You can find my “short and sweet” trip updates by clicking the purple “Listen Now” button above, accompanied by a few recent photos and captions of my trip below 😊
Be warned, this is one of my longer “short & sweet” trip updates. So that you don’t have to hear my ramble on for too long, I’d recommend listening to it on 1.25/1.5x speed 😜
In case you missed any previous posts, you can find them here:
https://noahbelkin.substack.com/archive
Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement, endless support, and for following me along this journey. It means the world to me to be able to share my adventures with all of you!
Sending big hugs from Eastern Europe! ❤️ Noah
Greetings from Bucharest Romania!
Enjoying a nice cold brew after a long day of exploration at one of the old beer Halls in the city - Caru’ Cu Bere 🍻
The Parliamentary Palace is quite a sight to see - it is the second largest administrative building in the world after the Pentagon! And allegedly the most expensive building ever made during the communist era - during the infamous rule of the communist dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu - who ruled for 24 years between 1965 and the fall of communism in 1989
We went to visit one of the synagogues in the city, but it was closed when we got there…however, we came across this nice memorial statue
We stayed in the historical old town called Lipscani - right in the heart of the city
Enjoying the Romanian delicacy of Mititei - a minced beef sausage. Tony reminded me of the fact that all of these countries have very similar cuisines with different names as his Serbian grandfather would regularly eat Cevapcici which is essentially the same thing but in Serbia. Maybe not the best if you have high cholesterol, but pretty delicious 😊
Our train broke down between Bucharest and Brasov…however it ended up being a blessing in disguise, as we befriended our Uber driver, a very cool younger guy named George, who became our tour guide for the next 3 days, taking us to many places off the beaten path we would have never known about 🚗
The beautiful red roofs of Brasov! - a truly magical and picturesque town
On one of our many excursions with George. Including a Buffalo Reservation, a hiking trail called Solomon’s stones, and a beautiful lake called Lacul Siriu, pictured above
Peles Castle - a late 19th-century castle that was built for the King of Romania, Carol I. This castle had incredible woodwork, and the day we visited was a little misty - creating the perfect castle ambiance 🏰
Bran Castle, a 14th-century castle made famous for allegedly being the living quarters of the famous Count Dracula. This turned out not to be true and was essentially a result of a great marketing effort for the Transylvania region that compounded over the years. Starting back in 1967, Roman Polanski included this castle for a short 30-second clip of his movie “The Fearless Vampire Killers” and the rest is history! This castle is currently owned by an heir of Queen Marie of Romania (born into the British Royal Family) who currently lives in the Upper East Side of NYC (probably only a few blocks away from where Big Tony and I lived for 4+ years). When we told our tour guide we had lived together in NYC, he joked we should have just paid the owner directly 😂
The beautiful Bulgarian Orthodox Church in downtown Sofia
Our visit to the Red Flat Museum - An old communist-era apartment where all of the belongings and artifacts were left as is - giving us a glimpse into what life used to be like during this time period. A great audio guide explained how life was during this time - where the home was the one place considered sacred where people could gather, gossip, and relax, outside of the watchful eye of the state 👀
Pictures of the family who used to live in the apartment during the 1980s under Todor Zhivkov - the communist leader of Bulgaria from 1954 to 1989. The little boy in the picture is now all grown up, working in the tech industry in the US!
The beautiful bathhouse in Sofia, Bulgaria. Considered the most egalitarian place in the country - where people from all walks of life, the rich and poor, would all gather to relax and exchange gossip. We were told it was the “Facebook of its day.” Although no longer functioning, water taps outside still run, and people from the neighborhood come daily to fill up big jugs of free, crystal-clear spring water! The water comes out hot, so it is especially popular in the wintertime 🔥 🚰 Little known fact - Bulgaria has the 2nd most hot springs in the world, after Iceland
One of the oldest McDonlald’s in the region - the first in Bulgaria - opened in Dec 1995. We sent Jackson in to conduct quality control testing, and he said it was indeed in line with brand standards 😉 🍔 🍟
Views from our apartment in Lake Ohrid. Panoramic views of the city, the lake, and right below an Ancient Greek amphitheater built in 200 BC! This beautiful rainbow was captured by our Sky connoisseur, “Action” Jackson Reed.
Turns out we were not the only ones who appreciate a good view 🐶
A very cute little girl surrounded by beautiful flowers selling lemonade right across the street from our apartment in Lake Ohrid 🍋 😊
Views of one of the many beautiful sunsets over Lak Ohrid, Macedonia
Protests in downtown Tirana, during the Communist era under the regime of Enver Hoxha
Tunnels leading into one of the largest of 170,000+ bunkers built across the country during the communist era. All in preparation for an attack that luckily never came.
During the rule of communist leader Hoxa, was particularly paranoid of chemical weapons attacked and went through enormous lengths to prepare…including distributing gas masks for the horses
Grand Park of Tirana, was one of my favorite parks of the whole trip - full of walking trails, a huge lake, playgrounds, and restaurants. In 2020, they added a very nice Jewish memorial
Despite the fact that Albania-proper was occupied first by Fascist Italy, and then by Nazi Germany, Albanians often sheltered Jewish refugees in mountain villages and transported them to Adriatic ports from where they fled to Italy. Other Jews joined resistance movements throughout the country. With the rise of Nazism, a number of German Jews and Austrian Jews took refuge in Albania, and the Albanian embassy in Berlin continued to issue visas to Jews until the end of 1938, at a time when no other European country was willing to do so. You can read more in this short piece by The Times of Israel here
A real piece of the Berlin Wall sent to Albania by The Germans to mark the fall of the Soviet Union
Enjoying a delicious classic Albanian meal in downtown Tirana
Getting some well-needed rest during an extra hot day in the Grand Park of Tirana. As in many places we’ve traveled, stray dogs seem to be well fed and cared for by the locals. This good boy has a tag on its ear, signifying it is registered by the gov and up-to-date on its vaccine
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