Hotel Prahova Ploiesti

... who lives there (the University students are difficult to keep track of) and there is a large group who get together for potluck suppers, movies, theme parties, birthday celebrations and any other excuse we can think of for a gathering. Though we thought we may come to Romania on this trip, we were planning to route our trip through Bulgaria instead, where we would visit Amy, the daughter of Belle, a teaching collegue of Jim's. Amy however, already ...

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.

... maintenance, and integrated fire systems. Having had a look at the 7-strong crew of engines covering the 100 hectare manufacturing site outside Targoviste (which included some F-reg British engines from Norwich) he joined us for a light lunch. This evening we have the opportunity to meet the rest of the Targoviste club and present ourselves to the district. Tomorrow afternoon we fly to Chisinau in the Republic of Moldova.

Day 7. Today we split up and I, Oonagh, was lucky enough to be taken around the local art schools by Mihai Serbanescu, a professional artist and teacher, who has exhibited in Bucharest, Italy, New York and Paris. His creations focus on collages, which bring nature into his subjects. And you can see he's brought that to life, with a massive collection of twigs stuck across the front of his class, collage ...

... eventually inveigled into climbing the tower and was very glad as we had a magnificent view of Targoviste and surrounds. Onto the Dealu Monastery, the residents are Nuns of the Orthodox religion (by far the biggest religion in Romania. Very calm and peaceful with the most beautiful church Lunch in the restaurant over the road from the monastery greeted by dogs on the way in and out - Mihai bought all the leftovers off our ...

... the "Teatrul Tony Bulandra" where the Theatre Director Renen, kindly provided front row seats to a performance of "A Midsummer Nights Dream". I believe one mark of a great actor is the ability to communicate without words, and the energetic and passionate cast pulled this off fantastically. Every member of our team enjoyed the energy of the show and thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Romanian interpretation of a great Shakespearian play. Following the play ...

(S) Romania. Romania. What the heck are we doing? Looks like speeding on through Bucharest and heading straight for Brasov. In our sweet Chevy Spark. (C) This Spark in the dark has about as many horsepower as my dog when I hook him up to a wagon ...

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.<br> I usually travel by train, where I can see lots of interesting things during my journeys.<br> <br> Here it is my latest travel-company...<br><br>He/She was sitting calmly on the seat during the journey, no barking...<br>I noticed him/her only after 2 hours, as I changed my sitting position.<br>I suppose he/she had a ticket :-)<br>

... water, but I suppose it could have been worse. At least I got back well before sunset. I've got another night in Bucharest, so I'm going to probably busy myself with one more daytrip in the morrow. Then on Friday I'm off again - most likely heading northwards into Transylvania and eventually on to Southern Bucovina and Ia&#351;i. After that, it's former Soviet Union time! Well, let's not get too ahead of ourselves. For now, there's more of Romania to come.

... up, searched in vain for a warm place to eat gulash (the Hungarian specialty), and kept my eyes open. Agnes gave me my bags after eight, and I wrote her a thank-you note. I'd survived the night! Only my knees hurt, a bit, from walking so much on concrete. A train took me out of town so I could camp. When I woke up and began hitchhiking, small but not short Benedetto picked me up. In a clean beard, a Cuban hat, and a patterned shirt, he seemed like the ...