A Postcard from Sinaia, Romania

A few hours by bus from Bucharest sits a little town called Sinaia. It’s a mountain resort town near Bucegi Natural Park + it was refreshingly cool after the heat of the city. It’s popular in the winter for skiing, but we found a lot of people camping in the surrounding area. I had no idea camping was so popular in Romania, but I guess the desire to be surrounded by nature is a universal one!

A local told us we could walk from our hotel into the town of Sinaia, so a small group of us headed out to explore, but it turns out that the city center was 10 kilometers away – a bit longer than we had budgeted for the afternoon. So we changed out strategy + simply moseyed through the small neighborhood along the highway as we headed back to the hotel. It was dotted with small gardens + chicken coops, amidst charming mountain homes. Woven in between were these big, characterless apartment buildings – remnants of the communist era.

I was quite sad to leave the countryside when it was time to head back home. You don’t realize how much a place has changed you, I think, until you find yourself somewhere else. I never considered myself much of a mountain person, but now that I’ve lived in Colorado for eight years, I find myself at home at elevation. The mist floating in between ridges of pine trees was familiar + yet other-worldly at the same time.

It’s hard to believe almost a year has passed since exploring this beautiful country. Already dreaming of when I can return, but for now, I’ll just be here in Colorado, sipping my afinata.