My nine-day journey throughout Slovakia begins in its capital. Bratislava is quite beautiful, especially the old squares and their landmarks. Once the Hungarian coronation city on the Danube, with its castles and palaces and summer resorts of Austrian nobility, the city retains its charms, even it never was grand. Continue reading
[This post is part of a 10-day driving itinerary for Sofia, Melnik, Plovdiv, and Veliko Taranovo.] Days 1-3 | Sofia Days 4-5 | Melnik Days 6-7 | Plovdiv DAY 8 | THRACIAN TOMB & SHIPKA PASS TO VELIKO TARNOVO More Bulgarian history lessons today along mountainous roads, traveling northeast to Kazanlak, the center of the … Continue reading
[This post is part of a 10-day driving itinerary for Sofia, Melnik, Plovdiv, and Veliko Taranovo.] Days 1-3 | Sofia Days 4-5 | Melnik DAY 6 | THE NARROW GAUGE TRAIN TO PLOVDIV En route to Plovdiv, you’ll have the chance to see the beauty of the southwestern mountainous region of Bulgaria, traveling at first … Continue reading
For the second time, I lead a team to the fabulous city of Cluj, to partner with The Fuller Center Cluj to help build affordable housing the in bucolic Jucu-de-Sus. My first trip to Romania, and first build with the Fuller Center there, was in 2023. I loved it so much, I decided to return … Continue reading
DAY 1 | Over the hills and through the woods to BREB VILLAGE we go! For our 4-day tour we hired a wonderful local guide, who is from Maramureș, who expertly planned the trip with us, drove, and guided us. Heading north from Cluj into the mountains we stopped at Casa Dobro for a coffee … Continue reading
Having spent a couple days in Romania’s capital city at the end of my two-week tour of building houses in Cluj and around Transylvania, I’m not sure why it gets a bad rap. Sure, it’s a rather large city. But I like gritty urban environs just as much as I like glacial lakes and mountain … Continue reading
The parts of the forested Romanian countryside, dotted with villages, fortresses and castles is a delight to explore these days. But many of these previously fortified cities represent a refuge from danger that may have been on the horizon, just a few hundred years ago. Seeing them gives one a true appreciation for the ways … Continue reading
If you only had time to visit one city and use it as a homebase to explore some of Transylvania’s most popular sites, make it Brasov (bra-shov). From Brasov we also took day trips to see Viscri, Bran Castle, Rupea Fortress and Rasnov Fortress and Peles Castle on the way to Bucharest. Wander Without a … Continue reading
Despite popular belief, Transylvania is not a town or city, but one of several regions, occupying the northern center of Romania. Practically everyone’s heard of it from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula in which Jonathan Harker stays at the castle of a Transylvanian nobleman, Count Dracula. Subsequently he discovers the Count a vampire. You already … Continue reading
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