wow...Brasov

This is definitely an adventure! Both of our lodgings thus far have included using a phone (no little accomplishment because it involves #1- buying a phone card without the language, #2- figuring out the phone itself (always a challenge)& #3- calling a stranger who you are unsure speaks English (when in doubt, try Spanish!). That accomplished, I had to follow directions about where to meet the person and get us to the address, again navigating poor maps in an very unknown, foreign language. Am I having fun yet, YOU BET!!
In Bucharest, we waited in front of a cafe, La Mama, for what seemed like forever. Then I decided to call Calin again, he had been waiting for my call, ha! He took us in his car through the worst traffic I have ever seen, seriously, to a soviet-style apartment building in which we had a small, one room flat. He made a left turn I will never forget. Along with 3 other cars he forced his way through a traffic jam 4 cars wide. He wasn't in a line of 3 one behind the others, oh no, much too patient, the cars were three wide. Unbelievable! and my, what language. Calin was a character, he had been at the dentist so he hadn't had time to pick up the clean sheets and towels. He returned two hours later, but of course the Brownings had already turned in for the night, which freaked him out to walk in on us, but we were very tired after the 28 hours of traveling!!
Bucharest was interesting, not one of my favorite cities, but quite fascinating. The last communist ruler was taken the 12th of December 1989 after a speech and executed on public television. One of his horrific acts was to bulldoze huge sections of the 500 year old historic district to build a palace in his honor with connected townhouses for his buddies. Now the place is the Parliment building though they are unable to use the 1,100 rooms. The whole area is very spooky! Quiet, abandoned, full of litter, super wierd!
We did walk around what was left of the old town and it was lovely, though very dark with soot. The weather while we were in Bucharest couldn't be beaten- warm, sunny, clear. We enjoyed cooking for ourselves- soup, eggs, tuna sandwiches, not much different than home except shopping was a trip in itself. One impressive part of the supermarket was that every fruit and vegetable was labeled with it's country of origin, cool!
We arrived this morning at the train station around 11 am after a leisurely morning watching a western in english on the tellie while putting our bags together. My heart was beating twice it's normal rate buying the train tickets, again no english spoken there. Keith gets unusually shy when it is time to communicate. I was able to get what was needed and we enjoyed people watching while waiting an hour & a half for the train's departure. It was chilly this morning so I wore my goofy warm hat which caused other people to stare at us...or maybe it was Keith's 'man bag' he wears so proudly...or our goofy grins. I think Americans are happier than most and it is easy to pick us out in a crowd.
The train was crowded to Brasov, I was glad we arrived early to pick up our ticket. The ride itself was beautiful with snow-capped mountains and tree-filled woods along the way. The houses and fields just outside the city were very rundown, made Mexico look like Beverly Hills.
When we arrived in Brasov we were met by men who wanted to 'help', take us to their extra room in the old city center. I held my ground and insisted I knew where we were going and how to get there which was not at all the truth. I don't like being rushed by people, I like to choose who will help me. One man was kind to give us a map of Brasov which the books I have do not contain. He also wanted to take us to Bran Castle, home of Dracula, tomorrow, but we'll find our own way. When we walked to the location on the confirmation paper I had received through my internet reservations I was very disappointed. It was in a high-rise building not far from the train station but much further away from the old walled town. I called the number and a person said they would be there within 15 minutes to meet us. It seemed like much longer than that and the cold wind was blowing. We were both great sports as we ate pumpkin seeds and waited. A woman arrived and in very broken english explained that this place was full and we would have to take a taxi to a location close to old town, YEAH!! While it is scary looking from the outside, inside it is better than expected. We are sharing with 3 Japanese boys we think, but we have yet to see them. It's warm and very modern and super close to the tourist spots.
We walked up to see what we could before the sun went down. We had Chinese for dinner, how typical for the Brownings. The place was elegant and we shared a sampler of 8 different tasty morsels...perfect!
There is a computer for use in this apartment which is one reason I am so wordy tonight. There is an eight hour difference from there to here. No jet lag to speak of really, we are sleeping and eating well and having a marvelous time together. I'm so lucky Keith is willing to take these wierd trips. We are both glad that we have similar tastes, no fancy living for us, just safe adventure!
Tomorrow we'll probably check out this town, it looks special. The next day we'll take a trip out into the countryside to see a castle or two.
Thanks for taking time to read and comment. It's funny how nice it is to know people at home know where we are and care about us!