Budapest and Romania

Hilltop graveyard in Sighisoara, Romania, home of Vlad Tepes (aka Vlad Dracul) and the town of Brasov (Church on left, square on right).


Because I spent more time in Greece than I had anticipated (3 weeks), I decided to forego Bulgaria and fly to Budapest and from there get to Romania. Budapest has alot of beautiful old world architecture and excellent public transport. The women are probably the most revealing dressers I've seen. They seem to have a keen sense of mixing tops, skirts, pants, and dresses to accentuate more than I've ever seen in clothes. In 90+ degree heat and high humidity, this dressing style (or lack of clothing) was almost downright offensive. Almost.

I spent time seeing a few sights and museums, but more time watching Futbol as the group matches were still underway with 3 and 4 games per day. Outdoor cafes were packed as people gathered around large screen TVs. I managed to watch the England v Sweden game with a bunch of guys from the UK who were staying in the hostel. One loud Englander asked if there was anyone from Sweden in the crowd. I mentioned that I have family in Sweden and would cheer for them. When England scored the first goal, the room erupted with cheers. Sweden tied the match up a bit later and I cheered quietly, but was surprised when the room again erupted in cheers. The loud Englander looked confused. I looked over at the others and two spoke up and said, "we're from Scotland, we hate England." Another spoke up, "I'm from Ireland. The best moment in all of Irish History, not just football history, was when David Beckham missed a penalty shot against Portugal." As it turns out, by their very nature, most Englanders also hate the English football squad as much as they love it.

G W Bush was in town, forcing street and sight closings. Of course many tourists expressed anger, I was tired of the concrete jungle and took the train to Cluj Napoca, Romania. On my first morning in Cluj, I was greeted by two guys asking for change for coffee and food. I told them I couldn't give them money, but could buy them coffee and food. We sat down at a nearby cafe, one of the men spoke English while the other only understood but did not speak it. We all communicated best we could and were delighted when we translated through pictures and hand gestures, though I'm not sure we always correctly translated. The one man said he had heard of Scranton Pennsylvania, and they only thing he could say about it, best I could translate, was the word "mud". The men did tell me places to visit and food to eat and to be careful of the picturesque looking village folk. "They are very dangerous." After some time, we parted, and in customary European fashion, exchanges hugs and kisses on the cheeks, blending my clean appearance with their sweat, dirt and alcohol. This was not what I was envisioning when I was staring at half dressed Hungarian women the day before.

I continued to meet some more Australians on the trip in Romania. Michael and I met in Cluj, went on to Sighisoara and Brasov together as they were both on our agendas. We ended up singing Karaoke in Brasov with two girls from London. I belted out "Sweet Child O mine" by Guns N Roses. Those of you who know that I like to sing, also know that I am terrible at it. I also met two girls Lauren and Kylie who we hung out with in Brasov, and I then ran into a few days later in Cluj Napoca when I returned there. They were such sweet girls, and really, everyone I meet from Australia and New Zealand is similar: cool, laid back, fun, smart, and really unique in their own way. It makes me curious to go there, to see what creates this, but I'm convinced nobody actually lives there. They are all travelling.

After spending time to reconnect with Eniko, I needed to get to Slovakia quicker to meet family, so I only passed through Budapest. That was fine, I met some cool people in Romania, and the thought of being in the big city again in sweltering heat was wearing me out. It was time to get back to my Agrarian roots in Slovakia....