Blogs from Transilvania, Romania, Europe - page 38

Europe » Romania » Transilvania July 5th 2006

Upon arriving in Romania after a long and uneventful flight, Alecia and I were among the lucky that had all of out luggage arrive. Funny enough, the hardest part of the trip was flying through Philadelphia, but after traveling around that fair city I can honestly say that all of my less-than brotherly feelings from the airport have been assuaged. Thank you Erika and Rob for being stellar hosts! Upon our arrival in Bucharest, we were greeted by friendly Peace Corps staff members. They loaded us on to a bus, and we sped off to Ploiesti (60 k from the Capitol), our home for training. The town is roughly 250,000 people and is known for its historical significance as an oil town. The first oil refinery in the world was established here in the late 19th ... read more

Transylvania - Land of Dracula.

Europe » Romania » Transilvania » Cluj » Cluj-Napoca June 30th 2006

Romanian Shop.

Bikepacker

Day 42, 12th July. Tileagd - Cicea - Vinátori As we set out, larger hills loomed into view and the climbing was soon to begin. Toby wasn’t feeling too well so we stopped at a small shop where the friendly owner let us eat at a table in the shop, cut bread for us, and gave us free bottled-water. As we carried on we had strange looks from all the people in villages. But friendly looks, smiles, and people waving to us from fields and horses and carts. At one hilltop stop we had beer, lunch and met a couple with a caravan from England who were off to do some charity work at an orphanage. There was a great downhill afterwards - always careful to mind the bumps and potholes in the road. At the ... read more

Carpathian Odyssey

Europe » Romania » Transilvania June 30th 2006

Poiana Larglui

Bikepacker

Day 44, 14th July. Călanu - Reghin - Brâncoveneşti The Italian guys name was Alesso, and his friend and security guard was called Tibor. We all thought Tibor was a bit thick cos of the stories Alesso told us about him and the well! Alesso made us some cappuccino for breakfast with fresh cow’s milk and we set off. Scott wasn’t feeling too well today, but Toby was better. The road continued through rurul and less hilly landscapes over a few quite hard hills. The heat was terrible from the hot road surfaces when going up them. We rested in one village at a bar with some beers while Scott slept on the grass awhile. A tree branch fell down and nearly hit us while we were drinking! Shortly, we arrived in the town of Reghin ... read more

Brian's pictures

Europe » Romania » Transilvania » Cluj » Cluj-Napoca June 28th 2006

St. Michaels Cathedral, Cluj

Corinne11

Steph and I went to Romania to visit our friend Magghi and got a tour of Transylvania from a local. We rented a car and drove around for a few days stoping at an old salt mine, a couple restaurants and castles, a Gypsey camp, and a nice old ladies house where she they talked me into drinking some home made moonshine. ... read more

Transylvania (no vampires)

Europe » Romania » Transilvania June 26th 2006

Peles Castle

Zjave

Okay I've only got 10 minutes in my hour left so I'll roll three cities into one entry. Sinaia is technically part of tara romanesca, or wallachia, which is the flat, southern part of romania that includes bucarest, but its the gateway sort of to Transylvania. The main thing to see here was Peles castle, which was the former home of the King of Romania, and the most luxurious place I had every seen. The tour guide led us from room to room- "This painting is from the Venice, this is a Monet, this rug is from the King of Afghanistan, this ornamental vase is from Japan, this floor was..." It was very elegant, well worth the trip. Next I went to Brasov, the most popular town in Transylvania. I never really liked that whole vampire ... read more

Romania!

Europe » Romania » Transilvania June 22nd 2006

Finally there!

Corinne11

This is some pictures of our trip to Romania to visit Magghi... read more

Dracula's Castle.................

Europe » Romania » Transilvania » Brasov » Brasov May 27th 2006

shiplorian

Oh ye believers of the legend............. Without a crucifix, garlic, silver bullet or a stake, I have ventured into Dracula's Castle and returned without a touch of being undead! Truth be told, Vlad Tepes is a genuine hero in these parts. He was a true nationalist who wanted to make his territories free from the Turkish invaders.. Ok, yeah, he did impale people (and now I do know how to it), but more as a warning to his enemies. There is history that Vlad's grandfather went to the Castle, but no record that Vlad himself ever went there. For that metter, neither did Bram Stoker!!! Yes, it dates back to the 1400s which was Vlad's time. In the 1920's the people of Wallachia and Transylvania gave the Castle to the Queen at the time, Marie. The ... read more

In Transylvania

Europe » Romania » Transilvania » Brasov » Brasov May 26th 2006

shiplorian

Hey there trip voyeurs.......... Yesterday we had an excellent tour of Bucharest, followed by a good dinner al fresco. Thank gooodness the temperature had cooled because it had been in the mid-90s since I arrived!!!!! This morning we were on the bus by 9 AM for our ride to Transylvania. It took almost 4 hours to get here, but it was interesting and informative because we learned a lot about life under Communism and the Gypsies. One finds it amazing that the people's lives here have completely changed in 15 years since the revolution. None of the consumer goods we saw in a rest stop were available......nor were the cars. It truly been aleap into a brave new world for these people. We went past a building which is not on the current tourist route.....the building ... read more

Clug - Napoca

Europe » Romania » Transilvania » Cluj » Cluj-Napoca May 24th 2006

Clug-Napoca

Danieljh

After we arrived in Clug and found the hostel we went and had a bit of a look around then bought some beers and went back to the hostel.. that night we went to a beer festival where there was lots of cheap beer and drunk people around so we fitted in perfectly. we met some locals while standen in line waitin for some food then went to a bar and continued drinkin with them for quite a while.. then after a while we left and some how got back to the hostel..by taxi if i remember correctly the next day we left and caught the train to Sighetu Marmatiei right up north of romania... read more

Sighisoara

Europe » Romania » Transilvania » Mures » Sighisoara May 23rd 2006

Sigi

Danieljh

When we got to Sighisoara there was a worker from one of the hostels waitin there he showed his hostel and for 7 euros we decided to stay there.. Sighisoara is a nice small town but you can see everythin in 2 or so hours because its not a very big place.. after walkin arond lookin at the sights and havin a few beers we went to the train station and waited for Joe and Tony who left Brasov after us they went and had a quick look around while me and kym kept drinkin after about an hour theyd seen everythin and got stuck into the beers aswell after quite a few beers Joe and Tony had to leave to Budapest we aranged to meet up with them again for a few days in Eger.. ... read more

Brief history of Romania

The principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia - for centuries under the suzerainty of the Turkish Ottoman Empire - secured their autonomy in 1856; they united in 1859 and a few years later adopted the new name of Romania. The country gained recognitio...more history

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