Bran

MP3 track of the day: Common People - Pulp

Today I decided to go to Bran; the castle there was used to conjure up the idea of Dracula (apparently) so I decided it was worth a look. I had to take two buses to get there but luckily an Oz couple (actually the man was originally from the UK) was trying to get to the same place so we both helped each other out.

I chatted to the guy until we reached the castle and then we parted ... it cost 12 lie to enter (£3) and it was okay.

I like the outside of buildings (I'm not really that bothered about the inside) but you couldn't really get a good viewing point of the castle. It sounds weird, it being on a hill, but the castle was surrounded by trees so no good photo opportunities.

I went around the inside of the castle and that was interesting (I learnt allot about the Romanian Royal Family pre-WW1).

After this I walked a little around Bran, though a market but then decided to go back to Brasov. I got back here around 3:30pm and decided to get ready for tomorrow. First stop was to buy some food for my journey and then pack my bags accordingly. The one thing I do like about continental trains is that they have a power supply for each person, which I plan to use to the full.

That's about it really ... I've enjoyed my time in Brasov, it's been allot more chilled than the three cities I went to before.

Now it's about 5ish; I need to withdraw a little cash as I only have 18 lie left ... thought I could manage without but na. Then I'm off to meet by room mate in a 'Irish Bar'. He's a Kiwi that's spent the last nine years in Europe ... he's bought a motorbike in Berlin and is just riding through the countryside ... how ace is that!

Toodle Pip!

P.S. As I am travelling for 26hrs or so to cologne you won't get an update tomorrow but hopefully Thursday.

Successful failure

Today has been a funny old day.



Last night I was chatting to the Spanish woman (Matti) about all different things until around 1:30m ... waking up this morning at 9:00am I was tired but I got myself up and ready. The Spanish guy's were off today so it took me a little while before I got the bathroom ... I didn't mind as it meant I could say goodbye. I also asked Matti about the market but I found out that this market was on the way to their next destination (Bucharest); dam! Still I thumbed though my guidebook and found a market within Brasov ... I thought I'd go and have a look.

Last night Matti had showed me a Transylvania box with a secret way of opening ... I was very impressed and when she said it cost her €5 I was going to find me one (though she had bought hers at another market outside of Brasov).

Once they were gone (around 11ish) I went out to the post office; I posted back the 'war stories' book I had finished reading (thanks Dad) and sent a postcard. I then went to find this market to soak up the atmosphere. The market was only 20 stalls big and most of them fruit; as you can imagine it didn't take me long to soak up the atmosphere but the thing I did notice was that the Romanian grapes that were on display were in a kind of square shape ... not in a bag, very strange.

I then returned to the Hostel and dropped of my stuff; I headed back out to do some shopping. I found those boxes Matti had said about and purchased 2 (one for a mate) ... however mine cost a little more than €5, infact mine cost around €12 ... still I didn't mind as I would of had to travel out of Brasov to find a cheaper price and the travelling, plus time, would have cost me around €10. I then went to see if I could find my parents a present but nothing really took my fancy; however walking though Brasov did give me an idea that I might follow up once home.

Again I headed back to the hostel to drop of my shopping, then out again for something to eat for lunch. On the final time of going back to my hostel I picked up my bag and went to the bus station ... my plan was to catch bus 17 out of Brasov towards Nova and the nine fingered lady (it's cave or something).

Even though Romanian's didn't believe in repairing their buildings, it would appear they have achieved the art of telepathy ... there were no, or little, bus stop signs and I didn't have a clue where I was. I got off near a wooded area and decided to have a wonder; however after a short while I decided that without a map (the tourist office was useless as it had no real maps of Brasov's surrounding area) I decided to head back to the bus. I got on the next 17 bus and asked the driver, he said 4 stops and so I waited 4 stops and got off.

Once off I headed in the direction the tourist information lady had marked. After about an hour of walking I decided I wasn't going to find this cave, however, even though road side walking wasn't what I had in mind, the views of the hills were spectacular.

It was now 3:30pm and I decided I would only get a maximum of an hour walking up some hills before I would have to turn back ... I decided it wasn't worth it so I walked back to the bus. Once back in Brasov I found a book shop that sold English books ... even though they were abit pricey (about £5 more than in the UK) I decided that, with a 24hr train journey ahead of me, I needed a book so from the limited choice I bought Stephenie Meyer's 'the twilight saga' The Host (it's about people taking over other peoples minds ... I did say the choice was limited) for £12 ... anyone read it?

I then returned again to my hostel, put my bag down, and then went to the train station to book my train ticket out of here on Wednesday. The idea was:

to leave Brasov at 9:04 and arrive in Budapest at 18:47 (Wed)
to leave Budapest at 21:05 and arrive in Munich at 06:16 (Thurs)
to leave Munich at 07:23 and arrrive in Cologne at 12:05 (Thurs)
to leave Cologne at 14:44 and arrive at Brussels at 16:35 (Thurs)

However I have decided to book 2 nights at Cologne and have a look around there. Also I have decided that I will spend another 3 nights in Brussels; there is Napoleon's HQ at Waterloo I want to look at and a Waffle with my name on it. That's right, I've decided to extend my stay to three weeks in Europe ... instead of coming home on Friday the 2nd I shall be leaving Brussels on the 6th October ... I've okayed it with work so all is well (also I have enough money so why not).

It's been a funny old day ... I didn't really do what I wanted to do when I set out but I've enjoyed it all the same (and in some ways I've done much more).

Anyway I'm off for something to eat ... I shall speak to you lot another time

Toodle Pip!

And on the 7th Day he rested

MP3 track of the day: Lady Ga-ga - Poker face

Waking up at around 9am my Spanish room mates had already gone; I decided that today would be a restful day. The morning was spent getting ready, lounging around the dorm and doing some washing.

At around 12:00 I hit the streets; arriving yesterday at night meant I hadn't seen much of Brasov but, as entered the main square, I saw just how beautiful it was. Firstly I went to the tourist office for a map and then I wondered around following my 'Rough Guides' guide book on the little bit of Brasov it had. I went to the Black Church and then onto the towers and walls of the city. Having only eaten chocolate biscuits, pastries and a few sweets yesterday I planned to make it up today. For lunch I went to a restaurant and had grilled chicken and chips for lunch; after this I headed up the mountain (forgot the name) that made Brasov look like a miniature town. I decided that I would cable car it up and walk down as I was lacking in time. The view was unbelievable; there was a viewing platform just to the left of the 'V' in the Holloywood style 'Brasov' name (see fickr photos for a picture). This to me was like the Baths in Budapest, the Reich stag in Berlin ... this I knew would be the highlight of my stay in Transylvania.

Once down I meandered through the city and eventually found the post office (for tomorrow) and other useful things. Once back at the hostel I removed my pack ... the lady in charge eventually turned up and I asked her for the code to the Internet I'm using now and also for a traditional Romanian restaurant; she was very helpful and I forgave her all my troubles of yesterday.

I arrived at the restaurant she told me about; it was down in a sella and all the staff were wearing traditional Romanian clothing ... it was very cool. Also another plus was that the guy who owned the restaurant did his own slaughtering of animals so you knew the food was fresh. A helpful waitress went through the menu with me and told me that 'Transylvania stew' was a traditional dish ... so I had that.

It was lovely and I knew I would visit there again ... possibly tomorrow.

I'm now back in at the hostel in my bed; the three Spanish guys arrived a little while back so I just had to tell them the good news that Hamilton won the Singapore GP ... yes! They didn't really follow F1 but it felt good ... they then said they were going out for something to eat and would I like to join them ... nooooo! I was a little gutted as I had already had something to eat and it would of been nice to of had some company.

Anyway the plan for tomorrow is unsure at the moment; I was going to...

1) go to the post office
2) Take a bus to a hiking area 30mins away (that the tourist office had recommended)
3) come back and go to the train station to book my ticket out of here on Wednesday

However the Spanish girl said that, as apart of their last day tomorrow, they were going to the market ... she had bought quite a nice box and I quite fancy going to a market ... might see if I can tag along.

So it's either market, or hiking (or possibly both) ... so much stuff so little time.

Toodle Pip!

Don't Judge a city by first impressions

This Post is for yesterday:

MP3 track of the day: Oasis - I'm free

At around 8:00am I left my hostel and went towards the train station; on the way I stopped off and purchased breakfast. I was sad to see Big Fish go ... but I was looking forward to moving on. 2 days in Budapest was enough ... umm maybe another day to spend in the baths.

Anyway that wasn't possible to I boarded the train and sat at a table with 2 other women opposite. The journey was around 12 hours so I planned to do a bit of reading, sight seeing and eating. After around 2 hours the women left the train, which was great as I needed to stretch my legs and I made the most of it (little did I know at the time that the 4 seater would be mine for the rest of the journey).

I watched outside as Hungary passed into Romania (I knew this had happened as we had 2 passport checks ... I thought the boarders were open). As I looked outside my window, and saw Romania pass by, I expected to see a sort of evil looking land; I was after all heading towards Transylvania and I thought the land would be a darkish green with black buildings on the mountainside ... however it wasn't like that at all. I would describe it more like Spain; the ground was a sandy, dry dirt colour with fields that were full of dead wheat plants.

Also as we went through Romania I looked at the buildings and industrial equipment that littered the sides of the train line from time to time. I came up with two conclusions, either Romania was at war (and was losing) and none of the Western world knew about it because it was hidden in the depths of the news papers due to Peter Andrea divorcing Jordan ... or Romania hadn't quite grasped the concept of the UNESCO details and the Romanian governments thought they couldn't repair any buildings within their country. Either way the track side was littered with skeletons of industrial sites, houses with fallen off plaster and train platforms that looked more like the Ben Nevis hiking trail.

Throughout the route I checked my timetable and compared it with the names of train stations which were passing ... it didn't add up. I reckon, probably because of the two passport inspections we had incurred earlier, that we were 40 mins late.

When I was around 30mins before my arrival time (20:49) I asked one of the Romanian train inspectors if we were on time or late (buy pointing at the name 'Brasov' and the time '20:42' on my train ticket). He smiled and got out a piece of paper, he wrote '20:42 +1 = 21:42'. He then smiled again, said it was okay and walked off. Great an hour late; I tried to ring my hostel to tell them that I was going to be an hour later but no answer. I tried 6 or 7 times but nothing ... I started to worry because, unlike other hostels, there were no maps or travel directions to Hostel Mara on the website. I had an address but I didn't know it was right.

The last 90 minutes of my trip wasn't very comfortable ... I tried to work out what I was going to do; I decided the best thing to do was to get a taxi as they would know the street and number of where the hostel was. On the train I had met a Romanian in Budapest ... he told me he was going to Brasov as he lived 30 mins near there. When we eventually arrived at Braslov he let me know and also showed me to the taxi ranks.

At the taxi ranks I went into the first taxi I could find ... I showed him the piece of paper with the address on; he then called over some of his taxi mates to have a discussion about it, with allot of pointing involved (odear). Finally he said 'okay that will cost 10 Lie' .... £2.50 in real money ... bargain. As we travelled through the city for a good 20 minutes he spoke quite good English; he pointed to sites and areas saying 'centre' or 'church' or 'monument'. We also talked about English football and my nerves we settled ... until we reached the place where my hostel should be.

We couldn't find it; two or three times he got out of the car and said 'moment' and went rushing off to ask someone where the place was. He tried a hotel, the police, and a couple of other people around. At this point I was out of the car trying to call the hostel (still no answer) and another bloke came up; he spoke very good English but the only thing he had to say was he didn't know the hostel but he had a room for rent ... 40 lie a night. After the 4th time of asking me (and also I could see the taxi driver was getting a bit annoyed) I gave him a firm look and said strongly 'no' ... if I couldn't find the hostel I would I say in the hotel the taxi driver had asked previously (me 1 - annoying man on the street 0). The taxi driver was getting abit annoyed at this point (he had been with me about 40 mins), but I think he looked at me, and the fact I looked a little worried, smiled and said 'it okay, it okay'. Finally the policeman returned and said he had found the hostel. The taxi driver smiled and said I go with him ... I thought £2.50 for all the taxi drivers work wasn't enough so I tried to give him double. He said 'no,no,no' smiled for the last time, shock my hand and said 'good luck' ... I think I was going to need it.

I walked with the policeman across the square and there I saw the 'IH' (International Hostel) sign ... a big sight of relief. However it was on a gate which lead into a back street tunnel with no lighting; luckily the policeman had a torch on his phone and we went on. It was weird ... wooden floor boards and just a tunnel with the occasional door. I was glad to be with a policemen as it scare the **** out of me, but finally we made it to a small square and the hostel reception ... it was closed (how can a hostel reception close).

Not giving up the policeman went up the outside stairs and banged on a couple of doors. A next door neighbour came out (with a IH shirt on) and told me to come up. I said thank you to the policeman and he smiled back and said 'good luck' (I wish they would stop saying good luck ... have a nice stay or have a wonderful time but not good luck).

The next door neighbour stunk of (what I thought at the time was) drink; however he was very helpful and showed me the room and how all the security worked. I think he wanted to stay and chat for longer but I was tired so I made a sharp exit to my room. Surprisingly my room looked very clean and nothing what you would of guessed it would look like from the outside of the building. Inside there were suit cases but no people; it was 11pm and I thought this was odd ... still must all be out for a drink.

At about midnight I woke and still no one ... maybe they had been taken, and this was all that was left of there existence. About 30 minutes later they arrived and they introduced themselves; one woman and 2 men all from Spain, they seemed very nice but I didn't talk for long ... I wanted to sleep.

So far Romania did seem a very poor country; however what they lack in money they make up for in it's people ... the guy on the train, the train attendant, the policemen and of course the taxi driver!