Via Internet newsgroups we made contact with an American woman who had relatives in Brashov. Through her, we were able to make a deal with Cris and his wife Anca for overnight accomodations, meals and a tour in a car owned/driven by their friend, Septimius (Tim). Total cost was $100 USD. They put us up in the bedroom of their apartment. Dinner included a wonderful green lettuce salad - the only one I saw in eastern Europe and a real treat for us Californians.

After dinner at Cris and Anca's apartment, we took off on our own and rode the public bus into the center of old Brasov. We happened upon a foreign language (mostly German) bookstore and met Mihaela, a pleasant young clerk. After closing up the shop at 8 PM, she accompanied us to a local restaurant for coffee and conversation. Mihaela was engaged to be married. She and her fiancé were living with her parents a couple of blocks from the main square. She had one job and her fiancé was holding down two jobs, neither of which paid very much or were very secure; but they were very happy and optimistic. She walked us back to the bus stop and put us on the correct line. Recently Mihaela sent us a copy of her wedding picture. Someday, after the value of the US dollar falls and the rest of the world's currencies rise, we hope we are going to have a lot of visitors in San Diego.

From the center we threaded our way out through sprawling Brasov... looking for the right bus stop in front of the right concrete apartment building.

Banks in Brasov are building an amazing number of elegant office buildings to serve as corporate emblems.

The next morning, by the time we awoke, Anca had already gone off to work as a clothing designer. Cris fixed breakfast and then packed us a lunch. A little later Tim arrived with his car. They took us for a brief tour of Brashov including the huge "black church" which now has a gleaming white interior and a normal, stone gray exterior. The black church is known for its collection of antique oriental carpets which adorn the walls.

From Brashov Cris and Tim drove us down to Bran. Long ago a tax collection station on the road into Transylvania, Bran is the site of a cheerful little castle incorrectly billed as Dracula's castle...but who cares?

Via the Internet, Phil and Maria C., from San Francisco, California, had told us that they just bought a plot of land in "the most beautiful village in Romania", Pestera, and were planing to build a second house there. They suggested that we visit the village, but at first we couldn't quite figure out where it was; then it became too late in the day. We had to cross the towering Bucegi mountain range and get settled in Sinia. If Phil has any pictures of Pestera he can send them and I will post them here.

Note: We had a little problem meeting Cris at the Brashov train station when we came in from Sighisoara. This problem was compounded by the fact that there are no public phones in the station. We got help from an English-speaking guy who had his own cell phone.

Note: Cris, Anca and Tim do not run a bed and breakfast and conduct tours on a regular basis. Anca was pregnant in September 1997 and now probably has a lot of other things to think about. Cris is a merchant mariner and goes to sea for long periods of time. Tim is a mechanical engineer.

Try Florin Voicu via e-mail address This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it regarding tours of the Brashov area. From his correspondence I think that he may be an interesting guide.