Romania day's 6-8

We are back in Bucharest after our excursion to the Brasov area. We wanted to visit Brasov as that is where Carri was born. Ninel helped Jane through the adoption process in Brasov 19 years ago.

We left Bucharest with Ninel and Roxana Wednesday morning and drove up into the mountains to Brasov, not knowing exactly what the schedule was to be, just trusting them to plan things out for us. The 1st place we visited was Peles Castle at the town of Sinaia. We went on a tour, led by a guide who spoke in English, and there were too many details to remember. It was built from 1873 to 1914, and was very modern for its time. It has electric lights, running water, central heating and a central vacuum system. It is an amazing place, beautiful wood and marble everywhere.

Leaving there we drove through Brasov to resort area near Poiana. The bank Roxana works for, has an annual meeting for the directors of their branches at this resort, so she arranged for a very good rate for us. It is a beautiful place, and very nice accommodations. We moved into our rooms and went into Brasov for dinner and sightseeing. One of the town squares has many nice shops and cafe's around it. Once again I was amazed by the old buildings from the 1800's, most of the ones around the area we were have been restored since the overthrow of the communists in 1989.

Thursday we toured Bran Castle. This castle was built, beginning in the 1200's. It is where the legend of Dracula and vampires started. There is no way today to sort out fact and fiction, but the Count from which the legend comes from was a bloodthirsty person who killed many, many people, but was probably not any worse than many others in his day. It was very interesting to see something that is that old.

Next it was on to a ski area near Poiana, and a ride in the cable car to the top of the mountain, what a thrill, and what a view. It was a little hazy, but still very beautiful. Ninel told us he has skied that mountain since he was 5 years old.

After dinner in Poiana it was back to Brasov for more shopping. There are tourists there from all over Europe, Ninel knows several languages and he could hear people speaking German, French, Italina and Spanish. All I could understand was English. It was so interesting to just watch people while the girls were shopping. We talked about trying to find the hospital where Carri was born, but Ninel doesn't remember where it is, so we didn't even try.

Friday morning we headed back to Bucharest, on the way we stopped at a village to see a house where Ninel spent part of his childhood. His Mother and Father still own the house, but do not live there. Ninel has dreams of someday renovating the place and spending at least part of the year there. We got back to our hotel in time to spend the evening relaxing and reading on the 22nd floor sun deck.

Blessings to all who read this.

Phil