The first time I laid eyes on the impressive rock formations called sfinxul and babele (Romanian for “the sphinx” and “the old women” ), I was on a visit home during a college vacation. As my father ...

As far as travelers are concerned, Romania tends to get resigned to three fates: ignored, considered unsafe, or stereotyped because of Transylvania's bloodthirsty 15th-century madman Vlad the Impaler.