Dracula...well....tomorrow

So....last blog was a little weak...I will attempt to compensate today. Still paying for internet...but...less than a dollar/hour.

Let's see....last blog was in Eger, Hungary. From Eger, we went to Budapest (a backtrack that I was expecting...to get to the larger train station). Then, an overnight from Budapest to Bucharest (Hungary to Romania).

There are three different train arrangements we have encountered...standard seats....rows...the occassional four-seater (one row backwards)....that is an ok set-up...I slept well on the one we had that way...this is usually the cheapest route too. More expensive is a sleeper. There are six beds stuffed into a compartment that usually quickly becomes hot...smelly......we had one of these (only b/c for some reason it wasn't too expensive)...I hated this set-up. But...the worst of all...a small compartment with six seats...three and three...facing each other. Trying to sleep in these....let's call that hell. Not only are you restricted to a small seat....your legs are restricted by what the person in the seat across from you is doing. In our last compartment of this sort....Kevin and I had a snorer also...a nice-looking old granny who could do some serious noise-making while sleeping....Kevin and I ended up sleeping out in the bike storage area. The overnight from Budapest to Bucharest...my fav. arrangement....another 6-seat hades....but....we lucked out....we started with five....then two got out at a stop about an hour in....leaving us with three people in the 6-car compartment. It ended up being an ok night of sleep....which was good...because.....then came Bucharest.

I will firmly say now that I do not believe humans were meant to live in cities....how it happened and why it wasn't stopped...I dunno. Maybe our current taxing of the environment will eventually stop it...... The heat was the main factor in our day of misery. It was upper 90's I would guess (although here of course...Celsius...but, I can't do the conversions without a calculator). We found the second largest building in the world....built by the former Communist dictator....in the process of building it he tore down about 5 square blocks worth of building...where...people lived in aparments....displaced thousands....a popular guy I'm sure. The building was...well....huge...but...boring. Romania had it's revolution in 1989....making it a very young government....that is playing catchup....the city looked like a Chicago that had been governmentless for about 10 years. We saw a dead cat on the sidewalk.....something I have taken for granted in the US....people who pick up the dead cats on sidewalks, so I don't have to walk around them....so...a new appreciation for those folks.

After getting lost....sweating profusely.....Dave accidentally bought carbonated water again (time number four...really quite amazing....I don't know how anyone can drink that...but...they do all across Europe)......and finally getting a taxi back to the train station (only like 2 dollars)....we were in a McDonald's enjoying the A/C and a value meal. We met a gal from Oregon who has been traveling Europe for 4 months and volunteering....we shared McDonald's together before almost missing our train...she was leaving to head back to Germany...we just wanted out of the city. A 2-3 hr. train ride brought us to our current location of Brasov, Romania. We found a great hostel...around 10 bucks/night.....free drink/night......free laundry (our dirties are out on a rack drying right now)......shower....english DVD's......comfy bed. We stayed last night.....I enjoyed a shower....finished On the Road (Dave finished Life of Pi a day or two back, so we traded before bed). We are chilling today. We slept until about noon....grabbed a Jelly sandwich for breakfast (leftovers of the hostel breakfast others had picked through)....and started on a walk around town. We saw the Black Church, named thusly because a fire darkened much of the stone. I think we should make a grand church out at Schnepp's out of Indiana limestone...anyone else with me? The Abbey of Lafayette? The Basilica de Schnepp?

So...chilling today....the plan is to find a market...get stuff to cook ourselves a nice meal back at the hostel......read......relax. Tomorrow, we will head to Bran, Romania...home of Dracula's castle. Well...it actually wasn't Dracula's castle...he likely visited it but never lived there. And...interestingly...the author of Dracula never visited Romania at all. But....it is supposed to be a nice castle...and we've only experienced one weak castle (Eger) thus far. There is apparently camping and some bungalows in Bran for us to stay there. We've had to reduce the pace of our trip...because, we realized that we are currently at the half-way mark of our 9 week trip (that we were thinking was 8) and have used 9 out of our 15 rail-days (and 2 must be saved to get back to our flight). So.....we're trying to slow down....stay an extra day at places.....and slow down our pace. We can pay for trains to supplement our pass...but...they tend to be rather expensive.

Happy Birthday to my Aunt Traci......you look more beautiful with every passing year : )