Blogs from Brasov, Brasov, Transilvania, Romania, Europe - page 6

I hate getting outsmarted. Arrived and immediately got harassed for taxi rides, hotel stays, etc. However a tall black guy named... I think Derek... came up to me and, in English, started instructing me as to the lay of the land. Turns out that he went to school outside of Lubbock, and was now in Romania playing basketball professionally. He stuck me on a bus which ended up at my hostel, and we agreed to meet up that night for dinner. Made it to my place relatively easily, although I did have to scamper around what appeared to be a wolf pack of (probably not actually) skinny and disheveled stray dogs. It appears that there are loose dogs EVERYWHERE in Romania, something which I had read in my guide book but had not believed in the ... read more

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 mini-computer when the cabin door flung open and a train attendant sharply demanded something in another language. Everyone gave him their passports and tickets for inspection so we did too. About an hour later the door flung open again and another train attendant asked for passports, but this time only from Jessica and I. He took our passports and wrote down information from them. I found it pretty alarming because it was a different person, which means they're keeping ... read more

Budapest - Brasov So, to finish up Budapest first: After 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 of its potential air conditioning, but, closed on Mondays. So we walked for ever and ever up to Hero's Square. Thinking we were clever we decided to take an alternative route back to the hostel - a foolish decision because we mostly walked next to a motorway... in the searing sunshine. Indeed, that was Budapest. Armed with a bottle of Jagermeister to ease the night train - we ... read more

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 jaw-dropping; mountains that were over 2500m high, lush forest all around, following a beautiful stream and every now and then a beautiful castle. After arriving in the city of Brasov, I once again followed a backpacker to their hostel (although I have kinda been travelling with the girl (Jacqui) I followed) and it payed off once again. I quickly ditched my bags and went exploring this touristy but beautiful town that ... read more

Brasov day 9 (June 15) Another mini-bus 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 “Brasov, Probably the Best City in the World” which is a play on a Heineken add. A bold claim but I liked the slight humility in the “Probably” and also the fact that it wasn’t an absolute claim. Brasov is a lovely town. It’s old town including the black church (named due to a fire), the many towers and it’s remaining fortified wall were all interesting. It had a relaxed feel to the town and despite being really hot it was a good place to wander around. We had ... read more