Natasha and I decided to explore Sibiu, the 2007 European Capital of Culture. There was a 9:45am train- easy enough. We sadly said bye to GT and Romain. I became particularly fond of Romain, so it was really too bad that he was leaving today. Funny, the morning train to Sibiu got cancelled (or maybe it was delayed or arrived in the wrong lane or...

Welcome to Romania, beautiful landscapes and scenery, Dracula, and loads of Gypsies. After my 13 hour train ride to Bucharest I immediately jumped on a train up to Brasov in the heart of Transylvania where I would be based for the next 4 nights. After about 15 minutes the train made its first stop and about 20 Gypsies boarded and started storing...

So I know at least one of you out there has a date somewhere before January 4 that you'll think I'll return by. Maybe y'all can start a betting pool of dates. Hint: never on a Thursday (family joke). Being as I can't find a turkey (only the occasional turkey wing) or pumpkin, or cranberries, or pecans, or sweet potatoes, no Thanksgiving for me t...

He Said: Yesterday afternoon we rode a train north out of Bucharest into the province of Transylvania. The city rapidly turned into flat farmland, which then quickly gave way to expansive forests, jagged peaks, and villages that looked like they could be Bavarian. We arrived in the town of Brasov in the late afternoon. It is a large city (popula...

From Bucharest we went to Brasov, the economic and cultural centre of Transylvania. Transylvania is uniquely beautiful with its thickly forested mountains and hills from which the clouds and fog cling. Brasov is a walled medieval town and is remaking itself into a tourist destination. Oddly, the powers that be decided to spell out the city's nam...

Today we walked around brasov. It is a really nice town. Lots of pretty buildings but is was cold (jeans and a sweatshirt) and rainy so we slept in and watched tv most of the day. Going to Dracula's castle tomorrow.

25 hours to Bucharest ... In the last entry we left you as we were leaving for Bucharest on a 25 hour train ride. Although we expected the train ride to be brutal, we had no idea it would be like this... It started like most other train rides did. Seat reservations, a rush to get to the train before the departure and then the scramble to climb a...