Melody Oradea

... are closed - so it was a quick rush on Sunday afternoon to do at least something touristy in Eger...

And there we come to the Valley of the Beautiful Women. Whilst I must admit, it was a valley (barely), there weren't many women there at all (actually, there weren't many people - hence the title of this post), and there definitely weren't any beautiful ones there! Valley of the Beautiful Women is a horse ...

... closed but I find the art museum open. Some of the paintings make me feel as though I am in Transylvania with portraits of people with white faces, coming right out of horror movies.

I spend the afternoon with the locals at a café, working on photos. Nightlife looks really good but I have to get some sleep for my early train.

... a little from the boring and tiring trip.

We continue and make good way to Oreada, without problems. Hungary is from a countryside perspective not very attractive as all is flat and very flat, without many objects that would distract the eye. Additionally there is a strong wind (of course against us) which requires our attention. I don't envy the cyclists that plan to cross this ...

... and spent the night in the hills. It was our first chance to cook on a wood fire, and all the boys got very excited at the prospect of chopping wood! We were told to look out for gypsies stealing our stuff! It was, again, freezing cold, with some people's tents being dusted with ice in the morning.

... stampile, stampila cu timbru sec a primariei Cluj, stampila cu semnatura lui Boc, stampila cu semnatura arhitectului sef al orasului.
De ce e acuzat acum Marius, de fals, uz de fals si de astea. Dus cu pluta, nu crezi?"

Dus cu pluta zic si eu, dar cum a putut un om ca asta, semidoct si lipsit de cel mai elementar bun-simt sa manipuleze si insele zeci de oameni. Poate vom afla vreodata.

Day 20 - Marco Last day in Bucharest. After breakfast on Sunday morning, we took a sightseeing tour of the city with lovely Camelia. The eclectic French architecture of central Bucharest and the following visit to the Palace didn't provide us the expected aesthetic shock, neither a comprehensive insight into the recent history and Romania's communist regime, since the queue for ...

... where motivationnal messages were displayed, promises of rewards for the best and punishments for the weaker ones. I left early to explore a little further streets from the hotel, and take pictures of the buildings. Some were just refurbished, once again sporting bright fresh paint but others were old, cracked and stained but were exceedingly charming. I also visited the fair where you ...

... took place almost first and had a lot of time to complain about how little hungry we were having finished our previos meal two hours before. It was a long wait during which we plundered the dishes and have several rounds of drink. As I don't drink alcohol or soft drinks, I went for the water jug wondering why they were all half filled. It was trying to remove an insect from the water glass that I had a strong whiff of vodka! No wonder the jugs ...

... closer to the original Latin than French, if deviant in the opposite direction. The funny thing is that Latin characteristics show up in other aspects of the culture, like red tile roofs and city-center parks. All in all Cluj-Napoca is nice, though without any obvious tourists or attractions.

... of coke, so you get alot more mileage from the dollar. I perceived to see all these Romanian people wandering around the streets suffering from mal-nutruition, which wasn't the case at all. The people eat very well, but the cuisine is of a lesser quality to what i had dished up in Bulgaria. When you travel on public transport it's different to anything i have experienced before, i can only imagine it was probably like transport back home in the 1950-60's. When you travel ...