Looking out unto the Romanian landscape

Well, it's day 5 in Romania although it sometimes feels like I just got here. I arrived in Cluj and spent the first night on the couch in Ioana's apartment which is amazing. She just spent a small Romanian fortune in renovating it and it shows. Everything is new, functional and stress-free. The next day was spent sleeping in and viewing the photos from Florin and Ioana's trip to Tunisia which reminded me of the trip Jessica and I took to North Africa. We then had lunch at her families and I met Uyusay and her sister Neli. I also saw her parents again. We had typical Romanian dishes which was very nice (and heartwarming). We then visited part of the city centre together with Florin and Ioana but Ioana still had a sore stomach from a food poisoning event last week. Unfortunately, it got worse at night and she had to go to the hospital although she felt better the following day (and even better the next day)

I also got to eat and spend some time with my Romanian teacher Dana Oltean. She even gave me a free Spanish lesson which made me realize who unprepared I am for the two-week course I am about to embark upon but best to just to do it and think later :)

I took a train from Cluj to Sighisoara on the 5th of July and realized what a lovely and natural country this is. It was so beautiful and so mountainous. As we passed through the villages, I realized not much has changed for the people here in more than 3 centuries (other than cars and trains). They still cut the grass the same way as their ancestors do and tend to their gardens the old fashion way. It was like looking back in time... Sighisoara has a right to be a UNESCO world heritage site. It is beautiful, untouched and peaceful. I was able to reflect many things atop the hills surrounding the town. I am now back in Brasov, enjoying this medieval town and relishing in its simplistic beauty. I hope to visit Bram castle tomorrow as well as Rasnov and maybe Peles castle if I have time (but I realize that things often take longer than expected here so I won't be disappointed if I can't do it all). Then back to Cluj and off to Budapest for the last leg of my trip: Learning Spanish in Bilbao.