Sinaia is a large-ish touristified town with lots of hotels, a nice town centre, located right next to a large mountain, cable cars, ski slopes, a bob slay course, the works.
My mom owns her old apartment in Bucharest, but since we stay there only about 7 weeks a year we rent it out to people, mainly students.
This year is a girl called Mariana. She is from Sinaia, and it just happened that she was going back there the same day that me and Luke were going there to visit. My mom gave us all a lift, and we stayed at her house for 3 nights. Her parents insisted on it. They were really nice and very generous. We got free food and free accomodation which was very nice of them. They were asking us all the time if we needed something, wanted more food or more wine, it was quite funny.
We went around the town, we took the cable car up the mountain to 5000 feet, and the another cable car to 8000 feet. See the pics, it was very nice. So high up that the clouds would go around us. What I really remember well was the crisp fresh air, and the complete silence, things which you just don't get in Bucharest. The mountain we went up is quite weathered so it looks a bit hilly, but at over 8000 ft it definitely is a mountain, just an easy to trek mountain. We didn't go to the highest mountain range in Romania (Fagaras ridge) or the volcanic cones since they are 100's of miles away from here and we didn't have the time.
Later on we went to a nice and big nightclub there too where we played pool and got wasted for about £5 ($8.5 or €7).
The next day we visited the Peles and Pelisor Palaces. Built by the Romanian Royal family about 150 years ago, they, especially Peles is absolutely amazing. Again, photo taking was not allowed. The guide said that the decor was so elaborate that few buildings in the world could match it in style and decadence, and that it rivaled Versailles. Crystal lights and mirrors, parchets with 17 types of rare woods, curtains of silk, persian carpets of the finest quality. This one I can't describe. You need to see it to truly understand and belive your eyes. If you want to see photos of the inside, look it up on the net with a search engine. Good luck finding any. I couldn't. Extract from a website: "Considered by many one of the most beautiful castles in all Europe, Peles Castle is a masterpiece of German new-Renaissance architecture. Commissioned by King Carol I in 1873 and completed in 1883, Peles' interiors are an opulent display of elegant design and historical artifact. Its 160 rooms are adorned with the finest examples of European art, Murano crystal chandeliers, German stained-glass windows, walls covered with Cordoba leather, Meissen and Sevres porcelains, ebony and ivory sculptures."
We also went to see a very old monestery. It is comprised of an outer wall for defence, with accomodation built onto the inside of the wall, has several courtyards and two churches. The entrance fee was about 50p ($0.85 or €0.70) that goes towards maintenance. It also had a small gift shop. It is a Eastern Church (Christian Orthodox) monestary. This is the main religion in Eastern Europe. To give you a point of refference, it's a lot that Catholicism, but with slightly different beliefs and more...orthodox. :-þ
The day we left we bought Mariana and her parents some good quality booze as a thank you gesture.
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