Fortified Churches of Transylvania

Naturally, when we heard TRANSYLVANIA, images of 'Count Dracula' and dark, smokey castles were reflexively conjured in our minds. But, now that we've been here, I would argue to reconsider this line of thinking for those who are contemplating a visit. In fact, forget castles all together. Fortified churches is where it's at - the creme de la creme of Transylvania. 

Now, when I say fortified churches, there are indeed frescos, naves, some oconostasis, maybe a cemetery, but that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to these ancient beauties. It's what lies below the water (or rather above the church) that is the most interesting. 

For one in particular, Valea Viilor (above), we had to ask a local to call the "key keeper" to open the door for us. After a few short minutes, the keeper arrived on his bicycle and placed the giant cartoon-like key in the creaky wooden door's rusty key slot. At first glance, it didn't look much different than other fortified churches that we'd seen. So, we proceeded into the church to pay our respects, when the key keeper appeared. I thought he was just watching us to make sure we weren't misbehaving, but then I noticed that he was trying to tell us to go down one of the pews toward a miniature, inconspicuous door. 

Dustin & Suji

We walked through the door to discover a very narrow, and might I mention crumbling, stone spiral staircase. As we saw the light at the end of the stairway, it opened up to a network of platforms and unsturdy ladders to create a multi-layered medieval game of Shoots and Ladders. This wasn't a church, this was a real deal fortress, and at that moment it was our playground.

As our adrenaline pumped, Matt, Dustin, Suji and I scurried up layer after layer of wobbly ladders and flexible floorboards to the very top of the fortification. (Well, almost. We didn't want to be too unreasonable, since the drop down deserved our appreciation.) Never in our childhood dreams, no matter how many mattresses and Care Bear bed sheets we borrowed from our neighbors, could we have created a fort as magnificently fun as this one.

Can you find Matt?

However, after our antics, and with our feet firmly planted on the cobblestone road outside the church, we later realized that we were retracing the steps of those retreating for their lives - it was not fun and games for them. It was where all the villagers would hide in the face of any rebel Tatars that tried to attack their city. They don't call it a 'Fortified Church' for nothing. Although, I would venture to call it a 'Fortified Labyrinth' instead. 

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Merry Cemetery

Before heading south to Sighișoara, Transylvania, we made a quick pit stop in Săpânţa - home to one of the most brightly-colored and, dare I say, happiest cemeteries we've ever visited - The Merry Cemetery. Even the bells are cheery.

See if you can spy a gnome in the midst.

BLURB FROM WIKIPEDIA:

It is famous for its colorful tombstones with naive paintings describing, in an original and poetic manner, the persons that are buried there, as well as scenes from their lives (and sometimes deaths).

The unusual feature of this cemetery is that it diverges from the prevalent belief, culturally shared within European societies – a belief that views death as something indelibly solemn. Connections with the local Dacian culture have been made. Their philosophical tenets presumably vouched for the immortality of the soul and the belief that death was a moment filled with joy and anticipation for a better life. 

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Noroc! Sus! Boon!

Due to WiFi-free zones and unforeseen, but very welcome, encounters, we've been incommunicado over the past week. So, here's where we've wandered since our last post.

We've since crossed the "official" cigarette and vodka-smuggling border from Ukraine and entered into the Cyrillic-free world of Romania. Ahh, Latin letters. It's good to see you my friend. :)

Before crossing the invisible line, we met some fellow travelers, Dustin & Suji, at a backpacker hostel in Chernivtsi, which could only be described as a 13th floor-type hotel from at least one episode of the 'Twilight Zone.' Between the midnight tourettes from our fellow grey-haired bunk mates and awkward debates between a Neo-Nazi extremist and retired war veteran, we managed to discuss possibly renting a car together to explore the MARAMUREŞ region of Romania - northernmost territory. Now, we're on our fourth night together, and things have been going "bun!" (pronounced boon = good!)

ROAD TRIP: 

DAY 1: On the road to BORŞA

Starring "SPARKY" in his debut performance.

DAY 2: 'Pensione' (Guesthouse/Homestay) in IEUD

Here's a little "taste" of the local hospitality we've experienced thus far - 55% proof plum schnapps. Noroc! ... Sus! Sus! (Cheers! ... Finish! Finish!)

DAY 3: 'Pensione' in BOTIZA

11 year old Florin took us on a hike through his back yard and Matt was "udderly" impressed with the scenery. 

• Pensiunea Agroturistica
• Contact: I.F. Tomsa Ioan
• Address: Botiza nr. 307, Jud. Maramures
• Cell: 0727 719 137 
• Home: 0262 / 334268

DAY 4: 'Pensione' in VADU IZEI

A nearby river was diverted to make "Nature's Washing Machine" for large carpets and rugs.

DAY 5: OFF TO SIGHIŞOARA, TRANSYLVANIA

LOGISTICAL STUFF: 

UKRAINE - ROMANIA BORDER CROSSING:

From Chernvitsi, UKRAINE, you can catch a daily 7:10am bus to Suceava, ROMANIA for around 70 UAH / person. You cannot get this ticket the day before at the bus station ticket window. You have to show up the day of and ask the ticket window for the bus to Suceava, who will then take you to the bus driver, where you pay the driver directly. We arrived around 6:30am and were able to grab 4 seats. It takes about 4 hours, including the border crossing.

SUCEAVA - CLUJ NAPOCA:

There are trains and buses from Suceava to Cluj that are virtually the same in regards to timetables, price and travel time. Although the bus was 10 lei cheaper, we chose an overnight non-sleeper train for a smoother ride - seats sat at an erect 90 degrees, where you're face-to-face with your fellow passengers. 

Something worth mentioning, we checked a travel agency for train prices and they were around 0.62 LEI less than buying straight from the train station window – 73 vs 73.62 LEI. Also, the train station is away from the main town, but there is a nice little pizza café nearby, where you can sit, play cards (some slots perhaps), eat pizza, and have beer whilst you wait for your train. May we suggest ‘Monopoly Deal?’

CLUJ NAPOCA - MARAMUREŞ REGION:

Rented a car from a local dealer, 'Raul Turism,' through our hostel, 'Retro Hostel.' 559 LEI for 1-7 days ($22 USD / day) or 806 LEI for 14+ days ($16 USD / day). 

• Raul Turism - Rent A Car
• Tel: +40 740 945 094
• www.raulturism.ro

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Good Samaritans of L'Viv

I’m sitting here on a bus traveling 7 hours from L’Viv, to Kamyanets-Podilski. For the past 3 hours, I couldn’t stop thinking about how much harder it could have been for Matt and I to actually be on this bus, if it we’re for the sincere helpfulness of the L’Viv people.

It all started yesterday, after we saw a 300 year old local brewery and a 225 year old cemetery of not just Ukrainians, but Poles as well - one of many nations/regimes that have laid claim on Ukraine over the past 15 centuries.  You see we’ve learned a lot about this country, not just from our Lonely Planet guide and Wikipedia searches (sad sources for genuine history), but also from our friend, Marian, who waited on us at our fave coffee shop. I’ll come back to that later – it’s a story in itself.

Lvivske Museum

Lychakiv Cemetery

So, we exit the cemetery looking for an electric tram to take us to the train station to buy tickets for our next destination – a girl at the brewery museum said that you could indeed take a train. Confused, I tapped a middle-aged woman on the shoulder and politely said, “Excuse me?” in Ukrainian. After pointing at the tram stop sign and then back at the map several times, I managed to relay where we needed to go. She then walked up to a stranger and they had a 5 minute discussion on how to get there. In unison, they counted on their fingers all the different trams and finally agreed on a route.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite sure if I understood what they were desperately trying to tell me. Despite their efforts, I walked away with a question mark. “Was it THIS tram, STOP 6, or should we take TRAM 6?” As I weighed the options with Matt, little did I know that another woman came to wait at the tram stop and the woman I initially approached asked this stranger to help me out. She waved at me and gestured to herself. “I think she wants us to follow her.” And that’s what we did. During the tram ride, she made sure to keep an eye on us and eventually motioned for us to get off at the next stop and cross the street. She put up her fingers - SIX.

After arriving at the train station, we weren’t getting very far with the cash desk attendant, except to say that there were NO TRAINS to Kamyanets-Podilski. Whah? “TAKE BUS,” she says. We wanted to make absolutely sure, so Matt walked up to a police officer and asked if he knew English. Two seconds later, this bright-eyed, curly-haired girl pops out from behind the glass. “Can I help you?” Before you know it, we were behind the partition, with a myriad of helpers checking trains and possible bus routes to KP. There WERE trains, but none direct. She wrote down the bus station name and departure times in Ukrainian, so we could hand the paper to the clerk. Shortly thereafter, we had a bus ticket in one hand - and a Shawarma in the other.

It didn’t end there. On the way home, someone told us that we were on the wrong bus and should take 3A instead. Then this morning, we were at the wrong bus stop and this man directed us where to go. Incredible. Дякую L’Viv.

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A Capella on the Metro

As fate would have it, heading home on the Kiev Metro, we encountered a lively group as soon as the doors opened. Matt caught a sound bite incognito. 

I love this country.

Unexpected Kiev

Well, Christine mentioned in the previous post...the train ride to Kiev involved some unexpected awakening in the middle of the night.  Poor Christine has been fighting a pretty bad cough/cold...and felt "foggy" for the past few days.  So needless to say she was ready for some rest upon arrival, but of course that couldn't happen until we found our hostel.  So far, we've managed to do it solely using the public transit system which has been really cheap.  Thankfully, this time was no different.  We hopped on the Metro and within 10 minutes we were within walking distance to our hostel.

Amazingly even with the fog, Christine saw the sign through a narrow courtyard that I had completely missed.  She said, "Wait!  It says hostel!."  The words "HOSTEL" in block letters was on the window of a building that appeared under construction (large piles of earth and wiring in the front).

It was glorious to have found "Dream House Hostel," but even better was that it turned out to be our favorite place yet in terms of having a good value.  It's only been open for 3 weeks and everything is brand new!  All wood floors, big common areas, awesome showers, and super fresh down sheets.  And even better was that it was half the price of previous hostels we've been staying at.  ($11 and some change / person).  That said, this isn't really the norm, but we weren't going to question it.

Christine slept like a rock which dealt a solid punch to her cold. Our 9-person room was empty (except for 1 other person who was there only at nights).  So, it was quiet at night....perfect for great sleep.

Kiev, has been unexpected in many ways, too.  It's smaller and more quaint than we had expected.  It's very lush in terms of a capital city and has a ton of small boutique restaurants.

It also set the bar extremely high for Cathedrals.  St. Sophia's Cathedral (another UNESCO World Heritage Site) was incredibly intricate and amazing in so many ways.  It has one of the greatest number of Mosaics and Frescos in the World.  Many of which are originals from the 11th century.  Thankfully, it was one of the few religious buildings not destroyed by the former USSR government.  In short..it was awesome and another unexpected amazing part of Kiev.

Lastly, we have to mention the Kiev Perchersk Lavra (translated the Kiev Caves Monastery).  The Cathedrals within the compound were definitely great to check out, but the caves beneath were the most unique part.  The two caves are full of glass enclosed sarcophagi of many revered Eastern Orthodox Priests.  (No pics allowed.)  We walked through with our candles lit and attempted to not be too out of place as observers.  People were paying their respects by kissing the top of the sarcophagus and saying prayers.  Yet another very interesting and unique experience from visiting Kiev.

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Train to Kiev

Matt and I would say that we're what you call 'Train People.' We love them. You always feel like you're getting somewhere, because when you look outside, things are continually speeding by you, no matter what time of day.


However, there is just one thing that doesn't quite gel with our personalities, and that is: TRAINS RUN ON TIME! They depart and arrive on time. There's no ifs, ands or (especially) buts. Now, in our A.D.D. world of tra-la-la, we tend to miss this very large characteristic of our beloved trains. May 29th (Andrea's B-day/Daniese's Wedding Anniversary) was such a case.


We left an hour early to the Moscow train station, carefully planning out our route via the Metro, so that we would arrive a responsible 45 minutes prior to departure. Which in turn would give us plenty of time to print our tickets and find the proper track - in theory. We, however, are tourists and don't account for the massive droves of people bottle-necking their way through the station during rush hour. It was so congested, that I had to hold onto Matt's pack like a baby elephant holds onto its mother's tail.


We successfully weaved our way underground and popped out right in front of the train station - Hooray! And then DONCHE! Where do we print our tickets? "Its-be-neet-ze-a, va ga-va-reech-e pan glee-skee?" (Excuse me, do you speak English?) After about 30 minutes of this, various sign language, running up and down stairs like mules with full packs of snacks and juice, we managed to figure out what track was OUR track to glorious 'Kneb' (Kiev).


"Matt! Drop the packs and run to find the ticket kiosks to print the boarding passes!" So, off he went with all his courage and Dawn's gift of energy. After checking my watch repeatedly, his powder blue shirt emerged from the crowds only 5 minutes before the train was supposed to leave the station, our tickets waving in his hand.


Thank you, Lord! We made it on, and sat at our seats in a heap of sweat. Delish!


In another turn of events, someone forgot to tell us that when you're on an overnight sleeper train crossing the border to another country, the car steward will wake you up (twice) during an already fitful sleep. Once, by the Russian border patrol as we are about to breach the border, and once by the Ukrainian border patrol after we've crossed.


Matt had just drifted off to sleep both times (12:30am & 3:30am) when the cheerful steward tapped him on the foot. Poor guy, he didn't know who he was dealing with - the world's deepest sleeper. To be honest, it was a little daunting when you're half awake, being interrogated by an officer with a very stern hat, lying in bed with only a sheet between them and your skivvies.