http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/Brasov/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Romania , Transilvania , Brasov en-us Mon, 04 Jan 2010 01:01:41 +0000 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 01:01:41 +0000 Last night we left Budapest and took a night train to Brasov Romania. I didn't expect things to be so different here but they really are. The night train was alright kind of cramped but the bunk beds were better than any of the hostels we've stayed at. Jessica and I were watching a movie on her minicomputer when the cabin door flung open and a train attendant sharply demanded something in anot http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/Brasov/Brasov/blog-440506.html Until a few weeks ago we had been riding through countries so massive that border crossings when they so seldom happened seemed interestingly quirky at worst. When we met with our dear friends in the Crimean we knew that one way or the other we would be crossing several international boundaries in only a few days. We thought this quite irksome as Julie and JP had to be in Bucharest for a flig http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/Brasov/blog-436782.html Varna to Bucharest was an absolute missionI went to the train station in the day to get a seat reservation for the 10pm train. I was told by two people this wasn't necessary so went on my merry way to the beach.However when I came back at 9 I tried to get on and was told I did in fact need a reservation... However as it is during high season all of these had gone as Romanians and Bulgarians h http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/Brasov/Brasov/blog-432346.html Way back in the 80's Steph as a little girl in love with gymnastics watched a movie called Nadia about the famous Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci. So when we first moved to Europe and made our hit list of 'mustsee' countries Steph put Romania on out of a Dracula curiosity I seconded it. I've been to Bucharest a bunch of times for work and since this time I was going on a ThursdayFriday i http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/Brasov/Brasov/blog-431682.html Budapest BrasovSo to finish up Budapest firstAfter a Sunday night of beers and Palinka at the hostel we stumbled out into the bright daylight of Budapest for a final exploration before taking the train away. Lunch was definitely order of the day oversized portions of Schnitzel and Chicken Kiev was deeeelicious. We then attempted to visit the Terror House Museum in order to take advantage o http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/Brasov/Brasov/blog-425504.html Brasov day 9 June 15Another minibus ride to Brasov. Equally crowded. I think one woman had a number of dinner sets in one stripy bag that was placed in the aisle quite a few people sitting on luggage in the aisles. Brasov has a marketing slogan ldquoBrasov Probably the Best City in the Worldrdquo which is a play on a Heineken add. A bold claim but I liked the slight humility in the ldquo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/Brasov/Brasov/blog-424983.html 72609AustinIt has been awhile since we last blogged and we have a lot to update on. We have been traveling through Romania for the last two weeks. We went to the Transylvania Alps near Sinaia and braved the weather to hike to the top in very windy conditions. We also spent a night in a freezing cold Cabana at the top of the mountain. The views are beyond words in the beauty of flat topped http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/Brasov/Bran/blog-423900.html I have to admit that the only reason I was interested in visiting Transylvania was because of the Dracula movies. But Ill have you know that it wasn't because of Dracula but rather the castles and the mountainous scenery the movies showed. And although it wasn't quite like what I had imagined I certainly was not disappointed. The train ride through the Carpathian mountains was jawdropping moun http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/Brasov/Brasov/blog-422247.html Brasov is said to be the most visited area in all of Romania but you would never know. The town is tiny and is easily explored on foot. The train ride from Bucharest to Brasov is pleasurable you wind in and out of mountain villages in the Carpathian Mountain Range. The mountains like back home are covered with trees but are relatively low because of their age. But there were still ice cream c http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/Brasov/Brasov/blog-421996.html OK I think we left you in Krakow on last blog and it was a short one sorry about that but time and interenet access wait for noone. From Krakow we caught the overnight train to Budapest in Hungary we got lucky and had a 4 berth cabin to ourselves so great sleep. We stayed at a lovely hostel the Budapest Bubble google it with a lovely girl called Olga in charge.We had a great time at th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/Brasov/blog-417140.html Greetings From Istanbul we caught a night train north to Bulgaria. We nursed a bottle of Raki Turkish Ouzo with our cabin mates before nodding off only to be woken by border guards at 3 a.m. and told we needed to walk to the far end of the station to have our passports stamped. As we exited the conductor pulled Jub aside stuffed 15 Euros in his pocket and asked for three cartons of cigare http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/Brasov/Brasov/blog-413432.html Tuesday May 19th. We took the 613am Ptrain from Gara de Noor in Bucharest to Brasov. We were so excited to get our first peek at the mountains. The train ride was very nice and quiet. We arrived at the chaotic train station and navigated our way by bus to the hostel. Unfortunately they did not get our reservations and the cheapest dorm room was booked. We had to stay in a private room which wa http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/Brasov/Brasov/blog-405171.html DISCOVER ROMANIA AS A TRAVEL DESTINATIONRomania a name which in many minds is synonymous with many bad things. This because nobody told you the good things about Romania. Nobody told you for exemple that Romania is a country inhabitated by 600.000 years and the ancestors of the romanians had a blossom and high civilization the same at least as the greeks and romans and some ancient gods fo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/Brasov/Brasov/blog-374609.html DISCOVER ROMANIA AS A TOURISTIC DESTINATIONRomania a name which in many minds is synonymous with many bad things. This because nobody told you the good things about Romania. Nobody told you for exemple that Romania is a country inhabitated by 600.000 years and the ancestors of the romanians had a blossom and high civilization the same at least as the greeks and romans and some ancient gods http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/Brasov/Brasov/blog-374591.html Brasov is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Still seemingly relatively unscathed by tourists the people were very friendly and welcoming.Musts include trying the mulled wine which is superb and the local spirit shot which isn't. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/Brasov/Brasov/blog-372298.html Decided it was high time to go home relax and clear up my thoughts after a very traumatic experience. Mom and Dad were amazing and took me out and about to gorgeous places in Romania places that I can remember only from my childhood when we used to travel quite a lot in summer as a family and later on with friends. I enjoyed the aweinspiring landscapes and loved revisiting Bran Castle one of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/Brasov/Bran/blog-369306.html When I first arrived in Brasov I was on my way to Moldova and it was early in the morning and snowy. I was in search of Autogara 2 Bus station 2. Given the amount of tourist traffic that this city gets I would not have expected that it was that difficult to get directions to this bus station. Granted I don't speak Romanian but really Autogara Doi shouldn't elicit a 'deer in the headlight http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/Brasov/Brasov/blog-358535.html Map 3D Poiana Brasov Brasov http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/Brasov/Brasov/blog-340055.html Whenever I went to a Hallowe'en party as a kid I always went as Dracula. And not just because my widow's peak and pasty complexion meant I barely had to do any preparation. The legendary tale of the bloodsucking vamp from Transylvania was one of my favourite books so I jumped at the chance to visit the spooky territory where the story was based.Of course Bram Stoker's work of fiction was at leas http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/Brasov/Brasov/blog-329406.html Bran Castle was totally d305fferent to how I expected 305t to be but st305ll very very cool. I was 305n a buoyant mood all day because I'd thought we were just camping near it not actually go305ng there. The castle was not what 304 expected fairly obv305ously 305n retrospect s305nce what I expected was for 305t to be very dark and creepy but I loved every m305 http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Transilvania/Brasov/Brasov/blog-328159.html