The Beyond Journal

My Romanian holiday fantasy continues eastward and takes me to Brasov (Braṣov in Romanian), one of Transylvania’s finest cities. It was originally an old Saxon settlement, the birth place of the Romanian national anthem, and home to the Golden Stag Festival which features world-class musical entertainment year after year. I can’t wait to explore! Crowned […]

The Maramures Village Museum wasn’t on my list … In fact I might have skipped it –  I’m not really fond of museums. But I got the recommendation from an old local man.  I loved it! I think you might too.  If you’re lucky like me, the sun will shine. And you’ll have a perfect […]

Since honesty is always the best policy, I must start with a confession: I have not visited Romania yet. I flew over it a couple of times, but it was cloudy, so it’s safe to say I have never touched or even spotted Romanian soil. Not for much longer, though! This summer, I am finally […]

The thinning snow cover on the surrounding hills melts away as the dawn’s first rays seem to kiss it away. The only sound you hear is the gentle murmur of ice water running down your lodging’s roof. Your gaze meanders between the green hills. It’s time to go. As you leave the family-run hotel, you […]

With the second most important tourism event just behind us, I was pondering on what makes us travel. I often ask myself this question because for me traveling is vital so I wonder if we all have the “bug” or just some. My theory is that we all love to travel; some might not travel […]

Romania has had beautiful sunny days for Christmas with temperatures that often we have for Easter. Except for a few parts of the country (especially the mountains), we did not have snow this year. One of these lucky locations to get white in time for Santa’s arrival is Viscri. As a dear friend told me […]