It’s practically Travel Tuesday around here!  I wrote several posts this week about my travels through Romania last August.  I really enjoyed Romania, and now is a great time to experience the Eastern European countries of Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary since you have the ease of travel from being in the EU, but the cheaper prices since they use their own currencies still (HUF, RON, & BGN) instead of the Euro.  I loved Romania for the history, meeting local Romanians and the opportunities to get outside.  Customer service is a relatively new concept in Eastern Europe this doesn’t mean that Read more…

My first experience traveling abroad was to France in 2006 (when I officially got the travel bug). Since then, I’ve wanted to go back and see more of Europe. However, with the euro and dollar exchange rate at $1.60 this summer, I decided to stick to the outer edges of the EU that don’t use the euro yet. By starting in Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, I didn’t have to cringe every time I made a purchase, but still had the convenience of being in the EU. Turkey was my next stop, and while not quite Europe, it was an amazing Read more…

We took the morning train to Bucharest and walked from the station to our hotel.  It was already noon, so we took the metro to the “Champs-Elysées” of Bucharest and to see the People’s Palace – Romania’s Parliment building and also the second largest buidling in the world, after our very own Pentagon. Bucharest is not my kind of city.  It seems rather soulless and eerily quiet. Perhaps it’s the history.  If I had a week here, I’m sure I’d find all kinds of things to keep me busy and great little places to prove me wrong, but for now Read more…

After a leisurely breakfast in Sinaia, we headed for the top of the mountain. The plan was to take the second gondola up from town, and hike around.  As we followed signs to the “telegondola”  we ended up walking half way up the mountain, through little backstreets and neighborhoods. It was boiling outside, but still a good time.  Today was one of those days that no amount of hand motions, pointing or facial expressions was going to get the right information out of the Romanians we encountered.  One old lady kept saying “telegondola, telegondola” and pointing at the mountain, to Read more…

After a morning visit to Rasnov Fortress, outside of Brasov, we continued on to Dracula’s Castle (Castle Bran).  The Fortress was cool to walk around, but not amazing.  I also learned that Cold Mountain was filmed in Romania.  After grabbing some picnic supplies, we headed to Bran Castle. When we arrived there was a massive line all the way down the hill, but our local guide walked us to the top of the hill, pulled a shady deal with the local Romanian at the top entrance, and we were on our way.  Sometimes it pays to wander around with locals.  Read more…