my solution for burnout? i escaped to sinaia!
it is quite close to bucharest: you just jump in the first overpriced and underserviced train and you’re there in a couple of hours.
that’s exactly what i did during one of the hottest days in the city, after working 5 weekends in a row (you might’ve noticed the lack of posts. sorry!): got a room in a hidden pension right next to the forest and slept like a log. the mountain air knocks me right out.
while you’re there, you can visit the peles castle (or perhaps hold out until 15.09-15.12, they are having a gustav klimt show) or george enescu’s house.
do not miss: the tiny market! beside the regular stuff, they have all sorts of freshly picked berries: raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and wild strawberries. about 5 euros will buy you a whole kilo. or get some fresh walnuts. they are delicious!
the whole resort is somehow stuck in the 1980s but for us romanians it’s cool: it’s like instant time travel to good ol’ communist times.
in the morning, after some raw vegan breakfast (haha!) – raspberries and walnuts – we took a taxi cab to the 1400 m plateau. people usually take the cable car. if it’s your first time, do the cable car, it’s more dramatic.
i was hoping to get from 1400m to 2000m by chairlift but, it turned out, it doesn’t work unless it’s winter time. so we did take the cable car for the second leg of the trip.
when you reach 2000m, the cable car leaves you right inside a cabin with a restaurant. imagine the views. there, we met the boss: toni, the tomcat.
check him out roaming around. he even had stalking fans: see that pair trying to talk to him? they were russians: “eta toni!”. say that loud, with a russian accent. it means: “look! it’s toni!”
after a shot of overpriced beef ciorba (yeah, i mean the serving was tiny), we went outside for heart-stopping views, the best air you can imagine and deafening silence.
we climbed down to 1400m. it’s not difficult but please don’t do it in a city outfit.
from there, we used an alternative means of transport: the telegondola, as it was dropping us exactly next door from a good restaurant where we had some early dinner.
it was a perfect day – a little outdoors workout, great food, a wonderful setting. i should replace my working weekends with this more often.
so, if you ever make it to sinaia, do at least this: climb up the mountain. you will understand why.
photo credits: lilaesthete
