Has anyone been to Romania? (Insp. in part by sigafoos!)

[Gaspode]

Hiya,

I'm going to Romania in 2 weeks time for a weeks holiday/visit. To be honest I didn't think to ask here until I saw sigafoos' post about Australia and wondered if anyone here had been and had any tips or anything? (i.e where not to miss/where to avoid!)

I just had my injection today (yuck, I hate needles!). We are flying in to Bucharest (we being my friend and I, so two 21 year old females travelling together, some ppl have suggested perhaps we should pretend we have DH's at home?!)... we will meet my penpal of 11 years in the capital and spend a few days with her before taking a train to Brasov to visit and stay with her family. I've never met any of them but as I say have been regular penpals with her and her younger sister all these years...

We know that Brasov is a tourist town, mainly skiing in the winter etc but we don't know a lot else... so, anyone been? Anyone have any advice?

Many thanks!!
Gaspode

 

[SuiteDisney]

I've never been there, but if I could go I would want to visit castles and check out the home and castle of Vlad Tepes. I found this trip report online that looks very interesting... http://home.wxs.nl/~cantara/romania/romania_story1.html

 

[SuiteDisney]

Here's a page with links to different travel and tourism sites for Romania... http://www.matchc.com/travel/Tirgoviste.html

 

[Pop Daddy]

I never been to England, but I kind of like the Beatles..... I love that song, I bet no one knows what Im talking about nor cares, but hey I amuses myself




long post

 

[~Sparkly~Zoe]

Isn't this where the curse of the werewolf started? LOL

 

[SuiteDisney]

Originally posted by ~Sparkly~Zoe
Isn't this where the curse of the werewolf started? LOL

Wrong monster, Zoe, it's where Dracula started.

 

[~Sparkly~Zoe]

No that's transylvania! LOL I have a movie of the wolfman that is an 8MM and it's in romania! LOL (I love to watch it!)
But then again I guess there would be more than 1 wolfman right?

Hey! They have both of them there!

Geez, they also have the wolfman as being from a town near scotland too!

 

[SuiteDisney]

Pssst (whispering)... Transylvania is in Romania.

 

[~Sparkly~Zoe]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

[Gaspode]

Hiya Again

Thanks for the links ***********! We are looking to visit a lot of castles etc and my friend is very interested in the Dracula/Vlad story so we shall be trying to visit his crypt and castle!

Yes, Translyvania is like a 'state' within Romania and in fact, is the part we will be visiting!

Anyone know any more?

Thanks!
Gaspode

 

[SoonerKate]

I've been to Romania -- it's a beautiful country! You'll have a great time. Don't be scared when you fly into the Bucharest airport -- there are lots of planes just kind of scattered around and many of them are broken in half or scavenged for parts. I was really worried when I saw that, but we got in and out just fine. The airport was surprisingly small and easy to maneuver thorugh. I was there to work at a couple of orphanages in Bucharest, so we didn't get to do too much tourist stuff until the end of our trip, when we had 2 free days in Bucharest and then a couple of days in Brasov.

Near Vlad Dracul's castle (down at the bottom of the hill, before you climb the interminable stairs up to the castle and its grounds) there is a neat little market -- make sure you have cash on you, and be ready to bargain for goods. There are a lot of handmade wooden things (I got my dad a beautiful chess set for pretty cheap) and carved souvenirs that you might like.

Brasov is fun -- kind of quiet in the summer, though. I don't remember the name of the hotel I stayed in, but it had a beautiful view of the ski slopes (which are pretty even in August) and a pretty good restaurant as well.

If you can find a (legitimate -- ask at your hotel front desk or concierge) guided tour of Bucharest, take it! It's an incredible city. I remember going to the mall there in a building that had once been full of communist government offices (Kind of ironic that it's now a mall, isn't it?). Avoid the chinese food place in the mall's food court, though, if you go there (And I suggest you do; It's a great place to people watch and the differences between stores in the US and stores there, while small, can be significant and pretty interesting.) Just take my word for it on the Chinese food, though.

I'm usually an adventurous eater -- I'll try anything at least a couple of times, but I didn't like traditional Romanian food very much. Some of it was good -- the peasant bread and lots of the soups we had, but some of it was better left uneaten. (Just a tip -- McDonalds is super cheap!). Buy sparkling bottled water -- the water there can make you really sick. Make sure any water you buy is sparkling -- otherwise it's likely to be tap water in bottles which will totally defeat the purpose of buying water.

I'll try and find my journal from the trip if you want more information.

 

[RUDisney]

I'm guessing, though I haven't been there that Romania is similar to Russia. Take a scented candle with you. The power can go out for no apparent reason, so you're ready for that. The best part of having a scented candle, for us, was one room we were put into in Bryansk was disgusting smelling, from stale cigarettes. The scented candle made things bearable in that room. Just make sure to blow it out when you leave the room. My other recommendations, from having been to Russia, is to take your own toilet paper, and always carry some tissues with you for public facilities. You can take some of the "snow cone" type cups that are by water coolers and in desperation, you can bite off the tip and pee standing up if the facilities are that bad. The only time I felt the need to do that was on the train between Moscow and Bryansk. It works.

I'd also take my own bath towel. The towels in Russia were small and since they didn't have automatic dryers, they weren't very soft. We gave our dirty towels to our translator in Moscow. He was happy to have American towels, dirty or not.

Definitely take a guided tour whenever possible. The guides have so much interesting information that they can share with you.

I found Eastern Europe to be very friendly and very safe. Of course, you don't let your guard down, but what an interesting part of the world.

The thing that we forgot to do when we were in Bryansk was to go to the churches. The frescoes in some of the churches are beautiful. For as spectacular as Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Church are, these truly compare in beauty on both the inside and out.

Have a wonderful trip!

 

[Lanshark]

Dh has a close friend that went a few months ago. He said next time he is bring toilet paper and his own soap.

 

[Gaspode]

Hiya,

A quick 'bump' to see if there is any more advice out there - if so, please keep it coming!! Only just over a week to go and the info given so far has been great - thanks!!!

Cya,
Gaspode

 

[Gaspode]

Bump!!!!

Tomorrow will be my last day on the DIS before my trip....

Anyone with any last minute advice/thoughts would be greatly appreciated/thanked!!!

Cya,
Gaspode

 

[SuiteDisney]

Have a great trip!

Keep a little notebook handy so you can jot down notes about what you did and saw every day. After vacation it can be hard to remember everything, but the notes will jog your memory..... and I want to read a trip report!

 

[Gaspode]

Hope no one minds if I 'bump' this up again for last minute advice!

Thanks again ***********

 

[SoonerKate]

I re-read my journals from the trip I took, and seriously -- be careful with your water. Looking back now, it's obviously why so many of us in my group got sick. Sparkling water is definitely the way to go.

Bring your camera and tons of film! It's a beautiful country, you'll want to take pictures. (And we'll want to see them when you get back!)

Above all..have a blast. Not many people get to experience Romania. Sometimes travelling there can be challenging, but it's absolutely, completely worth it.