One last little treat before a horrid trick

After a nice lie in yesterday, we got an Uber into Old Town Cluj. The Uber driver was very sweet. He was asking about our trip and asked if we had learned about Vlad Tepeş AKA Vlad Dracula AKA Vlad The Impaler but when he asked he made little horns on his head with his fingers. First time I’ve ever seen a vampire with horns. Funny though. Then at the traffic lights he FaceTimed his little girl. Dangerous but he was very sweet with her. I did go to ask Adam if you were allowed to use your phone in the car when I saw a police man drive past while texting so I’m thinking it’s not a high priority crime if it is one.

We got some food at an outdoor eatery in the Old Town. It was lovely. There was an old man wandering round which was a bit bizarre. He looked a bit lost. Then he had a conversation with the waitress and headed over to the flower beds. He was just after some cuttings for his garden. How cute.

We had a swift walk around Old Town. Saw a big church and a big horse statue and then decided we had better get some sleep before our very early get up this morning. The alarm was depressingly set for 2am.

We expected a six hour drive back to the airport but I had noted that another tourist spot, Transfăgărășan, was sort of on the way. It’s hailed as one of the most beautiful roads in the world and it would take us about an extra 40 mins. We made good time so thought why not. Except I didn’t realise one thing. The extra 40 mins was to get to the beginning of the road and actually the road is about three hours long. We definitely did not have time for that. So we had a little look at the lake and then headed back. We never reached the famous hairpin turns view that you see if you google it. The scenery of the bit we did do was absolutely beautiful. Definitely would have been worth doing the whole thing if we’d have had time.

We finally reached the car rental place at the airport. Dumped the car (with the man not on the side of the road) and got to the airport an hour too early to drop off the bags. So after we waited around for an hour and then finally got to the check in desk she says, ‘oh Manchester? Yes you’re delayed by four hours.’ You freaking what?!

So here I am. Bored out of my brain. Adams crying over notebook that he saw that sold out before he bought it and I’ve had about seven meals because there’s nothing else to do. I imagine there will be not much else to tell you now so I’m going to wind up this season of the blog with my review of România:

• Beautiful countryside
• Skip Bucharest or one night max
• Braşov and Sighisoara are where you want to spend the majority of your stay
• Cluj is a big university city and again wouldn’t miss much if skipped
• Lots of stray dogs
• Lots of horses and carts
• Lots of hills and stairs
• Roads can be a bit bumpy
• Relatively cheap
• Most people speak English to a reasonable level
• Absolutely do not be drawn in by the Turda Salt Mine
• Definitely recommend. 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

And so that is all from me. Until next time (unless something hilarious happens on the plane) and until the next adventure. La revedere!