Romania

Romania is not among the top vacation destinations for many visitors to Europe, but it is severely underrated. It is so large in size compared to other countries in the Balkans that it effectively guarantees beautiful nature somewhere in the country. And conveniently for nature-lovers, the Carpathian mountains stretch throughout nearly the entire country. While the harsh communist rule in the 1980’s still leaves its mark on the country in a wide variety of ways, the country has been improving quickly in recent years thanks to money flowing in from the EU. On the other hand, a large number of younger Romanians have fled to richer EU countries for higher paid jobs.

The history of the country is very interesting in that it is the only Romance language country east of Italy, and is surrounded by Slavic language countries (excluding Hungary, the oddball of central Europe). The mix of cultures in the northwest of the country is owed to the extra land gained by the country after WWI taken from the Austro-Hungarian empire.

Travel thought: When comparing all the former Warsaw pact nations that were more communist or socialist before 1989, what were some of the best and worst decisions made by these countries that led to their current situations decades later? Can the impact of specific decisions by political leadership be traced through time to measure the quality of decisions made?

Palace of Parliament in Bucharest, the heaviest building in the world after the Pentagon Big building

The nightly fountain show in front of the big building Fountains

Barbie in communist Romania looked a bit different Barbie

The Tiriac Collection, a car collection owned by a Romanian billionaire, is ridiculously large and high quality

It may be the only collection to have one of every generation of Rolls Royce Phantom Tiriac Collection Rolls Royce Phantoms

Many of the “lesser” vehicles are kicked outside in the sun due to lack of interior space Tiriac Collection outside

This poor Porsche tractor didn’t qualify to stay indoors Tiriac Collection tractor

Busteni may be one of the best locations for a fresh lemonade. Note the honey at the bottom, a unique feature of lemonade in Romania compared to neighboring countries

Peles Castle, created for Romanian king Carol I

Same castle, different view Peles Castle

A castle armory fit for a king Armory

It’s a bear market for cryptocurrencies when the only advertising space within budget is in the middle of nowhere Buy bitcoin

You know it’s a bear market when they’re staring at you through the window Little bear

Uh oh, it’s not just a little bear market… Big bear

Bring your own sandwich for fox feeding Friday… Fox

Heaven for bench lovers. Or, what central planning looks like. Benches

Beautiful interior of the Bucharest Athenaeum Marble interior

Another beautiful interior at the Romanian National Bank Bank

The largest replica I’ve ever seen in a museum. Trajan’s column, a key symbol in Romania’s history depicting the collision between Romans and Dacians. The original is in Rome. Trajan's column