Leave Romania to the Vampires!

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Geo: 44.4479, 26.0979

Having left Marta's beautiful Hungarian hospitality we were on the road again. This time, on the road again for a loooonnnngg time. It was to be a ten hour truck day. We stopped at a supermarket to spend the remainder of our Forits on Haribo mainly... our usual border routine ..... and soon crossed into Romania. This was the first proper border control we experienced, with stern faced, uniformed, eastern European guards entering the truck requiring passports. Yet still no stamp to document this adventure! Silly European passport. Although they will come soon enough!!!Post scary men with evil eyes, there was yet more driving... it was a wild camp night, involving a drive up a random farm road/ track to find a suitable place to call home for the night. On this occasion we couldn't find a soul to ask for permission, so we discretely parked (in our huge orange beast!!!) Behind a hedge and got the tents as close as we could. Many decided to sleep on the truck that night, as they didn't want to sleep out in the rain and make the groundsheet of the their tent muddy! I fear it will become far worse than that as the months pass. Whilst waiting for the chicken and pea Risotto to cook, communal wine was served up in our blue plastic mugs (we are so damn classy!!!) And the hulahoop and skipping rope appeared from the lockers within the truck. There were a few insecurities flying around, but I didn't really mind! Skipping was definitely more my forte though!! After tea, it was early to bed ready for another 5am start. Apocalyptic clouds had also started to gather, so tents were secured with every available spare peg! We were spared the most of the storm, it passing to the west of us, with just a light sprinkling of precipitation in the small hours of the morning.
Now this is where I hang my head in shame and admit to a very shameful act..... I had a MacDonalds for brunch! I was so determined before I came away I wouldn't, but the smell of it and the hour stop we had at the supermarket it was situated in meant it was irresistible! Will try from now on not to eat one!!!!

We stopped at 'Dracula's Castle' for a few hours on the way through. The drive through the mountains was spectacular, with the dregs of the winter snow still capping the rugged peaks. The road was also spectacularly bumpy, meaning at one point, whilst asleep, I did actually levitate off my chair, landing with an uncontrolled, half asleep bump.... anyways, back to the castle. It was not what I expected in the slightest, it was mainly a museum dedicated to a princess that lived there in between the wars. It was a beautiful, higeldy pigeldy building, with many stairs and rooms. There was only one room that mentioned anything about the vampire legends and it only said about Vlad the Impaler having once resided in the castle. The rest was all film and literature hype.The campsite was on the outskirts of Bucharest, close to the zoo. It was more geared up to campervans and people staying in their small lodges on site. Summed up by the bit of scrubland at the back we were taken to to set up the tent. Once cleared of all of the logs, brambles and thistles, the tent managed to look homely enough, for two nights at least! Food was served and then it was the first birthday of the trip. Helen, being addicted to Haribo received numerous packets on her lap as a cake was bought out with a candle on. With a very large grin, the candle was blown out and the drinking and party games began. By the end we were playing the cereal box game, trying not to faceplant the floor with the varying amounts of alcohol consumed by members of the group! Thankfully, my £1 bottle of Merlot lasted me very well and I was in no pain in the morning after the festivities.

Our adventure into the city the next day was interesting to say the least. Many of the group could not be bothered to go, as even the guide books pretty much said not to bother! Our first issue was attempting to find a blooming bus ticket. According to a friendly, English speaking cafe owner, it was a bank holiday and therefore the buses were free, as the conductors were not working. We took our chances and jumped on the 301, hoping that it was the 301 in the correct direction, as the bus driver as not so helpful!!! Once we had successfully negotiated that, we had the metro to contend with. Luckily, the lady at the kiosk told us exactly what we needed and exactly where we needed to get off too... legend. The city was not what I expected it to be and is actually quite hard to describe. Many high rise concrete rectangles, with large, advertisement, light boards on all of the roofs. Our plan was to go and find the 2nd largest buildings in Europe...The Ceausescu Palace. En route, we passed an elderly gentleman that broke my heart. He had neither of his legs below the knee. He had such a haunted face, as he hobbled along the pavement with pads on his stumps. I felt so sad for him and really wanted to know his story. It definitely didn't stop him doing anything though as he continued on his way, down the steps into the metro!

Furthermore, we stumbled across a place of worship (really not sure what faith it was and don't like to speculate!). There was a service going on and it was truly beautiful. The artwork on the ceilings of the porchway could rival any of the famous Rome paintings. They were embelished with gold, which caught the sunlight, making them even more astounding. The service was projected into the courtyards with loudspeakers that sent goosebumps down my spine. We then ventured on, with the hugest doughnut i have ever seen in hand to find the palace. Large it certainly was, but we had no desire to go in... therefore the adequate number of photos were taken before venturing back towards the metro. Not content with the doughnut in our bellies, we went on a hunt for lunch, buying some goodies at the local supermarket and having a picnic, on what can only be described as the middle of an interchange in the city!

Once back at camp, there was the mother of all thunderstorms, pinning us in whatever form of shelter we were in. Luckily i was in the reception on the internet, others however were tent bound for and hour! Adams egg curry was for tea.... yes it does sound a little odd, as it did to us at first, but it was blooming amazing, Use egg rather than meat. YUM 😊

I can not say i am sorry to see the back of Romania, and I very much doubt I will return, but at least I can say I have been there 😊

Until the next time....
XXX

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