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Eastern Europe Journal
We started our Eastern Europe journey with a quick stop in Bulgaria and then a longer stay in Romania. To see journals from our other Eastern Europe stops, just click the links at the top of the page.
(Lea) I could feel a romantic aura as we traveled through
Romania and Bulgaria. These were countries I learned about in sixth grade
and remember thinking how mysterious they sounded. I never thought I would
actually get to visit the capitals I memorized, like Bucharest and Sofia, but I did!
Admittedly the capital cities did not have that much character, but as soon as we left these cities to explore countryside villages we discovered wonderful old world charm. We stayed in two villages in Transylvania, Romania - Sinaia and Brasov. These villages were surrounded by mountains and fog. Castles, monasteries and Tudor style homes lined the stone pathways. Men drove horse drawn wagons and women with kerchiefs covering their heads worked in the farms.
We spent our days just walking around the villages and exploring the castles like Bran (we didn't meet Dracula there! Vlades Tepes, the real dracula, probably never visited there) and enjoyed the local wines (1 dollar a bottle) at night.
(Keith)
As we traveled on the night train from Istanbul to into Eastern Europe, I felt
as though I should be conducting some secret spy mission or at the very least
smuggling something.
Lea sums up Bulgaria and Romania well . . . stick to the countryside. Transylvania is really enchanting and just like you'd imagine . . . foggy, howling dogs, and cold.
Check out our Romania Photos.