Krakow of Transylvania?
Place: Brasov (aka Krostadt), Romania
Finally I decided that I had stayed in one place long enough. With my camera or not, I had to get going. The journey just had to continue. So I packed my backpacks and checked out of Nathan's Villa.
It was only two hours train ride to reach Brasov, the main tourist center of Transylvania and possibly the touristiest city in Romania.
Again, the train is quite crappy and not very clean, but at least my cabin mates looked nice and normal (Unlike those I encountered on the train returning from Sibiu).
Taking the No. 4 Bus from the Train Station, I arrived at Piata Unirii (Union Square). There are two youth hostels near the Square.
When Lumi called for me on the morning I left, the famous one, Kismet Dao, was already full. So I opted for the second popular one: Rolling Stone Hostel.
Run by Maria and Grig Bolea, a couple seems to be quite famous among backpackers traveling in Romania, it received quite mixed opinions in hostelworld.com user reviews. Since this hostel is relatively new, it was not even in Lonely Planet (though it does mention the housing referral service of the Bolea family).
With three levels, Rolling Stone is more like a regular villa owned by a well-off middle class family than a hostel. The manager Diana (later I found she is Maria¡¦s daughter) was sometimes enthusiastic and sometimes inpatient. At first I was slight annoyed that she assumed that I understood very little English and kept repeating "do you understand me?"(later I ran into an Korean guy who really understood very LITTLE English, so I appreciate that Diana did try to be more helpful to us Asians). The public area is a little tight and it is even more crowded in the attic room I was assigned to. There are like 15 mattresses in the small attic! The first night I stayed there, it was so crowded in the public area and I did feel they put too many people in this small hostel.
Another surprise was that I ran into Magda and Jenni, the two Swedish college girls happened to get into the same cabin in my train to Romania right after I found my cameras were stolen. It is interesting to run into people who actually witnessed some of my most difficult moments.
Brasov itself is a nice city. Located in a narrow valley, with mountains on both sides, it sort of reminds me both Quito and Cuzco in South America (though it is not as high as these two cities, I needn¡¦t worry about altitude sickness). In the center of the town is Piata Sfatului. Maybe the finest square in Romania, it is lined with baroque facades and café, also a MacDonald¡¦s and KFC. Most of the time I passed by, there was at least one outdoor performance going on. Leading north from Piata Sfatului, Str Republicii (Republic Street) is a pedestrian promenade that is crowded with shops and café. Along the street, I found more than one Fioretti Bakery shops, a Romanian chain that sells various types of tasty pastry like mini-croissants.
South of Piata Sfatului, the Black Church is the main landmark of Brasov. It is said to be the largest Gothic church between Vienna and Istanbul. Again, like many other major towns in Transylvania, this grandest church in town is German Lutheran instead of Eastern Orthodox. (By the way, Brasov is another town among the ¡§Seven Fortresses,¡¨ with a German name Kronstadt). Black Church got its name from its appearance after a fire in 1689. It also has one of the nicest organs (built in Berlin in 1839) in Romania. I was lucky to have an opportunity to attend an organ recital, which is held on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday every July and August (4 Lei). (For pictures and introduction about Black Church, click here, since I no longer had my camera at that moment.)
Just like what Lonely Planet describes, Brasov is "Prague of Romania" (or Krakow of Transylvania). There seems to be more trendy restaurants and bars here. Fortunately these places remain quite affordable. I went to Bella Muzica, a restaurant recommended by Let's Go. It is underground and like a wine-cellar. It supposed to be a Romanian-Hungarian-Mexican restaurant (fusion restaurant! A sign that this town is getting trendy and hip). Not only they offer free chip and a shot of palinca (Romanian plum brandy, which is quite strong), they let you to select music to play. When ABBA¡¦s ¡§Dancing Queen¡¨ was played, a German-speaking group at next table started to roll their eyes. I requested Sade¡¦s songs since I was in the mood of ¡§Smooth Operator.¡¨ With a main course, a soup, and a beer, I spent around 23 Lei (7.5 Euro).
I was supposed to stay in Brasov for only one night and then move on to the mountain resort town of Sinaia. Again, I was feeling vulnerable and not willing to move on too fast. So I stayed another night and ended up making a daytrip to Sinaia and returned to Brasov on the same day (Another crappy train ride in the evening). Fortunately, Rolling Stone was not as crowded as the first night. And eventually I started to enjoy its ¡§intimate¡¨ atmosphere. Because public area (living room and dining area) is not too big, it is easier to strike a conversation with another traveler sitting next to you. Also lucky for me, I was transferred to a nicer 6-bed room downstairs on my second night.
Eventually, I needed to move on. However, after staying in Brasov for a few days and heard stories from other backpackers, I started to feel unsure about my next destination, a place seems more menacing than any other places in Romania.
Brasov Website:
http://www.brasov.ro/indexeng.php3
A nice film about Romania I found on Rolling Stone Hostel website:
Romania: Simply Surprising
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