A great last day

After our late night yesterday, we sleep in somewhat and got up and going around 8:00 am. We had an amazing continental breakfast in the restaurant next to our hotel and then left to go visit some castles. Our first stop was only 15 minutes away (since we were already in Bran) and it was the Bran Castle, known better as Dracula's castle. At this castle and the other castle we visited, you had to pay extra to take pictures. Dr. Stan and Dr. White offered to take pictures for us so I don't have any pictures yet of the inside of the castle except for the ones that I snuck in when no one was looking (a few of us did that).



This castle was kind of bare but still interesting. After walking around all the floors, we went back into the touristy area and did some shopping. A lot of people bought these hand sewn table clothes and woven shirts. I just got a simple black scarf. We had to grab lunch before hopping back on the bus and most of us got this hollow bread that was delicious. Mine was a very light caramel flavor, was doughy, and was just wonderful!


After that, we drove around an hour or so (I've lost track of time with all this driving and because no one really cares about time here) and made it to Peleş Castle, where the queen and king used to live.


It was much more ornate and gorgeous than Dracula's castle. The fee for cameras was even worse this time ($20 compared to the $5 for Dracula's castle) so only Dr. White brought his camera in. We had to wear these little bootie things during the tour and it was all pretty amazing.


There was intricate woodwork EVERYWHERE and also amazing glass work. Once I get the pictures from both castles, I will get them posted.

After a little more shopping around Peleş, we began to head back towards Bucharest for the night. We left around 4:00 and figured it would be about a 2 hour drive. However, knowing how all our drives had been in the past, we though 2 hours would turn into 5 or so. Fortunately, it didn't for a change! About an hour into the drive though, we got stuck in traffic. Since we hadn't moved in a few minutes, Bruce got out of the bus and ran ahead to see what the deal was. Apparently, they were doing construction on a bridge ahead of us and closed our two lanes down, just had one lane open on the other side, and they were letting the other traffic go for awhile before letting our side go. During our wait, Monica was waving to a baby in a dump truck with her dad out the window. Since we knew we'd be there for awhile, she got off the bus and gave the girl some candy.

After about 15 minutes, we finally got to go and arrived in Bucharest around 6:30 pm. I was pretty surprised that we actually arrived at one of our hotels when it was still light outside! We checked in, met in the lobby at 7:15 and then had a long, slow, and interesting dinner in the restaurant in the hotel next door. It was interesting because the dishes were just strange and my pasta had a ton of salt on it much like everything else we've eaten here. I think we finished there around 9:00 or so and then hung out in the lobby for a bit to hear about Kathy and Rica's story. Basically, they tried to escape Romania under the Iron Curtain, got caught, were held in a camp in Yugoslavia, and were then saved by an American ambassador who helped them get to America. We also reminisced about the trip and our experiences, said some of our goodbyes (since I leave first at 6:00 and the doctors leave at 7:00 to head to Venice and we all wouldn't see each other in the morning), and then dispered for bed. It's about 12:30 am here and I am catching the hotel shuttle to the airport in 4 hours. I land in Amsterdam around 8:00 am and have tickets to the Anne Frank house for 9:00 am. I hope on my next flight to Detroit around 1:00 pm and then I begin the trek back to the US. I land (if everything is on time) just after 7:00 pm in Roanoke.

This has been an amazing trip and I really fell in love with one of the towns and the people here (Rogova). I hope to stay in touch with some of my new friends through Kathy and I hope to come back sometime in a few months or so. I'm excited for the influence that I hope to play on the girls' lives who I've connected with here and I'm also hoping to be involved with Bruce's group and the work that they do in the future. Even though are not a lot of the luxuries here (or even some of the more normal things) that we have in the states, I feel like I don't want to leave. I want to spend more time in Rogova getting to know that amazing community and being a part of their everyday lives. So, with a heavy heart I leave here and hope for many wonderful things in the future!

Pictures from our last day --> http://picasaweb.google.com/JELeventhal/Day7#