The Food of Romania

On February 1, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes, Romania20 Comments

No matter where we visit, one of the important things for us is to taste the traditional foods of the region. Visiting Romania was no exception and we asked all of the locals that we met what foods we should eat while we were there. We were able to try the greatest variety of food while we were in Brasov, but we understand that these were typical meals that could be found throughout the country. What we heard over and over again was that we needed to try the polenta with a spicy pepper as well as the cabbage rolls, so we definitely wanted to give that a try.

Stuffed Cabbage and Grape Leaves with Polenta

Pork dominated most menus, but there plenty of other choices as well. We did find that most meals did not utilize a lot of spices, although they were almost all hearty in nature. There are definitely influences from countries throughout the region, so it should be no surprise that we found treats like Baklava on various menus in addition to those unique to Romania. One of the more interesting meals that we ate was a pork loin filled with goat cheese and spinach with a black currant sauce.

Our photos will not do the food true justice, but we did enjoy trying some of the various dishes from Romania. At some point, when we have a chance, we will likely try to recreate some of these on our own, but we will likely tweak them a little to include a few more spices.

Castle Dracula, Bran Romania

On January 30, 2017January 30, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Romania11 Comments

Let us be clear, this is a complete tourist trap and has absolutely nothing to do with Vlad Dracula, the inspiration behind the Dracula legend. It isn’t really a castle, not in the true sense of gentry living, but literally the offices of border control agents. So why go? Well, despite knowing the truth, there is no Dracula, that the legendary leader of ancient Romania never lived here, perhaps stayed here, it is still an interesting place to visit. At the end of the day, it was more about Brasov and the general vicinity that we enjoyed the most, but seeing the castle was definitely a must for us to visit.

We read a lot of complaints about the size of the crowds visiting the castle before our arrival and needless to say, it is true. As with any popular tourist destination, complaining about the crowds is beyond ridiculous, what else would you truly expect. With that said, we were fortunate to be there during the off-season, so it could have definitely been worse. The second thing that we read was that the castle has been refurbished, not restored. There is old furniture, paintings, pieces from the period, but again, if you think about the fact that it was an office building, why would they have restored it, who would want to come? Give the tourists what they want and they will come, like we did.

Beyond that, it is truly a beautiful part of the country and although it isn’t as glamorous as castles in other parts of Europe, we did enjoy seeing it. Maybe it is the romantic notion of the folklore, the desire to transcend time and live forever, or just to say we have been there, we enjoyed our brief visit to the castle. We don’t need to encourage or discourage people to visit, they will come either way. We have seen many more beautiful castles, more historic sites, and even more popular destinations, but we will remember our visit to Bran Castle. Don’t go out of your way to go there, but if you get the chance, visit Transylvania. There are plenty of things to see within the region, even if you don’t go to Dracula’s castle.

Romania Has Been an Experience

On January 17, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Romania10 Comments

Once again we have been quiet for a few days as we have been traveling in Romania for the past week. We fly back to Germany tomorrow, but it has been an interesting experience over-all. We spent a couple of days in Bucharest before heading to Transylvania and the city of Brasov, which was certainly the highlight of the trip. We have seen some very wonderful sights, but in many different ways it has not been what we were expecting. Here are a couple of pictures of some of the things that we have seen, but right now we are looking forward to this coming weekend at home, catching up on some much needed rest.