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La drum între Timişoara şi Sibiu, itinerariu de o zi

Am parcurs drumul Timişoara – Sibiu, ca parte dintr-un tur de 5 zile prin Sud-Vestul şi Centrul ţării, cu plecare din Bucureşti şi înnoptări la Cazanele Dunării, Timişoara, Sibiu dar am vizitat multe altele între aceste repere principale.

Am lăsat în urma noastră Timişoara, după ce am devorat un mic dejun delicios la Neaţa Omlette Bistro, în apropiere de cea mai frumoasă piaţă a oraşului după părerea mea: Piaţa Unirii.

Cetatea din Deva

Primul obiectiv a fost cetatea din Deva, dar merită să dai o fuga şi prin centrul oraşului unde găseşti o zonă pietonală cu clădiri istorice şi multe terase pentru o gustare sau un suc, apoi “Aleea Gimnastelor ” cu statuile bust ale celor mai îndrăgite gimnaste ale Romaniei şi nu în ultimul rând frumosul Castel Magna Curia despre care vă voi povesti mai multe.

Cetatea Devei, fortificaţie medievală impunătoare din secolul al XIII-lea a fost recent recondiţionată cu fonduri europene şi tronează pe un moţ de deal deasupra oraşului. Odată ce ai ajuns sus la porţile imense, nu are cum să nu te încânte mozaicul multicolor de păduri şi câmpuri arate şi orasul care se întinde la picioarele tale.

Mi-a amintit de cetatea Raşnov de lângă Braşov, pe care o vizitaserăm cu doi ani mai devreme, aceea fiind chiar mai bine păstrată şi recondiţionată. Vă las aici şi impresiile de la Cetatea Râşnovului.

La cetatea Devei nu mi-a placut însă ce au făcut în parcarea de la baza dealului, destul de încăpătoare în mod ideal, dar care era acaparată de câteva tiribombe şi multe gherete cu gogoși, kurtoşi şi nelipsiţii mici de unde se răspândeau fumuri înnecăcioase. Accesul era atat de îngreunat încât mijlocul parcării rămasese liber, dar nu puteai ajunge până acolo din cauza maşinilor oprite anapoda cât mai aproape de un mic semicrud şi o bere la pet. Probabil ai şanse de mai puțină aglomerație într-o zi normală de lucru, dar în acea Duminică haosul care se crease mi-a dezamagit impresia generală.

Cât te costă sa vizitezi cetatea?

Dacă alegi varianta de urcat cea mai rapidă şi uşoară, cu telecabina de la poalele dealului, te costă 20 lei un bilet dus-întors de adult, care include şi accesul în cetate. Intrarea este gratuită dacă urci pe picioruşele tale potecile umbrite de copaci ale parcului din jur şi apoi alte câteva zeci de trepte până în partea de sus a cetăţii.

Despre Castelul Manga Curia de la poalele dealului cu cetatea am însă doar cuvinte frumoase de spus. Clădirea în stil baroc, este în forma actuală din secolul al XVIII-lea şi în prezent găzduieşte Muzeul de Istorie al Municipiului Hunedoara. Biletul de intrare costa 25LEI la vizita noastră din iunie 2018. Grădinile din jur sunt şi ele foarte frumoase şi trebuie să te te plimbi şi pe acolo, mai ales pentru că în curtea din spate se află de fapt o altă parte a muzeului, unde ai acces liber, cu statui şi mozaicuri descoperite în zilele dacilor şi romanilor.

Parcul Dentrologic Simeria

Nu foarte departe de oraşul Deva, ajungi la Parcul Dentrologic sau Arboretumul Simeria. Dar ce înseamnă parc dendrologic şi de ce este acesta din Simeria important? Eu cel putin mi-am pus aceste întrebări, iar Wikipedia mi le-a lămurit:

Rezervația naturală (numită colocvial și Parcul dendrologic Simeria) cuprinde cea mai veche și valoroasă colecție de plante exotice și autohtone din România, cu peste 2000 de taxoni, într-un ansamblu peisagistic deosebit. Rezervația se întinde pe o suprafață de 70 ha, clasându-se astfel pe locul 10 în Europa și pe locul 101 în lume conform Encyclopædia Britannica.

Intrarea costa doar 4 lei, dar grija pentru acest parc frumos este din păcate pe măsura preţului pentru că lipseşte aproape în totalitate. Prima parte din parc unde ar trebui să te plimbi în aria amenajată, are astăzi o clădire închisă şi lăsată în paragină de cine ştie când iar potecile, grădinile şi lacurile par abandonate şi se degradează şi ele rapid. Altfel, o plimbare prin răcoarea şi la umbra vegetaţiei pe mine m-a relaxat foarte mult.

Staţiunea Balneo-Climaterică Geoagiu-Băi

A fost prima oară când am ajuns în aceasta stațiune si am fost plăcut surprinsă de ce am văzut aici.

Dar până să ajungem în staţiune ne-am oprit mai întâi la micuţa Capela Rotonda din oraşul Geoagiu, aceasta fiind cea mai veche biserică din piatră de pe teritoriul României, rămasă din secolul al XI-lea, cu o formă circulară de unde i s-a tras şi numele de Rotonda. Nu ştiu dacă interiorul se poate vizita, dacă s-a păstrat vreo pictură murală sau daca e ceva de văzut pentru că seara pe la ora 18:00 când am ajuns noi ușa era încuiată. Lângă această capelă se află o alta bisericuţă de mici dimensiuni, Biserica Reformată. Ea a fost construită în secolul XVII, distrusă în totalitate la un moment dat, şi refăcută la început de secol XX din materialele rămase aici.

La intrarea în staţiune, prima oprire a fost la Cascada Termală Clocota, un loc foarte frumos şi rar întâlnit la noi în ţară pentru că mai există doar o singură cascadă cu ape termale în judetul Harghita. Ai grijă dacă depăşeşti gardul de lemn, pentru că terasele frumoase dar mâloase şi cu muschi sunt foarte alunecoase.

Situl arheologic Băile Romane Germisara, chiar în inima staţiunii, mie mi-a placut foarte mult. Este un loc unic la noi în ţară, vechi de aproape 2000 de ani, construit de Romani dupa ce au pus stăpânire pe Dacia, îngropat sub straturi de pământ şi vegetaţie şi readus la viaţă în urma săpăturilor arheologice.

Nu pleca imediat la drum când poţi să te mai plimbi un pic şi prin parcul frumos de lângă sit, iar dacă mai ai chef de mai multă verdeaţă şi aer rece de pădure, ajungi în 10 minute la Grota Haiducilor. Nu am îndrăznit să intru, până şi eu eram nevoită să mă aplec şi cine ştie ce lilieci aveau casă la interior.

Cam la jumătate de oră de mers cu mașina de Geoagiu Băi se află şi Muzeul Memorial Aurel Vlaicu, unde noi nu am mai fost pentru că era deja târziu şi trebuia să ne grăbim la Sibiu pentru a lua în primire cazarea de pe AirBnb.

A fost o zi plină, toate locurile vizitate au fost pentru mine o premiera şi mi-a placut să le descopar cu bune şi cu rele, iar când am ajuns rupţi de foame şi oboseală în Sibiu, oraş pe care îl găsesc parcă din ce în ce mai frumos cu fiecare vizită, m-am bucurat că era în Piaţa Sfatului un Street Food Festival pe cinste, aşa cum nici Bucureştiul nu e înstare să organizeze.

Vizitat 1 Iunie 2018

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Conacul Bellu de la Urlaţi – ce vizităm în apropiere de Bucureşti

Am aflat despre acest conac frumos de la o emisiunie culturală pe care am urmărit-o într-o seară la televizor şi care m-a făcut să îmi doresc să îl vizitez cât mai repede posibil. Ocazia perfectă s-a ivit într-o sâmbătă caldă din Aprilie când am străbătut cei 65 de km de la Bucureşti până la Conacul Bellu de la Urlaţi. Continue reading “Conacul Bellu de la Urlaţi – ce vizităm în apropiere de Bucureşti”

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The fabulous casino-hotels of Las Vegas

I only got to understand the fascination that everybody has about Las Vegas, after visiting it last Spring.

While in the first day I was revolted by the extravagance and the kitsch, the water expense of this desert town (because every hotel has some sort of luxurious fountain), the unlimited energy consumption and by those men and women almost completely naked provoking you to take a picture for money with them, there’s undoubtedly this energy 24/7 that becomes an addiction and every evening you want to go out, to see more, to experience more: food, casinos, shows or just to be part of the intense atmosphere of the streets. For a few days, not more, otherwise it drains you from every drop of energy and money of course :). Continue reading “The fabulous casino-hotels of Las Vegas”

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Three Canadian cities: Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa

 

Aside from Niagara Waterfall, we didn’t see any of the other natural marvels from the vast Canadian territory, a situation that I would be really happy to change at some point. 4 years ago was the first time getting out of the European frontiers, and it felt the right choice to start with the cities. Continue reading “Three Canadian cities: Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa”

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Esslingen Am Neckar – an ancient town for the young people

Esslingen Am Neckar is a beautiful town from the Baden-Wurttemberg area in Germany, located 15 km away from the big industrial city of  Stuttgart being a suitable destination for a weekend break. Whether you’re a local or you’re a curious traveler, the historic importance and cultural legacy, the beautiful natural surroundings or the cozy restaurants will stimulate your desire to explore, to know, to taste and to live. 

Continue reading “Esslingen Am Neckar – an ancient town for the young people”

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Hoover Dam and a cruise on Lake Mead – facts and myths

When you plan a visit to Las Vegas, try to set aside a few days to explore the surrounding area, because there are many stunning places in the arid state of Nevada. Hoover Dam is one of them, a construction considered a technological wonder of our modern days and one of the principal reasons why Las Vegas developed into the big and luxurious metropolis that it is today.

Hoover Dam – history facts

From Las Vegas, I picked an organized bus tour: Hoover Dam Tour with Lake Mead Cruise for 99 USD, that included a stop at the famous Las Vegas Sign, the Hoover Dam Museum and the power-plant, a cruise on Lake Mead with lunch included (very minimal and not very tasty to be honest) and on the way back a stop to the Ethel M Chocolate Factory (the M&M’s factory).

This was an entire day tour, but it left me with the feeling of being rushed precisely at Hoover Dam. We lost some precious 20-30 minutes in traffic jams and only 2 hours were not enough for the Museum, the Power Plant and then walking on the edge of the Dam. However, the bus driver was very well informed about the history of the places and he shared with us many interesting facts and stories.

Designed to last 2000 years

So this Dam is designed to last over 2000 years and is not completely dried to this day. It’s also the first one to have been built along Colorado river, out of the 5 that exist today. They first called it Boulder Dam  and that’s because it was supposed to be constructed inside Boulder Canyon, but the plan was moved to the Black Canyon, because this area was more stable.

A new town was born: Boulder City, first called The Rag Town

In 1929 the authorities made the announcement that they needed 5.000 workers for building a new Dam. But because this was happening during the depression times when there was a lot of unemployment, 42.000 people from all over the US showed up. Nobody was prepared to accommodate so many and the minimal living conditions were not set up for them: they had to live in barracks or under plain sky. 475 people died because of diseases, malnutrition, dehydration and snake bites and the place took the infamous name of Rag Town.

The workers were only given 2 days off per year: one for Christmas and one on the 4th of July, all the rest being hard labor days. But they finished the Dam 2.5 years earlier, a performance never to be seen again.

Part of the gratitude of the Government was to sell houses for 1USD to the workers that wanted to remain and continue to work on the maintenance of the Dam.

And this is how a new town was born, called Boulder City (after the Boulder Canyon). Gambling and prostitution were always and still are prohibited. For fun and noise and losing all your money you can always go 20 miles away, to Las Vegas:). There are only 12000 inhabitants in Boulder City that want to keep it as clean and quiet as possible. In fact they only allow 2 new buildings per year: one for living and one for business purposes.

A myth: there are bodies stuck inside the concrete walls

Around 100 people lost their lives while working to build Hoover Dam. But there’s a grim belief that continues to intrigue: are bodies buried inside this massive concrete sarcophagus? No, that didn’t happen, people were not left behind when they faced a terrible accident.

Moreover, there were many safety measures invented on this construction site, like the hard hat.

Lake Mead, a cruise with the Desert Princess

After spending 1.5 hours inside the belly of the Dam, I was so excited to get back to natural light and continue the tour with a cruise on Lake Mead. This is the largest man made Lake in USA and 90% of the water in Las Vegas and Boulder City is sourced from here. So if there was no Dam, there was no Lake Mean, no Boulder City and no Las Vegas!

But because of climate change and 12 years of drought, there has been a massive dropping in the level of the water as never seen before. The bus driver was making a joke with us, saying that the famous slogan What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas will probably have to be changed with: Save the water, drink a tequila or Save the water, shower with a friend. But jokes aside this is an alarming situation that the area is dealing with.

The cruise lasted one hour and we sailed on the calm and dark blue water of the lake with The Desert Princess, a paddle boat built in Wisconsin and initially used by the workers.

Visited March, 2018

 

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Amazed by the Grand Canyon: hiking under the South Rim

 

At the beginning of the year, I wasn’t even dreaming about a new trip to the USA, let alone thinking about exploring the Grand Canyon, their most famous natural site.

From earliest childhood years, we learn about it in school, documentaries or just regular American movies. The thought “I want to go there one day” was growing stronger and stronger for many many years. But even so and even now when travelling across the globe is easier than ever, I was still having a hard time seeing myself actually there. Continue reading “Amazed by the Grand Canyon: hiking under the South Rim”

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Athens, the birthplace of democracy – what you need to know to plan your visit

2400 years ago,  Athens set up the foundation for western civilization.

Cleistenes is considered the father of democracy, but it was a few decades later, during Pericle’s rule, when Athens shaped human history. It was a time that saw the birth of science, architecture, philosophy, literature and drama. The Parthenon, Athens Nike and the Erectheion temples were built on the heights of the Acropolis. Continue reading “Athens, the birthplace of democracy – what you need to know to plan your visit”

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The story of Anafiotika, the hidden island of Athens

In Athens, you’ll probably commit all your time to visiting the ancient Greek temples. After all, this is a city that lived the glory days over 2400 years ago, when the temperamental Olympian Gods were deciding the fate of the Athenians.

But there are many more stories to tell, and today I’m sharing with you the one about Anafiotika, a tiny neighborhood like no other around there that I’m really happy we got to wander in the last evening in Athens. You almost cannot believe your eyes that a place like this exists in the heart of Athens, the bustling metropolis that engulfs almost half of Greece’s population. Continue reading “The story of Anafiotika, the hidden island of Athens”

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Athens – survival guide and safety rules – how they steal from you

Visiting Athens activated a mixture of emotions like no other city before. I  enjoyed many things from this trip, but was revolted by probably just as many other things.

The source of democracy, the beautiful places and the captivating stories were  shadowed by the thieves, the dirt, the neglected buildings and the crazy roads.

I was really enthusiastic about this vacation. Probably even more than I am with every other occasion when I get to travel and explore new places. And that’s because we were taking with us my parents and my parents-in-law. Quite a group, I think you will agree on that 🙂 ! So I had made a very thorough list of the things that I wanted to show them. But I failed to read well about the safety rules and the places to avoid.

So here is our story, how we got robbed two times on the same day and the red-alert  zones from Athens.

The Red-Alert Zones

Omonia Square is actually one of the most important squares from the city.

After Greece became an independent state in 1832, and Athens was named the Capital city, two major squares were built: Syntagma Square (The Parliament Square) and Omonia Square. They are connected by a well known boulevard, Panepistimiou, lined by all the major banks and university buildings.

But the national importance of Omonia doesn’t make it safe or clean at all. Because it’s a paradise for thieves and apparently drug dealers as well. And the secondary streets that branch from this square, you’d better try to avoid at night time. It’s actually at Omonia that we were first robbed, but in the underground, in the metro-station.

Victoria Square is one metro station away from Omonia.

This is actually where we booked our AirBnb Apartment. I was so happy to find a good apartment in such a central area, close to the Victoria Subway station and at a walking distance from many of Athens attractions. But while the apartment was nice, the neighborhood was so dirty and smelly and populated with all sorts of characters and I would not recommend staying here.  Better consider staying 4-5 metro stations away from the central area. On the last night in Athens, we had to change accommodation somewhere close to the Agios Dimitrios metro station. This neighborhood was cleaner and felt safe and accommodating.

Monastiraki Square is also one of their most important and historic squares.

Roman Agora starts here and Ancient Agora is just a few minutes away.  But because it is a magnet for tourism and it’s crowded most of the times,  it’s also a home for the thieves and beggars. Ermou street is on one side of Monastiraki Square and is packed with ruined buildings and trash, and the narrow streets that converge from it are filthy and smelly so much that I’d wish I had a mask to wear over my mouth and nose.

Between Monastiraki metro station and Omonia metro station, we got robbed again for the second time.

The Subway 

Because all the bad things in Athens happened to us in the metro trains, it’s where I advise you to watch your back the most and hold on tight to your belongings.

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Near Monastiraki Square

Watch over your shoulder – How we got robbed

I think the first mistake that we made, was to look too much as tourists. We were a big group of 6 people, holding maps, quite cheerful and dressed for vacation. It was actually like holding a big flashy sign for TOURISTS.

In my own and personal case, because I have traveled a lot, I’m probably excessively cautious, with my stuff. But my parents were not. Although, they actually were too. But these thieves, they are just so good at what they do…

We were at Omonia metro station, changing trains. When getting into the train, a big guy went before me and my mother, and he was blocking the way. So obviously a lot of people got crammed behind us and this guy. I told him to make way and pushed him aside. I managed to pass, but he then quickly blocked my mother. And before managing to take her besides me, her wallet got stolen from her backpack. Fortunately, it was empty of money and documents… Just an old wallet so it was not a fruitful steal for the thief!

All this experience made us even more cautious, but cautious is not enough.

That same day, when returning from Monastiraki Square, in the metro train again, my father was holding his bag tight with his hand in front of his chest. You don’t want to be robbed again, right!? But, even so, a thief still tried to steal from him by opening one of the smaller pockets. But my father saw his move, made a shout at him, and the thief just calmly left, no other person actually appearing surprised or trying to help in any way. Part of the daily life happenings I guess… And all this time, we did not see any guardians inside the metro stations or the metro trains. We actually did not see any police in the crowded squares of Athens…

So, the final note is that you should make a good research not only about the places that you want to visit, but also the places that it’s best to avoid.

Well, don’t worry though, I have also good things to say about Athens. Keep an eye for the next Travel Article about Athens, that will be a lot more cheerful, I promise:).

Visited at the end of August, 2018