We've spent more time in Romaina than what we initially planned, but we keep on hearing about these amazing places to visit, and we want to see them all. Transylvania is perfect for anyone who is into the vampire/dracula craze, as you can see Vlad "The Impaler" Tepes birthtown, as well as some castles where he may have spent some time. We can both see why Bram Stoker chose to set his novel, Dracula, in Transylvania!

We've been in Transylvania now for 6 days, and seen 4 different cities. Our first city was Brasov. It's quite a large city, but the city center where we spent most of our time was quaint and picturesque. We stayed for three nights in Brasov because we were planning to take 2 day trips to different castles in the region. We ended up only going to one, as the second castle, Peles Castle, is closed the whole month of November for restoration work.

We were able to take a day trip to Bran, a city that revolves around Bran Castle. Some people think that this is "the" Dracula castle, when in reality, Vlad may have only spent a few nights here while passing through. It was still lots of fun to creep around the castle and pretend that Bill Compton was going to jump out at us! There weren't as many tourists here as we expected, which was also a welcome surprise.

Our third stop in Transylvania was also almost completely devoid of tourists, one of the up sides to traveling in the low season. Sighisoara is a small town to begin with, but was perfect for traveling in the low season. Their citadel is perched up high on a hill, and can be seen from all over the city. There wasn't a soul around, so walking around Vlad's hometown at night was slightly creepy, but also very peaceful. The German government has also pumped a lot of money in to restoring this town, and all the buildings are in great shape.

One of the highlights, at least for me, was going to the Society Club on a whim and seeing "Horrible Bosses". We expected a normal movie theater, but this came complete with box seats, plush couches, chandeliers, and a waitress who served us Czech beer. And did I mention we were the only ones there?! We hadn't heard of the movie before, but both laughed a lot (maybe that was the beer and Vin Fiert!).

Our most recent stop was in Sibiu, just 100 km from Sighisoara, but 2.5 hours by train. Sibiu also has a lot of German influence. Lonely Planet says it's one of the prettiest and most pleasant cities in Romaina, and we tend to agree, if the weather were better! There are three main Piata's that are connected in the city center and tons of beautiful, historial buildings. The city shares some similarites with Istanbul, like the Orthodox Cathedral, modeled after Hagia Sophia, but not nearly as grand. Kenny also noticed the main shopping street here, Str Nicolea Baicescu was similar to the Istiklal Street in Istanbul- lots of people, restaurants, and places to spend lots of money!

Today, we'll head to the very Western part of Romaina, to Timisoara. We'll probably spend just one night there before crossing the border to Belgrade, Serbia or Szeged, Hungary. Depends on how long it takes to each place, and the ease of crossing the border. More later from another country! Ciao, Romania!