Tag: #CulturalHeritage

240297127

A Love Letter to Romania: 10 Stays That Will Steal Your Heart

Don’t Know Much About Romania Beyond Dracula? Let Me Fix That.

If the only thing that comes to mind when you hear “Romania” is a vampire with questionable dental hygiene, then I have fantastic news for you: my home country is so much more than spooky legends and pointy castles.

It’s time to pack your bags and fall in love—with fairytale landscapes, charming villages frozen in nostalgic time, painted monasteries that look like something out of a storybook, fortified churches that whisper secrets of the past, and a national obsession with sarmale (stuffed cabbage rolls) and mamaliga (our golden maize porridge love child). Read more

20200621_154354

From Rothschild Riches to Dutch Royal Drama: The Magic of De Haar Castle

When Etienne Gustave Frédéric, Baron van Zuylen van Nyevelt van de Haar (yes, say that three times fast), married Baroness Hélène de Rothschild—yes, those Rothschilds—he hadn’t yet inherited De Haar Castle. But it turned out, marrying her was the best thing that ever happened to the place.

Five years later, the Rothschild fortune finally reached the grounds of De Haar. And when it did, it didn’t just renovate the castle—it resurrected it. Baroness Hélène fell in love with the ruin, with its crumbling stones and ghost stories, and decided to turn it into a modern-day fairy tale. She hired none other than Pierre Cuypers—the architectural genius behind the Rijksmuseum and Amsterdam Central Station—and gave him twenty years (yes, twenty) to bring her vision to life. Read more