17/07/2018 - 19/07/2018
It was time for us to head east, crossing the border to Romania. Unfortunately for us, and all other travellers wanting to get to Romania, they have recently cancelled the train from Belgrade to Timisoara which is a small city in Romania lying close to the Serbian border. We managed to book a shared minibus which arrived an hour late but none the less, it arrived! Crossing the border was painless, just a few grumpy questions from the border police and after a four hour bus ride we had finally made it to our first destination, Timisoara. Our Airbnb was quite the jump from our place in Belgrade that we stayed for the last two nights which we christened 'bleak house' but I won't go into details about that! It was devine, with high ceilings and floor length curtains. We couldn't wait to start exploring the city and indeed Romania.
That evening and the next day we spent our time taking in the beautiful city surroundings. The central square, Pita Victoriei is surrounded by baroque buildings and the Orthodox Cathedral with its elegantly coloured roof tiles. I feel the nicest square in the city is Unirii Square, dominated by the Catholic Cathedral and Serbian Orthodox Cathedral placed opposite to one another. Children play in the green grass and diners gaze from their restaurant seats at the activities in the square. What we admired about this city is the preservation work currently being undertaken to bring the building fascades back to their original glory. Timisoara is also known as the city of flowers having its own roses park where locals proudly prune and weed the flower beds. Roses are seen in all corners of the city, from the roundabouts to the side of the roads bringing an extra finesse and glamour to this city.
The next day we made our way to Corvin Castle, a Gothic Renaissance castle in Hunedoara and one of the largest castles in Europe but getting there would prove to be difficult.
Romanian trains are notorious for being slow and the only train we could get there was either at 6.30am or 13.30pm so luckily we had heard about a drive share app called Blabla car which would save us from getting a painfully slow train or bus or waiting god knows how long to hitch hike. As we waited for our blabla driver, a young guy came up to us and asked us where we were from and when we told him we were from Ireland he said 'you see we are not all gypsies' and this was something that stuck with me in the coming days in Romania. There are many misconceptions about this country ranging from the idea that Romanians are all gypsies who come to Western Europe to beg and steal, where the cities are violent, where you cannot walk alone at night, where the roads are haphazard and where people only drive on horse and cart. In our first few days in Romania, we encountered absolutely none of this, only a beautiful city and castle where roads are tarmac and the people so friendly and helpful even having little english. I see more beggars in Dublin city to be honest!
When we arrived at the castle, despite being surrounded by the industrial jungle of the town below, we were both awe struck the moment we walked up to the drawbridge. Its countless pointed turrets rising high into the sky, surrounding the cobblestone courtyard. This wonderfully preserved structure boasts a knights hall, an impressive drawbridge, a chapel, the sleeping quarters and various inner courtyards. We couldn't wait to explore more of this beautiful region, its fascinating castles and villages and to break more of the Romanian cliches.
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