Emily's European Vacation: July 2012

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Vacation Summary

6 Countries

14 Cities

9 Hotels

8 Airports

7 Train Stations

3 Buses

1 Nasty Layover

...and it's over. Thanks for watching my blog!

Romania Pt.4-Getting Around

The roads in Romania are marked fairly well. I was able to make it all the way to the Citadel and back to my hotel, a two hour drive in one direction, with out a map or asking for directions.

Romania has a lot of strays. I started counting, but lost track. Anytime you are in areas that are especially rural it's not uncommon to see dogs lying in the middle of the roads, so if you are going to drive here, be aware of that.

Point of clarification, there are still tons of dogs in the city. I didn't see any lying in the middle of big roads, but I did see them lying next to big roads, and crossing them. So watch out for them.

It's probably not a good idea to approach the dogs. Most of them seemed harmless, but I was told before going to Romania about a pack of dogs that attacked a man in downtown Bucharest, so be mindful.

Isn't this sign great? It was the only sign I saw that said, "Dracula." It was about a mile--maybe two from the Citadel.

Fields of Hay. These were everywhere.

Again, the roads are very well marked. I took this picture because of the caution sign. So different than what you'll see in the states. I actually thought it was kind of cute. The signs are pretty easy to figure out in Romania, but it'd still be a good idea to look up the meaning of different signs online before driving here.

It's not uncommon to see people driving wagons with horses or donkeys in rural areas. It would be wise to be cautious of this when driving. There aren't always speed limit signs and when there are, they are often ignored. (Okay, not often--always ignored.) I was a little worried that I might come around a bend and crash into a horse drawn wagon.

This is a traditional garb in Romania, if you can see it. Most of the older citizens that I saw in the rural areas were dressed like this. The younger citizens, not so much.

People walk by the sides of the road and sometimes right in the road, another reason to be cautious of speed, no matter how many cars honk at or pass you. And there will be many.

Again, everything was marked really well. The speed limit on the freeway was a 120 km per hour, which is about 75 mph. I don't think anyone was going under 150 and possibly faster. That's about 95 mph or faster. If you go the speed limit, you will be honked at, passed, yelled at, and they'll shake there fists at you. I was often going about 140 to try and keep up and still got yelled at. Yikes!

The guide book I bought did warn that if you are of a nervous disposition you should not drive in Romania. Still, in my opinion, getting around Romania is not practical unless you have a car. I didn't go into Bucharest, and there are trains there, but from my experience I still think it'd be easier to drive than take a taxi to Bucharest, (which will cost you,) and then trains once you get there.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Romania-Pt.3 The Poenari Citadel

Only three or four more flights to go! Yes!

Oh, Vlad. You crazy Impaler.

The entrance.

View from one of the towers.

View from one tower to the other tower.

View of me and the buildings below from the tower.

So cool!

View from the back of the Citadel.

This may have been rooms at some point. Now it's just a hole.

Looking down into the hole. There's money down there! Bills even. I wanted to climb down and get it, but it appears to be a wishing well of sorts. Plus I probably would've gotten stuck.

Last look at the Citadel before I began my decent.

Stairs and lots of them. I was moving pretty fast on the way up and it still took me 25 minutes to get there. It only took me 15 to get down.

I tried to give encouragement to those still climbing on my way down. I would tell them how much further they had to go and that it was totally worth it. I'm not sure how many bought it, but I tried.

Romania-Pt.2 The Peonari Citadel

My first view of the citadel. Yay!

This is the car that I rented. It was 100 euro for one day. Romania is definitely a driving sort of country. They do have a train system in the city, but it looked pretty small. If you're planning on going to Romania, I would recommend budgeting a car rental into your travel plans. Keep in mind that they only rent stick shifts. Also when you rent they will ask for two forms of ID and one will have to be your passport so take it with you when you go to the rental.

I made it the two and a half hour drive all the way to the Poenari Citadel with out a map. The roads are extremely well marked and finding your way to the Citadel is very easy. However, if you are of a nervous disposition or get lost easily then I would recommend a map for your peace of mind. I was admittedly nervous on a couple of occasions that I was going the wrong way. Still, I never had to turn around or back track.

From the City, you take E81 heading toward Pitesti. From Pitesti you follow the signs to Curtea de Arges. The signs are easy to see, but remember that after Pitesti you won't be on the E81. Then from Curtea de Arges you'll follow the signs to a town called Arefu. In Arefu there is a sign that points you in the direction of the Citadel. You will follow that road for half an hour until you reach the citadel. Easy peasy.

I was so excited when I found it, even after I saw that there are 1,480 steps to the top. By the way, the Citadel is open until 8pm. I thought it closed at 5pm so I was quite relived when I got there at 4pm to see that I had plenty of time.

The beginning.

Steps.

First sign on the steps. Not even a third of the way to the top.

Steps.

and more steps...

View from a little more than a third the way up.

Second sign! Gives you a good excuse to stop for a minute. You can pretend that you stopped to read this and not because you can't breathe and are about to have a heart attack. Really, very thoughtful of them.

These steps are going down? What?

Oh good, we're going back up again. The world is right again.

I can see the Citadel!!!

It was deceptively further away than it looked.

There's the river below, the one that Vlad's wife supposedly threw herself in. I was kind of afraid that I would drop my camera.

Romania Pt.1 Buchrest

My hotel in Romania was the Phoenicia Express Hotel. It's no more than a fifteen minute drive from the airport, and while I did this totally on accident, it ended up being on the exact road I needed to drive to the Poenari citadel. Which was the entire reason for my trip to Romania.

The cab ride to the hotel was 140 lei. Lei is the currency in Romania. It sounds like a lot but to put it into perspective 140 lei is about 37 usd. Figuring out what lei will be in usd is easy, just remember that every 100 lei you have is equal to 26 usd.

If you take a taxi in Romania be careful. I had to take a cab back to the Airport the next day, so I could rent a car, and the cab driver tried to charge me 500 lei which is equivalent to 130 usd. That is ridiculous for the 10-15 minute cab ride that I had. I refused to pay it. I ended up paying 300 lei or 78 usd, but was later really mad at myself for that. I wish I'd only given him 200 lei, or 52 usd. They will take advantage of you if you let them.

The lobby in my hotel.

At night this room kind of reminds me of what I would imagine a harem might look like. Ahem.Which is precisely why I only have a picture of it during the day. It was to be avoided at all costs at night...

My room was very comfortable. My hotel also had a swimming pool, and I thought about swimming, but I had gone down when I first got there to look at the pool and was a little creeped out by all the men and lack of women. Needless to say I never went swimming. Bummer too, because I dragged my swimsuit all across Europe to swim here...