Peleș Castle, Transylvania, Romania (3/23-25/2026)

Monday, March 23, 2026

First thing in the morning was the news of the horrific crash of an Air Canada plane at LaGuardia Airport in New York City the night before. Our own Air Canada flight at 15:30 was still on schedule. Another check at 10:00 showed our flight was cancelled, but we had received no notification. A call to the Viking Air emergency number indicated we were rebooked on British Airways, leaving at 19:35 for London Heathrow, rather than the original flight plan to Montreal, then Frankfurt to Bucharest.

Tuesday, March 24, 2026

Arrived in Bucharest, Romania at 15:30, and Viking transferred us to the JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel, a 5-star hotel. Although we have been here before (Passage to Eastern Europe), we did not realize that this hotel was built later during the rule of Nicolae Ceaușescu for overflow administration and to house VIP guests. It was not completed when sold to JW Marriott, and it opened in 2000 as a hotel.

JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel room

JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel room

JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel bathroom

JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel lavatory

Being on a Viking extension to Transylvania, dinner was
on our own; Kent ordering at the kiosk at Chicken Staff

We split a chicken breast meal; it was very unusual to meet
another Viking couple, Paul & Cynthy, who were also
dining where the locals eat (including a Viking rep)

Wednesday, March 25, 2026
We boarded a motor coach to head up into the mountains of Transylvania.

An example of "Paris-style" housing in Bucharest

An example of fancy Communist-style housing in Bucharest

Two hours later we arrived at Peleș Castle in the town of Sinaia

Peleș Castle (1873-1914, by Johannes Schultz,
then Karel Liman in Neo-Renaissance and
Gothic Revival style  as the royal hunting preserve
and summer retreat of the first king of Romania)

Holul de Onoare/Hall of Honor with busts of
King Karl I and his Queen Elisabeta; they
had one daughter, Princess Mărioara,
who died before age four with scarlet fever

Ceiling of the Hall of Honor is retractable (KSS)

Detail of woodwork in the Hall of Honor (KSS)

Picking Fruit (18C French tapestry)

Carved wooden spiral staircase (1610, by
25-year old Romanian Gorgesanesco, who
may have carved himself holding up the stairs);
there is also supposed to be a bust of Karel Liman

One of several inlaid-wood depictions of German and Swiss
castles that belonged to the king's Hohenzollern family

Sala Mare de Arme/The Grand Armory (KSS)

A complete set of German armor (weighing 120 kilos/
265 pounds) for a horse and rider 

A replica of the Romanian crown, which was made of
steel from an Ottoman cannon captured during the Romanian
War of Independence in 1878, and is a symbol of
 independence from the Ottoman Empire

Stained glass in a door

Apartamentul Imperial/The Imperial Suite
with tooled leather walls

King Karl I liked to use the standing desk
on the left to insure that audiences with
constituents lasted only 15 minutes or so;
more important guests would be seated
in the nook beyond the desk

Because the castle had a forced hot-air heating
system, all the fireplaces were decorative:
Kingdom of Romania Coat of Arms with the
motto Nihil Sine Deo/Nothing without God

Biblioteca Regală/Royal Library with a secret
doorway (second bookcase from the right)
to the king's apartments

Sala de Muzică/Music Room features a Bechstein piano
and Raffaello harp as well as intricately carved teak
furniture gifted by the Maharajah of Kapurthala 

Paintings by Dora Hitz depict scenes from the writings
of Carmen Sylva, the pen name of Queen Elisabeta;
Dora Hitz was the first court painter of Romania under
Queen Elisabeta and was a contemporary of Gustav Klimt,
although she was associated with the Berlin Secession

The Music Room stained glass windows
depict scenes from Romanian fairy
tales by Vasile Alecsandri 

Sala Florentină/The Florentine Room with a
chandelier of Murano glass

The large mirror is also of Murano glass
and the angle of the photo is such to show
the ceiling painting of the muse Calliope
(after Giorgio Vasari, c 1555-1558 original
in Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy)

The Education of the Virgin Mary
(after Peter Paul Rubens, c 1625-1626
original in the Royal Museum of
Fine Arts Antwerp); I missed the
painting by JM Keuttel, who was armless

Sala de Mese/Dining Room (KSS)

Salonul Maur/Moorish Salon was inspired by the Alhambra
and incorporates Spanish and North African Moorish designs;
at the far end is a fountain made from Carrara marble

Salonul Turcesc/Turkish Salon is decorated
with silk embroidered with gold

Vent for the forced hot-air heating;
the castle also has a central vacuum, an
elevator, and its own power plant (KSS)

A statue (c 1912, by Rottermun of
Germany) of King Karl I in the uniform
of a cavalry general; because he had no heir
the second king of Romania was his
nephew Ferdinand; Karl himself was chosen
by the nobles of Romania to become king
and he signed the new constitution
creating a constitutional monarchy

Next: Sinaia.