Living in an upside-down world is definitely not fun, even though we all felt this in the past few years more or less. But it's definitely a cool experience in a park where a house like that is waiting for more and more tourists to come over.
Living in an upside-down world, is perhaps the most common feeling everyone got in the past few years with the pandemic and war draining us of energy and hope.
Or at least this is how I felt and how 2022 looked like.
However, as we are all used to hearing that the sun will always appear no matter how cloudy the sky is, or that we should always look for the good parts in everything because even the moments we consider bad, do have something nice hidden there, so it is to live in an upside-down world which even if seems like a crazy world, it surely has its charm too.
Anyway, today I won't discuss about my past experiences or why 2022 seemed like an upside-down year for me, but I'll confess that just 2 days before crossing in 2023, I got to enjoy one last trip with my family to be counted in the experiences of 2022.
And of course, there wasn't an any better way to do it, other than going to a park that shelters an upside-down house which you can also visit!
I actually heard of this house a few months ago and it felt crazy that I wasn't knowing about it already considering that it's pretty close to the city I live in. But I was really excited that we got new activities to enjoy during the holidays and we finally managed to visit the upside-down house from Brambura Park.
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You will find indications on the GPS under the name of Casa Întoarsă which means "the upside-down house" but even if the little gadget is very accurate, as soon as you reach Avrig, you will start seeing quite a few road signs that will lead you to destination in no time. Happily, when we visited this place 10 days ago, there was no tax for the parking lot, which is a good thing. However, you won't be able to see the house from distance even if it's placed on a tiny hill, because there was raised some sort of fortified wall that won't allow you to see what it hides. Which is also a smart move to make the curious eyes pay for a visiting ticket to cross the gates.
Ticket Prices + Visiting Schedule
- Basic Ticket (access to the park only): 10 RON / 2,03 EUR per person;
- Main Ticket (access to the park + upside-down house): 30 RON / 6,08 EUR per person;
- Free access to children younger than 3 years old and disabled people.
There are no discounts offered to students, children or elderly people, which is something uncommon considering that these categories enjoy a discounted visiting ticket in most parts of the country.
Casa Întoarsă (Brambura Park) is open to the tourists from Monday to Friday between 10 AM and 7 PM and on Saturday & Sunday between 9 AM and 7 PM.
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As soon as we passed the gates, the first thing that caught our attention was the house which also represented our main interest for this trip, but Brambura Park covers quite a generous surface which allows the empty space to be filled with more points of interest, such as a mini Zoo which is included in both the basic and main tickets that people can purchase.
However, talking about a Zoo in miniature, this is not really one of the places people get in mind when they think about Zoo because the single animals you will get to see are a few rabbits, some goats and alpacas. And you can see these pretty much in any courtyard, the exception being alpacas. But it's still an interesting way to spend time in a very close place to the mountains, the Zoo seeming more interesting for children instead of adults, in my opinion.
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After we've spent a while with the animals and fed the goats which were very friendly, we made our way to the upside-down house, walking again close to the rink which you can only find there during the winter, but which comes with an extra cost than the one you will pay to visit the park.
Visiting the house in December, brought us some pictures that can't be enjoyed by the tourists who explore it during the summer because there were some extra decorations both on the outside and inside of the house that made it look more colourful and welcoming than usual.
However, before entering the house, you will need to show tickets to a man who's waiting on the outside, which makes the difference between those who paid the full ticket and those who did not.
Even from the beginning, you will be required to push the doorknob to the top instead of pulling it down, which is the first contact you get with an upside-down world for the next 10-15 minutes you will spend inside.
When we visited the house there were quite a lot of tourists which made me think that here it goes my first minus for this experience because allowing so many people to get inside makes it an uncomfortable situation for everybody because it will be hard to admire the whole house or get proper pictures with the decoration without getting 4-5 people in your photos. So if you manage to visit this one, it would be nicer if you catch a period that is not so crowded.
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Anyway, just as I said before, we got to enjoy some extra decorations, the Christmas Tree being amongst the most popular corner for pictures which of course it couldn't be missing. Happily, this one was placed right in the first room so we only took a few pictures with the ceiling that was covered by gift boxes, and returned for the family picture before we got outside the house.
A good part of the whole experience is that there are all kinds of arrows and indications drawn on the floor which tries to organize the tourists so everyone can enjoy all the rooms, but considering that the rooms are quite small and filled with details, it's impossible not to run into other tourists whenever you get to the next chamber.
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The house comes with pretty much anything you can find in a normal-looking homeplace, including a bathroom, a kitchen, two living rooms, two bedrooms and more corridors, but what I appreciated was seeing so many details all over the place which gave me a genuine feeling of being in an upside-down world and not just walk in a few rooms that were placed with the bottom to the top.
I'm saying that because Romania has quite a few more places similar to this one, remembering about a Museum of Senses that comes with an upside down chamber but which are not as well equipped as this tiny house was.
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The bathroom represented the part of the house which impressed me the most considering that we all know how heavy it is a bathtub and any other ceramic objects that you find in a bathroom. So fixing these to the ceiling and making everything seem so real was definitely very professionally done. The same applies to the washing machine fixed on top of the stairs that took us to the next floor, but also the JD bottle and the glasses that weren't empty.
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Another place full of details was the kitchen which had the table filled with lots of food for a hearty breakfast, but also one of the bedrooms and the living room where I managed to get some interesting pictures even if it's hard to figure out the beauty of the place in an upside-down journey.
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The single part of the house which is not properly upside-down but only the framed pictures that are surrounding it, is represented by the stairs but which I think it was very nicely though to be created considering all the sun rays that light up the place all day long.
However, being my first experience in an upside-down world, it felt really nice and made me become childish again which is a very rare mood during our trips that are more outdoors than indoors, but which I felt like something that I needed for so long. So no doubt the house it's a good idea to be visited both by the younger and older tourists.
After we finished the little tour of the upside-down house, we decided to spend a little bit more time in the park which seemed quite abandoned back when we visited it.
There is also a restaurant located behind the house, as well as a playground for the younger tourists but which is coming with some extra costs to be paid that are not included in the visiting ticket.
These kinds of extra costs are what made my experience be half pleasant than what I was expecting because the price paid for a visiting ticket is quite expensive for what you usually pay in Romania, there being very few moments when a visiting ticket gets close to 30 RON / 6,08 EUR or even exceeds it.
So considering that you can use this money more wisely to see a few castles, museums or other places that could also add some extra knowledge to your backpack, the price seemed a bit greedy on my end.
Especially since there are no other activities included in the ticket which could cover at least 10 minutes spent on the rink or 10 minutes spent by kids on the trampoline.
Other than that, the view towards the mountains is absolutely stunning and I love how the park is hidden away from the traffic noise which makes it a beautiful journey no matter what the season is.
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Casa Întoarsă (Brambura Park) is located in Avrig, 30 km away from Sibiu, 15 km away from Porumbacu de Sus where you can see another magical location entitled Castelul de Lut (Castle of Clay), and 50 km away from Bâlea Lac. You can reach it by driving on the European road E81 until Talmaciu and then head to 105G until you get to Avrig. From there you will start seeing road signs that lead you to the upside-down house.
SEE YOU IN THE NEXT TRIP! 🗾
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