Hotel Best Ploiesti

... Se zicea despre apa aceea ca are puterea de a misca vapoarele marilor si locomotivele noilor drumuri de fier ce brazdau sesurile si muntii Europei. In curand, noi valuri de intreprinzatori si aventurieri, venetici si romani, vor lua cu totul locul vechilor stapani si obiceiuri ale pamantului.

Aceasta avea sa fie prima mare speculatie imobiliara din istoria moderna a Romaniei. In curand, sute de mii de hectare de teren de la poalele Carpatilor sudici ...

... their legs to the sounds of the band. They had a number of different costumes from different regions of the country. We had a huge plate full of spreads, cheese, cold meats and veggies to go with copious fresh bread rolls. Afterward, when we were all full, our main course came, and luckily it was unlike the main course we might have in Canada. It consisted of only the item on the menu, and so we were almost able to eat all of it. Our two hosts ...

Today is Sunday. I overslept and my colleagues had already headed off into the mountains before I woke up. (I'd said not to disturb me if I wasn't at breakfast). This was my first day off when the sun has actually shone. Still cold but at least it's not pouring with rain for a change. I strolled around for about 10kms according to my GPS. Here are a few snapshots I took on my wanderings through the town behind my hotel.

... in Ceaucescu's time. As you can see from my photos, the old building of the Liceul de Arta has been active as an arts school from 1898. When a student was asked what he thought of the classes, his response was, the made him feel 'mai fantastique', just fantastic. It was inspiring to see art practiced in such ways as I saw today and I have a head full of ideas to enrich my direction when I get back to the UK.

... by the smiling face of Marinela from the Romanian GSE team. With her were Alexandru (the Secretary of the Rotary Club of Targoviste) and Laurentiu (a friend of the club). They put our bags into our vehicle and we waved goodbye to Sfantu Gheorghe as we started our stay with Targoviste. First stop on our journey was a return to the Castle of Bran http://www.draculascastle.com . This time we had the opportunity to look round the castle and admire the ...

It seems that I become a traveler. I am away from home relatively often, which is great, as I like new places and new sights.
I usually travel by train, where I can see lots of interesting things during my journeys.

Here it is my latest travel-company...

He/She was sitting calmly on the seat during the journey, no barking...
I noticed him/her only after 2 hours, as I changed my sitting position.
I suppose he/she had a ticket :-)

... so I gave them a miss. Instead I relaxed over a lunch of pizza and a Balkan salad, close to the sparsely-frescoed Tārgu Church. The rest of the town's sights didn't demand too much time, so it was a fairly laidback day. I did manage to catch a glance at the barracks where the Ceausescus were executed back on Christmas of 1989, but unfortunately the place is off-limits both for visits and photographs. The return trip to Bucharest was a bit of a pain ...

... any train here but they have to be made less than 1 hour before departure. Strange system. The regional train up to Brasov was decent and people kept trying to sell us and the hoardes of other tourists berries and other strange things. Anyhow Romania is very advanced compared to most places I've been. The stirve to join the EU has made them really fix everything up nice...

... A funky, six-member band called "HR" played in one venue. Their choruses really built, and long jazzed-up jams lasted a while between choruses. One English-language original was blues-y like (insert name of famous blues musician here). During their best jam, the groovy little seated bongo player sang really fast (he nearly rapped) in cool Hungarian. That was the night's only nightlife highlight of the night. (It was a Monday, and a holiday ...

... 46 different kinds of wood were used for the interior decorations! Each room is done in the style of a different historical period: there's a German Renaissance room, a French Neo-Classical room, an Arabic room, etc. The detailing on everything is incredible, it's too much to take all in during a mere half-hour tour! Just to imagine living in a place like that boggles the mind. And it was only the summer residence ...