Bulgaria - Buildings, the Black Sea and Bloody Confusing Signs . . .

The border crossing between Romania and Bulgaria.

Apartment blocks of all shapes and sizes scarred the landscape in most Bulgarian towns.

The Black Sea - we were all ecstatic to be able to spread our toes in the sand
and dip our feet in the sea after having been landlocked for weeks and weeks

The waters were chilly but clear.

Even going into Bulgaria without any preconceived ideas on what to expect,
we were surprised by the development along the Black Sea coast.

While the signs in Bulgarian Cyrillic(?) type had our brows creased in confusion . . .

Other Bulgarian signs put a smile on our faces.

Parts of the Bulgarian landscape were otherworldly.

As we've travelled through the Eastern block countries we've
passed many working girls waiting for clients in laybys alongside roads
seemingly in the middle of absolutely nowhere. 

 

Catch up continued . . .

A Passenger's Perspective of Romania . . .

I have made an art form of taking photos out the front windows of Swifty as we travel the roads through Europe.  Much of our time is spent looking through the windscreen and observing people going about their daily lives.  Romania proved to be a fabulous country for doing this as we witnessed things unique to this quirky little country - including following a funeral procession through a tiny little town with the deceased laid out in the back of a floral adorned truck.  Those from the town not following the procession were lining the streets watching on.  Unfortunately we come across these things so quickly that it's hard to photograph them - but sometimes you luck a great shot that captures the scene perfectly.  Below are some of the photos I have taken out the front window as we've driven from the north of Romania all the way to the south.

We followed this couple for miles and miles in their little old car with a top speed of 60km/h going down hill.

Sometimes I could feel the eyes of locals glaring down the lens at me.

All farming in Romania is done manually by hand.  We saw no evidence of modern machinery with the exception of an occasional old tractor.  Made for storybook olde world photos.

We had to smile as we passed shepherd after shepherd talking on their mobile phones.

Haystacks done the Romanian way.

The roadside stalls varied from country to country and then from region to region.
We think these might have been red onions but they're a funny shape!

Hazards in the fog near Bran in Transylvania.

This man has unusual ears!

Mariana if you're reading this can you please tell us what these tiny little orange seeds/berries are?
We saw these for sale on the side of the road at every pullover in the Carpathians.  Haven't been able to find out what they were.

What we saw of Bucharest through the worst air pollution we've come across.

The Bucharest Ring Road - what can we say?
Here a lady stands in the middle of heavy traffic begging for money and food.

We sat amoungst big slow moving trucks with guys running up and down the centre line trying to sell shoes, mobile phones, jackets and watches.

Salesmen hitched rides on the sides of the trucks as they tried to negotiate deals.

The groovy road to Bulgaria.  Glenn found it really hard driving on some of the Romanian roads.
The surfaces were not quite what we are used to.  At least this one had tar seal, although trying to stay in the grooves proved pretty tricky.

The Romanian Funeral Procession.

The old and the new side by side.

When we found out that there was a campground in Transylvania called Vampire Camping there was no way we were going to miss out on staying there. Just up the road was 'Dracula's Castle' and the little village of Bran. Waking up to a dense fog the next morning added to the eerie atmosphere of the place, as did the sheep bells clanging from the necks of the small flock of sheep being shepherded through the fog right outside our front door.

 

Pictorial Catch Up . . .

Because I am so very far behind with keeping you all up to date with our travels (about 5 countries behind!) I'll get you up to speed via a photo pictorial.  Here goes . . . hope it gives you a little insight into what we've been up to.  I'll keep adding country by country as I can.

OUR HAPPENINGS IN HUNGARY

Our first glimpse of Budapest as we crossed over the Danube.

Just one of the unusual stickers placed on green traffic lights.
We thought they should have been on the red lights!

With winter not far away these hats are for sale everywhere - and they are really popular.
Don't think it gets cold enough in NZ to warrant buying one.

The Hungarians love their statues.
This is just one of the beautiful examples found all over the city.

We somehow found ourselves in the local foodies market and snapped this shot.
Reminded us of the Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne on a Saturday morning.

The famous Chain Bridge (which Glenn calls Lion Bridge).
We must have crossed this bridge a dozen times on foot, day and night.

The amazing Hungarian Houses of Parliament as seen from across the Danube.

Taashi leaves her imprint on Budapest.

We were all really taken with this little 'Peter Pan' statue.

On the top deck of The Big Bus Tour through Budapest.

One of the statues standing guard over the city at the Citadel.

The bridges spanning the Danube are all spectacular - this was one of the prettiest.

A modern section along the Danube.

Our shadows in Heros Square.

The details on the buildings blew us away.

Chilling out in the palace grounds - what better place to sit and eat a bag of crisps.

Duck food anyone?  The funny thing being that a sign on the lake said Please don't feed the ducks.

2 against 1 in a game of table tennis in a local park.
We stopped and watched these locals for a while - the guy by himself was incredible.

Chain Bridge by night.

One of the many Trombant's we came across - still widely used in Hungary.

A beautiful Hungarian menu - check out the prices though ha ha.

These tea cups were stunning - so were their pricetags even when converted.

Mattias Church - the hardest building in the world to photograph.

Although as you can see everyone tries to . . .

The vivid colours of the tiles on the roof were amazing.

Just a small part of Fisherman's Bastian.

You never really knew what side of the road cars, or buses, would be coming towards you on.

Our amazing campsite deep in the Hungarian countryside at a little town called Turistvandi.

The unique carved wooden headstones dating back to the 1700's (? I'll have to check the date)
but still used today.  The profile of the wooden carving depicts the face of the deceased -
according to their profession.  There were 6000 people buried in this cemetary - the only
one like it in the world.

Standing infront of the headstone of the man who wrote Hungary's National Anthem.

The girls are standing in Hungary. On the opposite riverbank it is the Ukraine.

Marika and Istvan - owners of the campsite in Turistvandi and the nicest people you will ever meet.
Istvan put on his tourguide hat and took us to the cemetary and the Ukraine border in his little red Skoda.

A lucky shot snapped out the window as we passed through one of many little towns.
This farmer was on horse and cart with a great load of wood for the winter.

Another ot the window shot - typical of what you see as you drive Hungary's roads.