Brasov, Romania Day 3

Brasov, Romania Day 3

I don't know how many more of these action packed sight seeing days I can handle. We arose early to depart at 8:00 am. The sights today included the Sinai Monastery, Peles Castle, Rasnov Fortress, and Bran Castle. All of this was led by our hostel owner, Gabriel. Gabriel is one to rule the day as has Scott from Varna, and Atilla from Turkey. He is a native Romanian that wears a wicked stars and stripes track suit and knows everybody in the town of Brasov, it seems. We rode around these sites in his 1998 Dacia 5 door station wagon. It's his lucky gem that has taken many travelers around to the sites and handles like the Cavalier that I drive at home. It has more character than most vehicles on the road and looks like a silver stallion glistening in the sunlight, rust and oil vibrantly adding to the presence.

Here in Romania, things are different, and much simpler, one could say. Yes, there is the influence of the European Union, but most people are just looking to stay above water and make a good wage for themselves. But, with the bureaucracy of the city and the state, things sure seem difficult through the eyes of the self made business man. Gabriel says that the hostel has had many hiccups due to people wanting bribes and endless paperwork. He told us, if you try to do the right thing, it just comes back to bite you and run you out of money, then being unable to make a profit playing the games of the state officials. This all seemed to bring us down in the car while going to see some of the treasures of the country, but to get local insight of a local was very valuable. You can see the presence of the EU everywhere here. There are new streets, sewers, lights, and even sound walls and tracks beind laid for the train rails. Yes, it will be great then it is all completed, but Gabriel says that it will be difficult for this country to repay the EU when the projects are completed. Sounds similar to what's happening in the US? Hopefully things will work out, and all we can do is hope. These people really want the best, but corruption runs deep through many generations with people owing others for deals. It is so difficult for someone to take a stand and try to do the right thing when everyone is doing the wrong thing. Sounds simple, but when you try, you just might go broke, and then fold into doing what everyone else is doing. Going with the masses? Tough decision. Once again, similar to Atilla from Turkey, may the honest man prevail. The world knows we need more people to stand up for what they believe and not give in. May there still be hope....

We saw the most beautiful castle today called Peles castle. Google it and take a look. My crappy write up will not do it justice. Everything in the place was priceless. I have never seen so much hand crafted furniture, walls, ceilings, tapestries, paintings, carpets, lamps, instruments, and windows in my life. It was expensive to enter, but worth it in the end. The castle is situated in a dense evergreen forest with cool breezes and mountain air and stream in the distance. A little too opulent for most, given that who in the world could afford to hire and purchase all that stuff doing a fair job. If any of the townspeople saw that and knew that there were people out there starving, and the king was living like this, hopefully they would stand up and ask for some change, or demand it. No one needs to live like this. Yes, the items are beautiful, but enough is enough even when you are royalty. You can enjoy fine things in life, but such an overload make me really question your end goal. Is there one? We see much of this in America with the common worker and citizen. People want and desire the finer things in life, and this was an extreme case of compulsive issues. There was just so much of it, it was tasteless. After living out of a bag for weeks and being content with what I have and even knowing that I have a bit of garbage back in Vegas, I do not have the feeling that I need what I saw in the castle. I do not feel like others touring around did either. It was like a circus freak show where you are impressed with what you see, but don't want to try that out on yourself. Who really wants to swallow swords, and who really wants all this stuff in the castle? Well.... Not me. The construction is intriguing, and that's all I can say.

Before we saw Peles castle, we stopped by the Sinai monastery. When we arrived, there was no one manning the admission booth. Confused, we wandered onto the property, and suddenly heard singing. There was a church service in progress, and Gabriel told us to go in. We felt like we were in a movie. There were monks singing behind a curtin in the dimly lit church. The singing sounded awesome, but creepy. All the people were doing the sign of the cross over and over and bowing and making little groaning sounds. There was an old woman laying on the ground under one of the church seats. She looked like she was passed out drunk, but apparently she was fervently praying. We looked around and noticed two others doing the same thing. Gabriel pointed to the first woman and said that it was his aunt! He interrupted her, exchanged a few words, and she went back to her prostate position. Andrew was committing a major faux pas by putting his hands in his pockets, so we decided to make our exit. What an interesting way to start the day.

Tonight we met a new friend named Ches. He is from Miami and teaches Social studies. Funny enough, he grew up in Northwest Florida and we had a lot to chat about. He even went to Longwood Elementary School, which is the next school over from Shalimar Elementary, where i went. He also did 4 years in the Air Force and his father was stationed at Eglin AFB. We had dinner together and had much to talk about in the center square of Brasov.

Tomorrow we plan to go to the castle of Vlad the Impaler and see the town Sighisoara. Pretty cool. Google Vlad and read about his tactics. Good reading.