On the road, week 2 (Romania - Turkey)

29/6

Rose at 8, breakfast and the short stroll (too short) through the lovely village. Could have easily spend the day there though.
10 am on our way to Dracula's castle (we are in Transalvania after all). Nice, but a tourist thing, so... 2 hours was enough for me. Besides that Dracula wasn't home.

Conitue our way to Bukarest, where Tim (UK) and I had to cook (Salmon with spaghetti).
Arrived at the camping lot round 6.30. Lots of dutch here. Nice to conversate with them and hear their stories. Most of them drive a camper.
The cooking went well. It's a stressy thing to do though.
Same time Holland played Mexico and some (dutch) neighbours told me Mexico was in the lead (1-0). Luckily Greg (thanks dude, owe you one) took over the last part of washing the dishes, so i could see the last 10 minutes of the game. Well... here is the story: 87th minute Holland scored even, 90th minute Holland scored again (penalty). I went crazy, where as Neil kept on saying: it was a flaw (and he was right, but i don't admit that).
Took a last beer in a cabin, that two fellow travelers rented, in order to get a comfortable night of sleep.


30/6

Rose at 6.45 and made breakfast for all together with Tim (scrambled eggs; succes once more).
Did my laundry.
Off to the center of Bukarest, together with Neils (USA) family. Saw the impressive parliaments building, but was not allowed on a tour, coz i  had forgotten my pasport (you need it to get an entrance ticket), so...
Meandered through the city of Bukarest (comparable to Budapest) back to the camping lot (which was about a 20 km walk).
Updating this blog now over a lovely cold beer. Quit evening, watching a boring football game (France Nigeria, 2-0).
Tomorrow we're off to Bulgeria.

All in all, still love this trip. Laterz.

1/7

Early rise again: 5.50. On the road at 7. Crossing borders at 10 (Romania -> Bulgaria).
Then to a nice nature park, with stunning views and a church in a cave...

Then another short drive to our camping lot, where i am sitting now... It's a great spot.. take a look at the view...

I'm happy!

Spend the evening watching football on a laptop (Belgium - USA : 2 -0) and drinking beer. It was late.
A good night sleep would follow.


2/7

Rose at 7.45, breakfast with pancakes, coffee and by taxi to Veliko Tarnovo, the wannabe capital of Bulgaria.
They're in the race for European cultural capital of 2019, so there's a free guided tour through the city. Lucky us.
Then a very nice dinner.

Then on our own (= Carlos, Allison & me) to see the fortress and some very old churches.
Really nice city. Back by taxi. Now updating blog and a cold, very tastefull beer. I'm pretty tired i must admit.
Last night in Veliko Tarnovo was a late dinner and a beer, then hit the sack.

Summary of Eastern Europe: very hospitable and friendly people (even when they can't earn money on you). The senery is stunning and the big cities get more western by the year.
Although their english is poor they always try to help.

3/7

Rose at 5.40h. Long tuck ride to Istanbul. 2 hours delay at the border, but... Istanbul is great.
Was here 24 years ago too, but a lot has changed. So much more touristic. Still a great city to stroll.
Found ourself a big hostel, right in the middle of the "old" city, with lots of other travelers. Nice.
Sitting outside, drinks, a little food and some good conversations made it late. Slept like a log for full 9 hours.


4/7

Rose at 9 (yes nine!!), showered and a fantastic breakfast on the roof terras of our hostel. I stuffed my self!
Took a long walk round the old city (the usual stuff: ayasofia, the bazaar, the museum) and meanwhile found an ATM and changed my last Bulgarian Leva's.
Then updated all my administration or better: almost all my admins, coz i'm afraid i lost my thingy to do internetbanking (lucliky i have a spare one, still..).
Now: updating blog and about to get some nice food.
Oh yeah, it rained and it was cold. Had to get my sweater back from the truck. Grrr.
2 beers and a football match (Germany - France 2-0, as to be expected) to kill the time.
Visited Ayasofia square at night (fantastic, another raisin in the porridge).
2 more beers and another football match (Brasil - Columbia 2-1, as to be expected too) to finalize the day.


5/7

Rose at 8.30, breakfast, and a long walk to the economic center of Istanbul. Love to explorations.
Did a boattrip on the Bosporus, which was fantastic.

Long stroll along the banks of the bosporus to see the everyday life of the Turks.
Crossed the new metrobridge.



Got myself a kebab (finally normal turkish prizes (instead of the touristic ones)), and returned to the hostel.
Updated my blog.

Tonight: 2 footbal matches, (Belgium - Argentina and.... Holland - Costa Rica, for a place in the semi finals....)
Makes me a bit nervous. See you tomorrow.
The match was fantastic. What a tension. The dutch won on penalties shoot out, but were so much better then Costa Rica.
I couldn't help but shouting at the end: "In your face Germany". It was a long long night and at 3 finally went to sleep.
In the dorm though were some strange activities going on (like a couple... doing it (it's a 30 bed dorm for crying out loud!)).
Luckily i was tired enough to sleep through the whole thing, but my mates had a errr   "hard time". Lol.