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.

 

Surprised in Slovakia . . .

Not too sure what to expect of Slovakia we were feeling even more hesitant when we pulled up at the campground with security at the gate and the blonde bombshell on reception who told us to be careful of our things and to keep all our windows locked! What had we gotten ourselves into? But we were here now and we had to make the most of what life was throwing at us.
We pitched up in a park (?) on the banks of a lake. The weather was stunning and so we went off to explore our surroundings. At one end of the lake there was an automated wakeboarding machine that was towing 10 guys around at once, with stunt ramps and tricks. We stopped and watched them for a while and then continued along the mosquito ridden path beside the lake. Clouds and clouds of mosquitos! I took a photo of the twilight across the lake and realised later that I was actually photographing a nudist beach. Oooops! The next morning we headed into Bratislava. One of the first streets we came across was called Laurinska. Apparently my name comes from Slavik origins.
Bratislava was a huge surprise with its detailed unique architecture, quirky statues placed strategically around the streets, its market platz with an actual market and cool grafitti. We had a fantastic day walking the streets taking endless photos and just enjoying ourselves. Slovakia proved to be more modern than the traditional Czech Republic, even though they are neighours. Although our stay was short in this little Eastern European Country we loved the time we spent here.

A trolley bus heading out of Bratislava.

Laurinska Street which leads into the heart of old town.

The buildings in the old town were different from any we have seen in Europe.

 

Paparazzi always watching you.
One of the 12 quirky statues scattered across the city.

 

This statue was fantastic as it emerged from beneath the pavement.

A local Slovakian artist at work in the Markt Platz.

We stumbled across this bus depot near old town Bratislava.

This bridge, with all its grafitti, spans the river Danube in Bratislava.