In between our two extended family trips, we had a stopover in Romania. The intent was to recharge, connect into work for the week and have some space to explore leisurely. We rented a home in Fundatica, built by two brothers, “The Chalet Deux Freres.” We cooked at home every night until our last evening – recharging from weeks we’d spent eating out in Greece (incredible but hard to continue at the same pace). We fully enjoyed the vibe of the country and its people. International Tourism has not taken off – mostly geared towards domestic tourism – such that often menus aren’t available in English. We enjoyed the cordial but indifference to visitors perspective here. We’d definitely return.

On Tuesday, we visited Bran castle, the fictional home of Dracula. All loved visiting – nice blend of history, fiction and experience of a royal residence that was inhabited until fairly recently. We enjoyed a nice lunch after our visit at the cafe on the castle grounds.

Wednesday // we hiked out from our cabin

Thursday we visited the medieval town of Braşov. Braşov is charming – the 6th largest city in Romania and extremely walkable and easy to explore. Non-domestic tourism seems very limited here. We explored the city center and had an excellent lunch at an Italian favorite, Dei Frati. We only wished we’d had a bit more time here.

On Friday, we returned to Braşov bc we love this town and wanted to take the funicular to the best lookout point.  Here we are riding up, walking along the ridge behind the Braşov sign and looking over the city:

And then walked back into town to another (awesome) Italian spot, Prato. We loved all and especially this Shrimp starter. Who knew Italian would be the food highlight of this stay.

We walked to the Black church and all around downtown

We went home and visited “Skully” Shepherd cow skull

And Wm made a traditional Romanian dinner

On Saturday, our last full day, we took the opportunity to hike in the national park and summit to Cabana Curmatura.  The hike was over 7mi and 2k of elevation – the boys hardly complained and seemed to have a blast. Maybe we’ve turned the corner on hikes as a form of family torture.

Long and awesome day. We can back and rested/packed and headed to our last dinner here at DOR