My sister, Ashley, had been in Brașov, Romania volunteering at a children’s hospital for a few months when my wife, at the time (Joy), and I traveled there to visit her as she was wrapping up her final stint and preparing to return to the U.S. We flew out of Detroit on August 20 and landed in Bucharest on the afternoon of the 21st after an overnight flight and brief layover in Paris. We rented a rental car for the week and then hit the road north to Brașov!
August 21, 2015
The outskirts of Bucharest, after leaving the airport, were pretty flat and bland, matching the dreary sky.
After driving for maybe an hour the terrain turned mountainous as we entered the Transylvanian Alps. We left the speedy highway and found ourselves on slower, winding roads that passed through some neat looking villages.
We reached Ashley’s apartment in Brașov that evening. I hadn’t seen Ashley in a long while so it was nice to catch up. We also met Ashley’s adopted dog, Anca, who she had rescued off the streets there and brought home to America. Anca was extremely skittish around men, and promptly found a place to hide away in Ashley’s apartment while we were there.
August 22, 2015
On our first full day of vacation Ashley, Joy, and I had brunch, including plenty of coffee, in a quaint restaurant downtown Brașov. Ashley taught us a few basic phrases like “vă rog” (please), “mulțumesc” (thank you), apă plată (“still water”, as opposed to carbonated water), “da” (yes), and “nu” (no).
After eating, we (including Anca) took the gondola up to the top of Tâmpa, the mountain overlooking the city of Brașov. The views from up there were pretty impressive and we took a lot of photos/selfies while we hiked the trails at the top. Instead of riding the gondola down we followed the switchback trails back into the city, which we spent the afternoon exploring.
We visited a Roma market and I bought a pair of shoes and a shirt or two. The girls also found some new clothing and shoes. We also stopped at a friend of Ashley’s, who agreed to watch Anca for the next few days while we traveled the country. Back at Ashley’s apartment, we shared a bottle of wine to celebrate my last moments as a 29-year-old.
August 23, 2015
I was still very much in my lifelist fishing phase in 2015 so of course I was excited to dip a line in the water to find out what new fish species I could add to my list. Ashley and Joy also enjoyed fishing, albeit in more limited doses, and they approved adding some freshwater fishing stops to our itinerary. The first was the Olt River, near Avrig. I had packed travel fishing rods and tackle, and we used white bread as bait, at least to start. We could “fish up the food chain” and use smaller “minnowy” fish as bait for other species. We also had some artificial lures for predatory fish, but the spot we fished was a heavily channelized section of river near a dam and there were dense mats of aquatic vegetation to snag hooks on, so the conditions were not great for casting artificials.
We caught a handful of different baitfish species including Roach, Common Bleak, and Silver Bream. (You can find photos of them all on my lifelist page). After giving that spot approximately an hour, we followed a trail upriver to a more natural area. I picked up one additional species, the European Chub, there. We also encountered a large herd of goats, which were very entertaining to watch! Goats are so cool!
After fishing, we drove to Avrig, picked up some groceries, and arrived at the place we were staying, called Brukenthal Palace, a baroque compound built in the late 1770s. It was basically like staying at a museum-slash-botanical garden. We strolled the yards and enjoyed dinner there, along with a full sampling of delicious desserts (had to, it was my birthday!).
August 24, 2015
After a leisurely buffet-style breakfast with coffee we hopped in the rental car and drove back towards Brașov. But on the way we took time to drive the Transfăgărășan, a winding road over a mountain pass with hairpin turns that has been called “the best road in the world” on the British TV show Top Gear. It was the kind of road that felt like you had a chance at seeing James Bond chasing down a villain in his Aston Martin. We took turns driving parts of the famous road. It was a lot of fun and very scenic.
We had driven through the city of Făgăraș on the way to Avrig and we stopped to check it out on the way back through. A highlight was this castle, Cetatea Făgărașului, built in 1310. A pair of swans swam in the moat to add interest to my photography. We also made a brief stop in the city of Codlea, where Ashley showed us one of the places she had volunteered.
Our destination was Bran, where we would spend the night at a hotel. Bran is a touristy village, famous for Bran Castle, the inspiration for Brohm Stoker’s Dracula. We went out for dinner, and I remember enjoying a fresh watermelon smoothie more than the food, but I don’t think I had any complaints about that.
August 25, 2015
The tour of “Dracula’s Castle” was pretty fun! It had an eerie feel to it and was setup as a museum, with lots of armor, weaponry, art, and interpretive signage on display.
After the castle tour we poked into some shops in Bran and found a park with to stroll and reflect near some ponds. Then we returned to Brașov for a late lunch. We chose a shawarma shop. I had never had a shawarma before, and I enjoyed eating it. Fast forward: I’ve only had food poisoning once in my life, that I know of, and can you guess what I got it from? I haven’t eaten a shawarma since…
Our next stay was a Dracula-themed hotel in Poiana Brașov, a ski-resort area not far from Brașov itself. We checked in that evening and the girls took the car to go back and pack up the last of Ashley’s things (she officially moved out of that apartment that evening), so I had some alone time to explore Poiana Brașov. There were some architecturally impressive churches and hotels there, and I could see the ski runs, which in mid-August were grassy slopes. I treated myself to ice cream and found a trail to hike through a spruce forest. Some photos from that evening are included below.
When Ashley and Joy returned we went out for dinner and explored the hotel, which had a room set up specifically for photo opportunities with various instruments of torture, as one would expect from a Dracula-themed hotel. We took advantage of the situation.
When we were about to retire for the night I suddenly wasn’t feeling well. Attack of the shawarma. Food poisoning. I spent much of the night getting up to puke my guts out at the porcelain throne.
August 26, 2015
Ashley had signed Joy and I up to join her on a 4-hour volunteer shift in the morning, before a long drive to the Danube River Delta for the next phase of our adventure. The “work” was theoretically easy, just providing attention and basic care to orphaned babies that would otherwise spend a lot of time alone. But I was feeling about as sick as I ever have in my life and protested. Ashley convinced me to give it a go, and I tried, but after a few minutes of even just sitting and holding a baby I couldn’t keep from throwing up in the adjoining bathroom. An employee escorted me out with something to the effect of “if you’re sick you can’t be in here” so I told Ashley and Joy I’d meet them in front of the clinic after their shift.
In the meantime, I walked a few blocks to a big city park, found an area away from people to lay in the grass, in the sun, and rest. Everything was spinning and I wanted to hurl but I kept it in check for a while. I eventually got up and went to a pharmacy for some over-the-counter probiotics.
As we were getting into the rental car to leave Brașov I collapsed on all fours over a storm sewer and hurled again and again until I was dry heaving. “Geez, you really are sick.” Said my sister.
I opted to drive, at least the first shift, to avoid adding motion sickness to the food poisoning as much as I could. I was able to nibble some chips and dip and held it down. The puking was over, finally!
Our route on highway 10 took us from Brașov past some picturesque mountain lakes and through a collection of bucolic villages to the city of Buzău. Romanian driving was pretty exciting. Daring passing into oncoming traffic seems to be the norm, although drivers tended to be very good about stopping for pedestrians.
In Buzău we switched off and Joy took the wheel. From there to Brăila, a port city on the Danube River, the landscape flattened and we passed expansive fields of sunflowers.
In Brăila we caught a ferry across the Danube River, right at dusk. We got to see the sun set over the mighty Danube. I wondered if there were giant Wels Catfish and sturgeon under our feet as we crossed.
From the other side, we had a short drive to the Delta Nature Resort in Parcheș, a small village located along the Danube Delta, an expansive bottomlands, Biosphere Reserve, and renowned area for birding. We checked in, ate at the resort restaurant, and walked down to the water in the dark to scope out the dock before retiring for the night.
August 27, 2015
I felt much better in the morning, and I was excited to do some fishing! But first we enjoyed breakfast and at least three rounds of espresso. The view from the deck looked over the cabins in which we were staying to the Danube river bottomlands below. The Danube River forms the international border there and we could see Ukraine on the horizon (distant trees in the photo below, which are across the Danube).
Ashley caught the biggest fish of the trip, a European Perch, as the sun was setting. We fished into the dark for a while, with lines set with live Rudd. I was hoping we’d get an Asp or Wels Catfish but nothing took the bait. Joy played her ukulele and Ashley danced around while I watched the water and enjoyed the pleasant weather.
August 28, 2015
We hit the road early the next morning and drove through the villages of Tulcea and Babadag en route to Constanța, a port city on the Black Sea. We ate at a restaurant there. I can’t tell you what we ordered but I do remember this delicious desert.
We returned the rental car in Bucharest and caught a taxi from there to our hotel, the JW Marriott. We wandered out in the dark in a light drizzle to secure dinner, which was chicken schnitzel from Chicken Staff (fast food chain) that night. I hoped it wouldn’t result in another bout of food poisoning.
August 29, 2015
Ashley did her own thing on our last day in Romania, so Joy and I explored the city on foot. We explored parks, shopping markets, and enjoyed good food in the capital city.
Here are some of the views from our day in the big city.
August 30, 2015
Joy and I bid farewell to Ashley early the next morning and caught a taxi to the airport. Ashley went on to the U.K. for some vacation travel before return home.