Fun in Romania

Jessica and I have  been enjoying these tiny villages in Romania. This one has a clock tower that was very interesting (and also very old). But even more interesting is the yellow house on the corner. That house is where Vlad the Impaler (better known as Vlad Dracula) was born. Quite the creepy guy.

Vlad was the inspiration for the story of Dracula, but did he really drink the blood of his victims? Hmmm. Ain't nobody knows. In another town, Bran, about an hour further along, is the castle that Dracula might have lived in. I can just see him flying out of one of those upper windows (in the movies, anyway).

Jessica isn't a vampire, but she did find something to eat. Ymmm. Escargot tonight. Not really. She let the giant snail go find its mate.

Back on the road again, and headed toward the Carpathian Mountains. Jessica, the back seat photographer, took their picture, but the camera focused on the bike and not on them -- or is it that they are covered with clouds that make them look fuzzy? At any rate, Jessica is eager to go over them. And, since Jessica is going to have to be back in Prague in only three days, I guess we will give it a try.

Some sheep along the way. Look out sheep, we are on a mountain quest and don't have time for your shenanigans.

This picture of the GPS will give you some idea of how twisty the road was.

And here is another picture of the twisty roads. We are just about up to the fog/cloud line. I am not much looking forward to doing this mountain adventure in the fog, but Jessica is having the best time of her life.

We are up high enough for snow. I hope we don't run into any on the cloudy, foggy mountain road. This pass is the Transfagarasan. It is very famous route through the Fagaras Mountains here in Romania.

I do have to admit that it is pretty up here.

Here we go -- into the fog.

There is a tunnel at the top. It was foggy too. It was also very eerie. Hard to see in there, but Jessica got an interesting shot as we went through it.

I was happy when we finally got back down lower than the fog. Jessica looks happy too. How did you get that picture of yourself as we were moving, Jessica?

Finally, after another hour of driving forest roads, we came to a place to stay. I was exhausted and ready to stop for the night.

The "Free Spirit Motorcycle Club" from Slovakia was there to ride the mountain roads also. Thanks for the beer and the conversation guys. It was fun.

They came out to see us off early the next morning. The neighborhood dogs had to join in the fun, too.

Gotta get moving because Jessica has to be back in Prague. We are facing two days of hard riding. No more posts for a few days when I head down toward Greece.

Bye for now,
Ron