Blogs from Transilvania, Romania, Europe - page 28

Greetings! I've survived my first day in Romania. It is about 9:30pm here and I just finished having some very fresh watermelon with the gentlemen that maintain the grounds. Sooo... how's it been so far? The plane flight was long but the layovers and customs thing were way easier to manage than I expected. I met my new friend Ioana (kind of like Joana) at the airport and the lady who runs the school Ancunta (yea, I don't know any sort of English equivilent). They brought me flowers from the field in front of the school which smelled AMAZING!Then we drove to the school/shelter. I got the tour of the town and grounds. It's kind of like mexico but older. When we got to the school they had a big lunch set up and to be ... read more

So I got the overnight train from Budapest to Sighisoara which was possibly the most terrifying experience of my life. The guards spoke no English and the departure boards made absolutely no sense...in the end it was simply a case of get on and hope. Luckily I managed to get on the right train, the right carriage and the right cabin (though someone had already stolen my bed) and the night went ok until we were first woken up by the Hungarian border patrol to check passports at about 2.30 am and then about an hour later by the Romanian border patrol. No why anyone would want to smuggle themselves into Romania is beyond me but the fact that they couldn't just both plan to do it at the same time and not keep waking us ... 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