My adventure into Romania started with a very long train ride from Budapest, which included making the acquaintance of some friendly smugglers, to a city called Cluj Napoca, the capital of Transylvania. Cluj is a university town, filled with bars and trendy clothing stores. However, walk two or three minutes from the centre and you will encounter buildings like this one.

From Cluj, I went south to Brasov, a small city surrounded by green hills.

One day, while I was staying in Brasov, I went on an excursion to Bran Castle and a fortress called Rasnov (below). Isn't Romania beautiful?

I stopped in Sighisoara, a funny, rundown, (it didn't help that it rained the ENTIRE time) little town, for two nights. Sighisoara is best known as the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler.

From Sighisoara I went back to Budapest for a few days. I did laundry and drank a lot of beer.

I first met Em and Gwil (they're engaged now!!) in Brasov. I caught up with them when I got back to Budapest and then met up with them and their friend Fed (far right) in Zagreb. We had a picnic in the park one day; it was lovely.