10:00 pmBUUULgaria (with reguritating noises) - that's how we've heard this place described, but so far, we LOVE it! After a very scenic train ride from Brashov, we arrive in a place called Gorna just outside of Veliko Tarnovo at around 6pm. Thanks to email, I'm able to get a notice from the car hire company saying we have to be in VT by 6:30pm to get the rental or it's too late. So I flag two taxis to get us there pronto.So with Bulgarian music cranked (very t...

6:10amWe're sitting in the Zarnesti Train Station once again with a big day of traveling in front of us. Our destination: Elena, Bulgaria.Yesterday we decided to hang around Andras' Cabana for the day. The kids (particularly) Luke can't believe how sore he is from the hike the day before. We tell him it's from jumping all the down the mountain - which they all had a blast doing (just like the good ol' days).The thing about Couchsurfing is that it's so much mor...

8:47amWe hiked about 20 km yesterday...longer than we ever anticipated. And I'm feeling it! I need to stop underestimating distances of travel :-).Our couchsurfing hosts, Andros and his wife Annikur, are great people - a little busy perhaps, with a guest house full, but they are certainly going out of their way to make sure we know we're not clients, but more like family. This started off yesterday with an amazing breakfast, which included sheep's cheese (took...

9:37amI'm sitting in a beautiful dining area in the heart of the Carpathian Mountains at our couchsurfers house. As it turns out, he has built a gorgeous guest house with 18 rooms at the feet of some of the most gorgeous mountain peaks. The guest house is fairly full, but we got a room and the boys slept in an attic loft. It was an amazing sleep.The journey here was something of an adventure. We knew we needed to get to Zarnesti first of all so jumped a one h...

5:10pmWe have meandered the streets of the medieval town of Brasov (pronounced Brashov) for the better part of the day after an all night bus ride, which wasn't actually that bad. Think of a 40 passenger tour bus (pretty posh) and it's just our family, from Chisinau to Brasov, paying about $15 per ticket. I'm thinking they didn't make much money off that run! At about 3:30am the bus driver indicates he's stopping for one hour and proceeds to go to the back of t...