The Road To Targu Mures IV

Family history is all the rage. More and more people are joining ancestry sites and seeking to travel to their ancestral homelands in search of answers or to immerse themselves in their culture and heritage. Romania is no exception. With the help and guidance of Raluca Spiac, CEO of bespoke travel agency Beyond Dracula, British-Lebanese filmmaker Mouna Mounayer discovered the first real clues to the history of her grandfather’s mysterious past. He was a man she hadn’t known existed and who had rearranged her family tree, but was he a Nazi spy or an unfortunate victim of war? Read on to find out what happened in the last instalment of our series, The Road to Targu Mures.

Today, searching for ancestors is big business in the tourism industry. A twenty-five-year search for her mysterious grandfather led writer-director Mouna Mounayer to the heart of Romania. Surrounded by the majestic circle of the Carpathian Mountains, Targu Mures held the first real clues to his origins. Raluca Spiac, CEO of Beyond Dracula, organised and accompanied Mouna and her family on their journey to find the elusive man whose blood ran through their veins.

As a bespoke travel agency, we design trips tailored to the wishes and requirements of our guests and base our recommendations on rigorous site assessments.

We are now sharing what we find with you on the BD Chatelaine List.

Today, searching for your identity through ancestry tourism is big business. There are millions of digitised records on hundreds of platforms, but that wasn’t always the case. For twenty-five years, writer-director Mouna Mounayer searched for her mysterious grandfather. She was on the verge of giving up when a chance conversation led to a meeting with Beyond Dracula CEO, Raluca Spiac, whose enthusiasm and effort turned the tide on Mouna’s search. This is their story.

– by Mouna Mounayer

Romania is at its best in Autumn, when the natural world changes colour, from green  to many shades of russet, red, golden, yellow, black, amber, pink and brown.  Autumn is also my favourite season. The weather is just perfect, it’s time for layers of clothing, great food and wine, romantic walks through parks or forests, […]

Why do we travel? Because it shows us we’re not alone, it shows us that a person from the other side of the globe, speaking a different language and believing in a different god can be exactly like us, can feel the same joy when looking at something beautiful and can feel the same pain when hurt. Travel opens our minds, connects us in ways we never thought possible.