Blogs from Brasov, Transilvania, Romania, Europe

One final day together started early and ended late! Sandwiches and Gheorghe's tomatoes for breakfast in the van for our first 3 hour stint on the bus to Brasov! Suitcases loaded in the back by Niku - our driver for the entire trip -- he raced us across Romania to Brasov - a lovely city with tons of history, with many buildings dating to the 1400s (including the Black church – one of the few of German Lutheran decent). We spent a couple hours taking a walking tour (lots of hills) and did some shopping before lunch -- one last chance for pizza (and cabbage rolls for a couple of us). After lunch, we grabbed some cash at the local ING Bank and headed for Bran and the every famous Dracula’s castle! As we approached Bran ... read more

Our room didn't include breakfast, so we started our day by searching for a place with coffee and WIFI. Most of the places, including the one we had decided to try out, didn't open until one or two in the afternoon, but after some search we found a nice café in a alley near the town square. They sold excellent sandwiches for 6 lei, and even though they didn't have brewed coffee, the americano we got was decent. Refreshed by the breakfast we went up the hill to the Brasov sign for a panoramic view of the town. Luckily we didn't have to walk, the hill was steep and a few hundred meters high, instead we took the gondola lift going up the hill. When we first arrived to the station we were wondering if the ... read more

We landed to a rapturous applause by passangers as the shifty-looking Wizzair plane bounced off the runway at Targu-Mures municipal airfield. Emblazoned proudly on the side of the terminal are the words 'Transilvania Airport'. I feel rather cheated, having believed there is a 'y' involved. Bram Stoker, the Irish gothic writer, envisioned a medieval wild-west, inhabited by the vampire Dracula, Van Helsing, and all kinds of ludicrous creatures. Transylvania looks vast, dark and overpowering in much the same way today, except with more car dealerships. Many more. With a group of six other teachers, we wait for another who hasn't come through arrivals. We later learn that he missed his flight entirely. Our driver from the airport only speaks when pointing out the odd prostitute (alleged) walking by the side of the road. That, and likening ... read more

This morning, we hostel hired a driver for us and we went off to explore different parts of Transylvania. Particularly, he took us to three different castles: First the Peles castle in Sinaia, then Bran castle (the Dracula castle) and then to a ruined fort on a hill in Rasnov. Our driver for the day was Niko, and he definitely gave us some comedy relief during our journey. He first took us to get breakfast at a Romanian fast-food restaurant, but it wasn't serving food yet (not sure why they were open), so he took us to good old McDonalds. When I was ordering crepes, I read the sign next to the picture of the crepes and repeated it to the woman at the cash. She gave me a confused look. Turns out instead of saying ... read more

En ce qui a trait à nos bagages, le premier gros défi que je me suis rendu compte qu'on allait avoir souvent est celui d'embarquer dans un train. 2 gros sacs à dos, 2 moyens sacs à dos, Nellie, puis une poussette pliée à transporter dans un petit couloir étroit avec des passagers de chaque côté, c'est pas évident. Je me suis viré de bord après avoir forcé mon passage à travers l'allée, puis j'ai vu un monsieur avec une ''poque'' dans le front, une madame qui se frottait la joue comme si elle venait de recevoir un jab de Lucian Bute, un ado qui était en train de rapiécer ses lunettes, puis une dizaine de personnes qui me regardait d'un air ''mais qu'est ce que tu fous dans mon pays conard?'' Il me semblait avoir ... read more

Wake up refreshed, and the hostel had cereal for breakfast so we went and helped ourselves. I always find it strange to drink milk out of a carton that is stored in a cupboard...just seems wrong. We were booked on a tour to see Bran Castle, Rasnov and Sinaia and our taxi arrived at around 9:30 to take us and an aussie boy Jacob around to the sites (80Lei each). Our first stop was Sinaia. Now it was Good Friday for us but not in Romanian so there were lots of school kids visiting everywhere. AT Sinaia it was mainly teenagers. We hiked up the hill and Sinaia was beautiful!. We paid 20Lei to go on a tour, but you aren't allowed to take photos. They have someone join your tour who is in non descript ... read more