Fantanele- Cacova

An incredibly beautiful village near Sibiu....a village in the middle of a remote realm, surrounded by mountains and slippery hills all covered in woods....

My 3 days there were wonderful- a lot of walking in and around the village, exploring all possible lanes which connect the two halves of the village. 

The village, or rather the hamlet is the reminder of how beautiful our villages were in the past, as most of it even now looks as if taken from a history book. Old looking houses, with hesitant wooden fences, a lot of green and a general feeling of falling apart, of being worn away by the many years that have travelled through it. 

Yet there are some visible changes here and there....the once paved roads, after some works for the village have lost their quaint charm and now the pebbles that used to be on them are lost as well....Also some of the houses, quite many if you ask me, are being modernised as we speak, they are bigger, more imposing and the materials and colours used seem out of place in the larger picture of the village. It is like they are sceaming at you from this otherwise quiet corner of nature.

Besides these rather scarce fragments of modernity, the place is quiet, with just a few people walking by, there is a church and a school that is no longer used, as well as a shop and a very welcoming guesthouse- Printul Vlad. 

It is a village I would warmly and gladly recommend to someone in search and need for a tranquil holiday, a holiday to descover oneself, talk to friendly people and take a trip into the past of what Romania might have been a hundred years ago. 

I can only hope that traditions don't disappear as the pebbles and stones from the roads did...

Calimanesti- un loc de vis

         Oricum ai pune-o si oricate mofturi si pretentii ar putea avea orice turist roman, dar si strain, in Calimanesti ai ce sa faci, macar cateva zile, mai ales daca iubesti apa. Este, in primul rand un loc linistit, cu natura multa si superba, verde cat cuprinde, apa la fel....nu vorbesc doar de Olt ci si de apa termala care este foarte generoasa in acest loc. Fiece hotel, sau pensiune profita din plin pentru a-si atrage turistii cu cate o piscina, doua, trei...si merita, va spun pe cinstite. Ieftinut, mancare buna, si evident, balaceala cat cuprinde. Noi am stat la Hotel Central si am fost multumiti. O cladire superba, mancare la fel, si oameni primitori. Am stat mult, in apa, deci Calimanesti-ul in sine l-am vizitat pe seara la o plimbare, sau in drum spre gara. (am evitat ideea de masina, dat fiind ca Valea Oltului de obicei este plina de masini). Per total foarte multumiti, si evident hotarati sa ajungem din nou acolo cat mai curand posibil.