Blogs from Romania, Europe - page 83

Although I write this from Hungary, Several days later, Medias is the last town in Romania we visited, so is dated and placed from there. "Do they have running hot water here?" Has become a by-word for the dumb, pointless question. Our route ran to Brasov, then Sibiu via public transport, then piking up a car in sibiu (Cultural Capital of the EU, 2007), we made our way to Sighishoara, then to Suceava, then Bistritsa, then back to Sighisoara, Sibiu and Medias, to drop the car off and pick up a train to Budapest. As you can imagine, every town was beautiful. special Kudos must go to sibiu (lots of old buildings with pretty coloured rooves), and to Sighisoara, which looked exactly like a picture postcard, only bigger. Really. It looked more like fairy land. ... read more

We had heard acount couchsurfing from a few people but it was the German hicthhiker that really convinced us to give it a go. Basically its a website with people who have a couch or have some space to accomadate fellow travellers. A great resource for travellers as it gives the opporunity to meet local people and also have a free nights accomadation. Our couch surfing host in Timisoara was Rasvan, a Romanian who studied in Timis and is now working for an IT company there. Rasvan is true gent, he had some friends up from his home town that night and Shilpa made us all a curry which went down well with everybody. Rasvan took us into town with his mates for a few beers and we had a fantastic sleep on his very comfy ... read more

Saavuin tanne kuuluisaan Transylvaniaan pari paivaa sitten jahtaamaan Draculan haamua. Ensimmaisena paivana taisin muistuttaa itse haamua unenpuutteen vuoksi. Budapestissa kavimme Miken (asuimme samassa hostellissa) kanssa drinksuilla siina kivassa baarissa ja tapasin samalla Miken entisen huonekaverin Yhdysvalloissa. Kun palasimme hostellille, hostellin pitaja ihmetteli ettei ollut ollenkaan huomannut meidan poistuvan hostellilta eika osannut odottaa meidan palaavan. Han sitten "komensi" meidat keittioon ja vilkaisimme kohta toisiimme ihmeissamme. Kohta isanta palasikin tonkan kanssa ja kertoi, etta koska olemme olleen tuopillisella, taytyy meidan ehdottomasti nyt maistaa paikallista-tai oikeastaan Transylvanialaista- erikoisuutta, postulaa tms. suomalaisittain siis pontikkaa! No, ei siina mitaan, maistoimme shotit tata erikoisuutta. Mausta en osaa niin sanoa mitaan, vahvaa oli ja polt... read more

Matt and I were on our own in Bucharest again on Tuesday. We have gotten to be relatively comfortable exploring on our own--as long as our taxi driver speaks some English AND we have our map. Our taxi driver today was cool--his #1 CD was Soul: the Supremes, Barry White, etc. His favorite song, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor--the essence of the Romanian people. Our mission today was to tour the People's Palace, technically called the Palace of the Parliament. Words can't explain nor can pictures depict what we saw today. During the tour, we were stunned by the massiveness of everything; but never did we hear "but the people were starving." Our guide was a Romanian girl about 25 years old; her English was relatively good but she seemed to be guarded in ... read more

Our first day in Sinaia was wonderful. After a long day of exploring, we were ready to bed down in the comfort of down pillows and comforter at the New Montana Hotel. As with mountain climate, it was so cool and refreshing. Our comment to Doug was, “It will be so nice to sleep with the windows open and breathe the night air.” His comment, “Well, I hope you get used to the dogs.” Of course, we were tired and didn’t pay any attention to that comment. We should have. There is a peaceful day socialization of humankind in Sinaia. At night, it is dog socialization time. Throughout Sinaia on the night we stayed, all dogs “talked” to one another all night long—at the same time—nonstop until sunrise. I suppose one would eventually get used ... read more