Sunday, April 01, 2007
Romania Day 3
Sighisoara-Sinai-Brasov
Hyomi and I woke up way early on Day 3 because neither of us had adjusted our watches to Romanian time (1 hour earlier), and after scaring ourselves into thinking we were late and hurrying we discovered when we arrived at the Vlad Dracul restaurant, our breakfast place, (it is separate from the hostel- located in the square we had our lunch the day before) that we were too early and even the restaurant wasn't open. It was a chilly morning, and thankfully Andre and Jakob came early too, and got us in somehow.
We left Sighisoara after breakfast and proceeded to Siniai, where Castle Peles was located. It was in reality not so much a castle, but some kind of winter lodge for King Carol and his family. Although it was diminutive in size compared to some of the larger palaces I've seen elsewhere (for example, the Schonbrunn in Vienna), it was the most pretty one of all, with wonderfully elaborate, luxurious rooms. King Carol and his wife were both highly educated, each spoke several languages fluently and both were patrons of the arts. Their cultural refinement was manifest in all aspects of the residence- the king sought artisans and builders from all over the world and incorporated the architectural features of these different cultures into the construction of the lodge, and the queen decorated the rooms with tapestries by the most celebrated artists of the day, like Gustav Klimt. The queen had her own entertaining room, which she commissioned and artist friend of hers to decorate with portraits of characters from a series of children's books she was writing (including a witch on a seashore, the sisters Spring, Summer and Winter, and a mermaid).
Because they enjoyed the company of friends, intellectuals and artists, there were many different rooms build for the exclusive purpose of receiving these guests: an Oriental room with furniture imported all the way from the Middle East (footstools with Quranic verses carved into their legs) and China (delicate carpets and curtains woven from silk), complete with a "Weeping Fountain"; a Venetian room with an exquisite glass chandelier (in those days glass-blowers from Venice were renowned for being the most skilled in the world), tables and chair with an inlaid layer of mother-of-pearl depicting fantasy scenes from mythology, a Turkish room (pretty much the same as the Oriental room, except with darker furnishings, and a Central entertaining room, reserved for only the most important of visiting dignitaries. In the last one stood my favorite set of furniture- this collection of teakwood couches, worked into fluid,intricate, filigree pattern; a present from the Indian maharajah. Teakwood was generally prized for its rarity and durability, yet by that same virtue it was also notoriously difficult to carve by hand. Legend has it that three generations of royal Indian craftsmen worked on the couches for 100 years before it was completed.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
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