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I think we spoke a little too soon about our hotel being quiet though, as some new residents moved in last night. We awoke to loud and annoying talking echoing down the hallway at 2am. We gave it a little while in hopes that the talkers would soon go to their rooms. After 40 minutes, we couldn't take it anymore. I got my earplugs out, but Mario couldn't find his. Instead, he opened our door and screamed "QUIET!", and then closed the door. Even though these people weren't speaking English, this seemed to work, as they went to bed a few minutes later. (See traveller tips to be published :) ha). We were hoping for some sun today, but instead awoke to more dark clouds and cold weather. It looked even gloomier than yesterday. We had to check out by noon, and left our bags at the hotel. We braved the cold and walked down through the main square and out of the old city walls. The city gate wasn't very impressive (not old looking at all). We kept walking until we came to Piata Unirii and the St Nicolas' Cathedral. The church is from 1595 and has tall black spires. Inside, it was once again very gothic and dark. We were hoping to find something to eat along the way, but there were only small cafes with drinks but no food. Seems to be a common theme around here. We bought an eclair from a pastry shop to hold us over until we could find lunch. Mario claims this was the best eclair he's ever eaten! We went back towards the main square where we knew there were a lot of restaurants and chose one that had a good list of salads. We started out eating outside on the patio, but soon realized this was crazy after we were shivering and suffering in the cold. We moved inside and that was much better.
Shortly after 8pm, we caught a cab for the train station and made it aboard our 2 person cabin on the train for Budapest. Hopefully we'll have a more restful night than our last overnight train! Final thoughts on Romania: Food: Romanians, like much of Eastern Europe, also like their meat and sausages. Pork seems to be a hit here. But you can always find a pretty large selection of soups and salads on the menu. Food was still cheap by Western standards, but not as cheap as Bulgaria!
Memories: searching for a clean and cheap hotel in Bucharest (turns out that combination is non-existent), doing New Lei to Old Lei conversions and getting confused when people referred to something in between, transportation is always HOT (heat is on and no one rolls down the windows one inch), the adventure in Snagov, the friendly locals who helped us get to the Snagov monastery, getting kicked off the island by the unhappy priest guarding Dracula's tomb, riding the train into the mountains to Brasov, the not-so-black Black Church, Bran Castle, cold and rainy weather, hovering in the castle hallways to wait out the rain, eating salads, loud folk music outside our hotel in Brasov. People: You can find both the cold shouldered Russian-style ex-communist type here along with the smiling and friendly. Romania is undergoing a major transition after shedding communism and will probably change even more as it hopes to join the EU in the near future. While the older generation hasn't really caught on to the concept of customer service, the younger generation seems to realize that tourism has major potential in Romania. It is still quite difficult for independent travelers to get around in Romania, but I'd expect that will change greatly in the next 5 years or so. Beware of those who are only interested in your money, and not your happiness. Fortunately, you'll run into some others who are generous and helpful - they will make up for the bad. Also, watch out for the smokers.
Climate (June): Chilly. We had to bring our fleeces and rain coats back out of hibernation. But when the sun did come out, it was quite nice. Exchange Rate: 1 US dollar = 2.78 New Lei or 27,800 Lei. They are in the middle of switching from old to new Lei and it makes prices very confusing at first for travelers (as the locals confuse it even more!). Also, expect a switch to the Euro, possibly as soon as 2009! Safety Rating:
7 out of 10 for Bucharest - The city of Bucharest is still pretty rough around the edges and not exactly a fun place to find much to do as a tourist. It would have been a great trip out to Snagov if it had been a little easier to get around. 8.5 out of 10 for Brasov - The medieval towns of Brasov, Rasnov and Bran are somewhere you can easily spend a few days. It's nice to walk around the old parts of town. Most small towns in Romania seem to include at least one old castle to tour. Don't forget the spectacular views of the mountains - you can also ski here in the winter. It would probably be easiest to have your own wheels as you tour Romania, that way you can stop in at more small towns and get a better feel for the countryside. Day 170 - Brasov < | Index | Photo Galleries | > Day 172 - Eger © 2007 Blue Ocean Studios, LTD. All rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Services | About | Contact Prints | Return Policy | View Cart World Travel Galleries | World Travel Blog | Links |
We had all day to spend in Brasov today, as we had booked ourselves on the 9pm night train from Brasov to Budapest, Hungary. The train ride is just about 11 hours long, and we are hoping it will be a more restful night than we had on the last night train! Hopefully Romania and Hungary won't find it necessary to have everyone get out of the train at the border in the middle of the night, but you never know...
Our plans were to walk up the hillside to the top of the funicular where we could see a view of the town. After seeing the black storm clouds in the distance, and experiencing the cold wind, we decided this probably wasn't such a good idea. Plus, we didn't expect the view to be very exciting. Today seemed like a good day to just pick up our books and spend some time in one of the many cozy cafes. We went back to the hotel and picked up the laptop and our books and headed for the Irish Pub just down the road. There is free internet there and we knew it would be warm inside! While at our hotel, we discovered who the noisy culprits were last night, as there were now tons of teenagers filling up the lobby. They had a camera crew and seemed to be using part of the lobby for some kind of filming. Maybe they're taping a "Romanian Idol"? Who knows. 
Spending the day indoors was relaxing and the time went by pretty fast. We got to research hotels for Eger, our next destination. We're hoping Eger is as great as we are expecting it to be, as it's located in a major wine growing (and tasting) region of Hungary. We even checked the weather forecast, and it appears to be sunny and warm! Nice.
Beer of Choice: Ursus is popular here, but we didn't like it that much. It does have a nice bear on the label, so that makes it good I guess.
Economy: Once mostly industrial-based during its communist days, Romania is now turning away from these inefficient and aging industrial bases. Despite its troubles, Romania remains one of the strongest countries in Eastern Europe. Romania has the largest oil and gas reserves in all of Eastern Europe, and is also one of the leading producers of agricultural products (meat, dairy and produce) in all of the EU. 
Recommendation to friends: 