Text & photos © Estrella Azul

LOCATED IN BEAUTIFULLY LANDSCAPED forestry and an area surrounded by high cliffs, the Bridal Veil Waterfall (or Răchiţele Falls) is considered one of the most beautiful smaller waterfalls in Romania.

Snowy pine-lined forest road

A large sign shows the map of the area and hiking trails legend, and next to it is the sign from the feature photo. I love that it gives the text in both Romanian and English: “If you are in the mountains leave nothing but your footsteps behind, take nothing but pictures with you, kill nothing but your time.”

Leave nothing but footsteps behind…

When I wrote a travel article about it after a day-trip I took in 2012 (Bridal Veil Waterfall, Mărgău, Transylvania), I recall mentioning that I’d like to go back during winter to see the waterfall all icy. Four and a half years later, I made it there this January.

A close-up of the frozen waterfall

A small tablet fastened onto the rock at the base of the waterfall caught my attention; especially as its wording contradicts the legend about the genesis of the falls, namely how “a bride once fell off the steep cliff, with her veil left hanging from the rocks. Her wedding guests stopped in their tracks and started crying, forming a waterfall with their tears.”

Genesis, by Teofil Rachiteanu

The sign has a verse by Romanian poet Teofil Rachiteanu titled Genesis. Translated it reads:
“Once walking here, God stopped and chose this stone, for a tear fell from His eye, and out of it grew the Bridal Veil.”
I either missed noticing the sign, or it might not have been there last time I visited the waterfall.

An ice wall formed next to the waterfall

The small creeks that drain from the edges of the adjoining slope were frozen over a considerable width, covering them with thick ice just a few meters from the stream of falling water. A group of climbers successfully scaled the ice wall, to the admiration of occasional spectators.

Scaling the ice wall

Because of moisture and water splashes, the pines in the proximity of the waterfall gave the impression of having glass needles. The frozen branches around the waterfall gave the same illusion.

Frozen branches in the foreground

Bridal Veil Waterfall during the winter is a rare and spectacular scene. I am grateful for capturing it on camera.

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Estrella in the Greek Amphitheatre ruins, Taormina, Sicily

Estrella Azul is a young emerging writer, passionate about reading, floral art and photography, with an artistic personality and a soulful outlook on life. She is a Hungarian girl living and writing from Cluj-Napoca, Romania, the capital of historical region Transylvania. Estrella is our European correspondent, she currently serves as the photo editor here at Milliver’s Travels, and she dreams of embarking on a round-the-world trip. To read more of her creative writing, her thoughts and daily happenings, visit Life’s a stage – WebBlog©. Read more of her stories on Milliver’s Travels by visiting Estrella’s story index.