Visiting Romanian Castles: Peleş and Pelişor (November 2024)

After spending some time appreciating the winter wonderland environment outside of the castles, it was time to check them out and see what the deal was. I started in Pelişor (aka, little Peleş). Wikipedia will tell you that it is the more modest counterpart, about 2/3 the size and toned down a bit in style to reflect its role as more of a residential palace. That vibe definitely came through, and became more clear when I stepped into Peleş a bit later.

My takeaway was that Pelişor had a classy, semi-groovy vibe as far as castles go. Worth seeing for sure if you're up here. Price of entry is something around $17.50 US, compared to $35 for Peleş. If you're pinched for time or economizing, then Peleş of course is the one to see and you should buy the ticket that provides access to all floors. I got through Pelişor in probably 15 minutes, then strolled over to Peleş, the facade of which was undergoing some repairs.


First entrance into Peleş gets your attention.

Then you work your way through a number of impressive rooms and levels.

This room would be solid for a lil' cocktail reception

And I could see myself camped out here with a pint of stout and my laptop, working on whatnot.

Not sure exactly how much time I spent inside. Maybe 45 minutes to an hour. I didn't linger too much as I needed to get myself up to Braşov, ideally before dark. So I took in the exterior a bit more before getting back on the road.

Quick Review: xplodboss tacos (Del Valle, CDMX)

This place is a 2-minute walk from our condo. Judy goes there probably 1x/month, me not so much. I eat lunch outside of the apartment maybe 4x/month and lately that's been dominated by going to the tianguis in napoles. But today's plan played out a bit differently, so we stopped here for some quick tacos on the way to Chedraui. Tacos are solid. We went with 2 chorizo argentino, a bistec, and an arrachera. Arrachera was the big winner. Didn't snag a close up of the salsas, which is one area where they could improve. Three options: one kethchup-esque red that wasn't great, and then a hot verde and a hot habanero. Maybe the philosophy is to focus on the quality meat, so you just give it a touch of the heat. But a mid-range salsa would be nice to have as an option.

4 tacos for $145MXN. No refresco today as we wouldn't be staying long enough to finish it and leave the bottle.

Approaching Peleș Castle in the snow

It's about a 2-hour drive from Bucharest to Peleș Castle in Sinaia. The first hour of the drive is relatively dull, but then you start entering the mountains and the scenery shifts. I was there during the third week of November and had been snowing recently.

I got those shots above somewhere along the way. Then honestly I did not see any signage or indications that I was close to the castle until it was time to turn into the parking lot. So my next shots below are on the walk up to the castle.

Wikipedia says that King Carol I fell in love with the scenery of this area and that led to selecting this location for the castle. Easy to understand. Even with the facade obscured by scaffolding it's still impressive.

Not sure whose dog this is, but he seemed calm and well fed. Pretty good gig to be the dog of the castle.

Hadn't given much thought about the season and weather until I got out of the car. Wasn't part of the plan to see the castle in the snow, but I'm glad I did. Will be hard to convince me that it's not the best time of year to see it.

Scenes from Bucharest, Romania - Part 2 of 2

My one full day in Bucharest was a bit choppy and my picture taking intermittent. So this post is a bit of a grab bag. It started with a walking tour, first stop the Romanium Athenaeum.

Then we started weaving our way around downtown. We were passing Artmark and I commented on the classic car in the lot. My guide explained it's an art auction house / exhibition space, so we ducked in. A lot of very interesting stuff. If you're looking for something unique to bring home from your trip to Romania, this is a good stop to check out.

From there we progressed down Calea Victorei, learning about the historical events that have taken place in the city, up through the 1989 Revolution. A lot of this was standing and talking near some of the monuments and for some reason I wasn't in picture taking mode. One thing that did prompt me to snap a pic was the story about how the national theater was collateral damage during WWII bombing when the intended target was the national communications HQ. Now there is a Novotel on the same spot, but with a facade that honors the site's heritage.

I asked for a detour through Cismigiu Gardens and my guide indulged me. I'm glad we checked it out. Beautiful place, especially in the fall colors. Also includes a couple of places to stop for a snack and beverage of your choice. One gets decidely mixed reviews. But the one pictured below does much better.

We did head down to Strada Lipscani (aka, the main artery of Old Town). First thing that got my attention were these dining & drinking pods. Genius idea for colder-weather cities to maintain a lively and interesting street vibe.

Next unexpected sighting was KJ Center. Little did I know at the time that I'd see Korean grocery stores in Brasov and Sibiu as well. Who knew?

One thing that was pleasantly encouraging was seeing how vibrant and relevant book stores seemed to be. The famous Cǎrturești Carusel's old town location was buzzing. I optimistically picked up The Appointment out of respect for my guide's recommendation.

Slow start, put it down. Next big plane ride maybe.

Next stop was the obligatory visit to Palace of Parliament. Yes, it's large.

If you decide that you must see / visit it, know that you can enjoy a walk afterwards through Izvor Park, then either (1) crack a right onto lower Lipscani (described as lesser visited and more authentic by my guide) and continue on into Old Town, or (B) continue straight ahead into Cismigiu Gardens.

After returning to my hotel for a few hours of work I ventured back out in the evening. My objective was Gangnam Pocha, which I had spotted during the afternoon tour. I got there maybe 15 minutes before closing and luckily was able to persuade them to allow me to eat in. Some fried chicken and kimchi fried rice hit the spot.

Also saw the drinking pods in action at night. Not sure about the ventilation situation. Didn't try it out to verify feasibility. But they are fun to look at as you walk around.

And that was pretty much a wrap on 36 hours in Bucharest.