Category Archives: Romania

Bashful Brasov

Beer in a kebab joint. Because I could

Beer in a kebab joint. Because I could

Black Church in the square

Black Church in the square

A birthday party for me

A birthday party for me

Brasov was such a cool city. Quieter with lots to offer, wish I couldve spent longer here as well. My pacing of my trip earlier has forced me to rush through Romania unfortunately, I wanted two weeks but spent only a week. It was on my travel bucketlist to see a concert of an artist I like and after searching I saw Emancipator will be playing in Istanbul at the end of the week. It only meant one thing… Skipping Bucharest. I will be back!

Also Bran castle (Dracula’s castle) isn’t what my childhood led me to believe. No bats. No thunder. And no precarious pathway to the entrance. Still interesting though.

Views in Cluj

Full moon behind the church in Transylvania. Camera obviously doesnt do it justice

Full moon behind the church in Transylvania. Camera obviously doesnt do it justice

Rural area near Cluj

Rural area near Cluj

Purdy colours

Purdy colours

I only spent two nights in Cluj which I suspect is a larger Timisoara because of its big student population and vibrant nightlife. I don’t know for sure because I didn’t see a whole lot of the city! I went on a tour around Cluj to an ice cave, salt mine and rural areas eating local Romanian grub. At some ungodly hour I hustled my way to Brasov with a friend, missing the bus by minutes and ending up using the train. Worked out for the best! Met some good locals that kept feeding Palinka (I think – its a local spirit) to us but not before passing out. That old timer put it away but it won in the end.

Timisoara: You can check out anytime you’d like…

An excellent and most classy cabaret bar that was so much fun

An excellent and most classy cabaret bar that was so much fun

Welp I’ve done it again. Was supposed to spend two nights in Timisoara but my old tricksy friends Hops and Malt may have made it very difficult to wake up in time so one more night was in store! I wish I had a week to spend there, really loved the city. Had lunch at a restaurant and a wife and husband sat down with me because there were no more tables. Learned a lot about Romania and they were very friendly but also very curious as to why I was travelling alone. I LIKE IT OK! I SWEAR I HAVE FRIENDS.

And now for an aside:

At first travelling alone was daunting, and yeah it can be lonely at times but its not often that I’m alone. I don’t know if I’ve written this before (I can never remember what the heck I’ve written before.. blogs are hard man) but this trip was the first time that I can remember that I’ve gone out and eaten dinner alone. When I first did it I felt like some sort of circus animal, a freak, a one man amusement! Not really, but it was a bit sobering and lonely. A little later I mentioned this to a fellow traveller and they gifted me some pretty solid advice, don’t be lonely or sad when eating alone or doing anything by yourself, embrace the freedom that you have: that you’re eating dinner on the Adriatic. After that I walked with a new sense of style and purpose.

I’m slowly catching up in the blog. Gonna have to, my last country comes atchu live in 12 hours. BE THERE

Thanksgiving in Timi

My turkey dinner. It was delicious

My turkey dinner. It was delicious

I'm a fan of squares

I’m a fan of squares

It was a day late, but I had me some turkey to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving. And you know what?? It was glorious. Went to a fancy restaurant that was kind to the wallet and strolled around the city, there will be more about it next post, but there is something neato about Timisoara. It was the first city in Europe to get street lights, second in the world I think and it was the start of the Romanian Revolution. No that’s not the name of a 90s electro-disco group, it was the beginning of the end of communist rule in Romania. Purdy nifty.