BREAK part 1--brașov.

this has been a long time coming.

mostly since i had most of it written and it got deleted.

dang internet.

anyways.

i should probably start by warning you that reading this will make you wish you were in romania.

but then again, i took enough pictures that you'll probably feel like you were right there with me.

ahahaha. but seriously. don't worry. i'm only posting a select few of the just-under-1,000 that i have.

you think i'm kidding? i'm not.

it's like a direct play by play tour of our trip. kind of.

now for the details.

once upon a time we took a little break from the kiddies we so greatly adore.

and had a mid-semester retreat!

iași to brașov. brașov to bucurești. and then back home to iași town.

this first post will feature our venture to brașov and our castle tours.

part 2 will be bucharest.

ready?

here we gooooo!

sunday, june 26--day 1.

[happy birthday from a train in romania, pappy!]

we started our adventures on sunday morning, the 26th of june. all great adventures begin at a historically significant train station, wouldn't you say? i'd say so. stay tuned for the historical significance. friday, to be exact. it's only sunday though, so hold your horses for a few days, figuratively speaking. anyways. we spent the day on the train: 9.5 hours to be exact. between the novelty of being on a train traveling through the gorgeous romanian countryside, the stops in cities along the way, chatting with romanians, sleeping, and reading, it wasn't too bad of a ride. did i mention the countryside is gorgeous? it was minutes from when our train left to where the countryside began, and it felt almost like a dream. don't worry, i'll spare you the trillion pictures. i'll just show a select few, though if you wish to see them all [which you should because it's so stunning] we'll schedule a date for when i get home. mmk? perfect.

gara iași -- iași station.

mario came to send us off! and make sure we got on the right train. :)

pretend i'm in this picture too, and that is our compartment.

michael & breezy were the next compartment over for the first ride.

mr.leather jacket helped us learn how to open our door after we closed it.
baaahahaha. it was hilarious, really. 

sheep!

at one point in the ride, i woke up from a nap and walked out into the corridor to look out the window and take a few pictures, and i heard someone in michael & breezy's compartment say something about franceza. FRENCH! soon after, they saw me and i was summoned into their compartment and it was insisted that i sit down in the empty seat next to a lady that new french! she's romanian--from brașov--and had learned french in school. both of our french was a little rusty. i kept slipping in romanian. so it wasn't very much of a conversation. just a little small talk. there was a guy in the compartment who knew english, so he helped in translating sometimes. breezy and i chatted with him a lot. mostly about what we're doing here. he wants to become a priest one day, perhaps, and is romanian orthodox. so beyond talking about our kids, we chatted about religion too and he told us a little bit more about the orthodox religion. it was neat to see so many similarities to ours. other religions can be so interesting, i think. anyways. it was just a neat experience. i really like talking to romanians, generally speaking. especially when in romanian. this time it wasn't in romanian as much. but when it is, it's the best. it's terrifying, never knowing if you'll understand everything, having your ears hanging on every little sound, but it's more than thrilling when successful! real communication in a language not native to me. languages fascinate me. the fact that a person can express any given thought or feeling in their native language, but it creates an immediate wall when you don't know the language and can't communicate. by the same token, however, there's much to be said for the power of nonverbal communication. never before have i realized that so much as i have while being here in romania. it's a beautiful thing.

at long last, we arrived in brașov! we then took the bus to our hostel, which allowed for excellent views of the city since the train station is at the north edge of the city, and our hostel was at the south end. while driving through the city, we passed a store called 'janette.' i didn't ever get a chance to go back and get a picture with it, but we're famous, grandma! upon arriving at rolling stone hostel, we were oriented a bit by diana, one of the workers at the hostel, and then by her and greg's (also works at hostel) recommendation as delicious, got dinner at casa românească [romanian house]--a traditional romanian restaurant conveniently located just down the street from our hostel. mmmmmm. and let's be real. after an entire day in a train, we were pooped. who knew sitting and doing nothing could be so tiring?

the famous hollywood sign. that obviously says brasov instead.

the americans have arrived! how'd you know? bahaha. matching backpacks? presh.

our room in the hostel. eight beds. check!
see the backpack with the yellow ribbon and pink umbrella in the side pocket? that was my bed.

me & melissa.
bunk buddies!

monday, june 27--day 2.

oh, sweet brașov. where to even begin? i was loving life, times a trillion and a half. i'm a mountain girl, as we all know. so being in the mountains? heavenly. they weren't my rockies, but they were much better than just city surrounded by hills. i love iași, but i miss the mountains! and the cool mountain air was an added perk. especially since the whole week was rainy and overcast for the most part. beautiful. the view from our hostel out towards the hill it was on reminded me a lot of california's rolling hills. super pretty.

we started our first full day by visiting st.nicolas's church, meandering through the streets of historic brașov, visiting the black church (so named for the fire that burned part of it in the 1600's), visiting one of the smallest streets in europe (strada sforii--rope street), and then walking through the shops on strada republicii--the pedestrian-only street.

bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
complementary toast for breakfast? excellent. i've missed toast. 

the group, minus me.

this place was even prettier in person.

the gate to the old city boundaries.

biserică neagră.
black church.

my famous shoes! don't worry. they won't be making the cut back to america.
neither will most of the things i brought. haaa. they've done me well.

probably the best city in the world?
i wouldn't doubt it.

baguette and hot cocoa? don't mind if i do.
nevermind the fact that i spilled some of the cocoa on me. oopsay.

 is this real life?

best thing about europe?
street musicians!

UTAH! in a romanian souvenir shop? yeah, i don't get it either.

 this area was a monument to the local heroes who died in the communist revolution of 1989.

the following pictures? we found central park! central park of brașov, that is.

you know, a place for roses, and pigeons, and swings, and teacups.

and old men playing chess. a summertime staple in romania.

" there are things in life that shouldn't be explained! :) "

the chess/backgammon players! it's the cutest thing in the world to watch.

charming, i know.

in the evening, we went to the black tower and white tower for excellent views of the city. the black tower is white, and the white tower is grey. go figure, eh? silly romanians.

the girls. 

if you look carefully, you can still kind of see the outline from where the forest workers were forced to cut the trees to spell stalin.
and brașov was once temporarily renamed orașul stalin, or stalin city for a few years.

tuesday night we went bear watching with the hostel! ahaha. so funny. we drove out to another part of the city, and passed by the area of the city with all the apartment buildings. i didn't really feel like i was in romania, quite frankly. it was kind of weird. anyway. we went out to this place and parked across the street from a dumpster where a trap was set to catch a bear, tag it, and then take it to a reserve to protect it. it's sad how fascinating it was to watch. and how thrilling. ha. photos were near impossible. so the one below is the best i got on my camera. that's them putting the bear in. in case you were wondering, bears are big ole animals in romania too. 30 lei night? worth it.

tuesday, june 28--day 3.

tuesday was our castle excursion day! greg, from our hostel was our driver. and we started at râsnov fortress, and then went on to bran castle, which is the famous fake dracula's castle. that is gorgeous! it's the home of queen maria, the last queen of romania. it's a charming little place in the mountains. we then ended our excursion in sinaia. we went to peleș castle, which is seriously one of the hidden treasures of the world. i don't know why more people haven't heard of it or visited it. it was absolutely gorgeous. like a cross between versailles and pemberly (pride&prejudice). and the fact that it had a beautifully french-looking style also helped. :) and thanks to all the random souvenir sellers, i have some complete treasures to bring home. good thing i'm leaving behind so many clothes and shoes that i brought. haaa. kidding. kind of. we ended our excursion with the sinaia monastery. which was beautiful, and more colorful than typical romanian orthodox churches on the outside.

so apparently it's not just a hollywood and brasov thing?

more views of romania from high places. so pretty!

the rossles and me!

traditional romanian garb from when it was a running fortress.

me and dracula's castle. aka, me and queen maria's castle.

peleș

king carol 1. the first king of romania.

the church at the monastery.

us at the end of our rainy day with our driver, greg. in front of the red van that carried us through the day. :)

on this rainy tuesday of ours, we decided to go to dinner at bella muzica, a crazy nice restaurant as part of a hotel. don't worry, they put us in a back room behind the bar. ahaha. but literally. they really did. best part? they let you choose the music you're listening to. at least right after you 'order' it. then it changes to whatever someone else ordered. we chose andrea bocelli. classic. and at one point it was a weird american fanfare. we felt right at home. or something. ahaha. while there, i ordered my first lemonade of romania! it was delicious. slightly expensive, but delicious. we all know how i love my lemonade. and i'm beyond excited for a big 2 liter bottle of lemonade when i get to america that will only cost me like a dollar. yesssss.

wednesday, june 29--day 4.

wednesday was our final day in brașov. we started the morning by visiting the first romanian school, which just happens to be located in brașov. it was super neat to see, i must admit. it's located right by st.nicholas's church, and after going into the school/museum, most of the rest of the group walked into the church again. i decided instead to wander over into the cemetery. i find cemeteries captivatingly beautiful. and it was fascinating to watch people who came in and out. i also took a million pictures, but don't worry. i'll spare you. you've already had an eyeful for tonight. i'll just put a few.

french!

sweet, no?

after hitting up the church and cemetery, we headed up towards the brașov sign and took a cable car to the top! naturally, it was super rainy all morning, and the top of the mountain was covered in fog! it was quite dreamy, really. especially because we were the only ones up there. super pretty. so of course we had a photo shoot with our umbrellas and the view of brașov in the background. super cute? yes we are.

i realize i'm not even really off the ground in the instant this photo was taken. it's fine.

the biebster!

and that, my friends, is brașov! from here, we hopped a bus, and then boarded a train for 7 hours to buc.

stay tuned for part 2. i'm sure you're not sick of me yet. ahahaha. jokes.