Pictures from Transylvania.....

Thought I would post some more pictures of Romania.....it really is hard to put into writing our experience here so maybe pictures will do the trick. We have as much time as possible outdoors (until it decided to rain everyday last week)......

Above are some pictures of Poiana Brasov, the ski resort and hiking area located about 10 miles from the center of Brasov. It was really beautiful here and very modernized. 

The people of Brasov celebrate Juni fest every on the Sunday after Easter every Spring(most people here are orthodox Christians/they celebrated Easter last weekend).  The festival is a weekend long and includes street food, live Romanian music and the Juni parade. The festival celebrates the present day freedom of Romanian people have here in Brasov. Brasov was once under Ottoman and German rule, and the Romanian people (who lived outside the wall in a village called the Schei) could not enter the walls to the city center. The Schei people (hundreds of them) dress up in traditional Romanian costumes and ride massive horses through the Schei gate and parade through the city center during the Juni parade. It was a really interesting to watch, and although we did not completely understand what was going on, it was apparent that the celebration was incredibly meaningful to the people here. After the parade, families gather together to feast (it was hard to avoid envy as we smelled all the food being cooked and saw families gathering together). 

We found a few Romanian street foods that we love! Mici- pictured above is a traditional Romanian sausage- these were cooked on a wood smoker and served with sweet mustard- and traditional Romanian lager beer (its pretty bad). Also, the Romanian fried bread stuffed with local salted soft cheese and dill is pretty much to die for......

Here is a picture of armor from the Romanian castle at Bran:

And an amazing view of the Black Church and the town of Brasov from the Black Tower:

And a picture of the pedestrian mall filled with restaurants and shops in the center of town:

As soon as things start to feel normal, it is time to pack our bags and move again...we leave Friday for the Black Sea! Stay tuned for more thought and conclusions about our Romanian adventure.