Hotel Gott Brasov

... all the way down. We even had to resort to drawing in the dirt with a stick to communicate!

After that I explored the old town more and visited the Black Church, which was built around the 14th century, but a fire in the 16th century turned the walls black. There are still parts of the town wall left and there are a few towers still remaining.

I met Similia, from couchsurfing, at the old town hall and we grabbed a bus to a restaurant ...

... I was stupid and forgot to pack my camera charger with me so I'm limited in taking pictures in hopes that I can get the battery to last as long as possible (only problem is that I want to take so many pictures!!!). I was able to get another bag of popcorn (I really love it) from one of the street vendors and used it to give me energy on my walk. Again I asked the front reception to recommend a place for dinner. He recommendated a quaint little ...

After quite a restful overnight journey we arrived at Bucharest at about 7 in the morning. We quickly tried to organise a train to Brasov only to find that the people before us in line got the last 2 tickets on the 7:30 to brasov and we would need to wait and hour. Not to worry. We fought the persistent taxi drivers to have a little stretch out in the street to buy some yoghurt and fruit before having a nice little coffee and byo cereal at a café before the 8:30 was on its ...

... This is a complete sidenote, but has anyone seen that South Park episode where everyone heads for Aspen for some skiing, the adults get caught up in time share hell, and the boys learn to ski? Some hot shot skier challenges Stan to some crazy race down the mountain and keeps calling him "Stan Darsh." Well, that's what keeps running through my mind every time I saw the sign to our campground. Random, I know. Back to Brasov, with our trusty Rough Guide in tow. Good ...

The main reason people travel to Brasov, in the heart of Transylvania, is to visit Dracula's castle. Or more accurately, to visit a castle that Vlad the Impaler, aka Vlad Dracula, may have once lived in, though there's no actual historical data to prove that he ever set foot there. Even if the real Dracula never lived there, Bram Stoker did base his Dracula's castle after the Bran castle and it was used in a couple of different film ...

... as I went in they started asking for it. Later in the afternoon I gave it to Andrada and told her she could take some. I forgot about it and they handed it around amongst themselves for about an hour while they were playing upstairs. As I was leaving they brought it back to me. It was great looking through them all. They made me laugh! I had a good chat with a few of the other volunteers last night. I get on really well with Deborah and Krista and spend most nights with them ...

... of the EU, and the sanctions they are trying to impose, which to all of us seem normal (like marking down what ingrendients are in a product, etc). Being in the countryside is like being taken back a hundred years, as many still wear the traditional dress and use the horse and wagon to get around. many still rely on animals to plow the fields, etc. Really makes you appreciate what ya have.... ciao

... energy, its surroundings spectacular. Monday for me was a wash. By the time I made it out of the hostel and organized my train ticket for the next day, it was afternoon. I tried to go up the cable car to the top of Mount Tampa (whose hillside sign proudly declares "Brasov" in an obvious nod to Hollywood) but missed the last ride by a hair. I then tried to go into the "Black Church", but missed the final entry by 15 minutes. While I had most definitely been on top of my game the ...

... like my 17 year old sister and her mates. No P plates though! Brad's favourite moment was watching one guy reverse park his horse and cart between two cars. We visited Bran Castle which felt very Draculian. Bran is where Vlad Tepes, the real life figure Bram Stoker based his Dracula on, is from. Vlad ruled the Wallachia province of Romania during the 15th century and was otherwise known as Vlad the Impaler - his favourite form of punishment, used on between 40,000 - 100,000 ...

... backpackers to take back to her ad hoc hostel, basically an apartment converted for that use, entirely DIY auto-pilot. God help you if one of your back-packer buddies leaves the door open or some other such irresponsible nonsense. A couple days of this is enough, but I still like Romania, so book a train to Timisoara.