Peles Castle
The following is an excerpt from the book Single White Female Backpacker from the Teresa the Traveler Series.
We hired Claudiu to take us to the airport the following day and show us some of the sights along the way so he brought us to Peleş Castle.
Located in the town of Sinaia, 135 km out of Bucharest, Foişor Castle, also known as Peleş Castle was the birthplace of Michael I of Romania who reigned as King from 1930 – 1940 then again from 1940 until 1948 when he was forced to abdicate by the post WWII Communist Regime. It was rumored that when Michael abdicated he left with a train full of gold and rubies – the treasure of Romania.
Located in the town of Sinaia, 135 km out of Bucharest, Foişor Castle, also known as Peleş Castle was the birthplace of Michael I of Romania who reigned as King from 1930 – 1940 then again from 1940 until 1948 when he was forced to abdicate by the post WWII Communist Regime. It was rumored that when Michael abdicated he left with a train full of gold and rubies – the treasure of Romania.
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Other accounts of the abdication had Michael forced out of the country at gunpoint with the communists threatening to “steep the country in blood” if he didn’t leave. Some reports have the communists allowing him to take 42 valuable Crown-owned paintings with him that he later hocked, while other reports claim he left Romania with assets amounting
to 500,000 Swiss francs. Michael claims he was only allowed to take four personal automobiles that were loaded onto the train. The truth remains a mystery. That same year he married Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma whom he had met at the wedding of Queen Elizabeth II in London the previous year. They first lived in Britain then later settled in Switzerland where he became a commercial pilot and worked for an aircraft equipment company while fathering five daughters. In 1992, three years after the revolution in Romania that overthrew the communist government, Michael I was allowed to return to his homeland during an Easter celebration. His appearance attracted over a million people making the new government so threatened they forbid him to return for another five years. When a new government came into power in 1997, they restored Michael’s citizenship and allowed him to visit the country. He now lives part time in Switzerland and part time in Romania in either the Savarsin castle in Aubonne or the Elisbeta Palace in Bucharest. The current law of succession states that if Michael dies without producing a male heir to the throne, the crown will go to the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen family but Michael is lobbying to change the law so that his first born daughter can assume the throne. When we got to the castle, much to our dismay, it was closed for the winter. Once again Claudiu used his charm and a bribe to get us past the guards. While we were not allowed inside, we were able to walk around the grounds and the outside of this remarkable building. The castle was well preserved and the grounds were magnificent – it was a place fit for a king. As we wandered around the grounds we stopped to read signs explaining its history. Peleş Castle was built between 1873 and 1883 in the Carpathian Mountains by King Carol I of Romania. King Carol II of Romania was born at the castle giving it the nickname “the cradle of the nation”. After King Carol II’s son Michael I abdicated, the castle became the property of the communist government. |
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In 1953, the castle was declared a museum but was closed for a time then reopened after the 1989 revolution. In 2006 the Romanian Government gave the castle back to Michael I and Peleş re-became a national treasure opened to the public as a historical monument and museum that houses one of the most valuable collections of paintings in Europe.
After visiting the castle we toiled over what to do next. We still had a few hours left before we had to check in at the airport but could not agree on how to occupy our time. At first we were going to visit the tomb of Vlad Tepes but changed our mind and decided to go for lunchinstead. I was craving McDonalds and convinced Carolyn, who is not a fast food fan, to go there saying it had free internet. She needed to email her family and reluctantly agreed.
I failed to mention that although they had internet, for some reason it did not work on our North American computers. I felt a tad bit guilty watching her try unsuccessfully to connect to the net while I sucked back a hamburger and fries but the satisfaction of eating familiar food in a foreign land overrode my guilt.
After lunch we got back into the car and subjected poor Claudiu to anhour of bickering. I was getting restless from riding in a vehicle too long and Carolyn was anxious to find an internet connection. We aired our frustrations by arguing over whether the car window should be up or down and where we should go next. I wanted to go to the airport and walk around and Carolyn wanted to find a place where she could get on the internet. I promised they would have internet at the airport but after the McDonalds fiasco she wasn’t buying it. Claudiu prided himself in keeping his clients happy but could not win with the two of us. We finally agreed to go to the airport and amazingly enough it satisfied both of our needs. Carolyn got on the web and I walked around and bought a new camera to replace the one that broke on our way to Dracula’s castle.
The perfect guide right to the end, Claudiu carried in our luggage and made sure we knew which gate to wait at before he left. We liked him so much we wished we could take him with us but I am sure he was happy to finally escape the two of us.
After visiting the castle we toiled over what to do next. We still had a few hours left before we had to check in at the airport but could not agree on how to occupy our time. At first we were going to visit the tomb of Vlad Tepes but changed our mind and decided to go for lunchinstead. I was craving McDonalds and convinced Carolyn, who is not a fast food fan, to go there saying it had free internet. She needed to email her family and reluctantly agreed.
I failed to mention that although they had internet, for some reason it did not work on our North American computers. I felt a tad bit guilty watching her try unsuccessfully to connect to the net while I sucked back a hamburger and fries but the satisfaction of eating familiar food in a foreign land overrode my guilt.
After lunch we got back into the car and subjected poor Claudiu to anhour of bickering. I was getting restless from riding in a vehicle too long and Carolyn was anxious to find an internet connection. We aired our frustrations by arguing over whether the car window should be up or down and where we should go next. I wanted to go to the airport and walk around and Carolyn wanted to find a place where she could get on the internet. I promised they would have internet at the airport but after the McDonalds fiasco she wasn’t buying it. Claudiu prided himself in keeping his clients happy but could not win with the two of us. We finally agreed to go to the airport and amazingly enough it satisfied both of our needs. Carolyn got on the web and I walked around and bought a new camera to replace the one that broke on our way to Dracula’s castle.
The perfect guide right to the end, Claudiu carried in our luggage and made sure we knew which gate to wait at before he left. We liked him so much we wished we could take him with us but I am sure he was happy to finally escape the two of us.
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Where I stayed...
Hotel Carpati #16 Matei Millo Street, sect 1 Bucharest, Romania Tel: 40.21-31.50.14.0 Email: [email protected] Website: www.imparatulromanilor.ro This is a clean and quiet one star hotel in central Bucharest within walking distance to a McDonalds and has free wireless internet |
