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
On our way to Sibiu, Romania my friend and I now had an entire day to kill in Munich. Obviously although we are dog tired after our delayed overnight flight, we are NOT going to stay in the airport. Enter the Internet. After a brief search and a few questions posed to the lady at the Information Desk in the airport, we locked up our luggage and headed for the Number 635 Bus to Freising. Continue reading
The first time I visited Sibiu I was only there for a few hours and knew I one day I’d return. This time, on my way to Cluj to meet my Global Builders Team to volunteer with The Fuller Center for Housing Romania, I opted to fly directly to Sibiu and spend three nights in The City with Eyes, so named for all the eyebrow dormers on the roofs of the buildings. Continue reading
Less than an hour flight from Cluj, Romania and less than an hour drive from Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, where I’d just been is the city once the capital of the Hapsburg Empire, the stately city in a ballgown, Vienna. Continue reading
This is my third trip to build houses with The Fuller Center Romania in Cluj. It’s a local terrific team and a wonderful place to travel. You’ll be building in Jucu de Sus, a lovely and bucolic village outside of Cluj. I always want to spend more time in Romania and have done so on every visit. If you’d like to learn more, search Romania on this site and you’ll find all my posts! 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
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
Global Staci 