| The Caucasus - My Journal |
The Best Place in Romania!
11th to 14th July - Brasov
 In the summer of 2004, I spent a few weeks teaching English to kids and teenagers on a summer camp with the DAD-UK Programme. The camp took place in the middle of forest near Bacu, a small town in the north-east of Romania. A lot of the guys and gals in my class came from Brasov, and after the camp they invited me back to see their home town. One of them (thanks Anita!) let me stay at her house with her family and she became my guide for the town. After spending a day or so wandering around the old town, I instantly fell for it, and its still one of my favourite towns. This might be more to do with the friendly people (thanks for everything guys!) but its very fair to say that Brasov is a great town in itself to visit.
As soon as I got off the train in Brasov, the station felt oddly familiar, like I'd already been there in some old dream, but not in real life. I quickly realised that the last time I'd been in Brasov, I'd taken the train out really late at night, and during the day, the station had a completely different feel. It seemed bigger...airier...more friendly...
My hostel was by Piata Unirii, a small square at the far end of town, so I needed to take a bus from the train station. As the bus winded its way through the town, I began to see buildings and places that I remembered, and a feeling of being comfortable and at ease began to seep over me.
 The best part of Brasov is the old town in the centre. Brasov itself is a pretty big place, but most of the residential areas have sprung up around the old heart. The old, clean streets, wide enough to be Parisian boulevards, and the bright and varied buildings gathered around the main streets and Piazas, are at the heart of the great character of the town. Everyone comes to the old town to pass the time, so I'd only been in town for a few hours when I bumped into one of my former students (Oana!)...and an hour or so later, I bumped into another one (Anita!)!
 The next few days in Brasov were spent hanging out with my former students and doing all sorts of things in and around Brasov. I had a great time with them, my time in Brasov really were the best days of my travels so far! And despite the rain and lengthy times required to make decisions, I really enjoyed myself and I was very sad to leave at the end. I need to thank all of them: Anita, Oana, Vladi, Andy, Felix and Andu. Thanks for everything!
We checked out the nightlife, did embarrassing Karaoke (we sung a really bad rendition of YMCA), went swimming in a classy hotel pool, played cards when it rained, played basketball when it didn't, and on my last day, we went Bran Castle! For those of you who don't realise...Transylvania is in Romania, and Bran Castle is famous for being Dracula's castle! Funnily enough, there is no evidence to suggest that Vlad the Impaler, Bram Stoker's inspiration, every actually lived there, or even set foot there! However, a long time ago, sometime suggested it was his castle, and the myth has persisted and it's now a healthy tourist centre!
 Bran Castle is situated on top of a hill, surrounded by green fields and small thatched houses. From the outside, its a formidable place, but on the inside, the real inhabitants of the castle covered the eerie grey stone walls with smooth, white gothic curves which kinda gives the place a friendly feel. The secret corridors and maze of rooms are interesting...but its hard to reconcile this nice castle with the blood-thirsty vampires of Hollywood!
With a long distance still to cover, and time marching resolutely on, I forced myself to continue my travels, and to leave the fun of Brasov behind. I have no doubt that the next 10 weeks will provide lots of entertainment and exciting experiences in other places! Also, I think my friends here will be a glad that I'm moving on...they can go back to doing what they want to do, and not have to spend all their time thinking of things for me to do! So very early in the morning of the 14th, I climbed onto a Bucharest bound train...
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