We left Bucharest around midday...I was glad to leave. Some guy was giving a tramp a kicking on the train platform outside the window, then people started begging on the train (though they got kicked off soon after). We spent the night at Alba Iulia, several hours away, to break up our journey back to Budapest. We stayed at the M.A Pension, very nice, slightly mad chef. That's what we like to see! We arrived in the evening but decided to head for the citadel in t...

Headed to Piata Unirii on the metro, then walked down Str Unirii to the Palace of Parliament, Romania's most famous building. A communist dictator demolished 1/6 of the city to build the Palace and Str Unirii - both monstrousities. Str Unirii was meant to be like the Champs Elysees...but is nothing like it. From there we headed back to the square and went into a shopping centre - it was pretty grim. Some old woman grabbed my arm and started asking for money, scar...

We decided to travel first-class to Bucharest - a wise move since we got a lovely air-conditioned carriage, all for an extra pound! We got a taxi from the station to the hotel 'Floreta de Aur'...and were slightly ripped off...The hotel was nice and by some strange coincidence it was run by the Romanian Fencing Federation. We headed for the centre of the city by metro - not that the city really has a centre though, it's pretty sprawling and everything is spread ou...

We ended up taking a taxi to Bran castle, which saved us about half and hour compared to the bus. Although the driving was a bit manic. The scenery between Brasov and Bran was beautiful - mountains, farms and hills. Beneath Bran castle there are loads of touristy stalls selling mainly Dracula souvenirs. We headed straight for the castle. The castle was very pretty, with all the rooms furnished in various styles. From the castle we had a walk round the 'Village Mu...

We arrived in Brasov after a very scenic and hot train journey. At the station, we were pestered by some woman offering a room, although we weren't too sure about it...so we headed for the tourist office in Sfatului Piata (the main square) to get help finding accomodation. They reccomended 'Pension Simona', which was really nice. We explored a bit in the evening and spent ages trying to find a place to eat - there was some free concert going on in the square so e...