Brasov, Romania

If you take the overnight train from Budapest to Brasov, be warned, you will be woken up at 3:00am by Hungarian border control. They will bang open the door, flip on the lights and start talking loudly to you in Hungarian. After stamping your passport, they will shut off the lights and say goodnight. 

Thirty minutes later, just after you have fallen asleep again, the lights will fly on again. Someone will be speaking Romanian and asking for your passport. To this end, I suggest having your passport at the ready when you go to sleep. Also be sure to pack an eye mask and ear plugs. It took me a minute to even realize that all of this was happening in our car!

After our harrowing overnight journey through the countryside, we still had another few hours in the train. We finally pulled into the Brasov train station and walked two minutes before locating our hotel. Since we would only be staying in Brasov overnight, we chose to stay at the Kronwell. I'd describe it as a very chic, business hotel. It's about a thirty minute walk from downtown, but it's not a bad walk. Once you get downtown, you can pretend you are in Hollywood!

There are just a few must see things in downtown Brasov. We made sure to walk down the world's narrowest street and took some photos of the Black Church. Outdoor restaurants all sit underneath matching umbrellas and are open seating. See a restaurant you want to eat at? Find an open table, sit down, wave at someone who looks like a server. They'll let you sit and eat until they close. If you want the check you'll have to be proactive.

I'd also recommend the pastry shops in Brasov. I got an amazing raspberry-filled pastry for less than a dollar. You could also get a small bag of cookies or pretzels. They're fresh, locally made and delicious!

FYI - the Black Church isn't too black from the outside. It is apparently called the Black church because it burnt down. Maybe the inside is really charred and black? We visited later in the evening, so it wasn't open. Next time!

You may be asking why we stopped at a small town in the middle of the Romanian countryside. Well, Brasov is just a thirty minute bus ride from Bran, home of Dracula's Castle! 

There is plenty of history in this building, but Dracula didn't actually live here... Because he isn't real. Why has this castle come to be known as Dracula's castle? The story of Dracula is set in Transylvania. Bran castle is the only castle in Transylvania. Logic tells us therefore that this castle is the one alluded to in the story. Most recently it was home of Romanian Royalty and it's currently decorated in that manner.

Whether or not Bran castle was actually Dracula's castle (it wasn't), it's a lovely castle in a beautiful part of the country. If you can manage to locate the bus station and buy tickets (you buy them on board from the driver) you should definitely head out to Bran for a visit.

After sufficiently wandering through the castle and watching the video that played for two minutes and then unceremoniously cut out and looped back to the beginning, we left to get some lunch. With thirty minutes before the next bus arrived, we grabbed some snacks from the grocery store and had lunch in the cemetery. There was a ceremony happening in the cemetery that day, which even with extensive use of Google we couldn't figure out what war they were remembering.

Back on the bus and back to Brasov. We packed up our stuff and walked back to the train station. We only had train tickets, no seat reservations, so we were able to catch an earlier train to Bucharest. Our last train journey of the vacation was short and sweet. Though any trip would have felt short after the 13 hour trip from the day before!

Budapest, Hungary

The train ride from Bratislava to Budapest is a quick three hour journey. The boyfriend and I grabbed some snacks from a grocery store and hopped on the train. No, not that train. Ours was very nice and not covered in graffiti.

The train arrived in Budapest at 10:45pm. After locating a taxi driver that spoke English (their choice, not ours), we we on our way up castle hill and to our hotel. The hotel we chose in Budapest was the Balthazar Budapest. It's an adorable, 11-room, boutique hotel. The rooms are individually decorated and the bathrooms are beautiful. The hotel restaurant is open early and late, with delicious breakfast options and an amazing dinner menu.

Just like many of the cities of Europe, the streets of Budapest are adorable. The candy-colored buildings on castle hill are so picturesque. The location of our hotel was so conveniently located on top of castle hill, so we were able to start our day of site-seeing right after breakfast.

The buildings on castle hill are located on historic sites, but aren't entirely historic themselves. The original church was constructed in 1255, but fell into disrepair and was eventually demolished by invading armies. The current Matthias church is lovely, but was built in the late nineteenth century. Refurbishment inside is still ongoing. Be sure to get a ticket to go inside of the church, but skip out on paying for the Fisherman's bastion. You can get great views of the city without climbing to the top of the bastion.

While visiting Budapest, you must stop at the Central Market. The first floor is all vegetables, spices and meats. The second floor is packed with crafts, souvenirs, and most importantly, food stalls! Everything looked so amazing, it was difficult to choose what to have for lunch. I highly recommend the sausage and potatoes.

Budapest is a big city, consisting of two cites - Buda and Pest. Rather than trying to walk the entire city, we decided to get tickets for the Big Bus. There are three different tourism bus companies and they are all pretty much the same. They all take you to the popular sites and give you a "free" Danube river cruise. We just made sure the one we chose had a route that went past the train station.

Along with the major tourist attractions in the city, be sure to take a stroll down Vaci street for some shopping, have dinner at a restaurant on the river and spend some time at the dancing fountain on Margaret Island.

Late into the evening of our second day, we picked up our bags and headed to the train station. We were scheduled to take the 11:55pm overnight train to Brasov. With a 13-hour journey ahead of us, I was glad that I booked a sleeper class ticket. Though the bed wasn't the most comfortable, it was a fun trip. I would highly recommend bringing ear plugs and a sleep mask. We also lucked out and only had to share our 6-person cabin with one other person. He was very quiet.

Hours and hours later, we found ourselves in Romania.

Bratislava, Slovakia

Stop two along the Europe voyage was Bratislava, Slovakia. After getting up early and packing up our backpacks, the boyfriend and I walked to the Prague train station. We hopped on the 8:00 am train to Bratislava and enjoyed my favorite European on-the-go snack - bread and cheese!

The Bratislava train station is a good twenty minute walk from downtown, so be sure to check your backpacks at the station. We neglected to do this and were mad at ourselves later in the day. It's only 1 euro to check a bag, do it. 

Old town Bratislava is basically a collection of sidewalk restaurants and cute little shops. You can find just about any type of cuisine in old town and we decided on lunch at an Irish pub. Since we were visiting in mid-May, we were there just before the big summer crowds arrived. Restaurateurs were beckoning all the tourists to look at their menus. Don't be pushed into sitting down until you find a place you want to visit.

This town would be so much fun for shooting outfit of the day posts! Look at all the great streets and alleys! Bratislava, like Prague, is also very hilly. You must climb the hill when you visit, because the Bratislava castle sits on the top.

You must also eat lots of ice cream while visiting europe. Or gelato, I think that this may have been gelato. And no, these weren't both for me. I shared.

After locating The Watcher, and several other of Bratislava's famous statues, we headed back up to the train station and waited for our train to Budapest!