Bags out, breakfasted and on the bus by 8, we are off into the Bucharest traffic, heading north past the unfinished “Free Press” building, and through broad roads lined with miles and miles of huge communist style apartment blocks. More than half the population of Bucharest (about 1.25 million) live in these apartments. Even the new buildings look the same, all built in that stark plain Russian style, although hopefully the walls are made of thicker material now (in the communist era, the walls were purposely thin so the secret police could hear what people were saying!). Most are owned by the inhabitants, having the option to purchase them after the communist regime fell.
The towering monoliths, anywhere from 10 to 15 stories tall, mostly have elevators, but frequently no power, so you are forced to walk up or down. Cristina relates a story about when they moved into their apartment in Constanza when she was little. The elevator wasn’t working and they were moving into an 11th floor apartment. Her father enlisted the men who worked for him to carry all the furniture – including Cristina and her sister when they got tired! - up 11 floors. Crazy.
After about an hour of driving, the city finally gives way to the Danube Plains, which stretches for 100’s of miles north from the Danube. The farm fields here stretch out as far as the eye can see, as Cristina launches into an explanation of the farming industry. Romania is the leading producer of wheat in EU, a huge producer of corn (more than France, but most of corn isn’t for consumption, but for animal feed and composting), and also a huge producer – and consumer – of Sunflowers, used for the sunflower oil, which most Romanians cook with instead of olive oil. The farming is done on an Industrial level since the regime fell. Ages ago, the land was owned by big landlords, then small farmers got the land (it was promised to them as repayment for becoming soldiers and fighting in the war). Then, of course, the land was confiscated by the communists (because ownership of personal property was not allowed), and the land was organized as collective farms in the soviet style. It was hard work and no money (everything was shared with everyone), which caused a shift of population to the urban areas for work in factories and relatively more pay.
After the fall of communism, the land went back to the farmers (if you could prove provenance), but a lot of people had moved to the city and how they ended up with property they had nothing to do with, and didn’t really want. At that point everyone started selling the land, which caused a glut on the market and depressed the pricing. Big companies, once allowed into Romania, began buying up the land and now more than 25% of land is farmed by these industrial companies.
We pass by lots of cattle, mostly used for milk and cheese production. Romanians don’t eat a lot of beef or mutton, mostly pork and chicken. Most of the lamb we sheep will be exported to the middle east.
Our drive takes us through the plains and closer to the Carpathian mountains, which we will traverse later in the trip. It takes about 3 hours (including a comfort stop) to get to the monastery, and Cristina keeps us occupied by educating us about the Historic Provinces of Romania: Wallachia, the Southern Province reaching all the way to the Carpathian Mountains, with Bucharest as the capital; Dubrogia, stretching southeast to the Black Sea which used to be Turkish (Ottoman Empire) territory until 1878; Moldavia (the territory, not the country), the Eastern Province which was taken by Russian in 1940 during a pact with Hitler, then the province was reunited after WWII; and Transylvania to the west, which used to be part of the Hungarian empire and then Austrian until 1918. The signing of the Peace treaty of Paris that reunited Romania, on December 1, 1918 remains a Romanian national holiday.
She also has a treat for us in the form of Eugenia cookies. These cookies are from the communist time and were the only cookies available. Cristina remembers them fondly from her childhood. And we’ll remember them fondly for breaking up our long trip with a sweet snack – and a very good one at that (and before you ask, no Cristina didn’t make them for us, they are available commercially produced at the supermarket!).
The commentary is great, and really helps pass the time to the monastery, where we finally arrive a little past 11am. After another comfort stop, we enter into the monastery courtyard for our first look at medieval architecture, and our first visit to an orthodox church with all the frescoes painted on the outside. Built in 1388, in the Byzantine style, the name Cozia is derived from the Turkish word “walnut,” or “walnut grove,” which apparently was the landscape when the monastery was built.
The frescoes are amazingly well preserved, considering they were painted between 1390 and 1391. The outside frescoes (which may be of a later origin than the interior ones) are amazingly vibrant, painted with deep blues and yellow, most likely some sort of gold. Inside (although we aren’t allowed to take pictures), the frescoes are equally beautiful – with the orthodox altar behind the screen of icons. The age and preservation of these things are pretty incredible, considering even recent history when anything religious was shunned.
After a brief tour, we are free to wander around the grounds for a bit, examining the rows of brick and stone architecture on the outside, then meandering down to the Olt river to take in the views from there.
Back on the bus, we head through the mountainous areas, along the beautiful river until we reach the town of Sibiu – our home for the next 2 nights. Cristina reorganizes our day, giving us free time for lunch now, then doing the walking tour afterwards so we can have more time in town.
She shows us where the main square is located, and where the bus will pick us up in 2 hours, then we are free to wander. There is an Octoberfest going on, which sort of destroys the photo opps of the gorgeous main square, but also gives us ideas for dinner! We meander about, taking pictures, then settle into a little restaurant with outdoor seating on the square called La Traifas. There we dig into a wonderful chicken schnitzel with sesame seeds (for me) and pork cutlet and soup for Ed. The schnitzel is excellent, but I really wanted a little lemon slice with it, so I asked the waiter, and he brings me an entire lemon, sliced in two! Guess it wasn’t a normal request. Oops!
Fully fed, we head back to the bus, after a stop for wine and beer and head to the hotel for check in.
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