South of the Carpathians, where the Wallachian plain starts to lift into hills, there is a quiet stretch of the Argeș county, and this point lies near Lunca Corbului, in a landscape of low ridges, orchards and wide fields. The name Cetate simply means fortress or citadel in Romanian, and the label suggests a place where an old defensive site was recorded, whether Roman or older.
The region has a long history. Dacian tribes lived in these valleys, the Romans extended their rule over them in the early second century, and the line of the Olt river was one of the key frontiers for the province. A little farther west, near Stolniceni, the Roman fort of Buridava watched over the Olt valley, and that is the other end of this ride. After the Romans left, the area lived through the centuries of Wallachian voivodes, Ottoman suzerainty and the long rural life of a country made up of small villages and large estates.
The roads here are secondary, with decent asphalt and a few potholes, passing through villages whose houses stand behind high gates and neat gardens. Plum and apple orchards are everywhere, and the road verges in summer are lined with sunflowers and maize. Sheep and horse carts appear without warning, and village dogs love motorbikes. The bends are gentle and the speed low, so this is a relaxed day. Spring has blossom, summer is hot, and autumn is rich with fruit, walnuts and the smoke of village fires.
Lunca Corbului is a small town with some shops and a place to fill the tank, and Pitești, the larger city to the north, has fuel, a good selection of restaurants and a pleasant centre. Ask in a village shop for the local bread and cheese, and for the sweet preserves known as dulceață, which are made with every fruit in the garden. Do not expect English to be widely spoken, but a few words of Romanian and a smile go a long way, and people tend to be curious and kind to travellers who come through on motorcycles.