romanian, but the waiters were able to speak some English too. The lemonade was fresh, cold, perfumed and with the right amount of lemon, although a bit too sweet. The veggie mushroom soup was creamy, rich in parsley and with lots of crunchy croutons. I ordered some fresh back bread because curious to taste it, and was not disappointed by its freshness and dough aroma. I continued with a four-cheese pasta with dried tomatoes, nothing special, but consistent and with a good combination of cheeses.

Although I did not notice too many traditional Moldavian restaurants, there are plenty of Georgian menus all over the city, serving also their famous wine. Moldova has its own famous vineyards, a bit far away from the capital city, at Cricova, a special tourist attraction that kept the Soviet space traveller Yuri Gagarin, among others, busy for a couple of good days with its variety of bottles.

There are many small streets where some traditional architecture and houses that used to belong to middle class people at the beginning of the 20th century. Many of them are part of the historical heritage and waiting for enough state funds to be rebuilt. On the Armenian street, some decorations of the windows included also some communist symbols, the famous sickle and the red star.

For the late evening, I discovered close to my Badulescu Bodoni street, near the high building hosting the OSCE Mission, a huge park, Parcul Morii, with long trails of ups and downs stairs, few small restaurants and a huge lake with little beaches and walking paths. It looked like late in the evening, most part of the city's population is out from the hot apartments for enjoying the fresh wind of the beginning of the night.

Some courageous one were swimming, others were fishing, the kids were running around and young people were gathering together to look at their iPads - there is free wifi in the parks of Kishinev - or to watch and play some street music and dance. Earlier on in the city, I encountered a group of break-dance youngs and in the front of Stefan cel Mare central park, people were also listening to various music improvisations.

After so many experiences the other day, I started my next and last day in Kishinev, with a colourful and very sweet breakfast, at Caramel, on Banulescu Bodoni. The indoors looked very elegant, with white and green stripes wall papers and a very welcoming service. The big rose macaroon has a combination of sour rose, very crunchy, but maybe too sugarly to have an original taste. The same was for the chocolate mousse, where I also felt too much oil and artificial sweet flavours.

The Monday mornings brought more movements on the streets, and on Armeneasca street, fresh veggies and huge water melons were on sale.

Nearby, there were also other products sold at very small prices, mostly Made in China and of low quality. More interesting finds were at the flea market near the National Theatre, on the - already famous - Stefan cel Mare blvd. Looking around at product descriptions and recommendations of travel destinations, the usual reference system we are used with in Europe is completely different. There were recommendations of trips to Georgia and Armenia, of beauty products from Belarus or of ready made clothing products from Uzbekistan or Turkmenistan. Buses for Moscow and other local destinations in Russia are regular.

One of my addictive discovery was the street sold kvass. With my usual innocent face, I asked the vendor what does it mean, what are the ingredients used? She - many teenagers were selling it, probably as a temporary summer job - was so surprised by my question that I felt ashamed to ask one more time. Instead, I bought if for less than 0.50 Euro and instantly fell in love with. A traditional beverage in Russia and Ukraine, but also in other former Soviet countries, it's a fermented beverage made from black or regular rye bread, with an accidental - due to fermentation processes - alcoholic concentration of less than 1.2%.  During my last 4 hours of travel in Kishinev, I tried to get at least one cold plastic glass per hour.

At another end corner of Stefan cel Mare blvd., I was introduced to the huge Dendarium park, a local Botanical Garden, with beautiful roses and various selections of local flowers. There were not too many people around, so I enjoyed the silent presence of nature. Without a clear tourism strategy and too many street maps showing the directions, a successful trip to Kishinev should relate to the recommendation of the locals, and given my pleasant experiences I had by far, it's a great opportunity to meet new great people.

Kishinev is a green city, with an urban presence growing up on the slopes of hills. The central area used to be always the privileged habitation of rich communist elites, while the newly areas of block houses were built for hosting proletarians from all over the Republic and other Soviet countries. In the countryside, people keep planting their gardens with fruits and vegetables and vineyards, and their hard work is a valuable source of revenue. The country might be poor and with salaries at the limits of survival, but the people keep smiling, I rarely heard cursing or aggressive encounters and the street women fashion is always glamorous.

Although at the very busy central bus station, where comical events can take place, names of other cities like Cahul or Orhei, were screamed loud for attracting more travellers I decided that it might be enough for this one short trip and booked my bus ticket back to Bucharest. But did not want to leave before another foodie treat, at Blinoff, serving traditional Russian pancakes. I ordered another tasty lemonade - after so many glasses of kvass, I needed a change - which was very well made - it seems that people here really know how to prepare it - plus some hard cheese and mushrooms filling and bechamel sauce blinis. An excellent lavish treat before saying 'good bye'. For a fresh glass of kvass I'm ready to return any time. And not only.

For more pictures from Kishinev, have a look at the dedicated Pinterest board: http://www.pinterest.com/ilanaontheroad/kishinevchisinau-republic-of-moldova/

Hiking at Poiana Brasov, Romania

Hardly any stay to Brasov goes without at least a very short trip to Poiana Brasov. From the bus central station - the buses are regularly and beware that especially in weekends and during summer holidays are very crowded - a 30-minute trip leads to the little mountain resort that in the last 10 years went through a huge transformation, with many luxury hotels as well as villas and moderate accommodation mushrooming.

The same can be said about the various restaurants, although most iconic ones, like the classical tourist destination 'Sura Dacilor', with animal fur hanging up on chairs and various traditional items displayed on the walls. It serves a lot of meaty food, accompanied by the traditional beans soup, polenta or the tzuica drink, a very strong plum-based drink - usually with a concentration of 28-60% alcohol.

But Brasov was already too generous with us, offering a lot of foodie temptations, so we decided rather to try burning some more calories. With the cable car, we go on the top of Postavarul Mountain, with a beautiful overview over the entire region. During the winter, Poiana Brasov is changing into a ski resort, one of the top destinations of this kind in Romania.

The glamour we encountered before disappeared. We pass near a burned cottage and lots of tourists keen to reach the top of Postavarul Massiv. With its 1799 m. it is a relatively easy ride - many experienced hikers preferred to climb on the top by foot too - and the views are very beautiful, embracing the most interesting part of Prahovei Valley. You can have a short snapshot of the heart-breathing view here and here.

Although the climbing is not that difficult and many people are bringing their 4-5-year children too, it's important to have good shoes, as a big part of the walking is through sharp stones.

When the weather is fine and there are not too many clouds, one can see too far away, on the other side of the mountains. Everything looks small and relatively isolated in the middle of the forest.

On the way back, we go by foot, walking almost intuitively as not the entire path is marked. However, the ride is easy, and we cross path with many people that eventually can help with a direction in case we are lost. Many are either jogging or walking, or trying some extreme sports, driving ATVs or mountain bikes. However, late in the nights or evenings, unexpected furry inhabitants, like big Carpathian bears can be an occurrence and thus, it does not make too much sense to adventure too far away off the beaten path.

The road we chose - Drumul Rosu/Red Path - is easy as we have proper shoes too and it goes maybe too fast. The landscape keeps being beautiful and there are lots of interesting flowers and small insects to discover.

We made a long coffee stop - but with a great view - at Postavarul Cottage, built at the end of the 19th century and burned several times. It's situated at 1604 m. altitude and it still has some free places for accommodation. Such places do have basic amenities - like beds and some breakfast and some common restrooms and during the winter some extra cold is complimentary. Otherwise, it does have free wlan but also some lizards.

Refreshed and rested, we keep going on, simply enjoying the view and the silent landscape. Although there are a lot of people around - either tourists enjoying their holiday time or locals spending their Sunday here - it's relatively quiet.

Back at Poiana Brasov, we made a little tour of some of the fancy locations, but rather prefer to keep enjoying the simple ambiance of the mountain ride.

Among many interesting facilities offered by the hotels and resorts in Poiana, horse-back riding is one of the most popular, addressing both children and adults, with special classes offered at relatively acceptable prices. Bowling and spa are other two main activities that can be practised here.

The road back to Brasov can be done in less than one hour and it's worth the effort. The hiking is easy, but still one should be careful and watch his or her steps. Most probably that on a rainy day, the road gets muddy and the risks are higher, but otherwise, we spent a pleasant walk cleaning the lungs with the fresh air of the mountains.

When the trip was over I was glad that I decided to return to Poiana Brasov. Although a classical trip in a place where I've been for so many times as a kid, it's always a good and healthy option to spend one Sunday off town, in the middle of the nature, with a minimal investment.

For more pictures from Poiana Brasov, have a look at the dedicated Pinterest board: http://www.pinterest.com/ilanaontheroad/poiana-brasov-romania/