(for Joe) Pictures of Transylvania/Romania

[grywolf627]

As promised to Joe (J.DavisNJ), here are just a few pictures I've taken of the real Transylvania...and a few other places in Romania. Transylvania is my favorite region of Romania, with the beautiful mountains, and a lot of German influence. I love to visit Brasov and Sinaia when possible, and I spend a lot of time in Craiova on our yearly trips to the country. Enjoy!

-Transylvania Region-

Bran (the area near to where "Cold Mountain" was filmed):

Brasov:

-Just outside Transylvania-

Sinaia:

-Further away-

Bucharest:

Craiova:

 

[BrettT]

Wow...absolutely stunning! I want to move there!

 

[grywolf627]

Trust me...no you don't. BEAUTIFUL place to visit...but I wouldn't want to live there until things finally change. Things ARE changing, but it's very slow. Article on Romanian corruption. But yeah...beautiful countryside, nice cities, beautiful women (if you like brunettes), great food, wine, beer, & booze.

 

[Jevil]

Nice pictures!
I'd like to go there some days.
I miss Vlad Tepe's (real Dracula) castle... and Elisabeth Bathory's castle is also there, isn't it?

 

[Metaltastic]

THREAD NEEDS MORE FREE DOGS PICTURES

 

[grywolf627]

Thanks!

Depends what you call Vlad's "real" castle. Tourist places would have you think it's the Castle Bran. But there's a big bronze plaque that plainly states the ONLY connection he had with this castle is that he MAYBE spent the night there once. Not that you'd know this with all the Dracula tourist crap they sell right outside the castle. He has a lot more connection to Castle Hunedoara (which I've yet to see in person). The real possible "castle" of his isn't really a castle, but more like a keep or fortress, in a very remote area (the name escapes me at the moment).

I'm no expert on Bathory. I think she was Hungarian. But since part of Romania/Transylvania was part of Hungary for some time (still a heated issue with some people), I guess it's possible? Guess I'll be hitting Wiki today.

 

[grywolf627]

THREAD NEEDS MORE FREE DOGS PICTURES

Hahahaha Okay, just for you Marcus, maybe I'll put up a few.

 

[jipchen]

I was there last summer (Brasov, Sinaia, Timisoara, etc..) and yeah, some things look nice, it's interesting and the food is great, but.. as he said, you really don't want to live there.
In the cities, 40% of the houses look like ruins, and on the countryside i guess 90%. A big part of the population is very poor, but on the other side i never saw so many expensive cars in a single place (especially SUVs... lmao i saw like 100 BMW X5, Porsche Cayenne, Mercedes Jeeps and Audi Q7s every day). And of course so many fucked up cars that wouldn't be allowed to drive here in germany It's a strange country. I liked it, though.

This is also Romania (The factories are all left, but some ppl still live there. we saw many places like that. HUGE factories and areas just wasted and left.

I realized that there are only a few goodlooking houses around the public places, the others look like shit..

Look at the left + right side of the monument.. i mean WTF? This is usual.

 

[grywolf627]

^^Yep. You hit the nail right on the head. It's a strange place, full of polar opposites. And the amount of Mercedes, BMW's, Audi's, Porches running around the cities is ridiculous though. There's a whole hidden economy that's sort of under the table. When you ask people what they do for a living, the reply is something like "I do business". The older generations are the worst off...being left behind. A lot of the younger generation are doing just fine...better than a lot of us actually (my wife's family and friends are all there). If you're a completely honest person, life there will be a struggle.

 

[Notuern]

Amazing pictures Mark!
Id love to visit Romania sometime!

Depends what you call Vlad's "real" castle. Tourist places would have you think it's the Castle Bran. But there's a big bronze plaque that plainly states the ONLY connection he had with this castle is that he MAYBE spent the night there once. Not that you'd know this with all the Dracula tourist crap they sell right outside the castle. He has a lot more connection to Castle Hunedoara (which I've yet to see in person). The real possible "castle" of his isn't really a castle, but more like a keep or fortress, in a very remote area (the name escapes me at the moment).

The "real" castle is called The Poenari Castle.. and it aint that great.

 

[grywolf627]

The "real" castle is called The Poenari Castle.. and it aint that great.

That's it! Thanks! That's the reason I never really bothered to remember it...it's not really worth remembering.

 

[SocialNumb]

Wow, what a beautiful place.

 

[grywolf627]

Thanks. But like jipchen showed, it's not all pretty. I just don't keep pics of the crappy looking parts here at my work computer. But then again, you can find trashy, crappy looking areas in any country or city. So I just like to remember the pretty stuff. I'll see the crappy stuff in person when I'm there.

 

[Soundlurker]

And the amount of Mercedes, BMW's, Audi's, Porches running around the cities is ridiculous though.

Same here in Bulgaria. Even the cops have a nice ride

 

[grywolf627]

Ahahaha. I forgot about you being in Bulgaria. I know Dimi is there. I hope to get over to Sofia sometime. And the resorts on the coast are much nicer in Bulgaria (from what I hear). Customer service is not really a concept that has quite caught on in Romania.

 

[Soundlurker]

Well, I think you have the right idea, a country can have very beautiful parts but it can also have awful parts and around here the two can be right next to each other. I think it's the same with customer service and the type of people you meet, (although there are exceptions). It such a small place that heaven and hell can be meters apart.

 

[::XeS::]

These photos make me laugh because here in Italy there is a big hate for romanian peoples, because some of their worst criminals came here and politicians speak about them like they are all criminals and gipsies.
But, if you come here in Italy you can notice that there aren't places like those in the photos. Or at least, not so neat and clean. If you go to Rome or Milan you can notice lot of traffic, lot of smog, lot of cars, the monuments are not respected, lot of dirtiness everywhere.
So....if we, italians, can't respect our own cities how can we judge other peoples? We are very stupid

 

[grywolf627]

These photos make me laugh because here in Italy there is a big hate for romanian peoples, because some of their worst criminals came here and politicians speak about them like they are all criminals and gipsies.
But, if you come here in Italy you can notice that there aren't places like those in the photos. Or at least, not so neat and clean. If you go to Rome or Milan you can notice lot of traffic, lot of smog, lot of cars, the monuments are not respected, lot of dirtiness everywhere.
So....if we, italians, can't respect our own cities how can we judge other peoples? We are very stupid

Correction...many of their WORST criminals are currently running (or ruining) the government. But yeah, I know all about what you're referring to.

 

[jipchen]

Haha they forgot the emergency vehicle lighting

 

[Soundlurker]

Let me illustrate what I'm talking about:

Then you see

Actually this one photo is enough: