Next stop - Brashov, as we got a little lost on the way (even though we had GPS) it took us a little bit longer than expected but around 9pm we finally managed to arrive at the apartment we have rented. The people were waiting for us, and it was quite a surprise that the lady did not speak any English. Only Romanian and luckily Spanish - I've never thought that i will have to talk to somebody in Spanish in Romania :) We went out with some romanian friends that were in Brashov for a vacation as well and energized with a lot of positive emotions we went to bed, waiting for the 'vampire day' in Bran castle
In the morning we managed to walk around the center of Brashov and we really liked it. We bought something like the Bulgarian 'banitsa' (meal with white cheese) for breakfast, got some coffee from around the corner and left for Bran castle. There we accidentally met again our Romanian friends Andrei and his wife and following their suggestions we tried some local things - something like the bulgarian Easter Bread but in a different form and served with either nuts, chocolate chips or sesame seeds on top and the other thing was really unusual - something like meatballs but boiled made of potato dough and filled with sweet plum...I loved the Easter Bread but cannot say the same for the meatballs. The castle Bran is interesting but it is quite misleading calling it Dracula's castle, as Vlad is 'supposed' to have stayed there for a night but even this is not certain at all. Even though it is worth the trip as the building is quite interesting, has a some of secret passages, nice view, and if you do not expect to see vampires you will like it :) The surroundings is also nice - there are quite e few monasteries and a fortress on a top of a hill with awesome view. After the walks we decided to go back to Brashov and take the gondola so that we see the town from the top of the hill. But till we got to the base station it was already 5pm and we saw the last gondola going up, so if you are planning to catch it, have in mind that you have to be there 4.45pm the latest. But anyway - we are not scared of some hiking so me and Rado took the path up to the top. It is really nice, going all the time through the forest and for about an hour and a half we reached the top. The view is amazing and it was totally worth the effort. We rested for a while, took some pictures and started going back as we had to be in the town on time for the dinner reservation. We had arranged a table in 'the best romanian' restaurant in Brasov' according to Andrei. And the food was really tasty and they had some quite strange dishes - for example i ate lettuce soup which was delicious as everything else we tried there. By the way the Romanian wine was also a nice surprise .
We did not want to leave Brashov but we had to - so Sigishuara, here we come. It is a nice small town with old streets, a citadel and .... guess what? The house where Vlad Dracula was born. Or so they say :) As Sigishuara is quite small, we walked around it relatively fast and hurried to Sibiu - as everybody said that Sibiu was the best of all. We had a reservation in Grand Central Studios, that are 2 min by foot from the historical center. We met the landlord, he gave us a tourist map, left the luggage and went out sightseeing. Small cozy streets, big squares, nice old buildings that had 'eyes' on the roof watching you all the time, the vibe was so relaxed and peaceful. We loved the clock tower and the view from its 6th floor. You have 360 degrees panoramic view from the top and if you manage to be there for the sunset as we did, you will be mesmerized. It is also a real pleasure to sit in one of the small cafes and just watch the people and enjoy the tranquility.
On the last day in Romania we had to travel the biggest distance - 440 km which would not have been a problem if there was a highway, but instead the road was winding by a river through the mountains and there were hundreds of small villages on the way. You get out of one village and a kilometer down the way, the next one begins, so it is not possible to drive with more than 50-60 km/h. But this has good sides - the road was picturesque and with this slow speed you have time to enjoy the views. We stopped at a monastery right by the road for a quick break and shortly passing through the ring road of Bucharest, we were at the border.To be honest we did not feel happy to go be back home, Transylvania was really magical and we wanted to explore it more but may be next time :)
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