Travel
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A 'Holiday-In Rumania
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Turns is.ahreath of magic in-the name of the Orient Express
--that one. romantic tram: ht ,EurOpe : the train that one's casual reading associates with handsome King's Mes- sengers and svelte puiative. Countesses, the train that sometimes really is - held-'tip by bandits.It carries with it an atinospheie of exciternOlt; the pOssibilities of wonderful things that are within :the bOunds of experience even for
the most prosaic of travellers::: •
Spring in far EasteruXurope_ is -very beautiful and un- familiar.. _AfterGermany, after:Ausfria, after the flat, treeless plains - of Hungary, come, hills and -.white houses with Prey shingled roofs, shaving-brush- willows, and pleasant little orchards. • Froip the :acres of *maize and interminalile plains
of Hungary you suddenly to the Prosperous rolling landscifipe-Of Rumania - • „- -
- Buearest is two and a - half4lays from London by the Orient Express. This is _the most direct Mute,- and _ the journey may be broken _at Vienna.: On arrival, - the instructed traveller makes is bee-line -for, the first " hama1,7 . or pOrter, available, aria:. Et1;"race _for . the nearest conveyance ensues. Should- the titiVeller fie nervous; I "adiise a carriage; which will be driven by a Russian in a dark blue velvet dressing gown a.---' blue or orange sash _and- a peaked velvet- cap. These Russians -heleng to a curious- community now expelled from Russia. Vegetarianism is the least of their foibles, and they bold an exclusive . monopoly of driying horses for hire. --The rash traveller will- choose - a ' taxi : Rudianian taxis generally haVe two' driVera, -the spiritual deSeendants of Jehu !
The charm ofAlticarest is seductive and difficult to analyse. East and West Meet in -an extraordinary way. In the fine new streets, glittering American cars jostle with lumbering ox-wagons. Immaculately dressed men walk up, and, down
Calea thefined Sandl-Stieet and- .Whitehall of Bucarest, rubbing shoulders with shaggy peasants in country dress and picturesque_ gipsy flower sellers. The Russian " Birjari gallop past with shrill shoutings, and dashing yoting - bloods of the cavalry and infantry linger around the cafes. Yet in spite of all its modernity, Bucarest retains something of the vanished atmosphere of a capital of pre-War Europe—Lenough to make it very pleasant. The enthusiast for - picture galleries will be disappointed, but the Greek and _Roman antiquities in the Archaeological Museuni; and the fragments of the stupendoui reliefs of Adam Klissi- at the • Military Museuin are well worth seeing. Music is the - chief. aesthetic recreation of Rumanians. The opera is extremely good and, in spring and summer, indoor and open-air concerts take place two or three evenings a ' week. With spring, too, the little: restaurants on the out- skirts of Bucarest, , where one eats, *_ the. open air to the
strains of a gipsyband, are opened. •
It would be a -pity, in spite Of its attraction, to linger in Bucarest too' king. - It-is, hoWever, the best centre 'for seeing the country. ' Those 'with a limited time at their -disposal must be content with two longish excursions, one to the Carpathians and the other to the Dobrudja, in .the south-east of Rumania. The best' way to see the Carpathians -and Transylvania is to , hire a car, not an ensive matter if bargaining is employed, . because petrol is xpe extraordinarily cheap. • From' Budarest one drives through rather- flat unin- teresting country as far as Ploesti; the 'centre-of the oilfields, • and then climbs the -foothills of the Carpathians to Sinaia. From there to Brasov is magnificent, and the return journey can be made over the high passes of the Carpathians to the famous Monastery. church of Curtea de Arges. . This :Should take two and a half to -three 'days, but if more time can be spent,' a visit .sloitild be made to Sibiu, which lies' westwards from Britsoir. This -ancient town is particularly. interesting, both for its mediaeval taildings and churches 'and its lovely setting in the hills. Its inhabitants are blue-eyed Saxons, who have lived there for centn#es, preserving their language and religion intact. One of the most extraordinary features of Rumania is the existence of little communities of non- Rumanian people which have never_ been absorbed. In Bessarabia, the province which -joins SOviet Russia, _ there . are villageS'Of Polish; Bulgarian,_ German and French speaking peoples : in the' Delta of the Danube are the fishing villages of the Lipovans, an extraordinary Russian religions sect who speak no Rumanian at all : and,in the Dobrudja are com- pletely Turkish, Bulgarian and Macedonian villages.
The Dobrudja is best explored by taking the train from
.Ituearest to Coustaaza, and. then hiring _a car. . It Is one of the most curious places in Europe, resembling Salisbury Plain on a vast scale. Everywhere are long barrows and tumuli, in places so thick that it is difficult to realize that they are the remains of an ancient civilization, and not merely some odd geological formation.. The whole district it infinitely sad : across these barren plains poured hOrde after horde of Tartar peoples from the wilderness of Central Ruisia to the rich lands of the Eastern Mediterranean. On. the shores of the Black Sea are the remains of autonomous Dorian and Ionian trading cities. Further inland lies Adam Mini; the vast monument which 'Trojan set up to defy time, and which was ignominiously robbed of its splendid bas-reliefs by a . University professor, whose.. incompetence resulted in the :loss of dearly all Of . thepi in the Danube on their' way to Butarest.! All this country is dotted with lonely. Turkish and iBalgarian villages, .separated frOm each other by inileS ofrnliing seafity pasture, where the shepherds of the Dobrudja wander with hive _ flocks 'of king-legged sheep. word Of warning, however, is necessary about -the shepherds' -dogs. They look, and behave 'like wolvei, and there are packs 'of them_ on the' outskirts of every _village. i - Living is very cheap, except in Bucarest, where prices are roughly a third less than m London. Via Orient gkpress the isingle fare costs 214 7s. 7d., with £6 extra for sleepeis) This includes first as far as Vienni, as - no other class s r3grroavilded. The two other normal ;routes, via - Berlin and Prague, and, by Simplon Express,- via Milan and Belgrade cost, second class, between £9 and £10, with 1.4' in addition for sleepers. A more unfamiliar way, by Berlin and Cnicoi#: Makes possible a visit to the lovely Byzantine-Gothic monas- teries of Bucovina: All these routes take a day longer than the Orient Express. - Hotels, even in small towns, are clean and 'cheap, especially' in TionsylVania, and the language is easily picked up by anyone with a smattering of Italian. French and German; however, except in out of the way places, are generally spoken. Tourists:. who desire' advide and- assistance will find the Societatea Romania in Bucarest
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