After nearly 2 weeks in Bucharest, our group piled into a Mercedes Sprinter van and drove off towards Transylvania, the region where we would be spending the rest of our time in Romania. After a stop in Piscu to tour a pottery workshop and have an amazing lunch — in my opinion the best meal of our whole trip — we made it to Sinaia, a small resort town located at the foot of the Carpathian mountains which divide Transylvania from the rest of the country. These mountains are heavily forested, and it is these forests which give the region its name: meaning The Land Beyond the Forest.

And the landscape that greeted us in Sinaia made it clear why it gave such a large, diverse, and historic region its name. It was just an incredible sight. The smattered dark and light green mountains covered thick with trees broken by clouds that swooped down below the mountain peaks and persistent clouds and mists made it feel like I was in a movie or a novel. I was so taken aback not only by how beautiful it all was together, but by the fact that I had never seen any landscape even remotely comparable to this with my own eyes. It was the type of view that makes one sit and just stare for minutes on end, coming to terms with how much beauty there is in the world and being filled with an overwhelming drive to protect and care for it all. It made me realize that I really was on the other side of the world, in a country that I had no personal connection to, a place I would’ve never come were it not for this study abroad program aligning so well with my academic journey.

What does this geography teach us? Well, it proves just how formidable the Transylvanian borderlands are, and why they occupied such a peripheral geopolitical position for such a long time (and arguably still do). The numerous fortifications in the region and the sheer scale of the mountains and forests kept the Ottoman Empire from ever fully annexing this region. The historically diverse population of Transylvania was in large part a product of the various mercenaries and merchants who came from across Europe to defend and bolster the region for the Hungarian Empire. This multiethnic history continues today, as this former Hungarian region with historical Jewish and Saxon minorities is now a jewel in the crown of Romania. Quite literally so, as Sinaia’s famous Peleș Castle was the former summer residence of the Romanian royal family. Nowadays it serves as a museum to the Romanian royals and the broader region, offering a fitting prop to the fairytale-esque backdrop that surrounds it.

All I’ll say in closing is that if you ever find yourself in the Balkans, or especially in Romania, definitely go out of your way to visit Sinaia. I can all but guarantee you haven’t seen anything like it.