monastirii afara Bucuresti

a little political building art in bucuresti

Bran in drum la Sanaia

Here's Danny, our adorable taxi driver from Brasov to Bran to Sanaia















A little closer to Heaven


















Mother and Child at Bran




















Make a wish!


















Vlad didn't really live here














Somewhere near where the Transylvanian Alps meet the Carpathians

Braşov

Welcome to Hollywood, everyone's got a dream... Oh, I mean Brasov















Let's get outta here!


















Brasov from Mt. Tampa. It was really high from the cable car! Yikes!
















Heroes of the revolution...

spre Braşov, entering zona gripa aviara

The first of many bird flu checkpoints at the town and county borders















Leaving the quarantine zone... gotta clean the tires















The menu says: "At this time, we are not selling any chicken dishes"













...but we're not afraid!

Sigisoara

vacanţa cu tata si sora

Finally, I am posting the fabulous vacation three weeks after the fact! Imi pare rau tata si sora... Vacanta a fost minunat. We had such a Romanian adventure, from gypsy castles to taxi shenanigans to bird flu scares, and lots of good meals (fara pui) and many laughs inbetween. We started here in Cluj and I showed Daddy and Amy around the botanical garden, took them to Pata, and we ate at Transylvania's first five-star hotel (outside of Brasov). From there, my dear friend, Flavius, took us to Targu Mures where he gave us a world-class tour and took us to his home to visit with his mom and bunica. The next day we went to Sigisoara to start our Dracula tour. We ate lunch in the house where old Vlad was born. Then we were off to Brasov, passing through countless bird flu checkpoints along the way. Flavius left us there and we began the journey on our own. We started at a wonderful traditional Romanian restaurant on the outskirts of town, where we ate like queens and a king (although they weren't serving chicken... it's okay. There was more than enough other meats to nosh on). Daddy and Amy had their first taste of Tuica (plum brandy, Romanian style). Brasov is where we met Danny, our adorable taxi driver from Brasov to Bran to Sanaia. This last destination was a little like the twilight zone after losing our reservation and being banished from the castle grounds to the main strip, consisiting of about twenty hotels, ten casinos, and a couple of bad restaurants, all surrounded the beautiful mauntains and interminable cold rainstorms. However, the twilight zone effect did not diminish our fun in the least. In fact, it only enhanced our sense of adventure. Amy was always prepared with her horror movie soundtrack impression every time we crossed a potentially flu-ridden sparrow in our path or we exaggerated our sense of near death in speeding, seat beltless taxis. Our final destination was Bucharest. There we ate at a couple other great Romanian restaurants, one with live song and dance. We travelled off the beaten path to visit a monastary and a convent, so peaceful. Then we visited the the People's Palace (the second largest building in the world after the Pentagon)and entrusted our lives to a smarmy taxi driver to get us back to our lovely hotel, the Rembrandt, where we slept like babies and drank like fish, and even played Scrabble (this part I only vaguely remember... that scotch-wine-scotch combo left me a bit amnesiatic but the pictures sure look fun!). We just had a blast all around!!! The hard part was leaving them at the international terminal at the airport while I made my way to the domestic side to return to Cluj. I was horribly homesick for a couple of days afterwards but all in all, it was worth every tear just to have them here and share my little part of the world with them. There is just too much to tell for one blog. Suffice it to say, it was the best vacation I ever had. The rest we will keep in our hearts and memories for always.

Now some pics:

Romania's future is unlimited! I'll say it is...















Here's Daddy with his baby grandcat (he is so spoiled!)















One of the ever-common "gypsy castles" that you find throughout the country. It would be a home fit for royalty of it was actually finished on the inside. Nope, just for show. We decided we could probably comfortably fit all of Pata here but alas it sits empty




















Here we are In Targu Mures with Flavius, Felicia, and Bunica














The quarentine zone. We are fearless!

















Scrabble anyone?