In Avrig, we are staying at Brukenthal Palace—stylish! The room is in what used to be the orangerie, which was a kind of palatial greenhouse for citrus plants. The ceiling is high, I mean at least two conventional levels high, and the window covers the entire height. The bathroom is behind a glass wall; you can draw a curtain for privacy, but it is on the side of the bedroom. That is a little uncomfortable—maybe less of a problem for a couple, but we’re friends, and while neither of us is shy, there are certain things that I like to do in private, more private than is possible here. This is also the first time we sleep in one bed, but it is a king-sized bed, so we don’t at all get in each others way and each have our own blanket. Funny, the things that matter, and how you can’t help but get quite close to each other when you travel together with someone.
The hotel and restaurant portion of Palatul Brukenthal is well restored, and the park is very nice, too. When we walk up to the actual palace, we see a different story. It makes sense that a hotel has incoming revenue to cover the costs of restoration and maintenance, and also that it has to look its best in order to attract guests. The actual summer palace has fallen into disrepair as you can see on the photos, although there seem to be efforts underway to make improvements. The buildings are arranged in a U shape, and one of the wings is in rough shape. The main building in the centre houses the Brukenthal exhibition with mostly original Saxon clothes and textiles and some other pieces, I’m told. The other wing contains a Romanian glass exhibition. Each exhibition requires a separate ticket, and we decide for the glass museum since I’m really not that interested in seeing old German clothes.
When we arrive, we encounter an older couple at the ticket office; the woman sells tickets and looks after the souvenir shop, and I’m not entirely sure what her husband’s role is, but he ends up telling us all about the Brukenthal family story, the history of the palace (all in Romanian), and then we meet him again in the glass exhibition. He is a good story teller and clearly enjoys himself in the process.
Baron Samuel von Brukenthal became the governor of Transylvania, the only Saxon ever appointed from the Austrian Empire. He managed to get this position by garnering the attention of the sovereign Maria Theresa (our entertaining guide tells us that the lady let loose a fart during an official function (a great embarrassment) and Brukenthal took the blame for it out of gallantry—a story told with a typical Romanian wink), and through her favours he was able to gain the position of governor. They eventually married, and he built this palace as a summer residence.
In the glass exhibition, I learn that Romania used to have many glass manufacturering plants, and that Romanian glass was sold all over in Europe and America. A lot of commissioned work was sold as “Italian” or “French” because it was in that style and sold better with the impression of it coming from Western Europe. The crystal that was produced in Romania was sold in Germany as semi-crystal, and it made a tidy profit for the merchants, not so much for the Romanian producers.
Our guide used to work in a glass factory and actually made some of the Romanian glass exhibition pieces himself. He explains to us how certain effects were produced (like colours, etching, fritting etc), the differences between some of the glassware, who commissioned what and so on. It was interesting but too long, and my friend soon tired of translating so many words. That being said, it was still a very interesting exhibition because of all the information he imparted.
Oh boy! I know you like your private bathroom time!! That room must have been challenging!
Ahh, there is a curtain and a door!
Some very nice glass work. I especially like the cake holder!
C