Brasov

We arrived in Bucharest on time and bought tickets to Brasov. The ride was uneventful and we arrived in good form. When we came into the train station, begger children immediately surrounded us. "Da-mi…banii". Can’t they think of anything more creative to say than that? They say that from Timisoara to Chisinau. Get some variety, and maybe then I’ll give you money! We got a cab to the hostel and decided to relax a bit before exploring Brasov.

We met some other guests in the kitchen. The place was crawling with Canadians. We chatted with a Welsh guy and his Canadian travelling partner. We also met an adorable 20-year-old redhead from Maine who had a killer sense of humour. We promised to meet up later that day.
Meet up we did. We saw them five times during the afternoon! We kept accusing them of stalking us. Finally, we all sat and had coffee on one of the terraces, as the day was so nice. Brasov is a pleasant city but not as pretty as I had expected. Their centre is lovely but no less lovely than Piata Unirii in Timisoara. The black church is famous (black due to a fire) but inside it’s Lutheran (for all the Germans) with no ornamentation except for 122 Turkish carpets hanging from the rails. After my recent adventures in Turkey, I didn’t want to see any more carpets!

We walked around town and then decided to head back early. We met up with some more hostel guests and all went out to dinner. I ordered fried squash and soup. The waiter brought my squash (zucchini) and nothing else. Once again, he forgot my food! It was fine actually, because I wasn’t too hungry and the food wasn’t great.