Summer is definitely for high altitudes. And the Făgăraș Mountains are so close by, that for us, a few days off from work, a good weather forecast and a couple of friends easily turn into a nice hike up on the ridge.
Continue reading
As lots of our traveling plans got cancelled this year and considering the social distancing, we ended up to spend one week at one of our favorite chalets in the Făgăraș Mountains, Cabana Suru. It was something we were thinking of doing for a long time, to go there and spend more than one weekend, like we usually do. So here we are, world pandemic giving us the chance to finally do it.
Cabana Urlea was, until it got so deteriorated, one of the most important access points to the Făgăraș Mountains Ridge, when hiking from East to West. Now it’s just a ruin, but hiking there is still a pleasure, so we planned a day trip beginning of June. It was just after the COVID state of emergency was over, so we were desperately looking forward for some proper hiking.
The Suru Chalet is definitely our favorite chalet in the Făgăraș Mountains and with good reason: very nice hosts, always friendly and smiling, excellent accommodation, clean and comfy, delicious food, kids friendly place, a perfect view, and small enough to feel like you’re actually visiting your family. We’re visiting this place at least once a year because of all the reasons above, but also because it’s quite close to Sibiu and easy to reach for us. This year we went up there again to spend a sunny and warm September weekend with friends, while helping in preparing a dinner with ingredients found mainly in the mountains area.
At the beginning of September we took over the Suru Chalet in the Făgăraș Mountains and turned it into the headquarters of one of the coolest events we have been to this year. The 3 days spent there evolved around a old shepherd’s recipe that takes a lot of time to prepare and a lot of team work to get to the final result.
This year’s summer has been, at least so far (and it’s mid July when I’m writing this post) a bit hectic, with too much rain almost every day and low temperatures that almost got us to turn on the heat indoors. This also means that the hiking season was not officially open, but end of May we still decided to go up in the Făgăraș Mountains for a weekend and get a bit away from all the city noise.
We’ve been to Suru so many times now, that we’re considering of calling it our second home, up in the mountains. We always enjoy the time spent there and after a perfect New Year’s Eve, we planned another weekend here at the beginning of spring, hoping to see the crocus flowers in full blossom.
That we love Sibiu is no longer a secret. Neither is that we love the whole county of Sibiu, with all its history, culture and diversity. And what’s not to love about it – beautiful landscapes, traditions that are still being kept, houses with old and well preserved architecture, villages with so many stories to be told around the fire, rich and diverse cuisine, rural life at its best. In a world that’s going too global, these villages keep to their local diversity.
We started 2018 up on the mountain, in our beloved Făgăraș Mountains and it was sooooo perfect, that the moment we had a day off with a good weather forecast we took our hiking boots and up we went back to Făgăraș. This time we chose a new trail that we have never done before, up to the Valea Sâmbetei Hut.
We’re getting older… or wiser. Or we’re starting to enjoy other things in life. Or better yet said, other experiences. Experiences that last longer, that we forget harder, that get stuck in our hearts and heads for months, that make us smile when we think about them. Experiences that, after they’re over, make us say: ‘It was perfect, we have to do it again!’.
The Chocolates Of Life 