Pictures

Romanian mountains, Papusa Peak, 7000 ft

/ Andrada Costoiu / 6 Comments

I climbed on the mountains today. I found them as I remembered, serene and beautiful ❤️

The peak I reached is called Vârful Păpuşa (Păpuşa peak), a 2,135-metre (7,005 ft) mountain in the Parâng Mountains of Romania.

 To go to the base of the mountain, you have to drive through Transalpina, the road more affectionately known as the ‘King’s Road’ or ‘The Devil’s Pathway’. This is the highest road in Romania, reaching a maximum altitude in the Urdele Pass: 2,145 m. Situated in the Parang Mountains of the Southern Carpathians, the 150 km long road ties Oltenia (historical province in the southern Romania) to Transylvania (central and western Romania) between the towns of Novaci in Gorj County (southern Romania) and Sebes in Alba County (central Romania).

The scenery it’s really beautiful!

The road is only open in the summer, because otherwise it is covered in heavy snow.

My grandma and I, visiting a Romanian monastery

/ Andrada Costoiu / 21 Comments

By Andrada Costoiu

I am visiting my family in Romania ❤️

Today I took my grandma , 89, to visit a monastery that was built in the mountains , near the city where my family lives. The position of this historical place is really wonderful, on the spectacular Jiu Valley.
The monastery is called Lainici, and it was built in 1817, on the foundations of an older monastery, dated to the 14th century. 

This is an Orthodox monastery , with only monks. Throughout time, it went through a lot, as the place was destroyed first during the Austro-Hungarian empire in the 18th century, then during the WWI, when the German army destroyed the church, and also the cemetery and the archive.