Looking from Brasov at a mountain that towers over this simple but lovely city.

Visiting Brasov, Romania never once crossed my mind…, never!

What brought me to Brasov was a chance to visit Dracula’s Castle in Bran which is a short distance away. I couldn’t find any lodging in Bran (although there is places, some closed for the offseason) so the closest place was Brasov.

Not bad!

Arrived by train from Bucharest and was greeted by the lost luggage of my flight to Bucharest. It seems the luggage took a detour to an airport bar in Warsaw, Poland and missed my flight. I had a feeling about that possibly happening. Another story for another day.

Brasov is located in the central part of Romania about 105 miles north of Bucharest with a population a shade over a quarter of a million people. It’s surrounded by the Southern Carpathian Mountains and is part of the historical region of Transylvania. I was confused about this Transylvania thing….. Is it a city, a state, a county? No, just a region in Romania that is home to Dracula’s Castle.

The oldest traces of humans dates back to the Neolithic Age!!! That’s around 9500 BCE!!! That, folks is a long time ago!!

Brasov

Fast forward to modern day….

In the old district area that I stayed there was a modern mall. I say it was modern, it took up 3/4 of a block was 2 stories and 1 subterranean and only one restroom in whole place!!! The rest of the area was postcard picturesque….streets, shops, pubs, McDonalds. McDonalds!!! Yep MacDonalds. In the center lower picture from my room across the way the building to the right background is the McDonalds….it’s just housed in a picturesque building.

Brasov was a 3 day stay….not any downtime here, a lot of walking in the snow, falling in the snow and visiting. My room is where the arches are.

The hotel provided breakfast in an adjacent bar that reminded me of a darkened Shakey’s Pizza Parlor with a major touch of Gothic!!! Waiters and bartends would just disappear!!! Someone new would show up until they disappeared!

The orange juice tasted fresh….but I have a feeling it wasn’t.

Then there’s an afternoon in this rugged looking saloon, Deane’s Irish Pub….named after the owner who had his own band and was famous in Romania. There had been a number of British and American artist that had lend their vibes to this comfortable place. But, not this afternoon…..this afternoon was spent sampling a few things off the menu and the bartend bringing on 2 for 1’s….I think.

I enjoyed wasting the afternoon at Deane’s Irish Pub (no one was Irish during the time I was there!) and I would’ve liked to have returned but time was ticking with places to go and things to do!

Much to see and do in Brasov…

Brasov is home to the “Black Church”. Gothic!!! Major Gothic. I looked thru the door first but the attendant told me ‘no photos’ so, I wasn’t gonna pay without being able to take photos of the “Black Church”!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biserica_Neagră

The upper left photo in the background you can see the steeple and the church. Of course the two other photos are the entrance in the middle and a side entrance. This is a rather monstrous building. Very imposing sight in this area.

A neat little market area right off from the Black Church….

Oh!!!! I forgot this photo!!!

So, I’m in Deane’s hitting shots of some sort of ‘dark’ rums when I look across the way towards ‘Subway’ and see this dude with a t-shirt on chatting away on his cellphone!!!! Unbelievable!! There’s all sorts of sights to see and you really don’t have to be looking for them!

There was this really neat restaurant and for some reason…..I don’t have any photos!!! I guess the waitress was just a tad bit distracting with her long black hair and blue eyes. She spoke English well. I believe she and her husband owned the facility. Anyway, this was the American Romanian food joint. They had meat plates that would be popular in the states….bbq ribs, chicken wings, etc. And as much as they tried to make them ‘a la’ American…..they couldn’t get around their Romanian food accents. But, it was good. Another place I’d have liked to revisit to try something else but, time didn’t allow. Oh, by the way I had a meat sampler platter with fries. It was okay.

Of course….Brasnov has their own Pigeon Lady, bottom right…..hehehehee. I like the “Donuterie”!!! Cute, and oh yeah, it was COLD!!!!!

Cheers to Brasnov!!!!

I wanna go back!

Peace, love, and…..yep beaches,

John

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