This is the reason of having such beautiful and diverse castles, fortress, cities and churches built in different periods, starting from 500 BC until these last centuries. We have well known artists all over the world and also many cultural events throughout the year. Please visit the tours section to discover this mosaic of culture built in a history of more than 7000 years.

Visit Romania to discover a country with a rich culture; this is confirmed by the old heritage, but also by the new wave of modern writers, composers, sculptors, painters who brought great achievements to the international heritage. A beautiful event that brings to life the richness of classical music is the George Enescu International Festival. It represents one of the greatest festivals of classical music and it is being held in Bucharest every 2 years. This is a unique element that makes Romania different. In September, Bucharest becomes even more beautiful thanks to all the great orchestras that are invited to sing here. It really is a great feeling to listen to Jordi Savall playing in the big hall of Romanian Athenaeum. It is also a must to listen the interpretation of The Romanian Symphony by George Enescu, which expresses in a pure and complex way the Romanian essence. This essence is tightly connected with that way of living in the villages about which Prince Charles spoke in the BBC interview, that equilibrium and sense of being in harmony with time and nature (please see the words in the Explore section or see the movie).

Visit Romania to see the life of the villagers, this element that makes this country to be so different and pure. Granted, you can find many villages in all East European countries, and they are all quite the same. But this is only at the surface. The mix between beautiful, rich nature and happy and creative people has generated these differences between villages. Life here is inspiring, as it could make you better understand that sense of living and the beauty of simplicity. Here you will find many well preserved traditions, a rich cultural and spiritual life, a world without much involvement coming from the consumerism era, and a fraternity with nature. There are still many villages in Romania where the traditions are still being well preserved and followed. In some parts of the country, such as the Apuseni Mountains, near the Fagaras Mountains, in the Danube Delta, in northern part of the country and few other regions, there are these remote villages where time seems to have stopped. Unfortunately there are also many areas where the new values and global brands successfully entered and created a mix of values. The old villages still have beautiful stories, and even tales or myths. They have their Robin Hoods and their princess or prince, their castles, heroes, and amazing places. We will bring you, in time, some of these stories in the blog section. (Discover available tours about villages and stories in the booking section).

 

Visit Romania to see how nature could be different; here we have a saying that invokes an ancient fraternity relationship between the forest and the Romanian people. So we think that our mountains, hills and plains with their plants and animals are gentle, happy and always in harmony, as people that we described above are. This link between nature and people is very much visible when looking at the villages. There is a big variety of landscapes; one more evidence on that is the fact that we also have the only river delta from Europe, the Danube Delta, which is a treasure, a paradise of nature, well conserved and very rare. Read more about this point of difference and discover beautiful landscapes in the Nature section.

Visit Romania to experiment a unique cuisine. Being a complex blend of different types of food from the origin population combined with influences from each civilization with which it had related over time it is very tasteful and diverse. There is a visible and deep influence of the Ottoman Cuisine, but there are German, Slavic, and Hungarian influences as well. For example, we know that during Dacian times lots of cheese was consumed at every meal, and also that the Dacian people produced big quantities of wine. The legends are saying that soon after the King Burebista’s decision to ban the vineyards, the people from Dacia started to produce and drink beer as a substitute. The Roman Empire brought a touch of refinement to the native tradition. An example for that are the pastry products made with cheese. The Ottoman influences brought new spices, new vegetables (used nowadays as appetizers), sweets (like baklava) and new ways of using meat (that is how the famous “mici” were born – grilled rolled meat made from a mixture of lamb, beef, pork and spices  – such as garlic, coriander, anise, black pepper, thyme, savory and sometimes paprika).

There are also some culinary traditions. Ignat’s day (Ignatul) is celebrated before Christmas, on 20^th of December. It represents an ancient ritual from the villages, consisting of sacrificing one adult pig, previously grown and fattened by the family; afterwards, the entire household gathers and prepares the special food for Christmas. There is a list of special homemade products from pork: traditional sausages (using different spices and ways of preparation), sausages made with liver (called caltabos), dishes made from the pig’s feet, ears and head, suspended in aspic (called toba and piftie), pan-fried pork (small pieces of meat that are very well fried) which is always served with polenta (mamaliga – a specific dish made of corn) and red wine. In this period of the year, Romanians bake the traditional – cozonac, which is like the Italian panettone, but with a different shape and taste.

Visit Romania for the beautiful colors – Romania is inspiring.

Photographs copyrights:

Adrian Petrisor

Diana Barbu

Emanuela Aranyos

Agenţia Naţională de Presă Agerpres foodcrew.ro