Parc Hotel Mamaia

... fıtted the new cylinder and piston and then left Sebastian, motor running, having refused a single lei (Romanıan currency) in payment.  His blog is www.einfachlos.blogspot.com
good luck wıth the German and good luck to the German.

The Carpathian mountains were fınished for me, I was to continue south east while the mountaıns hook round westward.  Arriving in Constanza on the Black sea coast I had been ...

... booking so that was our first priority. We found one fairly soon which is fairly new and not too far from the sights. Unfortunately the sights are pretty ordinary with only a few interesting buildings. Constanta has a huge port but it did not seem to be very busy. The city seems very run down and neglected and in also fairly expensive for accommodation. It is right on the ocean and there is quite a large beach (not very picturesque though) near our hotel.

... hit the road so we got on our way and headed to Bran to see the highlight of our trip, Dracula's Castle! Actually it wasn't that exciting once we were inside because it is quite sparse, but it was still really cool to see the inspiring castle and to read about the history of the castle. And it is still a castle so I enjoyed the visit there.

From Bran we back-tracked a bit and went over to a small town called Harman to see a fortified church ...

... everywhere walking around after money, turks all over the place, people spitting all over the ground. So i enquired at the bus station for the next bus to Varna, it was in about 4 hours time. Being reluctant to leave my luggage behind and not wanting twheel it everywhere I just sat down and made myself comfortable. Finally the 4 ...

... out and blow it up, so we had a nice dinner and I hit the rack early. We did get some mititei, which is my favorite Romanian food...little lamb, pork and beef sausages with no skins, grilled over an open flame. German sausage pales in comparison. Starting to drag a little now...something like 11 cities in 15 days... The Black Sea is beautiful and the resorts are ...

... na odprawe... autokar do I s t a m b u l u! Marcin mowi do mnie: "Bogna, to jest znak, my m u s i m y tam jechac!" "Ale... ale grupa, ale koszta, ale...mysmy tego nie planowali!!! I co z grupa? Zostawimy ich?!?!" - mialam metlik w glowie. Marcin popatrzyl na mnie blagalnym wzrokiem, oczy mu się jeszcze tak nie iskrzyly od kiedy go poznalam, a Zajac zamienil ten wzrok w slowa: "blagam, jedzcie z nami..." Co mialam zrobic? "Dobra, Marcin, jedziemy do Varny, bo i ...

... markets and rides. You can compare it to Thredbo (where everything is alive in winter) but here it is the case in summer. It was some experience. So after going to sleep around 1am on Sunday morning, then waking up at 4 to leave for seaside, we were totally wasted and went to bed about 11pm. On Monday we caught up with some friends from Roxy's home town. We were together at the beach. It was pretty much a bludge day where we lazed around. Here we ...

... told later by the port authorities that in Constanta there are no "plainclothes policemen" and they are always in marked police cars. We also heard 5 other pickpocket stories that day. So I'm afraid Constanta will always be a place I remember for the wrong reasons. If you travel there please be aware of the possibilitea and be street smart. PS we were able to claim $200 on our Travel Insurance so there was a happy ending.

... by the language here. How the hell does a Romance language survive in an isolated country, when the next nearest Romance language speaking country is all the way on the other side of Europe...it's an interesting prospect to say the least. I have to say, standing on the beach of the Black Sea was a soul-stirring experience. Looking out in the endless sea, knowing that on the other side starts the lands of the "Stan's"...and that after that Asia...wow. It's difficult to ...

... places we visited. It is quite amazing inside, with enormous ballrooms and lavish conference rooms. All the materials used in the construction of the palace are from Romania. It sounds like the entire country contributed. The curtains were embroidered by nuns in monastaries, the wood was supplied by Romanian loggers. A law was passed during the construction of the palace that nobody could use or buy Romanian marble, as it was all to ...