laaaate

It's really late and honestly I was on my way to bed when I noticed that a) the hostel computer is actually working; and, b) it was free. So here I am.

I'm in Brasov right now, considered to be the heart of Transylvania. This region is really cool, and actually feels more like home than any place I've been so far. It's cool, misty, damp, mountainous and full of evergreens. There are lots of differences too, of course, like the wide valleys (similar to the Fraser Valley), patches of broad leafed trees and a lack of ferns, but overall I like it a lot.

I joined a big tour today of the three major castles around Brasov. The first was a partially rebuilt ruined citadel that was quite cool. Great location for a castle for sure. The second was the castle in Bran, the setting for Bram Stoker's Dracula. The real person, Vlad the Impaler, upon whom Dracula is loosely based, only visited the castle once. It's really just a purely fictional link, and honestly the castle was quite lame and very touristy.

The third one was great though. It was more of a 18th C. castle with extremely grandious and expensive furnishings and decoration. There was a crystal mirror from Vienna on one wall that was 5 meters high and 3 wide. It was a single piece of crystal. crazy. Plus it had a big room full of all sorts of weaponry, including a mounted knight on an armoured horse. Very cool. The detail of the woodwork, the gold leaf, crystal, gemstones, stone inlays, etc etc etc made for an incredibly busy decor that pulled your eye in every conceivable direction. Amazing to look at, unimaginable to live in!

The tour was also fun because it was a chance to become friends with 8 other people, in addition to Mike and Jed, the guys I've been traveling with for 3 days or so now. We're having a good time here, but it's amazing how that group aspect means that I have very little time to myself, and so the blog and personal journal tends to suffer a bit. For my COCA compatriots: we went out for dinner as a group of 8 and actually managed to do it quickly and to everyone's satisfaction. Who'd of thought it possible?!?

Actually, the journal hasn't been totally neglected. On our way here from Bucharest, we managed to get on to the wrong train and as a result I had *plenty* of time to write in the journal. We paid extra for express tickets to avoid the 4.5 hr podunk-station local's train, which we ended up boarding by accident. I can't tell the story properly via this blog, but in retrospect it was a bit funny. We were almost late getting to the station, the guy I asked about platforms tried to tell me "9" but I thought he was saying "nein" in German, and we were basically too rushed to look properly at the board. Oh well, we made it, but man was that a slow train. It averaged less than 40km/hour over 160 km.

So, there may be some car rental action in the next few days, and tomorrow we may be off to Sighisoara. Hard to say at this time. I'll keep you up to date!

cheers,
bms
PS: Mom, you don't *need* the international DL here, but I have one with me anyway. And they drive on the right side. Most of the time.