Vacations Blog

Unique tradition, wonderful landscapes and virgin forests along with friendly and open people, Romania makes a great place to visit and once visited, you’re surely coming back!

Unique tradition, wonderful landscapes and virgin forests along with friendly and open people, Romania makes a great place to visit and once visited, you’re surely coming back!

A few years ago if you had asked someone where Romania was they would have said, “I don’t know”. These days almost everybody has heard in one way or another of this small country, what they don’t know is that Romania is a great place to come if you want to experience things in a more laid back fashion. In Romania you can hike, visit the Black sea, the monasteries or just find out about the Romanian culture.

Transylvania

Transylvania is the place that sparks the imagination: Dracula, dark spooky castles, mountains covered in mist…well Transylvania does have all that and more.
Ok, ok maybe there isn’t a real Dracula that drinks everybody’s blood, but there was a Vlad Tepes that ruled his people with an iron fist. It is from him that the Dracula legends came from.

Brasov is the place to go if you are interested in seeing monuments dating back to the 14th century, there are the Black Churches and a, “must see” is “Castelul Bran”, the castle where the prince Vlad Tepes lived and reigned.

Also while you are in the area make sure you visit the “Peles Palace”, it was built in 1883 by King Carol.

The Peles Palace was built in a sophisticated architecture and it is right at the foot of the mountains that gives the place a story like landscape.

Another place of interest in Transylvania is Sighisoara , this town is one of the oldest medieval cities in all of Europe! Cobblestone streets, ancient towers and secret passages, Sighisoara has them all!

Wherever you chose to go in Transylvania you can be sure to find people still living in their traditional ways, you will get to see people dress in the traditional clothing and you will get to eat homemade cheese and traditional food. What more could a person want?

Maramures

No place in the world can compare to this small corner of Romania (in the north of the country); people have kept their traditions for generations, and this truly is a place where change comes with scant steps. The best time of year to come to Maramures is either in the winter or the spring.

During the winter holidays, people dress up in big sheepskin costumes (as a popular tradition of the place)and wear big ugly masks representing different animals, now these costumes have big bells on them and the men run up and down the streets making the bells ring. In December, in Sighet (a small town of the county), all the different people, with their costumes, come from the surrounding villages celebrating and having fun with different contest in town. If you want to see something unique, this is the place to come!

During the spring, especially around Easter, you can see people in their colorful, traditional clothes taking baskets of food to the priest to be blessed. The churches in Maramures are usually very big with huge bell towers in them, to call everybody to church on Sundays.

In Sapanta, a village near Sighet, is the “Cimitirul Vesel”, or the “Merry Cemetery”; in this cemetery all the headstones have poems or short stories about the people buried there. This is the only place in the world where you can find something like that!

The Black Sea

If you like the sea, go to the Black Sea! Huge expanses of golden sand for sunbathing, beautiful water and gorgeous florae and fauna. There are places to go all up and down the coast where you can find good hotels and just nice spots for vacation.

The Danube Delta

People that went to wonderful and famous places all around the world claim that The Danube Delta is a place they will never forget. This gorgeous landscape is formed by Danube River after a 2860 Km of flowing from Germany to the Black Sea. The river, in its course, gathers the tributary streams from 10 different countries, and no wonder that at its final, it covers a surface of 2681 square kilometers, and it is increasing every year with 40 m because of the 67 million tones of alluvial deposits brought by the river. If you go there, you will be surprised by over 1200 different species of plants and trees, more than 300 species of birds, which is the richest collection from all Europe, and 100 types of fish.

This natural reservation is unique in whole Europe! If you want to see nature in its beauty, there is the place to go. Many other places are waiting for you to visit. Virgin woods and spots that will make you feel one with nature.

With friendly people and a whole lot of locations to see and enjoy, Romania has something for everybody and that makes it a great place to visit!

By Claudia Miclaus

Where to visit in Rome, St. Peter’s Square is a good place to start.

Picture From Rome

There are literally thousands of websites, books, articles etc, on this Eternal City. I didn’t read any of them before I went. I wanted to soak up the atmosphere all by myself, and only then would I buy a tourist book to investigate further if I felt the need.

I’m so pleased I did it this way because I would have missed so much. Like the Sunday morning I visited St Peter’s Square (Piazza di San Pietro) and the Vatican. Looking up on arrival at the famous Piazza, I’m surrounded by 140 Saints peering down on me!

Looking around me I’m slowly being surrounded by thousands of people, there’s no rushing or pushing, Italians move quickly with style, it was just a quiet gathering coming together in one special place.

Then at the 11am on the dot, the Pope appears from his window of his apartment, the whole audience of about 50,000 people burst into song with the Vatican Hymn, a very emotional occasion, which I would have missed, had I have listened to previous visitors, who advised me not to visit on a Sunday as it would be too crowded!

If you’re going to take a break in Rome, and want to know the best place for real Italian food, i.e. what the Italians eat themselves, have a chat with the locals (shopkeepers are a great source of information and most can get by with our language, especially if you need feeding), or find a friendly receptionist at your hotel, they will direct you to a good Trattoria, where generally there’s no menus, wine comes in a decanter, and one of the chef’s will probably come to your table to get your order. But it’s much less informal than a ristorante and much cheaper, and the food is freshly cooked.

Another good tip is when you book in at your chosen hotel ask the receptionist if there are any free upgrades. You could end up with an Executive room at no extra cost! Not every hotel will do it, but it is possible if they’re available. Or ask for a reduction on an upgraded room, again, this absolutely fine, subject to availability. It really does pay to go early in the year or out of season. I first went in March and it was T-shirts all weekend.

Just a last word, if you are going to the Colosseum, it is best to join a group with a guide, you’ll learn so much more, and don’t hover near the Roman Centurions outside, they’ll beg you for a photo, then chase you round the Colosseum for payment!

By Lesley Jones

Northern Ireland is bounded on the north and northeast by the

Northern Ireland Landscape

North Channel, on the southeast by the Irish Sea and on the south and west by Ireland. The border with Ireland is 360 km long. The region’s coastline consists of wide, sandy beaches, broken by steep cliffs in the north, northeast and southeast. Near the northern most point of Northern Ireland is Giant’s Causeway, an unusual formation of basalt columns created by the cooling of an ancient lava flow. Rathlin Island and several smaller islands lie off the northern coast.

The different regions of Northern Ireland are frequently referred to by the names of the province’s six traditional Irish counties, even though they are no longer the units of local government. These are clockwise from the northeast Antrim, Down, Armagh, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Londonderry (Derry).

The region’s topography is often described as saucer shaped… A low lying central area is surrounded by the Antrim Mountains and Glens of Antrim to the north and northeast, the Mourne Mountains to the southeast, the uplands of south Armagh to the south, and the Sperrin Mountains to the northwest. A number of broad river valleys run from the central region to the sea. The highest mountain is Slieve Donard (852 m/2,795 ft), located at the eastern end of the Mourne Mountains in County Down.

Rivers and Lakes

Lough Neagh, in the center of Northern Ireland, is the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles, with an area of 396 sq km (153 sq mi). All the region’s counties border it except Fermanagh. Upper and Lower Lough Erne, in County Fermanagh, are the only other major freshwater lakes. Belfast Lough, Carlingford Lough, Strangford Lough, and Lough Foyle are the largest sea inlets. The major river of Northern Ireland is the Bann, which rises in the Mourne Mountains and flows northward through Lough Neagh to become a wide and navigable waterway to the sea. The Foyle flows north to the sea at the port city of Londonderry (Derry), forming the border with Ireland for part of its length. The Lagan flows northeast to the sea at Belfast.

Wild plant and animal life is similar to that found in the northern and western parts of Britain. Sedges, rushes, ferns and grasses are the principal plants and rhododendrons flourish in many areas. Winters are mild and there are no regular sharp frosts, so it is also possible to grow decorative shrubs such as fuchsia and exotic imports such as those of the genus Escallonia. Wild mammals are limited to small rodents of the woods and fields, such as rabbits and stoats. There are many species of small birds. Salmon and trout thrive in Northern Ireland’s rivers and lakes and the province is also known for a distinctive type of whitefish called the pollan, found in Lough Neagh and Upper and Lower Lough Erne.

Ireland is not rich in minerals. Small-scale coal mining has been pursued sporadically at Coalisland, in central Northern Ireland, and at Ballycastle in the north. Farmers and other rural people harvest peat for fuel, but very few deposits are broad or deep enough to justify commercial exploitation. Limestone and gravel are extensively quarried. Some 6 percent of Northern Ireland’s land area is forested, much of it planted in recent times.

Climate

Northern Ireland’s climate is temperate, with warm winters and cool summers. In January the average daily temperature is around 4°C (39°F), and in July it is about 15°C (59°F). Annual precipitation is about 1,100 mm (42 in), spread fairly evenly throughout the year. Spring is normally the driest season. Overcast skies are the norm: Average daily hours of clear skies range from less than two from November to January to around six in May and June. Northern Ireland tends to be breezy and gales are common in spring and fall.

Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland.

Almost half of the province’s population lives in the greater Belfast area. Founded on the sandy mouth of the Lagan River in 1613 by settlers from Britain, Belfast took its name from Beal Feirsde (Irish for “the mouth of the sandbank”). Belfast remained a small trading port until about 1800. It subsequently became a major industrial city, growing from about 20,000 people at the beginning of the 1800s to a peak of 443,671 in 1951. Northern Ireland’s second largest city, Londonderry (Derry), is much smaller. Derry (Irish Doire, for “place of the oaks”), a small community centered on a 6th-century abbey, was rebuilt by British settlers in 1613. Soon thereafter the town granted charters to several London merchant companies to develop the area, and the official name of the city became Londonderry. This name was never fully accepted or used by Catholics, who in general still refer to the city as Derry. The city is therefore often referred to in print as Londonderry/Derry or Derry/Londonderry. The only other urban center designated as a city is Armagh, which is actually a small town. Armagh owes its prominence to its historic role as the center of Christianity in Ireland and the home of both the Catholic and Anglican primates of all Ireland. Major towns include the market centers of Coleraine (headquarters of the University of Ulster), Dungannon, Enniskillen, Omagh and Strabane; the ports of Larne and Newry; and the historic linen manufacturing towns of Ballymena, Lurgan and Portadown.

Picture: Mourne Mountains seen from beach in Kilkeel, Northern Ireland
By Claudia Miclaus