Going on a Train Trip

One of the experiences I wanted Sarah to have here in Romania was riding the train. So, we rode the train...but not like the average Romanian. By some strike of luck (?) the train that we caught north to the mountain town of Sinaia was the "Sageata Albastra" or "Blue Arrow" train - the most modern and clean train on the rails here. Coming back, the train wasn't quite as nice, but it was still clean and relatively comfy. Oh well...she still got to ride the train, even if it wasn't quite the same as the "normal" Romanian train ride.


After an hour and a half on the train, we arrived in Sinaia. Sarah enjoyed the train, and I enjoyed missing the 2 1/2 hour drive and crazy Bucharest traffic!


I hadn't visited the monastery in Sinaia before, so I enjoyed seeing something new along with the "standard" Sinaia sights. These paintings are characteristic of all of the monasteries that I have seen thus far. Here, they comprise the domed entrance to the original church in the monastery.


"God bless our comings and our goings."


The "new" church built outside the original monastery walls.


Peles Castle, once the summer home of Romanian royalty.


Grave of "an unknown Romanian soldier" at the World War I cemetary and memorial. I was surprised to see graves of men killed in battles in nearby towns - I guess I need to brush up on my WWI history, because I had no idea there were battles fought in that area. There was also an interesting monument to American aviators killed over Romanian territory, but we couldn't read most of it because it was so weathered that the text was too light to read; I might go back and make a rubbing of it some day just to figure out what it says.



Next up: A Day on the Town