Travel 
Painted Churches and Monasteries of Moldavia
Three Masterpieces of Art. – 28 May 2019
Voronet Monastery
One of the most incredible sights in the world are the Painted Churches and Monasteries of Moldavia. The historical region of Bucovina is famous for them. There are 22 painted monasteries with 16 restored. Seven churches were placed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1993, an eighth registered in 2010. Most of these wonders are contained in a relative small region. I will be visiting seven of them over the next two days. (more…)
This region of Transylvania is a national treasure. The landscape of oaks, beech, conifers and alpine grasslands is stunning. The villages architectural masterworks of colors and simplicity. The cultural heritage unique and of historical importance. Within its borders are at least 130 fortified churches to explore. It is a corner of Europe as yet unspoiled; wisely there are those hoping to keep it that way. It is unbelievable that these villages we visit were once on dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu’s “Black List” to be destroyed. What a vainglorious f&#*ing idiot he was. 
This morning, we motor further into the Transylvania region of Romania. The countryside is peaceful and verdant, the villages quiet with the rustic feel of what I would expect of rural Romania. Mountains surround a flat valley of rich green fields and expanses of bright yellow rapeseed. Rivers of snow trickle down the distant peaks of the Carpathians while sun shines on white storks shopping the farmer’s hay fields for frogs and grasshoppers. There is the occasional man and his herd of cows. Lush, healthy forests of beech and timber march up the hillsides for as far as I can see. This is perhaps some of the most beautiful land in the world where I have driven.
Brașov lays within the loving southeastern curve of the Carpathian Mountains and its location is breathtaking. Its oldest traces of human activity and settlements date to the Neolithic age (about 9500 BC). Brașov is an important Saxon city and its architecture, fortifications, towers, churches, town square, and history are outstanding. Not only is the city the birthplace of the Romanian national anthem, but the birthplace of one of Vlad Dracul’s lady friends. 
Any science fiction buff recognizes the Carpathian Mountains. These mountains form a 900-mile range in Central and Eastern Europe with peaks reaching upwards of 7800 feet. Over half of the Carpathians lie in Romania, where the forests are home to brown bears, lynxes and wolves. Its passes are gateways to Transylvania, the land of the Magyar, the Moc and Romanian peoples – and Count Dracula. There is a drapery of snow across distant peaks and a layer of clouds hover over the range. I can hear the “children of the night” howling my welcome.