Hotel Bastion Sinaia

... our seat.

We get off at Sinaia, 2/3 of the way to Brasov to see the Peles Castle. The exterior is amazing. Since it was build in the late 19th century, it is a pleasure palace not a fortification. Everything one thinks a castle would be like. It is now fall up in the mountains. The turning leaves are a perfect backdrop. The air is cool. Since it is off season, there are only a few people. We have an ...

... up to his flat which was fine and we got talking on the way to grabbing some food, all night all he did was just talk rubbish. I know that Americans like to talk and it is their culture but all he did was just talk rubbish all the time, he would talk about his teeth for ages then get on to his work for ages, then go on about his relationship, he didn't once ask me about myself or what I was doing there was just one way conversation. He had no ...

... environmentalists. I have a new idea. When you complain about the "most endangered" this or that in America, calling ANWR America's "Serengeti" or Wyoming's Green River valley the most endangered critical antelope winter habitat, we are going to send you to Romania to pick up trash. This country has a REAL problem George Soros and you waste your money hiring ...

... went to Bucharest. Bucharest! If you read our Bucharest entry, you understand why this was frustrating. So we left Chisinau at 7:30pm and arrived in Bucharest about 6:30 am. It would have been much sooner if we didn't have three hours at the border dealing with passport control. So, it's 6:30 and we figure the bus will drop us off at the bus station right next to the train station. We will grab one of the hourly ...

... and now Romania is a democracy. On January 1, 2007, Romania was granted acceptance into the EU. This is why I have found Romania so fascinating. It has had three major governmental changes in the just the last 60 years! Well, the funny part is, the king that just left in 1947 is now back in Romania, and he wants his palace back. I asked our guide, "No way you are giving it back right?" And he said, "Oh of course we will give it back... it was his private money that paid for ...

... a good view from the Black tower, which isn't black, and the White tower, which IS white (what the deuce?). I feel like my tourist town could fix that problem. I forgot to tell a story yesterday. In Greece, you don't tip waiters. I don't know why, but you just don't. Then I come to Romania, and out of new habit, I don't leave a tip. I get down the road and all of a sudden freak out, because I realize I am somewhere else. I sprint back and find my waitress and give her a BIG tip ...

... broom decorated with adhered nuts and grains of Romania, all topped by a small picture of Jesus near the handle. It is intended for display to bring prosperity and good luck. We enjoy an excellent dinner in the hotel's restaurant, followed by the presentation of a birthday cake festooned with one sparkler that shoots up vertically and seems like it will never go out. The cake is a fantastic French confection of chocolate cake layered with chocolate mousse. I ...

... started to roll their eyes. I requested Sade's songs since I was in the mood of "Smooth Operator." With a main course, a soup, and a beer, I spent around 23 Lei (€ 7.5). I was supposed to stay in Brasov for only one night and then move on to the mountain resort town of Sinaia. Again, I was feeling vulnerable and not willing to move on too fast. So I stayed another night and ended up making a daytrip to Sinaia and returned ...

... we took a lot of crazy pictures....jumping arround....Fabbien was drunk already ....but .....he needed no excuse...anyway....we decided to move to another Club...to continue the party...i guess it was 1 am ....and we took our things and had a 5 minutes walk...i have to mention here that the streets of Bucharest are quite fulllll of people....the whole night....full of young people, students....i saw a lot of nice placec...i can reccomand u to go and visit the old part of Bucharest ...

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 ...