Brasov, Central ROMANIA

After a fine time in Bucharest, Mike and I arrived in Brasov, central Romania. Our sweetheart, Melis, decided to return home in Istanbul to prepare for her exams. We wish her luck.

Brasov is situated in the central part of Romania, 160 km north of Bucharest, Romania's capital, The town is surrounded by the snowy Carpathians, being in the middle of the country at the crossroads of the the Eastern Carpathian and the Southern Carpathians. Across the mountains to the South and East are the Wallachia and Moldavia regions, to the West the Banat region and to the North the rolling hills of Northern Transylvania.

Upon our arrival at the Brasov train station we were met by several locals offering private accommodation. It wasn't difficult to decide who to go with -- Gabriel is getting rave reviews, is listed in most travel guides, and he quickly convinced us that he will take care of us. Only a few minutes after our train pulled into the station, Gabriel handed us over to Luigi and Gigi -- an older man and his very energetic wife living right in the old part of town in a lovely high ceiling apartment. Now these two are gems!! Luigi (the old lady) talked non-stop in Romanian explaning all the sight seeing highlights of the area. It was like playing Pictionary with Mike and I speaking English, and Luigi and Gigi speaking Romanian -- and without too much effort we communicated very well.

First thing we did after the host briefing was to go climb nearby Tampan mountain (640m) for a stunning view of the historical town of Brasov. As we're in early spring, the trees are exploding in bright green colours and the mountain tops are still covered under snow.

After nice local food in the main square and several beers later, we went to bed after yet another briefing by Luigi and Gigi. Next morning befriended the two pretty Australian girls next door and set off to explore the area including the towns of Rasnov, Bran Castle (Dracula Castle) and Sinaia. Sinaia was the former summer Royal Residence (Hohenzollern Royal House), situated in the Prahova Valley about 44 km from Brasov, at the foot of the Bucegi Mountains, at an altitude ranging between 800 - 1,000 m. WOW!! What a stunning area and an even more stunning palace. Absolutely fantastic!!

After a full day of exploring it was time to say goodbye to Mike (heading for Yugoslavia) as well as to Luigi and Gigi. I hugged Luigi so hard I thought she lost her last breath! What a wonderful Romanian lady!

So there was one left...only me doing solo travel again. The 10 hour nite train ride from Brasov to Budapest (Hungary) was not too memorable as my 6 person cabin was packed with Romanians who could speak no English. The old lady across me just kept smiling as I got so excited about seeing the Gypsies on their donkey carts.

Arrived in Budapest this morning for an 8 day stay to explore this lovely place and the surrounding areas. So far the Hungarians have been good to me. While there was some bad elements at the train station, I hopped onto the underground train and easily found Mrs. Ossővan where I'll be staying in her very spacious apartment right next to the Danube River.

Its time for my first Hungarian dinner - so please excuse me'