Blogs from Brasov, Transilvania, Romania, Europe - page 12

28-08-2008 Who’s house? Bram’s House Well it wasn’t really Bram Stoker’s house but Bran castle was what gave Bram the inspiration to write his famous book. Apparently Vlad never lived here, he just “dropped in for a visit” at some point in the 1500s. Jen, as a vampire enthusiast was thrilled to see the castle, but disappointed by the setting. She expected the castle to be on a ragged hill in the middle of the Transylvanian alps, not in a village with market stalls selling tacky vampire gimmicks and serving bloody vampire steaks with fangs. It’s as pity because the village and the castle itself is really scenic, if they just cleared out all of the tacky souvenirs and got rid of tourists it would be a lovely place - I know probably sounds familiar to ... read more

Well I 'just' got back from my trip to Brasov. That's the main city that is closest to Bran where the tourist version of Dracula's castle is. It's really not his castle, he only speant a summer or two there bit they say it is where the king was bitten by a warewolf or something hairy in the night that caused him to drink the blood of those he had conquered.... Anyways, the trip started with a 5 hour train ride from Cluj... most of which I slept through. I got there, checked into my hotel and went off to the downtown area to see everything. Downtown Brasov (Prounouced brashov) is alot more of the traditional European city you think about. With older buildings and even city walls surrounding it, you get the feel of life ... read more

Transilvian matka… 2.-9.7. Lensimme Wizz Airin lennolla Budapestista Targu Muresiin (Marosvásárhely), Romaniaan. Tämän Transilvian osa on nimeltään Székely Föld ja siellä asuu pääasiassa unkarinkielisiä. Székelyt väittävät olevansa hunnien jälkeläisiä ja vaalivat perinteistä unkarilaista kulttuuria. Koko Transilvia oli osa Unkaria aina 1920 asti, jolloin Trianonin rauhansopimus pilkkoi mm. Unkarin siten, että se menetti 2/3 osan alueistaan. Transilviaan jäi valtava unkarilaisasutus ja Itäisessä osassa, Székelyföldissä on edelleenkin 85% väestöstä unkarilaisia ja unkarinkielisiä. Chauceskun aikaan he olivat erittäin ahtaalla, mutta ovat selvinneet ihan mukavasti onneksi! Lentoliput olivat tosi halpoja, vain 60€ / hlö. Hotellia emme ottaneet valmiiksi, mutta meillä oli mukanamme kirja, jota olin ahkerasti lukenut etukäteen. Se majoitus, jota olimme aikoneet oli tietenkin täynnä, mut... read more

Mileage ~3400 miles We left Budapest for Romania. We didn't make it to our intended destination, Cluj, so stopped on the way at a campsite on the way. The campsite was next to both road and rail, had no facilities and that night the skies opened up on us in the strongest storm I've ever seen! I could hear the rain coming over the hill getting closer and even in the tent with eyes shut the lightning was bright! We travelled into Cluj Napoca the next morning and had a walk around. Sadly the mysterious aquacycles promised on one tourist website remained a mystery as they seemed not to be present in the park. Walking around the city was still pleasant enough though. We drove on to Sighisoara, a medium-sized town with beautiful cobbled winding streets. ... read more

After our time in Bulgaria we headed north to visit Romania, from Sophia we took a night train which saw us given our own sleeping compartment with beds and a sink. This was a far cry from our night train in Egypt which was very uncomfortable and people got on and off all night long trying to sell immense quantities of things that don't interest you at 4 in the morning like newspapers and giant pretzels. So after our train ride we arrived in Bucharest the capital of Romania refreshed and ready to do some sightseeing, the only problem was that it was 6am and nothing was open. So we waited till a more suitable time and headed out and about to see the sights. Bucharest is a pretty place but has somehow gotten itself a ... read more