We arrived safely and happily back home (I heart you, Canada, you polite, clean, glorious creature...mwa mwa mwa). After three weeks packed with touristing, if I had to pick one of these destinations to recommend, which would it be? All had their strengths, so here’s a report card on the basics. Transportation Budapest is a dream to get around. Imminently walkable, clean, safe. Magnificent underground and lots of public transportation options (buses and trams abound). Driving was easy - clearly marked highways and roads in great shape. Use a navigation app, though. If you miss a turn it helps you get back on track. The gas station we went to had full service - noice! Haven’t seen that back home in ages. In Romania, transportation was only ok. The trains we took all left on time, ... read more

Today we took the public bus to Mdina/Rabat. Mdina is a small fortified baroque “city” that is adjacent to Rabat. The bus was an approximately 30 minute trip and it was packed. I bought a card loaded with 12 bus trips even tough I’m unlikely to use all of them...it was cheaper than buying our bus trips separately and I can always leave the card with any unused trips behind for the next guests in the apartment. Mdina was compact, beautiful and very pleasant to walk around despite the throngs of people. Lots of shade and very breezy (not sure where the wind was coming from because Mdina was surrounded by high walls). We took in an exhibit about the history of the Knights of Malta (a.k.a. Knights Hospitalier; Knights of the Order of St-John) which ... read more

We left Braşov behind and headed for Sighisoara about 1.5 hours northwest-ish. Their claim to fame is their meticulously preserved medieval citadel and the house of Vlad Tepes who the town info says was the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s character Dracula (Dracula means “son of Dracul”...Vlad’s dad (Vlad Sr.’s) name was Vlad Dracul, so that makes junior...you see where I’m going). Junior did his fair share of impaling, apparently. Our hotel was inside the walls of the citadel and was very quaint. We could drive in to drop off our luggage, but had to park outside the citadel walls (parking is super cheap - 5 RON ($1.61 CAD) for 24hrs. The historic citadel area is extremely compact and we walked up and down every street and saw all the sights, including the room where Vlad Tepes ... read more

We started our day with breakfast at what is quickly becoming our favourite spot: Paul. Very popular cafe about a block away from our hotel with magnificent pastries and gorgeous sammiches. Also, the ladies who work there are the friendliest in Bucharest! It’s nice to start your day with a smile (a rare enough commodity that we notice when we get one). Gold star, Paul. You are excellent. My must for Bucharest was the Village Museum (an open air museum with historic homes and structures from different parts of Romania that were relocated to Bucharest and restored). To get there we took a lacklustre HOHO which took us by the Parliament (ridiculously huge) before swinging northward to take us to the museum. The museum was Ah-Mah-Zing. We spent 4 hours there (including lunch at a cafe ... read more

Day 6 was a long slog (15 hours) on the train from Budapest to Bucharest. We had tried to figure out about the train, amenities, etc. before we left, but left things a little too late and couldn't get the info we needed about our train by looking online. Like: Is there wifi on the train? (No) Are there plugs to charge your devices (Yes) Is there a dining car? (No) is there a bar (No) and probably the most important one for a 15hr trip - Can you buy food on the train (yes, but you won't know that until after you start thinking maybe there won't be any snacks and you won't be able to have anything until after you arrive at 11pm and by then you'll be "hangry" and that's no fun for ... read more