Category Archives: travel

After our narrow escape from Castle Dracula (Bran Castle), we headed northeast to Brașov to catch our breathe and grab a quick bite (see what I just did there?). So, after alighting from our coach, we headed to Piața Sfatului (Council Square). Unfortunately, the sun was already sinking and time did not permit a lengthy investigation of this enchanting place. If it had, we definitely would’ve hit the nearby Biserica Neagră (Black Church). But by this time I was uncertain if we could take close proximity to either garlic or holy water, so we headed out for a very late lunch before we were due to rejoin our group.

There are a lot of very interesting buildings surrounding Council Square. The silver domed structure below is Librăria Arhidiecezana Brașov (Archdiocesan Bookstore Brașov):

That structure lies just north of Casa Sfatului within the row of buildings lining the square in a gentle arc from north to northeast.

Our guide gave our group several recommendations for eating establishments here, and we chose the one he said had the best selection of true Romanian dishes. That restaurant is La Gustări:

These photos of the menu are the best I could do, so my apologies:

We opted for the Brașov Specialty, which included various meats, potatoes, and other Romanian treats:

We then we treated ourselves to two desserts — “Pancakes” (actually crepes) with jam and papanași, a Romanian “doughnut” filled with a soft cheese (ricotta perhaps?) and topped with sweetened cream and sour cherries:

This week I’ll finish up this series on Romania, including a wonderful review of an historic restaurant that opened in 1879 in this week’s Fun Food Friday. But first, on Wednesday, I’ll show you the Palatul Parlamentului (Palace of Parliament) and the demostration march that developed around us. Starting next week we leave Romania behind and continue on to our next destination on this two-month odyssey — Cairo, Aswan, and a cruise up the Nile to Luxor.

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)