Casa Muresan Brasov

The train is about an hour late, killing our attempt to see Rasnov castle that afternoon. Instead, we explore Brasov. I had been expecting it to be well into the mountains but instead it is along a flat plain at the base of the mountains, much like Denver. It is a great mix of old town, good restaurants and bars. I treat myself to a really good bottle of Romanian wine (yes the whole bottle since Gustovo does not drink, as I found out).

... good (and cheap!) while Ally had a disappointing ice cream. I know, how can ice cream been disappointing? I hope to never find out.

Today we woke up and had our complimentary breakfast before crossing the street to the tourist office. It was closed even though the door was open and it was 10 minutes after opening time. After awhile we learned that today is a national holiday and everything is closed. Ally somehow sweet-talked the guy at the tourist office to give us a map after he ...

It's Monday, Thursday by noon I will be in TRANSYLVANIA for halloween. Last night I carved my pumpkin. After work today I will start packing and finish my costume. (practice makeup) I have been looking online and Brasov seems like a lively town. Some background info on Dracula: As you may well know, author Bram Stoker (1847-1912) based the title character of his 1897 novel Dracula on an actual human being, or should we say inhuman being. Even if you haven't yet read Stoker's ...

It is 1,200 miles and over a week since we left Prague, and this is the first chance we have had to update the blog. From Prague we drove south then east, overnighting in a small site at Bojkovice, a small village not far from the Slovak border. The journey there was not one I would like to repeat, with a 50 mile deviation because the road over the mountain was closed, followed by some very poor signposting in the nearest ...

... the address. From the Bucharest train station it was a 3 hour ride to Brasov. On the way we passed through some great Transylvanian countryside. You can really imagine how the legend of Dracula was started after seeing the spooky forests and mountain passes. After arriving in Brasov we started to walk to our lodging but had some difficulty locating the correct street. At an intersection a man approached us speaking a few words of English that were difficult ...

... and another girl about 10 months. We are only guessing that though because the nurses dont speak english so we dont know the names or anything about the kids. The nurses are so nasty though that even if they could speak english Im sure they wouldnt talk to us anyway. They are all such georgous kids. The oldest girl was romanian and the other 3 were gypsy. The middle girl was just constantly smiling. They nicknamed her Smiley. She honestly never stopped smiling... well except for one ...

... Its all hands on deck to pickle veges for the winter. Piri and her hubby have spent the last 2 days cutting, cleaning and packing veges in jars ready for bottling. On the bus I've noticed people randomly doing a sign of the cross very quickly a couple of times. I had the flu earlier this week so i started watching to see if it was when i coughed or sneezed. Finally last night someone told me its whenever they pass a church. Sure enough, today on the bus and in cars ...

... turns out, Brasov is a very dirty city. I'm not sure that the cars here are up to standard, environmentally speaking. The only thing that makes me say that is the smog, thick in the air, that made Jon's throat hurt and made my eyes feel like I was blinking through sandpaper. Now don't get me wrong, it's not so bad as I make it sound. Brasov is in a valley with the beautiful Carpathian mountains surrounding it- the best ...

... and his short blond hair seemed too to belong to a very Christian sect. He wore a look that said, "I may not be big enough to hurt someone, but I'd sure like to." I laughed the most with young-looking thirty-year-old Florin. His light hair was gelled spikily, and he appeared fashionable except for the dynamite smile he kept showing with unclean teeth. He was innocent, a delivery-man still living with his family. As we rolled over a whole bunch of pot-holes, mono ...

June 6, 2005 (I was not able to send this on the 7th, so I'm sending this today, June 10th) Wow, what a whirlwind. Here I am in P.C. Romania with a whole new host family, language, colleagues, and environment! I am typing this to you now with the hope and expectation that I will be able to access the internet tomorrow while in Brasov. Currently I am living in the small town of Zarnesti (the phonetic is "Zarnesht"), which is breathtakingly beautiful, nestled in the ...