The Kolping Hotel in Brasov sits on the hillside above the city and will forever be a family story because of the bear who greeted us when we returned from dinner. He'd found a garbage can with a loose lid, and was having fun in the driveway when our car pulled up. It created huge excitement, not only from Christie & Andrei, but Louis, too, who'd never seen a bear close-up and outside a zoo. I had memories of the Great Smoky Mountains when Mom & Dad would cringe at the way people put their little kids next to the roadside bears for photo opportunities.
View from our room
Walking down into the old city
Brasov's famous Black Church got its name from the black appearance after the great fire of 1689. The church was started in 1385 for the German Saxons who settled here early on. Today, it's a German-speaking Lutheran community church. In ancient times, local merchants started bringing back Turkish prayer rugs (Muslim) to decorate their homes and church. It's gorgeous.
old town gate (entrance in the original fortification walls) to Brasov
Old Town Hall at the Central Plaza-Brasov
Ice Cream lunch to celebrate Alina's birthday
Peles Castle near Sinaia
Our first stop on the journey north to eventually reach Baia Mare, Alina's home (12 hours north of Bucharest), was Peles Castle. Really a palace more than a castle, it was built by King Carol I, the first king of a united Romania in the 19th century . It's in a gorgeous mountain setting near Sinaia.
Why do dandelions have these feathery, silky seed pods?
Chuck and Andrei
