Rămas bun, România

Days 9 and 10 – Friday 16th and Saturday 17th October

Our final day and a half in Romania really capped off a brilliant experience. I said a day or so back something to the effect that the trip was delivering beyond expectations. And so it continued.

The most graphic standout was learning about life under some 40 years of brutal regimes. I know I have a propensity for intolerance; having listened to Victor's stories over the last week, culminating in standing in Bucharest's Revolution Square, and hearing of the events which led up to Ceaușescu's final speech and final days, I am starkly reminded that I have zero to be intolerant of. Ditto almost everyone in Australia. But back to yesterday.

We set off from Brasov around 10. It was a rainy, slightly chilly day, The main focus of the day was a visit to Peleș Castle, the ex-residence of the Romanian royal family. It was built in the late 1800s/early 1900s for King Carol I, who, on balance and for those times seems to have been a reasonable ruler. Certainly, many of the grand buildings of Bucharest owe their existence to Carol (anglicised name, Charles). Internally the building is quite magnificent; the contents opulent beyond belief, as a few of the photos will show. Victor regarded it as the highlight of the tour, and I can see why. On reflection though it wasn't my favourite castle/palace, that still being the Corvin Castle we saw on Monday last (day 5 in blog times). Corvin was considerably more stark than Peles, both inside and out, but the fact that it was first built in the 1400s by a compatriot of Vlad III (the Impaler) gives it a romanticism which Peles can't match.

But Carol I was no doubt an interesting chap who started a dynasty which lasted a couple of hundred years until the arrival of the communists. The dynasty looks like this:

• Carol I (1839-1914). German born and appointed ruler of Romania in 1866 (first as Prince and then King in 1881)

• Ferdinand I (1865 -1927), Carol's nephew, reigned from 1914 - 1927

• Michael I (1921 - 2017), Ferdinand's grandson, “reigned” from 1927 (6 years old) - 1930

• Carol II (1893 - 1953). Did not succeed his father in 1927 due to a marital scandal which saw him renounce his rights and abdicate, but then he returned from exile and reigned from 1930 – 1940, when he again abdicated

• Michael I returned to reign from 1940 – 1947, after which the monarchy was abolished following the arrival of the pro-Russian government

• Margareta (b. 1949) is the oldest child of Michael, and the current head of the Romanian Crown, a title which does not exist in Romanian law. I gather that these days her work is entirely community/charitable focused - she has no official or administrative function within the Romanian republic.

I mention the above in part to help me put Carol I and his works into perspective, and in part because the demise of the monarchy is integral to the fairly dire period which followed.

As the week progressed Victor opened up about his childhood. Some bits are his to tell, and I won’t comment other than to say that the treatment he received at times at the hands of his father and grandfather (and occasionally grandmother) was pretty harsh.

But the systemic treatment of the people by the then authorities was grim, and as the week concluded it became clear to me that some of Victor’s stories were told so that we visitors from the West would know at least part of this history.

The machinations which brought us to today are complex, but in summary it goes something like this: in 1947, the Soviet Union, then allies of the West, took control of the country via the Romanian Workers’ Party (and others); the country’s resources progressively were drained to support Russia; in 1968 Ceaușescu took control; in 1989 he was overthrown and executed. The story is way more detailed than that, and a version (which seems to accord fairly closely with the stories Victor told us) can be found here. The bit that I’m getting to though is that during this time Victor and his family (indeed the whole Romanian community) were subject to significant privations. He spoke of lining up with his grandfather for three days each month to get 20 litres of petrol for the car, or of empty shops where he had to line up all day just to get some eggs. He showed us a photo of the family’s ration card. Worse still, many Romanians were despatched to the gulags (both within the country and elsewhere) for criticising the government. The secret police sowed discontent and distrust. Some of the treatment which Victor endured at the hands of his father were because the father believed that Victor was spying on him. The list goes on.

The amazing part is not that this was happening, but that for me I have no recollection of any of this. I have a vague recollection of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, which was a triggering event in the rise of Ceaușescu (although that might be just a later knowledge), and the events of 1988/89 (Gorbachev, glasnost, perestroika, Berlin Wall – again, all triggering events for Romania) I do recall. But the rest would seem not to have registered – I guess much of it simply wasn’t known or reported in the West.

Today the Romanian community as we saw it looks “happy” (that sounds trite). On the two weekends we were in Bucharest there were many people out simply enjoying themselves. I asked Victor if the young people of today know (or care about) the pre-89 history. He thinks not.

So this brings me to the end of this leg of our journey, and it is on this basis that I say rămas bun, România. We were pleased to hear, as we were dropped off to the airport, that Victor rates his time with us as the best tour he’s had in 2026 (equal best to be precise, with a Kiwi couple at the beginning of the year).

A few shots of parts central Bucharest follow.

The national parliament buildings. Extravagantly and apparently inefficiently built by Ceaușescu at a huge cost to his people. Inefficient because it is apparently sinking under its own weight.

The national bank. One of Carol's projects

Lastly, from Revolution Square, the site of Ceaușescu's last speech, the start of the final uprising, 3 days before his execution.

I write this from old town Istanbul, where we arrived late Saturday. Easy, 1-hour flight from Bucharest. Car into central Istanbul. Raining. Got enticed into a nearby restaurant for a (free) Turkish coffee. Cats everywhere. Walked up to Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque for a brief squizz. But they are stories for later ...