11/19/15

Romania and Bulgaria


We started planning this trip like most of the others we have planned; picking a place we have never been, acquiring books, searching the Internet, and then starting to put the draft itinerary  and details into our trip-at-a-glance spreadsheet format. We were rolling along when we discovered Compass Travel on-line. Their itinerary seemed very close to what we wanted to do. We contacted them  (Andrei) and he was very flexible to accommodate our desires. This was a private guide and driver situation and the pricing was very reasonable. We were very apprehensive about being with a full-time guide for so long, but it could not have worked out better. I'm sure we saw many places that we would not have been able to find on our own.  Marcel is one of the best guides we have ever had. In lieu of our normal spreadsheet for information on this trip please click on Compass Travel in our Favorite Links area.

 Romania


Bucharest: Palace of Parliament, 2nd Largest Building in the World








Revolution Square


Lunch at Hunchback's / Traditional Romanian Skinless Sausage
  

14th Century Cozia Monastery




 Church in Sibiu





 Raw Milk Dispenser


Sibiu Market 





Huniady Castle



 Cluj



Maramures Region


Sapinta's Merry Cemetery, Each Wooden Cross has a Funny Epitaph 


Worlds Tallest Wooden Church / Very Close to Ukrainian Border 



Wooden Whirlpool Rug Washing Machine 


 Marcel / World's Best Guide 



Sighet Market 


Communist Political Prison




Baby Crib and  Jail 


The Maramures Region is Known for their Wooden Gates 


Master Wood Carver  who was featured in 1999 Smithsonian Folk Festival in DC  


Barsana Monastery 






 Traditional Mask Maker 






Spent the day seeing 4 of the 8 Bucovina Painted Monasteries / UNESCO 


 Black Pottery Workshop









 Lunch at a Private Home 


Kids Selling Mushrooms / "Hey Mr. put us on the Internet" Done!








Bizaz Gorge


 Red Lake 




Visit to Gypsy Home 


 Sighisoara 

  

 Sighisoara 




 Bran Castle / Vlad the Impaler or Dracula









Brasov 









Peles Castle / Royal Residences of King Charles I 














Bulgaria



Ivanovo Rock Hewn Churchs




Veliko Tarnovo (Room with a View)



Russian  Church Rose Valley 


Kazanlak Thracian Tomb




Roman Ruins Plovdiv 




Museum House, Plovdiv 



Roman Ruins, Plovdiv


Communist Housing 


Cool Kids!




Rila Monastery / Founded 10th Century by St. Ivan Rilsky






Sofia / National History Museum / Housed in old Communist Conference Center 


Sofia





President's Office 




Sofia Great Synagogue 




Presidential Changing of the Guard


Last Day! Draw!


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2 comments:

Mary Tice said...

Thank you for sharing your beautiful pictures!l

November 19, 2015 at 10:28 PM
TravelerLu said...

We used Compass Tour for a two week tour of Romania and Bulgaria. It was pretty amazing, and your pictures brought back so many great experiences. Our guide, Marion, was also one of the best we've had anywhere!

December 9, 2019 at 5:10 PM

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