Going on vacation is always a good thing, especially if you choose a nice place. Some prefer noisy, metropolitan cities, where night clubs are the main attraction during the night, while others would be happy to enjoy some quiet time in a place where there's plenty of green and fresh air as well.
The past few weeks I've posted about the Bethlen-Haller Castle, which is situated in Transylvania, Alba county and if you're in the region, it is a must visit. If you've missed my previous posts, you should check them out here, here and here.
Today I'd like to show you the accommodation available, the restaurant and the wine shop as well, to let you know what to expect in case you want to spend a weekend there, or maybe more and also show you what this place has to offer when it comes to wine.
When you pass the gate and see the enchanting castle, you stop and spend a few minutes just looking at the castle.
Then you turn around and see this view. In old days, when the castle's owner were nobles, this is where the servants lived and those who worked the lands. Now that building serves as accommodation for tourists. After visiting the castle, I was curious to see what these rooms look like, so we went to have a look.
These are double rooms, each having a back terrace with a gorgeous view to the church.
You don't have too much privacy here as these rooms are attached to each other and the terraces are not isolated, but it may still be a nice place to spend the night.
The demand for accommodation is high, this is why another set of rooms are in construction on the other side of the castle. We had the chance to have a look into the rooms as there were no doors yet. Nothing luxurious, but it fits the needs.
There's a terrace for dining in case the weather is appropriate. At the time of our visit, it wasn't open though.
The restaurant is next to the wine shop, it isn't big, so there are no huge events hosted there' but you can serve the necessary meals there.
And finally, the wine shop that serves as ticket selling office as well. This lovely lady is greeting you and explains you how things work. However, there are other interesting things in that shop as well.
As expected, the shop is not an usual one, it's like a small museum with artifacts related to wine and not only.
I've been to a few winery in my life, but have never seen this design and I found it very interesting and appropriate too. What you see on the top shelf is a grinder, that was used in those days. It's a nice vintage piece. On the bottom shelf, two bottle of Jidvei wine.
Jidvei is the name of the village, that is not far from Cetatea de balta, where the castle is situated. Why is Jidvei important? because that's the place where the famous Jidvei wine is made.
Jidvei Group is the largest wine producer in Romania. With a total area of over 2,500 hectares of vines, it owns the largest vineyard in the country and the largest single-owner vineyard in Europe. source
I can only guess, but I suppose this used to be a portable wine barrel.
Whoever the interior designer was here, did a great job.
And we arrived to the most beautiful part. These are the wine types you can buy in the shop. The offer is very tempting and I was thinking of buying a bottle, but the collection of wine I have at home can equal the quantity of one shelf on the photo, so buying another bottle would have been just foolish.
This is the Grigorescu collection, named after the the famous Romanian painter. These colorful bottles were very eye catching.
If you're a newbie, you may want to check out these guides:
