In between our two extended family trips, we had a stopover in Romania. The intent was to recharge, connect into work for the week and have some space to explore leisurely. We rented a home in Fundatica, built by two brothers, “The Chalet Deux Freres.” We cooked at home every night until our last evening – recharging from weeks we’d spent eating out in Greece (incredible but hard to continue at the same pace). We fully enjoyed the vibe of the country and its people. International Tourism has not taken off – mostly geared towards domestic tourism – such that often menus aren’t available in English. We enjoyed the cordial but indifference to visitors perspective here. We’d definitely return.
On Tuesday, we visited Bran castle, the fictional home of Dracula. All loved visiting – nice blend of history, fiction and experience of a royal residence that was inhabited until fairly recently. We enjoyed a nice lunch after our visit at the cafe on the castle grounds.
Wednesday // we hiked out from our cabin
Thursday we visited the medieval town of Braşov. Braşov is charming – the 6th largest city in Romania and extremely walkable and easy to explore. Non-domestic tourism seems very limited here. We explored the city center and had an excellent lunch at an Italian favorite, Dei Frati. We only wished we’d had a bit more time here.
On Friday, we returned to Braşov bc we love this town and wanted to take the funicular to the best lookout point. Here we are riding up, walking along the ridge behind the Braşov sign and looking over the city:
And then walked back into town to another (awesome) Italian spot, Prato. We loved all and especially this Shrimp starter. Who knew Italian would be the food highlight of this stay.
We walked to the Black church and all around downtown
We went home and visited “Skully” Shepherd cow skull
And Wm made a traditional Romanian dinner
On Saturday, our last full day, we took the opportunity to hike in the national park and summit to Cabana Curmatura. The hike was over 7mi and 2k of elevation – the boys hardly complained and seemed to have a blast. Maybe we’ve turned the corner on hikes as a form of family torture.
Long and awesome day. We can back and rested/packed and headed to our last dinner here at DOR
For our Prague visit, we stayed in an apartment that was walking distance from the Christmas Markets and center of town. It was nice to have a bit space and love the walkability.
Day 1 // Breakfast today was a traditional Kolache – particularly traditional for William (plum and poppy seed), fruity for the boys (strawberry and blue berry) and savory for me (Brie and pear).
We walked around Wenceslas square and the old town square — the Christmas market setup is magical here. Much more involved than those we came across in Budapest and expect we will keep revisiting them for snacks and treats during the stay here. The boys loved seeing the Astronomical clock.
We met Paul for lunch at an interesting spot, Kantyna. It is a “nose to tail” butcher shop and dining spot — setup like a communist cafeteria in terms of how the food is served. We got our trays of food and the boys lovvvved their meals. Rawls esp loved the brisket. S didn’t want what we’d initially gotten so he picked up a tray and worked with the surly server to come back smiling with a plate of mashed potatoes and sliced rare beef. I loved the pickled cucumber salad
We left lunch and visited the Grand Museum of Natural science. The mineral section was very well done as well as the evolution area
Rawls took many pics of the animals presented throughout // he composed this and wanted us to share
Last stop- the cupola at the top of the museum. We loved visiting the roof for great views of the city.
We rested for a moment and then met Paul for a tasting menu at a very traditional spot u Modre – great menu for the boys and v fun time. Back at the apartment to ring in the new year momentarily!
Day 2 // Visiting Prague Castle and seeking out Music
We had a slow start this morning which everyone enjoyed. We started our day with delicious greens and smoothies after all the meat yesterday! But the boys very much wanted to try the mini pancakes at the markets so we did make our way there
We walked from the old town square over the Manes bridge to Prague castle – with a bit of a trek up to the castle and surrounding area. We visited golden lane, starting with the armor area. Rawlings enjoyed visiting the home of the fortune teller at 14 golden.
We had tea at a beautiful art deco lounge at Hotel Paris and the boys, intending to split an apple strudel benefitted from a happy accident of two arriving (S was thrilled even if doesn’t look it here)
We followed with a chamber concert of the Prague music orchestra at Obecni dum one of the most significant art deco building in Prague
And wrapped back at the markets to see everything lit at night – beautiful!
Day 3 // Prague Clock Tour
We started the day at a great bakery and breakfast spot, Eska in the Karlin neighborhood of Prague. Really interesting and delicious onion eggs and the boys enjoyed their pastries.
We visited the Astronomical clock from here which involves walking to the top of the clock and along the way visiting a number of official spaces that are part of the tower.
At the top. S didn’t love the heights
Afterwards we met Paul for a late lunch at the best vegetarian spot in town, Maitrea. Great to catch-up with Paul and we (I? 🙂 enjoyed a break from the meat.
We came back to the apartment for a bit and William and I ducked out for a brief date around the corner from where we’re staying. We came back and met the boys to go to a Vietnamese spot for dinner “Ngo” – continuing mixing up the food options today. Great spot. Vietnamese food is quite prevalent in Prague as many Vietnamese came to the country during the communist occupancy.
After dinner, Rawls still needed a snack so we found him one.
Day 4 // For our last day in Prague, we joined one of Paul’s official tours. We didn’t go to the one yesterday as we’d visited Prague castle the day before to avoid yesterday’s weather. Today looks great and this is the official old town tour of Prague. We weren’t expecting to get some of our favorite pics from the trip today but one of our favorite days. Rawlings proclaimed this the “best trip yet.”
The tram setup here is great with apps to purchase tickets for specific routes and identify exactly when the tram will arrive.
Our meeting spot was at the Rufolfinium, directly across from the mass shooting that took place shortly before our trip. The candle offerings stretched around the block and many stopped to pay respects.
Here Paul is gathering the group. He was so informing and entertaining- we were all very impressed. We met a couple from San Diego who said, as they were starting, they were wondering why an American was leading the tour – but as it went on they realized he’s very much legit and appreciated the history major background.
We went to the metro where a portion of an old bridge was uncovered as the metro was under construction.
Boys trying the best melted chocolate beverage.
Can you spot the coronavirus pastry?
William and Paul in front of a bar they visited in ‘99
Visiting the Jewish quarter synagogues a cemetery where rows of people were buried on top of one another (over 100k burried and only 12k tombstones)
The most “unique” sculpture in Prague. The artist depicted this as the Czech Republic considered the prospect of the European Union and felt the county was treated this way by its European neighbors.
Walking into Paul’s pub where he has officially become a regular. He essentially came here for 18 months straight before being given a seat for lunches. He gave Rawls a pin indicating the “regular” status at Lokal. Rawlings loved the Pork chop specialty, shepherd tried the beef with spinach (delish!) and potato dumplings and William and I split a beet and goat cheese salad, mushroom soup and a sausage.
Our trip to Central Europe is primarily centered around spending New Years in Prague with Rawlings’ godfather, Paul Evans, but we decided to extend on either side of this visit, starting in Budapest.
Day 1 // We started walking towards the city center – initially towards a bakery, Artizan, that turned out to be closed for holiday and ending up at a bakery, Bite. We took a cab from here to the Szechnyi baths to soak our weary 😉 travel bones. The baths were fun although Rawls thought a bit “odd”. We enjoyed the outdoor baths – a touch chilly to walk between. The boys enjoyed the very aggressive whirlpool circle in the center of the outdoor baths.
We meandered back to the Mystery Hotel from the baths, walking / exploring on the way back to the hotel. We stopped at City Park for a Wiener schnitzel sandwich “snack” for all to share. Shepherd checked out the local specialty, Langos and we walked over to Heroe’s Square by the Fine Art Museum.
In the afternoon we planned to go to the Light Art Museum (Rawlings choice) but it was at full capacity, so we ended up walking through the city center. Ended up being a perfect point in the day as the sun was setting. We went by the Danube and hoped to see the “Shoes on the Danube bank”— tribute to the Jewish people killed by the Hungarian fascist militia. While there were still candle offerings on the rail, the tribute is under water as the Danube is in a flood state.
Day 2 // Our second day was fun and full on. We started the day touring the Central Market hall and beyond with a Hungarian food tour (thank you Grammy + Poppy for the Christmas gift!). We toured the 3 levels of stalls and tried delicious, garlicky langos. The lunch spot (which was apparently on Bourdain’s Parts Unknown show) featured all the sausages. We wrapped the tour with all the desserts including the first ever gluten free cake on record (Eszterhazy cake made with almond flour) and the winner of the 150th anniversary of Budapest (the Natalis)
Later in the afternoon Rawlings choice came through and we visited the Light art museum. Very interesting set of pieces blending science and technology research, art and cause awareness.
From here we walked across town to the Szimpla Kert, a ruins bar and food tavern area where the boys had more Langos, sampled a chimney cake and discussed that there’s too much second hand smoke exposure in Budapest
Day 3 // We spent nearly the entire day in and around Buda Castle including the History Museum, the castle museum, walking the castle walls and enjoying the Christmas markets there. The boys had fun all day and never asked to move on.
We walked to the top of Buda Castle – the funicular was out of service and no grumbles when they had to walk up.
The Christmas markets – enjoying a cake ball and a very sweet woman who shared allll the available flavors with the boys
As part of the History Museum, we visited Stephen’s hall – a beautiful space with much of the detail executed in ceramic.
Visiting the Castle museum, this was a gothic chapel from 1342. The sign on exterior suggested you should pay attention to the written and unwritten rules. Rawls very much thought that taking this photo was against the unwritten rules.
Walking the castle walls
Then back across the Danube to the “Pest” side
We walked back downtown at sunset. This is Shepherd’s favorite statue which he dubbed “Ancient Florida man” as it appears alligator wrestling is happening
Then our favorite meal at Turkiz to wrap the night. Ask Shepherd if they “got the right animal” for his dinner
Day 4 // We wandered a bunch more today – heading towards the Jewish quarter in Budapest.
Along the way we visited the opera house and its beautiful ceilings and very pretty Christmas decor.
The Jewish quarter feels somewhat like the Riverside of Budapest- quirky character. We visited the last remaining aspects of the Jewish ghetto from WWII and the last standing part of the enclosing wall. We also visited the Dohany Street Jewish synagogue, the largest in Europe.
Lunch today was back at the caravan food tavern for new options – loved the salad we shared for lunch!
We meandered and shopped a bit afterwards. Rawls found a store entirely dedicated to Rubrics cubes.
Our last stop was the actual Szimpla Kert ruins bar which is next door to the spot we were on Wednesday night. Super interesting space that we cld have spent a lot of time exploring.
Colledge Adventures 