European Vacation 2005: Next Stop

Monday, June 06, 2005

Next Stop - Bucarest

I've just now boarded what I hope is the last train of my trip. I leave behind me Brasov, home of Count Dracula's castle: Bran Castle. This ostensibly means I have been surrounded by other tourists since I arrived. No worries - I'm now off to Bucarest, Romania's largest city.

You'll be glad to know that my wounds are healing. Today I shaved my face for the first time since going to the hospital. I couldn't shave too close to my stitches, so I have a one inch square patch of hair, offcenter, between my lip and chin. Funny huh? The swelling and bruise on my temple is just about back to normal.

When I jumped off the train here, I was immediately assaulted by those who make their living supplying us transients accomadations. So I agreed to let this random romanian guy drive me to a couple places before I settled on an apartment in the center, walking distance from the shopping and important sites.

I'M A TOURIST
My time in Brasov was dutifully devoted to visiting the tourist stops. Yesterday I saw the summer home of Romania's

short-lived monarchy. Late in the 19th century the parliment invited a number of european royal relatives to act as Romania's head of state. Many rejected the offer, but a German guy accepted and built these castles/homes. They seemed more like movie-star homes from the 19-teens. Cool, but not castles. Anyway, this guy and his heirs ruled until World War II ended. Not long.

VLAD OR DRACULA
Today I went to Bran to see Vladimir the Impaler's home. I'm not quite sure how this place inspired the Dracula charcter and legend; it is anything but spooky. Still, it is 700 years old - pretty cool.

RAINING AGAIN?!?!
I haven't been especially lucky with the weather. It started to cloud up yesterday, and it has been raining continuously since last night. Now I have been told to expect it to continue until I go home. No problem - I will just try to find some indoor activities in Bucarest.

CAN'T TRUST ANYONE
So, today I checked out of my apartment before going to Bran Castle. The lady who owns the place let me leave my large backpack there while I was off

sightseeing. She and I agreed that I would pick it up at 4pm.

When I got there this afternoon, she asked if I wanted a ride to the train. I said yes, knowing it was not a free ride, but also knowing I would need to pay a taxi as anyway. Her friend jumped up. She is a 65 or 70 year old woman; she looked like anyone's grandmother.

We made smalltalk on the way to the station, and when I got there she opened her trunk. I put on my bags, and then she made the international sign for money, rubbing her thumb and forefinger together. I asked how much, thinking it would be around 30,000 Lei. I've been back and forth to the station a couple of times, and that was the average. She asked for 100,000. That's highway robbery!! But its only the equivelant of $3; so I paid it, laughing as I walked from the car to the station. You can't even trust a grandmother here.

ROMANIAN SALZBURG
Overall Brasov is one of the more quaint towns I have visited. I might be inclined to call it Romania's equivelant to Salzburg. But now I'm starting to miss the feeling of a big city. Bucarest is my last stop before heading to Budapest from which I fly home. I expect to find a city there.