Romania

Our train from Bulgaria arrived in Bucharest in the evening. We didn't even leave the station, had no desire to. Instead we caught a train to Brasov, a city in central Romania. Who should we meet on the train but the Australian lady from the hostel in Veliko Tarnovo who was carrying magnets for me. The ride was long, it was late, and a Romanian woman in the seat ahead of us took it on herself to be sure we got off at the right stop, using her hands and shaking her head to inform us at each stop. I gave her a magnet for her efforts and she seemed pleased.

Our visit to Brasov was pleasant. We took the 'castle tour' offered by our hostel and spent the whole day going from one to the other of the castles Romania is known for. The next day we walked around Brasov going uphill to the castle overlooking the town and ending up in the old square as people poured in for evening festivities. We had coffee at one point and an insistent beggar latched onto us. A girl from a nearby stand shooed her off and she was given a magnet. We also purchased some of her pastries for our next bus ride.

Bran's Castle from where Vlad ruled.

Peles Castle

The ride across Transylvania was beautiful, miles of rolling farmland and village after village with red tiled roofing. Very picturesque. We spent a day and some in Sighisoara and went to the castle where Vlad the Impaler spent his early years.

We arrived in Baia Mare, a big mining town, in the evening and had a terrible time finding our hostel. Finding food wasn't much easier. I met a fellow with a food stand at the bus station who helped us through the nightmare of Romanian transportation. Actually, I think he adopted us. Not only did he direct us to the right bus in the right lane at the right time, he made sure we were seated at the standing table while we ate hotdogs he personally dressed for us (mustard, ketchup and lots of mayo). As we were about to get on the bus, he also noticed me dipping my flower into puddles to keep it from wilting and ran over to present me with a plastic bottle of water for it as well as a stalk of wheat from the Catholic ceremony I'd asked about earlier. We gave him one of my magnets, a frog,  which really seemed to please him.