Transylvania, day 1: General Exploration

We made it to Brasov, Romania this morning after an overnight train ride, which was actually really fun.  I borrowed a fork from the nice man in the dining car so I could eat the mac&cheese I brought with me for dinner.  I like trains.

So, we arrived and tried to find an ATM to get some lei, which is Romanian currency, but the ATMs were being problematic.  Eventually we found an OTPBank, which is what we use in Budapest, so that was successful for everyone except Matt, so we went to 7 different banks before he found someone who would exchange his Hungarian forints.


The city of Brasov itself is kind of normal, post-communist, average...but when you enter the old town, it's amazing and medieval-ish and beautiful.  Strangely, there's a Hollywood-style Brasov sign up on a mountain, and we plan to go up to see it on Sunday.

Today, we mostly just explored.  We climbed up as high as we could go on the streets near our hostel, and saw some great views even though it was exhausting, especially after the 12-hour train ride.  We went to a park and swinged on some swings, which was rejuvenating.  We visited the Black Church, which has a HUGE organ that we didn't get to hear.  Photos weren't allowed inside either. We ate lunch and dinner in an Irish pub that played the most random American music ever- Justin Timberlake, gospel revival, Queen, songs from Grease...it was fun.  Well, lunch was fun.  Dinner, not so much, because we basically were so hungry/tired that we couldn't look for somewhere else, but we got there and were informed that we had to be out in an hour because the whole place was reserved for some concert.  It was stressful because the waiter was trying to rush us out and there were people warming up on their trumpets and accordions, which was cacophonous and unpleasant.  We went to a crepe place after and I drank a lot of tea.  The TV there was showing Romania's Got Talent, which was pretty funny even though we couldn't really understand it.

We walked down the smallest street in Europe, called Rope Street in English, but I don't really know how it qualifies as a street because it was almost just a cobblestone alley, and it's not like any sort of vehicle could fit through.  It was cool, though.

And the hostel, Kismet Dao Hostel, is so nice.  Much better than Friends Hostel in Paris.  This one actually seems legitimate.  They made us fill out forms when we checked in and offered us lots of information and even recommended Romanian restaurants and places to go.  They've set up a tour of three nearby castles for us tomorrow, too.  Best hostel experience so far.  The room is nice and clean and comfortable.  And it feels safe.  Totally worth more than the $15 a night we're paying.

At the end of the night, I was hobbling back to the hostel while Caitlin was laughing at/with me.  I had blisters in between my toes. Weird.  

Castles tomorrow!!!