Transylvania

We got back last night from a great trip to Transylvania. We left Friday at about 2:30 and headed to Brasov. We got there around 7, then walked down to the square for dinner. The next day we started with a walking tour of Brasov. We went to some different areas than last year, which was interesting. Then we went to the Black Church, and drover over to Bran. The royal family is currently re-doing/re-organizing the inside of the castle, so there was no furniture inside. We looked around the market stalls a bit, then headed to Vila Bran, our hotel. This place was like the ROmanian Club Med, and was actually called CLUB Vila Bran. We checked in, then headed over to the zip line with our "cruise director" Lucian and some of the other employees. After the zip line, we played some archery, then visited the deer in the petting zoo. We had been told about the itinerary for the night, but were not prepared for all the festivities of the night. First we ordered dinner at the restaurant, then Lucian told us it was time for the bonfire, so we left our stuff at the table, then headed outside. There was a big bonfire, and we could see Bran Castle lit up from the porch. Lucian played guitar and sang, and we were surprised to be joined by employees dancing dressed as a sheep and a bear. At the end of the bonfire we went inside for our dinner. After dinner there was a performance by a singer, who sang some songs in english, and we sang and danced along with her. After five encore performances by the singer, it was time for the discotec. We stayed until about 2:30 dancing with the Club Vila Bran entertainers and our new friends from the table next to us. Unfortunately, while we were there Romania lost to Serbia in soccer, and the clocks went forward an hour so we lost another hour of sleep. The next morning we started a bit late, then toured Peles Castle, had lunch, dropped part of our team off at the train to head to Bucharest, then drove for 6 hours back to Tutova. We are working with Radu, our guide, to plan a new adventure for next weekend!