Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from 2023

Peleș Castle

Peleș Castle Surrounded by the Bucegi Mountains, Sinaia is a popular skiing resort town. Its appeal doesn’t stop there. Visitors come year-round to see Peleș Castle and to enjoy the fresh mountain air and forested landscape. Peleș Castle was the summer home of the first King of Romania, Carol I. It is built in the German Neo-Renaissance style. Note the half-timbered walls that define the architecture.  The Castle is about 86 miles north of the capital, Bucharest, and a fast one hour and a half to two-hour train ride. Photos may be taken inside the Castle but may not be published in social media like Facebook and YouTube.  You can check their website regarding the use of photos taken inside the Castle and admission fees here: en.peles.ro Pelișor Castle A few meters from Peleș Castle is the smaller Pelișor Castle which was built between 1899-1902 for the heirs to the throne, King Ferdinand I and his wife Princess Marie.  Beautiful, lush scenery encircle property grounds. Forest bathing i

A Mosque Designed by Women

Grand Çamlica Mosque, Istanbul Çamlica Mosque stands on Çamlica Hill in Üsküdar, a district on the Asian side of Istanbul. It is the biggest mosque in Turkey with a capacity of 60,000+ worshippers and may accommodate up to a 100,000 people as an emergency shelter in case of an earthquake. The mosque was designed by two female architects, Bahar Mizrak and Hayriye Göl Totu, who won the design competition for the mosque. Çamlica Mosque was inaugurated in 2019. The Mosque has six minarets (representing the 6 articles of Islamic faith), one of only three mosques in Turkey with this number of minarets. The women architects wanted a “female friendly” mosque hence they included a separate place for women for the ablution or cleansing ritual before prayer and a child care facility and playground so the children could be cared for while the adults are praying. Among other things in the Mosque are a library, an art gallery and studio, a conference hall, the Museum of Islamic Civilizations and a p

Favorite Experiences in Rio de Janeiro

Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) I must confess that I went to Brazil with a lot of trepidation. After years of hearing horror stories from tourists who were robbed in Rio, I didn’t believe I could be safe there especially since I travel solo. But I decided to give Brazil a chance after reading and watching videos about the country and figured there must be a way to travel safely. I’m so glad I did because the monument of Christ the Redeemer has been on my bucket list for decades and I finally got to see it. Here are some details about the statue of Christ the Redeemer. The statue which is cast from reinforced concrete and soapstone took nine years to complete. It was designed by Brazilian engineer, Heitor da Silva Costa in collaboration with Albert Caquot, an artist. The French sculptor, Paul Landowski, created the art deco statue which stands at 98 feet above a pedestal of 26 feet. The Romanian sculptor, Georghe Leonida, was tasked to create the head of Christ. The monument was

Where to go in 2024

Sighişoara, Romania (on Fodor's Europe Go List 2024) Have you decided yet where you’re going for vacation or R&R in 2024? If not, here are a number of lists for you to browse and mull over. Hope it helps you make a decision. Afar Magazine Where to go in 2024 The readers of Afar Magazine are seeking destinations that  offer “ample opportunities for sustainable exploration” . With this in mind, their editors have compiled a list which includes Fiji, Bhutan, Lamu in Kenya, Sidney and Seattle. Check out the full list here:  https://www.afar.com/magazine/where-to-go-2024 American Express  2024 Trending destinations - Off the beaten path The American Express list provides alternative places to the most popular destinations in response to their customers’ preference to travel somewhere they’ve never been before. So instead of the Maldives, go to Seychelles or switch Sedona with Santa Fe and Istanbul with Bodrum. You’ll find it all here:  https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/travel

The curious life and times of Vlad Dracula

Bran Castle or Dracula’s Castle The most popular touristic destination in Romania is undoubtedly Bran Castle, more commonly known as Dracula’s Castle. Dracula is a work of fiction by a 19th century Irish novelist named Bram Stoker who had never been to Romania, let alone to Dracula’s Castle. Yet, Dracula haunts many of us so much so that we follow the pilgrims’ path to Transylvania to be where this fictional character supposedly lived and bit his victims to drink their blood. Fiction aside, the family of the real Dracula lived in the picturesque hilltop town of Sighisoara, under the shadow of the 14th century clock tower. Find out more about Sighisoara here:  https://www.travelswithcharie.com/2023/08/sighisoara-medieval-town.html Vlad Dracul, the father of Vlad III,  the Impaler, also known as Vlad Țepeş (and perhaps the inspiration behind the novel, Dracula) supposedly lived in this yellow house from 1431-1435. (There are studies that point otherwise.)  Vlad Dracul was so called becau