Argint Villa Sinaia

castle tour Rasnov Fortress- Bran Castle- Peles Palace I promise I will get around to posting pictures and entries. At this point, I am very content drinking an ice cold beer and facebooking, until I have to take an overnight train to Budapest, Hungary.

... pleasant chat, one of the ladies let me when it was my turn and I got my cappuccino. Aside from the smoking issues, people are quite nice here and it really reminds me of Latin American...and all of you know how much I like Latin Culture... We also saw the Sinaia Monastery today which had a large Orthodox church (biserica mare) built around 1846. As with most of the Orthodox churches I have seen here, there were ...

... Got to the castle and went on a tour of the inside. Couldn't believe how ornate and lavish everything inside was! Checked out the other castle next to it before heading back into town along the (shorter) stall lined route, taking my time to browse along the way. Had a hot dog and salad for lunch and then wandered around the ski resort style town and then spent too much time getting caught up on emails ...

... for two months. Brittany especially loved our tour of the castle, particularly the part where we got to go up a secret passageway. She told me (and several others) all about her plan to incorporate a secret passage into her house one day. The castle is built for very small people. Danny, you and I could definitely live there happily ever after. Brittany and Max..not so much. The one thing about Romania is they ...

... there was a light dusting of snow on the ground of the hills surrounding us. The view from the balcony was very pretty. After showers and breakfast we thought we'd try the funicular up the mountain to the Brasov Hollywood-like sign, not to see the sign but to see the view from above and to the mountains beyond. Unfortunately it is being repaired, so it's closed, we don't know if it will be open while we're here or not, perhaps E will let us try to ...

... our tour with the minibus. Before leaving the city we visit St. Nicholas' Cathedral; very picturesque with lots of turrets. Most impressive, however, is the Romanian School Museum beside the church. We sit in the students' seats as our guide translates an explanation of the educational system in medieval times. Only a few of the smartest boys from a village would be sent to school, supported by the village. Their education wouldn't begin until about age 20 ...

... in Lonely Planet? That's, like, so, I don't know..." "What Lonely Planet's for?" We would ask at this point. And don't get us started on the "Oh, sure, yah, that's a nice place... but you really had to be there ten years ago, you know? Before it got too... you know". It's the stupidity of it we can't stand. The self-fulfilling don't-go-to-nice-places-or-they'll-beco me-tourist-destinations twattery of the whole thing. "Oh!", they would remark, looking up from their ...

... and a couple Aussie guys almost got kicked out. Marcos however, a Romanian-Brazilian on the guided tour, managed to bribe a women there with 100,000 lei (3 euros). The women closed the doors for him alone and even took pictures for him as he posed and smiled on the throne and various other furniture. On the second day, Marcos and I went to the town of Sighisoara (pronounced Sig-gi-shrada) famous for being the birthplace of Vlad Tepes. It is the perfect picturesque ...

Brasov is where all the tourists go in Romania, in the heart of Transylvania, Dracula country. So I spend a day doing that, walking through the old castle and all. But the real attraction for me was just seeing a country in the heart of Europe that is still village-based and peasant-based, with lots of arts and crafts ...

... with some fruit which I had just purchased, a little boy walked up to me and pointed at my apple. I gave it to him, he kissed it, and he walked away. I can happily say that I have never been hungry enough to kiss my food. Maybe I should be more grateful. The next day, it was off to Brasov, which is quite a nice German settlement. In the centre of the city is a beautiful square, surrounded by big, colorful buildings. A fountain sits in the centre ...