This weekend is my first weekend here, and it is a long one. Monday is the Eastern Orthodox All Saints day and is a national holiday here. Before coming here I had thought that I would use long weekends here to go further afield. Because I had just finished a week of traveling, and am still getting oriented here, I did not particularly feel like setting out on a multi-day excursion. So, I decided to compromise and take a day trip to a town about 50 miles north-East of Bucharest called Targoviste. While this town is not one of the main tourist attractions of the country, it has two main claims to fame. First, it was the medieval capital of Romania. The ruins of the ancient royal court are situated near the center of town. As with many tourist attractions in Eastern Europe, parts of it are currently under restoration, including the Princely Church. There are also remnants of an ancient palace. The sunset tower, originally commissioned by one of the more famous Romanian Kings, Vlad Tepes, is still standing. I was able to climb to the top of it for a good view of the surrounding area. You can tell it is a medieval building because the doorways are somewhat small and I hit my head rather hard on one of them on the way down. There are also a few churches in the town. Targoviste is also the town where the Ceaucescus were captured, held and executed in 1989. It is illegal to take pictures of the military barracks where this happened, but they are right next to the train station. After lunch, it was time to head back to the train station. I stayed in Targoviste for about four hours, and then headed back to Bucharest, where I took a quick look at the Piata Victorii. I got home feeling exhausted and am taking it easy today, before I go to see Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman at the National Opera.
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