May 4, 2013 - Day 12 - Constanta to Bucharest, Romania

We woke up still in Constanta and on the boat; but about to make a major move from our “home away from home” as it was picking up an entire set of new passengers for the cruise back to Budapest!! It certainly was nice not having to pack and unpack every few days as we traveled through the countryside and from town to town!! Luggage out at 6AM – a quick breakfast and then we said goodbye to our Captain (and the crew); leaving the riverboat at about 8AM. We drove one last time past the scrap metal cranes working away and out of the port....

May 3, 2013 - Day 11- Sailing thru the canal to Constanza, Romania

We actually arrived in Seimeni (near Cernavoda) sometime during the night and tied up until morning. About breakfast time (7AM) we started moving towards the Danube-Black Sea canal. It was super foggy – like “pea soup” and the top deck was very wet – maybe it rained overnight – so Wendy had a little difficulty sitting up top (with puddles in the chairs)! So she reluctantly went to the lounge – which is also at the front of the ship – so she could watch our progress. The windows too were a little wet – so she asked someone (Dragon who is the...

Oct 3, 2012 - Brasov, Romania

I am up around 06:00am a quick check of emails, then out for breakfast before starting my day exploring the town of Brasov. It starts with a trip to the cable car station and a ride to the top of the mountain for a great view of the old part of the town. Back down the mountain and walk to the Black Church one of the largest in Romania very nice but no pictures inside,:( then I am off to the Black Tower (it is actually white lol) could only go to the steps as it is closed for the season, a nice walk through the forest to the white tower...

Oct 2, 2012 - Romania

I leave Athens after spending the night in the airport at 06:30AM heading for Zurich, Switzerland my first stop for the day spend 4 hours there before my next flight that takes me to Bucharest, Romania. Getting into Bucharest around 04:00 PM I am off by express bus to the main train station for a 3 hour train trip to Brasov in the land of Transylvania and the castle of count Dracula, getting into Brasov around 09:00pm a taxi to the hotel, get checked in and then out for a bit of dinner at a local pub and of course a beer from Romania. Then...

Jul 29, 2012 - Bucharest

Hey There.. Today we left Sibiu, Transylvania for Bucharest, Romania...got about 45min out and Blew a hose and were delayed by the side of the road for about another 45 min. lucky for us there was a small bar right across the street in the country! So off we went for a beer and BR break..just a note the ladies BR door did not close so it took one of us to hold the door closed and the other to use the BR. Water ..no towels or dryer. The driver managed to fix the bus along with a few helpers who of course stuck their heads into the engine as...

Jul 28, 2012 - Bucharest, Romania

New day, new country. We are now in Romania and went to Bucharest to tour the city. It is a really beautiful city and in the nice parts looks a lot like Paris. Our first stop was the "Village Museum", an open air museum with historic houses and churches from all of the different parts of Romania. (Some of you may have been to one like it in Denmark or Sweden.) I love these museums, because they bring the culture to you in a natural setting. There were log houses, thatched roofed houses, windmills, wooden churches, etc. Wonderful, but not...

Jul 28, 2012 - Sibiu

Hi, Well today was a travelling day so not many pics. We left Budapest early this am and travelled to the border of Romania.They held us up at the border for 45 minutes while they took all of the passports and scrutinized them. We paid 1 lei to go to the bathroom. My toilet did not have a seat!! It's just the way it was, some others said they had seats in theirs but others like me did not. There is lots of poverty in this country..houses are run down but have a satellite dish. Lots of farming corn, sunflowers, some cattle and apples. They...

Jul 2, 2012 - Rund Schwarzes Meer: Odessa-Donaudelta-Constanta (Rumänien)

Nachdem wir von den Behörden grünes Licht erhalten haben, verlassen wir den Hafen Odessa am frühen Nachmittag in südwestlicher Richtung. Für die ca. 90 Seemeilen bis nach Sulina, dem ersten Hafen in Rumänien, schalten wir wiederum eine Nachtfahrt ein. In Sulina mündet einer der schiffbaren Donau-Kanäle, der „Bratul Sulina", ins Schwarze Meer. Schon seit dem Morgengrauen sehen wir den Tower auf einem weit ins Meer hinausreichenden Leitdamm. Wir bergen bei der Ansteuerungsboje die Segel und fahren unter Maschine in der ausgebaggerten...

May 17, 2012 - Transylvania, Romania

From the tour brochure: "Transylvania conjures up images of haunted castles, gothic churches, werewolves and vampires. Its connection with the famous Count Dracula, itself a literary myth, is a small part of what makes Transylvania an enchanting, romantic and exciting destination. The medieval masterpiece of Sighisoara is a World Heritage site."

Apr 17, 2012 - Romania revisited

I have changed my view of Romania - while they appear to be very serious and suspicious at first glance, here is where first impressions can be wrong. We had a great last day here before leaving for the ship. The best story today was in the telling of Michael Jackson speaking to a huge crowd in Bucharest and exclaiming that "I love Budapest!" . He was speaking to a crowd of many thousands from the balcony of the Peoples Palace built by Ceausescu - a monster of a building that is a gross display of that president's greed - his country was...

Apr 15, 2012 - Romanian realities

Today was an out of the city tour - and the country side does not look in any better condition than this city. Romania is crumbling and drowning in garbage. It seems as if it is stuck in time with no real idea of how to move on. The older people are firm in their old ways while many of the educated leave Romania for better opportunities and then do not return. Any change will be very slow in coming. The Carpathian Mts are quite pastoral and can be surprisingly beautiful from far away. The castle we visited was labelled with the myth of...

Aug 24, 2011 - Brasov

We then moved north into Transylvania to the small town of Brasov. A picturesque town set in the mountains of vampire country, it was here we explored the origins of Dracula. "Dracula's castle" in Bran, was somewhat of a disappointment as it wasn't nearly as scary as expected and actually only briefly visited by Vlad the Impaler. So pretty much the Rasnov citadel down the road was a million times better. While is Brasnov we met plenty of Australians, one of whom, Christie, was possibly the most knowledgeable people and we learnt the entire...