Vlad's revenge...or possibly Ataturk

We were warned. Don't drink the water. And we didn't...not much anyways. But it was so hot and we were so thirsty & everyone was doing it. So we had a couple sips of tap water in Romania and Turkey. Our last day in Istanbul we felt it. A lumbering of the stomach. An uncomfortable ache and occasional slicing cramp. Soon we were chained to the toilet.

We did the best we could and got along ok. We saw a little more of Istanbul, survived a 10 hour night-time bus ride, and sailed on into Greece feeling slightly better. We gave up today and went to the pharmacist for some blessed pills to make the pain go away, but most of the work has been done by the beauty of our surroundings in alleviating our suffering. Who can pay attention to a stomach cramp when there is a dolphin swimming alongside the ferry (yes really)? Who can feel sick when the teenager serving your meal on the Greek island of Samos tells you they can't serve the rabbit dish because the rabbit is still alive (complete with a finger across the throat depicting what would ave to be done to serve our meal)? Who can be ill when gazing into completely clear waters and watching the tiny fish swim beneath? In short, we are feeling much better.

The Trip - Itinerary, posts, pics, and insanity. 

Sighisoara - The birthplace of Dracula

Despite the terrible train ride, Romania has been amazing & we will be back. An unexpected and not entirely pleased delay of an overnight in Bucharest has turned out to be a lot of fun & we met a few people that will ride the same 20-hour train with us to Istanbul today. Yes- 20 hour. I guess we really do want to go to Istanbul. 

The hostel here has kittens that have been so much fun. Ian accuses me of being crazy cat lady, & I try to keep the cooing down, but everyone is playing with them.

Also, pics are coming up. Slowly and haltingly, pics of Sighsoara have started to appear. more to come as time & internet access allows.

Update:

Sighisoara was ramshackle, beautiful, rustic, exhilarating, and one of the most aline places I've ever been. On our whirlwind month trip between a year living in Berlin and returning home to Seattle, We didn't have the time to give it it's due here, but it deserves it.

Billed as the birthplace of Vlad Țepeș, also referred to as Vlad the Impaler or even more commonly as Dracula, this place is wonderfully remote. A tourist attraction for vampire seekers, the place is beautiful in it's on right and it's citizens just move around the hordes of visitors like bats in the night sky. 

As we found with many off-the-path destinations and hostel living, you can make fast friends. We loved Nathan's Hostel & it's friendly manager Lummi and e were quickly surrounded by a group of random travelers. Ola, an Aussie on the road for years, an Austrian adventurer, and even a truck driver from London who summered in this strange city. Nathan's has a website, but it appears to be down. Anyone know if it's still around?

In the meantime - I'll leave you with some of my favorite pictures....

More pictures & descriptions of our time in Sighisoara, Romania and a trip hit list.

To elaborate on yesterday....Budapest

What I mean by,

"Ian is trying to kill me" 

was that his planning for the day left us hiking up to the top of a Budapest's hilltop Citadel with no food and wandering the streets aimlessly for hours! Not the best of ways to stay friends with your girlfriend. Luckily, we re-grouped, went to a grocery store, bought a jar of pickles, apple juice, and some rolls and feasted. Why those things? We were hungry and hunger thinks all food is beautiful.

Hungarian Pickles

Budapest has been interesting. We thought we were really going to like it and it was still going to be pretty cheap & it has hit more on the OK meter. Maybe it's not Budapest- it's us. Whatever the case, we have enjoyed the architecture and strangeness, but haven't loved everything geared toward English speakers & touristy being so pricey and not being able to speak any Hungarian. We try, but it is much more difficult after being able to get around in German.

This is how I was feeling about Ian before we ate

No food or water at this point - I wanted that cannon to go off

After our emergency grocery meal, I was feeling a lot more charitable about the city.

Finally - some goulash!

Tonight we are off to Shigisoara, Romania where Vlad the Impaler (Dracula) grew up. We should be able to get into some small town nature and relax. Ahhhhhhh. Sounds great.

As we board the night train (which turned out to be the trip from hell, almost as bad as the 26 train to Istanbul) we will take care to cover our necks, put on the garlic necklace, and watch for bats as we enter Transylvania.

Pictures of Budapest

Update:

At the time we were a bit confused why the city didn't strike us. Looking back, it seems clear that a lack of planning and failure to take care of basic needs like food and water left us out of sorts. We arrived late after a perfect visit to Vienna, a city we had visited before and German speaking. To make matters worse, we had nothing reserved (only a tenuous couchsurfing option that didn't work out) and it was a national holiday. This was a crash course in what not to do, and for the rest of the trip we actually did much better.

Luckily, we got the got the chance to visit the city again with my parents and it was wondrous.

Buda Love