Romania 

The 17 hour over night train from Budapest into Romania was an adventure in its self.  Under the impression there were no borders in Europe, we settled down to sleep in the steaming hot carriage with fortunately at least underwear on. Only to be startled awake by the train coming to an abrupt stop and banging on doors. Jason hurriedly opened our door revealing 3 stern, armed military policemen wanting to inspect our passports while I'm sat clutching a sheet to hide my dignity. Michaels passport causing much discussion, was taken away with no explanation resulting in us scrambling around trying to dress without exposing too much. Resolved, we settled down to sleep again only to repeat the whole fiasco 20 minutes later as it turns out we were now in Romania. This time a chatty women guard who laughed my compromised position off as, ‘ok as she had boobs too!’ Awkward!!  


Waking early the view from the train was as if we had stepped onto another planet. Rows of tumbled down wooden huts, which were actually houses, reminded me that Romania wasn't a prosperous country. As a child, I remember sending shoeboxes full of toys to abandoned children in soviet-era orphanages, discovered at the end of the cold war.  It would be interesting to see how far it had progress in 40 years. The day brightening to reveal the most striking countryside, thick forests of autumnal colours and mountainous back drops. Just spectacular.

 We did the usual, got ripped off by the taxi to our accommodation, which we simply could not find and instead took the offer of a flat right in the centre of the old town of Brasov. Only a few minutes’ walk from the city square which housed the imposing gothic Black Church.  Here we embarked on a fantastic few days exploring the walled city, set on three sides by mountains.

Romania is the home of the fabled land of Transylvania, with its medieval forts, magnificent castles, dramatic landscapes and of course Vlad the Impaler, inspiration for Dracula. There was simply so much to see and do, so we arranged for a tour guide to take us to see Dracula’s Bran castle, Peles castle, the summer home of the Romanian Royal family and to Rasnov Citadel dating back to 1220.  Michael enjoyed Brans Castle which was complete with a dressed-up Dracula and of course masses of tourist junk to part you with your cash. The castle though was beautiful, and its rooms dressed in cobwebs ready for the upcoming Halloween celebrations, added to its charm and made for a fun visit.
One of our favourite excursions was to take the cable car to the top of the Tampa overlooking a staggering view of Brasov. Michael however was not impressed when he realised that we intended to walk down and enjoy the mountainous fresh air. Made worse after reading a sign warning of brown bears, wild boar, wolves, lynx’s and snakes!! Reassuring him we would stick to the path, Jason inadvertently took us in the wrong direction and after a km of downhill, we ran out of track and had started to clamber over trees, now in thick forest.  Michaels anxiety reached epic levels. A close grunt of what was clearly wild boar made us turn around and reclimb the said mountain at speed!  There’s nothing quite like taking a walk in the countryside with Michael for making you feel relaxed and at peace with your surroundings!!!
Behind the fairy-tale postcards however there are staggering statistics on Romanians who live in extreme poverty and harsh conditions and beggars are to be seen everywhere. Even Jason conceded to pass money on to those that seemed the neediest, much to the disgust of Michael who still sees giving money away to people as wrong as they need to work for it.  Once again, his complete lack of empathy astounds us.  We had first-hand experience on Romania existence away from the main cities after missing a train stop near Bucharest. Instead finding ourselves stood on a deserted platform in the middle of no where with only local farmers and a rail conductor with no English, no Wi-Fi, no phone signal and the worst toilet in all our travels so far.  Horse and carts being the local mode of transport, was not going to help us get back on track, so we sat it out, hungry, waiting for a train in the other direction.  Michael completely lost the plot. Especially as he had correctly identified the station we needed to be getting off at and we had ignored him. An easy mistake given it didn’t even seem to have a platform, let alone a building or sign.  The next few hours were a nightmare as we suffered Michaels irrational ranting. Anxiety had him convinced that we were lost, he was going to have to sleep in the open and we were going to starve to death!! Personally, I found our new location remarkable and enjoyed watching a beautiful sunset, over sun kissed fields contemplating life. My lack of concern only adding to Michaels anger, tears and frustration. It was clearly all my fault and guess what ……

Yep, you guessed it! ‘He never wanted to travel the world and he just wants to go home!’ Ha-ha fortunately Jason and I are still having a blast. Next stop Malta for some down time, sun, sea and siestas.






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