I have found my favourite city in Romania!

After having visited three major cities in Romania, I have a clear winner!
And its Sibiu!
Its in the Transylvania region and it took us about 6.5 hours by train to get there. We got lucky this time and found ourselves in the comfort of a new train.
But (there's always a but), the tracks the trains run on are 20 years old, and haven't been changed since the Communist regime fell. The trains may be able to run super-fast, but aren't allowed to because of the pathetic condition of the tracks.
The journey from Bucharest to Timisoara should take 7.5 hours (according to Google Maps), but in reality it takes over 11 hours.

We took the train from Gare de Nord, which is actually in the west part of Timisoara!
And to get to the station we ordered the taxi ourselves. Quite an accomplishment considering none of the taxi drivers speak English.

Every little station that the train passes, the station master comes out to salute the train driver. So charming!

I've noticed here that a lot of people smoke, especially the younger generation. Unfortunately(from them), but fortunately (for me), they aren't allowed to smoke in the train. When the train stops at a station for longer, you can see the smokers running out to smoke. Marianna (also a smoker) keeps herself busy by rolling up her cigarettes during the journey.

We were invited to spend a couple of days at Liana's parents house in Sibiu. Her mum fed us all day and night. When she found out that I liked spicy food, she gave me a jar of chilli sauce that she made herself!

Coloured eggs for Easter. You have to find yourself an egg, and have an egg fight with your neighbour. The one whose egg breaks, loses and gives the winner his broken egg.
Or, you can be like me and just break the egg on Marianna's head.

Cookies Liana's mum made. They were delicious. Before we left, she gave us a whole box of them

Sibiu was the EU Cultural Capital in 2007, and the city has significant German history as well. So its German name is Hermannstadt

The way to the Cathedral. We went up to the tower and then the priest found out, and asked us very politely to leave

Look between those two white buildings. There is a bridge called the 'Bridge of Lies' because when lovers go there to proclaim their love for each other, its usually a lie

The way to the Clock Tower. We went huffing and puffing all the way up

Views of Pia-ta Mare

Easter in Padurea Verde

What do four people, who have no families in Timisoara, do for Easter?

Correct answer: They make some sandwiches (some vegetarians ones for the little Muslim), wrap them in toilet paper and go for a picnic in the forest!

Since everyone else was away for Easter, or busy with their families, Leandro, Anka, Marianna and I decided to go to Padurea Vedre which literally means 'green forest'.

However, the name is quite mis-leading, it's NOT green by any angle.

We found a skeleton of a dog who we now call 'Bobby'

Cluj and a birthday celebration

Sorry for the delay in posts, have had some kind of medical scare, which is perfectly fine now.
We went to Cluj by bus (sorry haven't got pictures from there). It was quite a bumpy journey, roads were pathetic to say the least. It was like a punishment, you couldn't fall asleep!
I think I love Cluj more than Timisoara, it's bigger and the population is greater as well. Timisoara has its own charm. You can walk everywhere. Everyone asks me if I will ever come back to Romania. I will definitely come back, when I retire and I want the peace and the quiet!

The trains have terribly stinky toilets. The next time I go anywhere by train, I'm buying myself a bag of diapers!

I have no idea how a car from Oregon crossed the Atlantic and landed in Cluj

The Cathedral in Cluj. It seems that most cities here have a Union Square (Piata Unirii and a Cathedral)

If you look closely both these buildings are an exact copy of each other. The left one is a museum and the right one is a Vodafone store (thus better painted) . Damn globalization.

I bet this owner deals in forex

We threw Liana and Ruxi a birthday party on Wednesday night. Marianna did most of the cooking. I was useless and just watching her prepare everything. On the menu was pasta, eggs with onion, peperonata, cake and salame turco (which is this incredibly delicious Italian sweet, but so easy to make!).

As usual we were harassing Vlad. You can almost feel sorry for him in this photo!

Liana began harassing Claudiu too

Salame turco

We tried to spell Liana with chopped bananas

Now its time to introduce people from work!

Gordana, I love love love her sense of style!

Andreaa, her make-up is flawless!

Liana, my buddy!

A special mention to the restaurant 'Ready's' where we eat at during the weekends. That was my breakfast: french fries, fried cheese, salad, pita bread and lemon tea. Delicious!

For Easter Sunday, we are going to the park for a picnic. On Monday, we are going to Sibiu by train and then coming back on Wednesday.
Right now the campus is pretty dead. Everyone has gone back home for Easter. All stores, hospitals etc are shut. We still have a lot of students in our dorm because most of them are internationals. Though the management doesn't seem to care. They won't switch on the heating, and we have to suffer by taking cold showers.
See you later!