Romania Day 4 - Sinaia

 If you squint you can't even see the scaffold! That's what I told myself anyway. It only took four flights, five car journeys and four days on a motorcycle to reach the iconic, the beautiful, Peles Castle.  Yep, the world's best building site. 

First put stop for coffee and cake. Civilized. 

I'd been excited about today's travelling since the initial planning several months ago. It's the day we leave the Great plains and head to the mountains with a final stop at Sinaia, home of Peles Castle. 

Of the people we pass along the journey, those that smile the most have been kids, waving at the road side, or those with horse and cart.  I attempted to capture a couple today. These were not as ornate or loaded as some, but I particularly enjoyed the cart below had a registration number and spare wheel. 

Like other religious countries Ive passed through, Italy of note, there are shrines dotted throughout the countryside next to the road.

  The one below being a fine example, others have pictures of loved ones recently departed.  Interesting to me that people would use a roadside shrine, rather than visit the local church. 

...just in case you forgot where you were, they name the town twice, differently.  Did someone get it wrong? 

The colourful Romanian flag, it's got a certain pride feel to it. The original inspiration? 

Soon enough the roads turned to tracks as we ascended the Carpathian mountains.  Their height affording great views. 

The banter on the intercom turned to bears, as it does with Sarah on this trip. She spends more time looking in the woods for Yogi, than she does looking where she's going.  Even starts hallucinating that every tree stump is bear. 

After a brief stop at an alpine looking taverna for soup we covered the final miles to Sinaia.

It is a far cry from the poverty of the south and must have been a seat of power in days gone by. Some of the buildings, like that above, are slowly rotting away, but still capture the splendor of the past, even in a decaying state. 

Others are fantastically preserved and still severing ale, like the ale house above. 

Above and below, a working relic. An actual hotel on the castle grounds.  You can stay here for approximately £50 per night. 

 Sinaia is well worth the visit. We stayed in the hills near the castle, the town centre is in a valley and quite a walk for a lump like me who's now accustomed sitting on a bike!  

Above, the cathedral behind its protective wall. Keeps out the riff raff.

Below, every house here is to a different plan. Nothing is alike. All unique, like us.