Alpin Brasov

Brasov in Transsylvania at the foothills beyond is my overnight stop. The town was founded by German settlers who came here by invitation of the former Hungarian rulers. They helped to defend the area against the Turks, 800 years ago. Kronstadt or crown town is the German name of the place and in the center it still does look like a provincial town of the Austro-Hungarian crown. A big gothic church and a triangular historic main square are its nicest ...

Brasov - the name brings to mind vampires, castles, and everything Dracula. We took a rocking bus from Brasov to Bran Castle (the rap and dance mix music was great but a little funny as well) to see the famous Bran Castle. The whole Dracula aspect of the castle was cool, and all the secret passage ways and stairs give it a maze like feel. The castle is built on a hill in the middle of the forest, in a truly breathtaking ...

... by them but they were in their own world. Finally the bus left the station and about ten minutes into the 30 min ride, the girls started complaining that they had to go to the bathroom. Well, the driver wasn't impressed but a little amuzed so he pulled over and let them off the bus. It created quite a stir on the bus while passengers were mumbling in multiple languages ...

... was the first border where there had been any official activity. Passports were shown, questions were asked; all travellers have to purchase a vignette to cover their share of road tax, which is done at the local gas station. To get this you have to produce car registration and insurance documents. A bit of a pain in the neck, but would that not be a great idea for our own channel ports, to tax these thousands of ...

... who was leaving, all that there was left was 3 of us total. I took them for the pretty walk around the outside of the city walls and up to the watch towers before we went back to our own hostels. I met another fellow dorm mate who is from Canada and the next day we took a bus to a town called Bran, where in lied the infamous Dracula Castle! The bus was about forty minutes there and forty minutes back. The visit to what turned to be a very small castle took ...

... after Emma jumped up into my arms. About half an hour later they decided to tell us that Emma has strepthroat and that its extremely contagious and we probably shouldnt be touching her. Im not totally sure what it is but it sounds bad because they said Andrada had it last year and was in hospital for a week. Then they told us that the kids had worms, particularly Bianca. So now Im going to the pharmacy to get worming tablets and hope that i dont get strepthroat. We didnt stay there ...

... onto the street. how cool, i can get beer right next door! This morning i had vegetarian pate and stale bread for breakfast. by the way..the bread isnt actually stale, they just like it dry like that. the pate was awful, bu tshe seems to get upset if i dont eat what she gives me. so i took out osme of the pate and put it in a bag and threw it away when i went outside. the equivalent of giving it to the dog i guess... except no dog would eat that. it was ...

Brasov is the second biggest city in Romania but is only about 400k people. Feels more like a small city or big town really which was a nice change of pace. Lots of nice buildings and a large pedestrian area where everyone walks around and hangs out. I really like this place. Took a day trip to Bran Castle which is the "real" Dracula's castle (Brasov and Bran Castle are in the famous Transylvania). This comes either from the idea that Bram ...

... or worse, there was a mysterious fog throughout the day which led to some pretty interesting pictures. The castle tour was part of a package through the hostel and turned out to be a great deal. Again we topped off the day with a 4 star meal before heading to hungary on an overnight.

... I hope, as always you are doing well. I also hope you understand that since arriving to site in Navoi, going thru all the transitions there, and then being kicked out of country and now in a whole new place...that you will cut me some slack in not having written too many personal emails in the last month. I apologize, really I do. Don't take it personally, and by all means, don't stop writing me whenever you have a break in your crazy schedules, too. Much love to all, Amber