JEFF'S TOUR - TRANSYLVANIA TO TOPLESS TRAMPS!

I remember the last message I sent to my brother before he left on his trip.


“Pack light bro, it’s blistering hot here!” I wrote. It had been 40+ degrees everyday for 2 weeks straight but it seemed as soon as I sent that note, the sky gods reacted. Temperatures plummeted and rain began. Rainy day after rainy day there seems to be no end in sight and the River Danube was really beginning to swell. After 5 straight days of rain, the levee here in Galati was starting to feel the pressure of the swollen river. Luckily we live on top of a cliff overlooking the river so we were safe but half of Galati was in danger of losing everything. And they don’t have much to start with. I hoped and prayed that the weather would change for Jeff’s arrival but Mother Nature had other plans.

The morning we were to go to Bucharest to pick Jeff up, I felt rotten. I never feel rotten and given my excitement to see my brother this was a surprise to. I realized quickly that swallowing was beginning to get painful and difficult and within 2 hours I was running a fever. Great! I haven't been sick with a fever since I got mastitis after Evelyn was born 7 years ago and today had to be the day!? Good grief! I packed my Advil and Tylenol and decided I was going to ignore my symptoms and they would simply go away.

We piled in the rented 7 seater Dacia and started our 3.5 hour drive to Bucharest. Due to a large amount of traffic in the city, we were late but it gave Jeff a chance to check out our ghetto airport and all the gypsy travellers first hand. With 2 huge backpacks, they were all eyeballing him as fresh meat.

We have 2 airports in Bucharest. Otopeni is the main one and is very nice, well kept and clean. Benaesa Airport is the cheap carrier airport where Blue Air, Wizz Air and Easy Jet fly in and out of. Due to its cheapness, the airport is shabby and the chosen mode of travel for all of Romania’s Gypsy population.

After taking Jeff on quick tour of Bucharest, we made our way to the Hard Rock Cafe to meet up with our San Francisco/Bucharest friends one more time before they moved home in July. This is the location that we met last September. We had 2 hours to kill before boarding a plane to Italy and they had moved to Bucharest only 2 weeks before. We were the only two families in the Hard Rock that afternoon and when I heard them speaking English, I jumped on them like an English starved animal. They were so lovely and easy to talk to, our friendship began. Our children had play dates when we came to the big city and it was with them that David and I attended the Charity Ball at the parliament building. It was so great seeing them again and we were all happy to find out there were expecting their 4th child in December. I’m betting it’s another girl....

Adventures in Pinkdom Friends.

That night my fever went a bit out of control but with the right overdose of medications, I got myself back on track. Just not able to eat anything and could barely swallow water. Still not going to get the better of me. I refuse!

After enjoying a huge breakfast (although I could only have tea) at the Hotel Angelo, we jumped in the Dacia and made our way to Sinaia to see the Peles Castle. The weather in Bucharest was sunny but we knew the weather could be totally different in the mountains of Transylvania.

 Once in the mountains, the clouds were covering all the mountain tops and patches of rain were found here and there.

Peles Castle was remarkable and beautiful. We were told that it was not touched by Ceausescu during his dictatorship as the operator of the castle told him the castle was full of mould.

As a fellow who was very allergic to mould, he avoided it so it has remained as beautiful as the day it was dedicated.

Next we were off to Brasov. I came here last summer with my parents and enjoyed a beautiful summer’s day hiking all over, drinking cold bevies and lapping up some ice cream. This time however, it was so cold that I could see my breath. Compounded by my climbing fever, I thought I would never stop shivering. I couldn’t believe the change in temperature.

We made the best of it and toured around the town as we would have normally.

It is the quintessential medieval town. With a centre square, small alleys lined with shops and high walls surrounding the city like the protective arms of a mother it is so remarkably attractive.

Even in unpleasant weather.

The next morning we visited the tourist trap known as Dracula’s Castle.

It is found 20 minutes South West from Brasov in a little town called Bran and is known in Romania as Bran’s Castle or Vlad Tepes’ Castle.

The castle is not pretty like that of Sinaia’s Peles Castle. Perched atop an exposed mountain top, its steep walls built out of the side of the mountain are cold, creepy and imposing. Obviously built to ward off invaders of Transylvania, it is perched in just the right spot so that the bad guys wouldn’t know they were right under the feet of the castle until the very last moment. At which point it was too late! Vlad Tepes would have them tortured to give up their secrets, kill them and then impale their heads on the ends of massive sticks as a souvenir. He soon got a reputation for his brutality and was labelled as being so cruel, he was almost blood thirsty. This was in between the years of 1457 and 1460. Bram Stoker took this bit of history and turned it into the iconic novel “Dracula” in 1898.

Walking through the hall ways I could just picture in my head Vlad walking quickly across the wood floor as a gust of wind catches his cloak and sends it dancing behind him. Perhaps I have watched too many movies.

This is Jeff and Gabrielle emerging from the blackness of the tight stairwell leading up to the look out tower.

The last town to visit before going home to Galati was the birth place of Vlad Tepes. On our way there we past several ancient ruins of castles that have been left to rot atop their mountain perch. 

It made a lovely sight however in contrast with the rolling green hills and quaint medievil towns. 

Sighiosoara is a little town but was the biggest surprise on our weekend adventure. It is also where the temperature finally warmed, clouds disperssed and my fever was gone.  Excellent on all accounts!

It’s colourful, old buildings, interlocking stone alleys, clock tower and basilica made it rich with history and culture. I didn’t feel like I was in the concrete communist jungle anymore.

No, I felt like we had been whisked away and back in time. Until of course I see this sight and remember quickly where I am.

This guy must have been waiting for someone to die in the building behind the car. This is a common sight in Romania. Once a person dies, they are placed in a casket and displayed in the family home or apartment. They are there for 2 days on display and then they must be buried. For obvious reasons as there is no embalming here. Too expensive. So you go to the local casket store (which is similar to a Macs Milk in Ontario) choose one and strap in to your roof. Depending on how much you like the dead person, you may or may not wash the squished flies off the front side.

While we were in this beautiful little town we were treated to a traditional dance performance in the main square.

It was such a delight to see these young Romanians all dressed up in their traditional outfits and dancing around together.

We stayed on the centre square in a hotel called Casa Wagner.  It was like nothing I could have imagined.  The rooms were enormous, beautifully restored and very comfortable. 

The girls thought it was pretty special!  We absolutely loved this little town and I am so glad we saw it before we left Romania.  Here are a few more pictures from the beautiful town of Sighiosoara.

These are the stairs leading to the Basilica.  The covered walkway up the steep mountain side made me suffer a bit of vertigo.  There were probably 150 steps to climb.  Gasp!

Jeff going up to see what I think would be a great "Hagrid House".  It is actually the house of the Basilica's care taker.  Lovely gardens!

I told David he wasn't allowed to toot his own horn here.  Othewise I don't have any idea why this would be posted.

Hellooooo gorgeous!

These are storks who have built their enormous nest atop a barn.  We see them all over Romania.

Monday morning came and we began the long haul from the mountains, back across the plains to Galati. Once we were out of Transylvania the reality of hard Romania was seen. Dead dog after dead dog on the side of the road, pot holes that could take out your suspension and cold, grey, old apartment buildings lining street after street. The drive took 7.5 hours to get to Galati but we were turned back and sent on a detour because the river had taken out the street leading to our house. So in the end we had 8 hours in the Dacia wagon. Thank god for portable DVD players and police who don’t enforce seat belt laws. That’s right, I did it. Took Ruby out of her car seat so she could fall asleep and stay asleep instead of being banged around in the car seat. You literally feel like you’re on a roller coaster sometimes.

Tuesday through Thursday we brought Jeff to our big open air market, went shopping in our tiny mall, walked around town, had coffee at a few cafes, took him to watch tennis lessons, went out for dinner at real Romanian restaurants and topped it off with a visit to the Viva club. The Viva club is a hotel with 2 huge outdoor pools, a swim up bar, towel service and the best pizza in Galati. It costs 50 leu per adult to get in which is about $18 each. Kids are free however. I bought a 1 month membership for 300 leu (approx $100) and can go anytime I want. So the kids and I go in the mornings through the week and David joins us on Sundays for the day at Viva. The best way to describe Viva club is to say that it is a Jersey Boys and Playboy party gathering. Everywhere you look is browned, oiled and perfect bare boobies in thongs. I say this because I don’t even notice the girl most times since I’m too busy staring at her continuously erect nipples or the fact that when she bends over (which she does a lot) she might as well not bother with the thong. Even the 6 year old girls are topless with thongs. Wrong in so many ways. The guys are also greased up, bronzed and in peak physical condition but add gold chain wearing, chain smoking, and muscle flexing Gino’s. Between the women and the men who are chain smoking in order to keep their metabolism running on high, we pretty much have to crawl along the pool deck for fresh air.


I am going to go there one day with a small camera and take pictures to prove the insanity. I wonder what this is doing to my kids every once in a while. Evelyn sometimes swims up to me after being under water and remarks on all the bare breast under the water. The other day I found Gabrielle and Evelyn with their panties jammed up the crack of their bums walking around the house pretending to be the Viva girls. They were creasing themselves. Oh boy, time to go back to conservative Canada!

Had such a great visit with my little brother and I’m so glad he came to see us. We love you Jeff!

Love your 4 favourite girls!