Trick or Treat

Week 15

Romania

This week we head north out Bulgaria to Romania as we hear they have some good Trick or Treat sites. The name “Romania” comes from the Latin word “Romanus” which means “citizen of the Roman Empire.”

As we walk our way across the Romanian countryside looking for some good Trick or Treat stops, we encounter multiple fascinating sites including Romania’s own spooky version of Mt. Rushmore.

This sculpture, on a rocky outcrop at the river Danube’s Iron Gates gorge, was made between 1994 and 2004 and depicts Decebalus, the last king of Dacia, who fought against the Roman Empire. Spooky indeed, but no treats.

We also visit the tallest wooden church in the world, and the second tallest wooden structure in Europe, which is found in Romania. The 257-foot tall church is topped by a 23-foot cross that weighs 1,000lbs. Very impressive, but not a Kit-Kat in sight. Feeling like the quality of Romanian Trick or Treat was fake news, we crest a hilltop and realize we may have found the Trick or Treat jackpot.

Built in 1212 by the Teutonic Order in what is now central Romania, the Bran Castle has gained notoriety for its supposed relationship to both Vlad the Impaler and the home to Bram Stoker’s fictional character, Dracula. Further investigation reveals the connection is speculative at best. Our enthusiastic bell-ringing and door-knocking goes unanswered. As the sun starts to set, we decide to move on...just in case.

Bucharest, Romania

Prudently leaving Dracula’s castle before nightfall, we make our way into Bucharest. The name Bucuresti can be translated as “the city of joy” or “beautiful city”, and we see both names fit the city perfectly.

Walking the streets of Bucharest, the Romanian Palace of the Parliament Building is hard to miss. Boasting more than 3,000 rooms over 330,000 square meters and constructed with marble and steel, it was originally called the People’s House by its visionary, the former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, who used it as his family’s residence and as the seat of his government. To complete it, he razed places of worship, workshops, factories, parks, part of the Old Town, and entire neighborhoods. More than 20,000 workers and 700 architects worked on the opulent Neoclassical-style palace over a span of 13 years while Romanians faced poverty.

On the slightly less ostentatious side, Bucharest has one of the world’s prettiest bookshops, Cărturești Carusel opened in 2015 in a restored 19th century building. It contains more than 10,000 books, 5,000 albums and DVDs and a top floor bistro which we enjoy after browsing the many volumes.

As we mingle among our new Romanian friends, we learn of their many amazing achievements. In addition to holding the world record for the world's longest sausage at 37 miles,

and the world's biggest goulash at 7.3 tons,

and the word's heaviest cake at 619 pounds,

Romanian also has some pretty accomplished athletes. The first ever perfect 10 awarded in the Olympic Games went to Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci for her performance on the uneven bars in Montreal, Canada in 1976.The 14-year old went to on score 7 perfect 10’s during the 1976 Olympics.

In 2019, Romanian Simona Halep won the Women’s Singles title at Wimbledon.

While we struck out on the Trick or Treating, between the sausage, the goulash and the cake, we found more than enough to eat. Our indulgence likely impacted our progress as we only covered 353 miles this past week. No worries, as we are now well-fed and well-rested, we are still very much on track to get to Bethlehem by Christmas. This coming week we'll pass back through Bulgaria on our way to Turkey. Keep up the great work!