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Romania was very pretty. I went skiing for the first time and fell a little. We also went on tubes. It was very fun. We also went to Dracula's fake castle. It was very nice. We also went into a palace. I saw cute dogs and cats at the hostel and it was very fun. - Sofia
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After flight from Miami to NYC, a 1/2 day in NYC spent with Lady Liberty, overnight flight to London and then another plane and we finally arrived in Bucharest, Romania. We immediately got our rental car and drove 3+ hours to Brasov. While the first part of the drive was boring, we then passed through cool mountains and SNOW!! I was so excited. When we arrived at the Rolling Stone Hostel daddy was a bit tired, but I wanted to put on my new cool boots and hit the town. So we walked to the main square for dinner. A quick bite, and it was back to the hostel as I had to get plenty of rest for the next day....My first day skiing ever.
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The hostel was my favorite of the trip. There was 2 nice sisters that worked there and a dog and a couple cats. We had our own room and there was a living room where we talked to other travelers. I was glad we were staying for 3 nights.
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So, we got up and took a short drive to Poiana Brasov. Within 30 minutes, I had my skiis on, a cool ski instructor and we hit the slopes. I did really well and had a lot of fun. I fell down a few times, but it didn't hurt. I leven learned how to turn like an airplane. Daddy was proud of me and I was proud of myself. We then rented a tube and slid down the hill with it together. It went so fast and I had soooo much fun.

We went back to Brasov and walked around the old town for a bit. Checked out the Black Church and ate a good dinner at Casa Romaneasca. I had my first of many schnitzels.
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The next day it was time to see Draculas Castle in Bran. Daddy explained to me about the difference between Vlad Tepes and Dracula later in the trip and I will talk about it in a later blog, but basically this castle was not his "real castle" He only visited it. However, it was a really cool castle and I had a lot of fun there. Before seeing this castle, we went to Sinai to see Peles Castle which looked like it was out of a fairy tale. We took a tour, but left it a bit early to play outside. Daddy bought me a Romanian doll there to add to my foreign doll/puppet collection. That night it snowed!!! I could not resist going out on the hostel patio and opening my mouth and have my tongue collect the snow......Soooo cool. I wish it would snow in Miami, a wish I once made in Nicaragua when I saw a shooting star while watching a turtle lay its eggs.
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The next day we left Brasov. I was very sad to leave the hostel. I really liked it there and it would be my favorite of the trip.We stopped by 2 small towns on the way to our next stop Sighisoara. The towns were Prejmer and Harman and both had really cool fortified churches. These were Saxon churches that were surrounded by huge walls to protect them. They were more like fortresses. Really cool looking. It was now time to continue on to the birthplace of Vlad Tepes aka dracula.

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