And so farewell Băile Herculane

And so farewell, Baile Herculane, Baths of Hercules, Aqua Herculis, Herkulesbad, Herkulesfürdő, a beautiful Hapsburg thermal resort where the Empress Sissi met shepherds in fhe forest and rediscovered Heine. The baths as renovated in the 1850s are a symbol that the Empire had suppressed the Hungarians and their mad leader Kossuth. Actually Romanians, Slovaks and mostly the army of Tsar Nicholas I did so. The Austrian Chancellor Schwarzenberg said "We shall astonishing the world by our ingratitude" and so they did. Liberal opinion in England, Europe and America thought Kossuth a hero. 

Now the town is entirely Romanian except for one Hungarian family and in a state of dereliction I irresponsibly find attractive, though much has been renovated in the last few years.