About a hour south of Brasov by train on the way to Bucharest is the mountain resort of Sinaia. It is where King Carol I built his summer residence - Peles Castle. Carol I was king of the smaller Romania from 1866 to 1914 before it united with Transylvania.
This place gets really crowded. When you book your tickets you are given a 1.75 hour time slot. As most people will arrive at the start time of their time slot, arriving later, say after a hour, means you will have a more comfortable experience.
The castle was built between 1875 and 1914 and had every modern convenience available at the time - electricity throughout, fully functioning bathrooms, central heating and a centralised vaccum cleaning system. After the fall of Communisim the Romanian Royal Family returned to Romania and Peles Castle was returned to them, however, it functions today as a national museum. The royals seem to like Transylvania as Britain's King Charles owns property here which he both uses and lets out.
 |
| The Hall of Honour |
|
The glass roof of the Hall retracts electronically to allow sunshine in or stargazing
|
 |
| The Moorish Room |
 |
| Ensuite bathrooms |
Being a mountain resort Sinaia is, in the winter, Romania's premier ski resort which means that the infrastructure is there to allow mountain access in the summer - unfortunately, as i don't like them, by cable car. A two stage gondola system takes you up to 2100 metres - this is much higher than Ben Nevis, higher than we hiked in the Pyrenees for the Camino, but not quite as high as Mexico City. The first stage is ok but the second is a real eyes closed job. In fact at the top I did feel a bit dizzy looking down on Sinaia even with my feet firmly on the ground. It is definitely what some people would call a "thin space" - a point where the perception of heaven and earth changes.
No comments:
Post a Comment