Wander Worldly

17/12/2018

We were frozen by the end of the day, but what better way to get into the Christmas spirit than to visit a European Christmas Market? In addition to the Christmas Market 🎄, we also visited with Romeo and Juliet❣

10/12/2018

When I think of , I think of and . Upon arriving, I had no expectations, only anticipation. We didn't purposely plan to arrive during golden hour. But, we couldn't have asked for a more entry. The rain clouds made way for the sun to blanket the scenes around us in an ambient glow that made every turn, every step ever more enchanting. The rest of our stay was amazing as well. Aside from the chill, December was a perfect time to visit. I wouldn't have been able to enjoy the city if it was overrun with tourists...

06/12/2018

from ! Sometimes, you get and a shot appears right before you...

07/09/2018

For all the publicity that draws tourists to Bran Castle because it was Bram Stoker's inspiration for the home of Dracula, inside, there was only a small display in a remote corner about Vlad the Impaler. I was pleasantly surprised to find the majority of the castle remains beautifully preserved as the main residence of Queen Mary. It's a lovely residence fit for a modest queen.

31/08/2018

Before heading to Bran Castle, Bram Stoker's inspiration for the story of Dracula, we stopped at Vlad Tepes' real fortress, Poenari Citadel. It was an exhausting 1,480 steps up! 😬 But, we made it and the views were worth it!

Travel Tip: If you intend to go, note that as of the time of our visit, you can no longer go up at your leisure. They're allowing two groups to go up per day. One at 10 AM and the other at 2 PM. There is a small entry fee per person that's collected in cash at the top.

29/08/2018

The scenery along the Transfăgărășan Road is absolutely breathtaking. We didn't realize we should have stopped down below at the viewing point for the waterfall. So instead, we kept driving and reached the top which was still beautiful.

A quick 10 minutes from Bâlea waterfall is Bâlea lake. I really wished we'd had more time to explore and do some hiking. But, daylight wasn't on our side and we had to keep on moving to get to the hotel at a reasonable hour.

28/08/2018

Of course, on the day we visited Sighişoara, the clock tower was closed. So, we skipped on over to visit the house where Vlad (Dracul) was born. It's now a restaurant. But, they have a super cheesy 2-minute exhibit that you can pay to go see the room where he was born. Seriously, not worth the $1.25 per person. That's how cheesy it was. The rest of Sighişoara was quaint and picturesque. I finally learned that scari means stairs in Romanian! Haha!

20/08/2018

Hmmm...this is an important question and I'll be honest, I haven't given it much thought until recently until I was checking out information about my next hub destination: Sofia, Bulgaria.

Uhhhh...yikes! This guy says you don't flush the TP in Bulgaria! Thankfully, our apartment owner has confirmed that we CAN flush it down in our apartment. I'll need to watch for signs when we're out and about though to see if this is true in public places.

What about you? Would this impact your decision on where to travel?

I recently spent a few months travelling around South America and soon stumbled into a minefield. A metaphorical minefield of social embarassment and practical problems that the guide books did little to alleviate. The problem? What to do with the toilet paper after it had been "used".