Summer Vacation - Week 8 - Our European departure

While it was sad to leave Bucharest for home (I mean Oregon), it was exciting to be coming back to the states none the less.  The things we most looked forward to is comfortable mattresses and ice in our drinks.

Lily was super excited to do a little last minute shopping at Heathrow airport and bought a bag to put all her other souvenirs in.  She was a trouper again on all our flights and is officially the best travel partner ever.  I wouldn't trade her companionship for the world.

Now... on to our next adventure.

Summer Vacation - Week 8 - Bran & Brasov

From Bucharest we took a day trip to visit the Peles and Bran Castles & the city of Brasov.  While the drive was crazy with loads of turns and traffic on the single lane highway, the sites were very much worth the visit.

Peles Castle

Inside Peles Castle

Lily enjoying her basket of raspberries (fruit of choice for our entire European adventure) - they sold these for like $2 on the roadside.  

Brasov

Never imagined a girl could eat so many Caesar Salads

Summer Vacation - Week 8 - Bucharest

Wow.  Bucharest really was an amazing place but unfortunately I didn't get the best pictures after having some technical difficulties.  I can tell you that it is one of those cities where I felt so comfortable that I could live there.  Many people used to call Bucharest "little Paris".  Looking around at the majority of the architecture, you can completely tell why.  There are some big beautiful parks and old Parisian style architecture all around.  Then the country was communist for 40+ years and crap the architecture really changed.  Romania was actually communist until 1989, but so much has changed since then.  Most young people are all learning English, are very progressive and frankly are all so nice and helpful.  Everywhere we went we felt safe & welcome.  Even street parking our car was safe.  I look forward to a return trip to Bucharest sometime.

 Lily having the best hot chocolate ever 

Summer Vacation - Week 8 - The Danube Delta

Before heading back to Bucharest, we took a detour up the Black Sea, finally leaving Bulgaria and cruising through Romania to go on a Danube Delta boat tour.  The ecosystem is amazing.  Here are some facts:

Danube Delta has been declared a World Cultural and Natural Heritage site, and a UNESCO protected area being one of Romania’s leading attractions, and a very particular place in Europe.

The Danube Delta has the third largest biodiversity in the world (over 5,500 flora & fauna species) spreading over 5,050 km² of marshes, canals, reed islets and lakes, offering a sanctuary for birds, fish, and animals. This natural reservation hosts the largest wetlands in Europe, more than 60% of the Danube Delta’s area is unspoiled by the human touch, so it offers the unique opportunity to observe the incredible beauty of the Danube Delta landscapes and all the treasures lying in it.

We rented a private boat tour for the day only to find out it was the best rated tour operator in the city.  On our way out to an island called Milas 23 we saw more birds than I ever would have imagined.  It was amazing.  Once we hit Milas 23 for lunch, it truly was a throw back in time.  You have to order your lunch the day before.  The one restaurant cooks all the same meal (fish, fish and more fish) for everyone.  The food was incredible.  The people amazing and boy were we stuffed after.  On the way back we could reach out and touch the Ukraine but elected not to get caught by any border police there.  

Another amazing adventure.

Summer Vacation - Week 7 - Back to Golden Sands, Bulgaria

We spent another fun filled five days in Golden Sands, Bulgaria before finally saying good bye to Bulgaria.  We made some great friends (Louis & Anton from Denmark).  We found some great food and drink (Martini's in Varna).  We enjoyed some serious water sports including parasailing, water trampolines, water parks, etc.  There was such a variety of nationalities around Golden Sands, that no one even could guess we were from the U.S., little alone guess we were from an English speaking country.  If you ever need a place to hide from the mafia, this is the place to go.  It is really funny how many people asked us why we were visiting Bulgaria after they found out we were from the U.S.  Imagine car license plates from Russia and every country of Europe just about.  English was definitely the common language there and people were definitely kind in this tourist area. It will definitely be hard to forget Bulgaria. 

Summer Vacation - Week 6 - Nessebar

On our way back from Plovdiv to Golden Sands, we stopped over in the old town of Nessebar, Bulgaria which is also located on the Black Sea.  We had an awesome fish lunch (Caesar Salad for Lily) and walked around the old town.

Summer Vacation - Week 6 - Plovdiv

After Sofia, we headed to the small town of Plovdiv staying for two nights in a nice apartment hotel.  Plovdiv, Bulgaria is actually one of the oldest towns in Europe with many old ancient Roman ruins.  It really was a different experience than any of the other places we've visited on our trip.  We found some awesome Gelato.  We came across some super nice people and just had an all around great time.