Romania

Brasov, or Braşov is a beautiful ancient city in central Romania. It is at the heart of the most famous region of Romania, Transylvania. Brasov occupies low ground in the heart of the Carpathian mountains making it a popular winter ski town. Its medieval stone walls are still standing and there are pleasant walks around …

A few days ago I woke up with feet so itchy I just couldn’t stand still. A Romanian road trip, a voyage of discovery, was on my mind and I knew just the place. The amusement park in a salt mine that I’d seen pictures of online, an amazing James-Bondesque underground cavern turned tourist attraction, …

Before approaching the sheep station we had to take precautions, the Romanian sheepdogs (AKA Romanian Shepherds) would be loose so we had to call the shepherd (human) to meet us and make sure the dogs didn’t see us as a threat to their family or flock. These dogs can take down bears and wolves, and …

Every May, the Tânjaua the spring ploughing festival, is held in the village of Hoteni, Romania. In 2018 was held on 17 th May 2018.  (see video below)  I’ll find out the date for 2021 as soon as I can. The villagers, all in traditional summer costume, process and leap through the village to glorify the …

We’ve had a fantastic time skiing here in Romania, the kids took a few private 1 on 1 lessons while Chef and I were free to head up the mountain. Being child-free is a pretty new experience for us, as full time child-wranglers and educators, it kinda rocked! After a short time the kids were …

We’ve been waiting for this. When we first had the idea of basing ourselves in Romania, locals told us winter temperatures can easily drop to -25C. We checked online, we couldn’t find any records of temperatures that low, so we kind of didn’t believe it but wanted to find out what winter weather in Maramures …

We mention “our village in Romania” all over this website, well our village has a name, it is Breb. It is in the very far north, in the County of Maramures, directly above Transylvania and below Ukraine. We’ve been coming and going from Breb for over 2 years now and to us it is home. …

Our village, Breb, is full of fruit trees. The hills roll on for mile after mile, each a patchwork of narrow strips owned by individual families. Some grow grass for winter hay, some potatoes, cabbages, carrots, tomatoes and beans, but most grow fruit. In the harsh winters nothing grows and villagers rely on their stores …

Romania has plenty of bears. Half of the European brown bear population lives on the forested hills of this beautiful country. When we talk about saving bears, we’re not talking so much about the wild Romanian bears, as the ones who have had a terrible existence, held captive by private owners and in small Eastern …

Haystacks are an unmistakable icon of Maramures. You will see them here all year round, punctuating the landscape on white, brown or green fields. For haystack lovers, and I count myself as such, you want to be in Maramures at this time of year to watch just one of the annual traditional processes going on. …

Homeschooling, doesn’t officially exist in Romania. As far as I know it’s not actually illegal, it just doesn’t exist, all children must go to school. My research is hampered by the language barrier, so please correct me if I’m wrong, I’d love to hear about families homeschooling in Romania and I know that some do …

In the far north of Romania, nestled in a valley below a long-extinct volcano, lies the little village of Breb Maramures County. We first came to Romania, Maramures and Breb in May 2015 and fell in love. Today, we are still unable to fully call it home due to visas and officialdom, but to us, …