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Rail connections between Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria and Bucharest, Romania are good but a little crowded on the Rousse to Bucharest leg.
Via the Internet, I had met Cristina, a young electrical engineer and resident of Bucharest, who sounded interesting and was very helpful in providing specific train schedules. She offered to meet us at the train station in Bucharest and get us set up in a reasonable hotel, which is a considerable problem for inexperienced tourists like ourselves. I had sent Cristina a digitized photo so she could recognize us, but we didn't know what she looked like. When we got off the train in the crowded Bucharest station I was apprehensive because of warnings about the big city. Several nervous steps ahead of my wife, I made a rapid bee line for the main desk where Cristina had instructed us to meet her. About halfway along the platform an attractive, dark-haired woman blocked my path, made eye contact and said something which I did not understand. I barked out "Nyet, nyet" or "nah, nah", averted my eyes and rudely brushed past her. Coming up the rear, my wife, who was less rattled and more alert than I, called me back and introduced me to my Internet pen pal who thought that it was all very funny. I apologized.
We should have budgeted more time for Bucharest. We had gotten some bad vibes from guidebooks and other travelers but, to us, the city looked and felt great. This may have been influenced by Cristina's kind hospitality.  On Sunday Cristina and Mihnea whisked us a hundred miles north to the Transylvanian town of Sighisoara to catch the end of the annual festival of the arts. The Germanic influence is shown in the Sighisoara clock tower, shown here. After dinner Cristina and Mihnea drove back to Bucharest, and we remained behind.
Early Monday afternoon we boarded the train and headed south to Brashov, which was a great walled city during the middle ages. In Brashov we stayed with a young couple, Chris and Anca. Chris and their friend, Tim, drove us down to see Dracula's castle at Bran.
 From Bran we drove eastward and upward through forests, past little streams, mountain meadows and ski resorts, finally crossing the towering Bucegi range. We descended the eastern slope into Sinia, site of the spectacular Pelesh Castle shown here.
After recharging our batteries for two days in Sinia, we began to feel that we should be moving on, doing tourist work, so we hopped a train heading north.
We had intended to visit Suceava and the painted monasteries, but there wasn't enough time.
Please return to the main page and check our plans for the next time we visit Bulgaria and Romania.
Background reading on Romania: "The Dacian Stones Speak" by Paul MacKendrick, "The Last Romantic" by Hannah Pakula, "Notes from the Other Side of Night" by Juliana G. Pilon, "Balkan Ghosts" by Robert Kaplan.
Novels focusing on Romania: "Ride on the Milky Way" and "The Year of the Water Bearer" both by Marguerite Dorian, "The Forbidden Forest" by Mircea Eliade, "Barefoot" by Zaharia Stancu, and "The Balkan Trilogy" by Olivia Manning. And, of course, "Dracula" by Bram Stoker.
For a lot of detail on current events check the Romanian Press Review. And maybe also the personal travel page by Adrian in Switzerland.
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; "Germanic clock tower in Sighisoara")
; "Exterior of Pelesh Castle in Sinia")