Jewels in the crown – Romania and Hungary

So its been a while since the Poland blog after which we travelled through Slovakia and down into Hungary. Hungary was a complete highlight of the trip and I’d noted down a whole list of mentions for the next entry but decided to tag Romania in with it. And then we went to Romania and to treat it as a tag-in is an enormous insult. I think it could be my favourite place, a line which I’m fully aware I’ve said several times.

Romania is like a fairytale. I genuinely don’t think we’ve seen such a stunning landscape as that of Transylvania. It’s shepherds tending sheep and goats, resting on a crook in the Spring sunshine; it’s horse and cart farming; its babies bundled up in home knits and toted by Grandma. It’s also extreme poverty against out of town wealth; and it’s impossible not to see how litter blights the landscape. But this is what makes it such a vibrant and interesting place. The roads are dusty and bumpy but the drive is perfect.

Go back several hundred years in the UK and the scenes we saw in the heart of Transylvania would have been commonplace throughout the country. Small-scale subsistence farming where you’d own a cow for milk and cheese, a goat for the same, a few chickens and ducks for eggs, a horse to pull the cart. You’d grow your own, storing and pickling for winter sustenance, sharing and bartering with your neighbours. You would stack your wood and hay. You’d celebrate births and pull together in times of death with your community. You would sit on a bench outside your house and talk with your friends and neighbours. You’d feel part of a big family. That’s what it is like. I know I’m painting an idyllic picture and for all the perfection there is plenty to counteract it, but this blog is about the good.

The ancient Saxon villages that are scattered through this area of Romania are mainly inhabited by the Roma community who moved in when the Saxons left. We spent 5 days with a Romanian family and in that time learnt about the issues relating to the nomadic people who roam across this central and southern part of Europe – (The Roma are not Romanian, despite the similarity in the name) There are many difficulties in the attempt of successful integration between them – education, housing, rights etc – and we gained an insight into this subject and can appreciate the enormous pressure on a country such as this. But I can’t help but fall for the bright, colourful, traditional way of life maintained by these people.

There’s a whole focus on restoration and protection within Transylvania (Prince Charles is a name that comes up often) and I see the immense value that this holds. To wander through fields of wildflowers – we drove for miles on unmade roads through soft hills covered in a carpet of yellow Cowslips – and just soak up the unique, sculpted hillsides interspersed with fortified churches and traditional housing is an experience that should be protected.

So I feel bad for Hungary now because I loved it and then Romania came along and took its crown. But I think that’s just a reflection of my total enjoyment of our trip so far, Hungary still deserves its jewel. We hit Budapest at Easter. My overriding memory is of soaking in the thermal baths surrounded by beautiful architecture, old men playing chess, the sun beating down and a smile on my face. That is some ‘must-see sight’. But the architecture of that city was breathtaking. Yes it was a tourist hotspot and incredibly crowded, but over our 4 days there we pretty much walked every back street and so avoided a lot of the Easter crush and in doing so really got to know the city. Standing on the top viewing point of the Basilica roof and gazing out over this massive city was one of those moments where you just breathe it in. Perfection. Back at ground level it was an array of street food and live music – we’ve added Hungarian goulash to the list of local delicacies – plus traditional Hungarian cafes where artists have hung out for hundreds of years. It’s alive with history and very beautifully presented.

It was good to get out though… We headed north to the Highlands with the intention of stopping in at the Holloko Easter Festival. I’m running out of words to describe how fantastic things we see are, but wow, this was brilliant. Probably the single most atmospheric event we’ve immersed ourselves in (although Jokkmokk Winter Market is stiff competition). This place was emitting mass happiness. The dancing, the singing, the music, the traditional dress, the water-throwing – everything was proudly demonstrated and it was superb. I recorded clip after clip over the 2 days we visited and now have a pretty impressive catalogue of songs and dance and am considering investing in a fiddle…

Journeying back out of the North Highlands and through the hills of wine country (Bulls Blood and Tokaji) you immediately hit the Great Plains. Its a real surprise because its so massively flat – yes i know, the name should suggest that, but it really is Great. We had a 3-day stop here and it was only in doing so and spending some time researching that we realised what an interesting area we had stopped in. It’s a plateau used for hundreds of years for traditional farming and is the place where Hungarians developed their impressive horsemanship skills. As a national park and UNESCO site this history is maintained along with an expanse of fishponds and marsh areas which are managed and provide an important migration stop off for many birds – the crane is king here and the birdsong is incredible.

So you see, Hungary really was top of the pile after our 10 days here, but you definitely leave a bit of your heart in Romania.