Peles Castle / Return to Bucharest
Trip Start
Sep 01, 2006
1
11
14
Trip End
Sep 11, 2006
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Bucharest,
Romania
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Peles Castle / Return to Bucharest
The Wee Hours in Bucharest
Dear Readers:
Another lazy start this morning, as Bucharest is only a couple of hours drive from Sinaia so there is no reason to rush. We do have some important sightseeing to do first, however, and we start with the Sinaia Monastery. We wind our way up the zig-zagging road through Sinaia. The gables and towers on the houses are characteristic of this region. It looks like a village created by the architect of the Adams Family Home.
The monastery is historic, of course, and very beautiful, but we have now seen more than a few monasteries
01 Monastery at Sinaia
. The thing that makes this visit so special to me is that we are able to observe a baptism of a newborn infant. The couple is having the event videotaped, so the tourists streaming past join in recording the event for posterity (see photos).Our final visit before returning to the big city is to visit Peles Castle, with its fairy-tale turrets rising above acres of green meadows and forests. Romania's first monarch, King Carol I, built it as the family's summer residence in the late 1800's. It required 39 years and the skills of numberless craftsmen, and was only completed a few months before the king died.
Alas, cameras were not allowed inside, so I am unable to show you how exquisite the rooms are. They are all in various styles, from heavy and dark in carved woods, to frothy and airy gilded Venetian fantasies. There is even a Turkish style room, as was the fashion in palaces of the time. Forget about the fact that the Turks were Romania's biggest concern throughout history; the palace simply had to have a room in Turkish style!
The king was a huge collector of arms and armaments of all shapes and sizes, and entire rooms are devoted to their display
02 A Baptism
. A library has a secret passage that is no longer opened to preserve its mechanism. The castle was outfitted with ultra modern devices from the very beginning, such as electricity, indoor plumbing, and a central vacuum system that is still operational (although they use other means to clean the palace now). Our guide through the castle is a very elegant Romanian lady with excellent English, and she adds greatly to our enjoyment of the experience.We have a snack at a restaurant on the grounds of the castle, and I enjoy haggling with a woman over the price of a tablecloth and napkins. I end up with the things just because I was successful with my bargaining, but who really won? We'll see how they look on our Thanksgiving table! (Sorry, Jonathan! I know you told me "No more fabrics!")
A quick stop at a gas station to fill the tank and our stomachs with sandwiches, and then back to our fabulous Marriott Hotel in Bucharest, where masses of pillows on the comfy beds are a great attraction. Just before arriving at the hotel our guide stops at a gay club that is just a 15 minutes walk from the hotel. We all rush in to have a look, and decide to walk over after dinner to see if there is any gay nightlife in Romania (we've seen no evidence of it yet).
03 Movie of Baptism
We meet at the hotel's Italian restaurant for dinner at 7:30pm. The food is beyond fabulous. My salmon steak is served with a mélange of uncooked green apples mixed in with vegetables-surprisingly refreshing and delicious. A chocolate desert and double shot of espresso have me ready for the evening on the town.
We arrive at the club at about 10:20pm, and of course are much too early by far. There are a few people scattered about. I talk with one young man who is with a man exactly my age who is married with two children and several grandchildren. It is what gay men do in Romania. The older man's wife knows the young man, and he is welcome in their home as friend of her husband. She does not know of their more intimate relationship.
We are told that there will be a show at midnight. The club slowly begins to fill, and the upper level appears to be especially for the lesbian clients, while the men (and a few women) are on the lower level with us. Everyone is smoking, and my eyes and lungs are burning. It is clear that there will be a drag performance, and perhaps a couple of guys who do a strip tease, but at 12:30pm, when the show has not yet begun, we reach our limit and get up to leave.
04 Peles Castle
The owner and the doorkeepers and waiters practically throw themselves at our feet begging us to stay and see the show, which they promise will begin in just five minutes, but I can tell the guys are beyond ready to go so we pay our bill and walk back to the hotel. I am sad about it because I think the locals went out of their way to make us feel welcome - even putting an American flag above the door along with the gay flag. Maybe next time we'll remember to take an after-dinner nap and show up a couple of hours later!
I am back in my room at 1:00am, and into bed by 1:30am. Fortunately, tomorrow is a free day for everyone, and my only responsibilities are to prepare for the Farewell Dinner.
Big hugs,
Dan
