October 2025. Brasov.
Seven days, five cities, 3,568 calories worth of apple strudel.
Romania is a gem, easy to negotiate, bar the painfully slow rail network.
2:34 hours on the train to Brasov (pop. 237k) in the centre of the country, your gateway to the lands of Vlad the Impaler and Count Dracula, neither of which appealed much to me.
Mrs RM had found a guest house for £33 a night just outside of Brasov Old Town, but hadn’t been able to agree a fee for good weather, so 4 nights of relentless drizzle it was.
So if these photos are any good it’s a miracle.
The historic centre is a string of smart pedestrianised streets leading to city gates and the Black church.
It reminded me of Beverley, heaving with gentlefolk on the lookout for cake.
OK, Beverley has better pubs, but Brasov has livelier bars and a beer with what looks like a Portsmouth crest.
Mrs RM had made her little map of key sights marked as cherries 🍒 to be picked,
but sadly we failed to pick them all.
I reckon our tolerance for sightseeing in the rain extends to about 22 minutes,
we might have managed 27, as far as Catherine Gate,
before conceding and heading to the pub.
retiredmartin 
“Seven days, five cities, 3,568 calories worth of apple strudel.”
Yes, yes; but how many calories on beer?
“your gateway to the lands of Vlad the Impaler and Count Dracula, neither of which appealed much to me.”
But it’s October! The month of Halloween (oh, right, that’s not a thing over there is it?)
“so 4 nights of relentless drizzle it was.”
That’s an accompaniment to the doom and gloom surrounding… Dracula’s castle. 😏
“It reminded me of Beverley, heaving with gentlefolk on the lookout for cake.”
Phew! For a minute I was thinking, ‘that poor woman Beverley’.
“but Brasov has livelier bars and a beer with what looks like a Portsmouth crest.”
(peers at the pic below)
And it seems they celebrate the Scottish New Year (the word at the top says Hogmanay, or close enough).
“Mrs RM had made her little map of key sights marked as cherries 🍒 to be picked,”
I thought those were apples.
(in honour of the 3,568 calories worth of apple strudel)
“I reckon our tolerance for sightseeing in the rain extends to about 22 minutes,”
All the more reason you should’ve been seeking shelter whilst picking those cherry/apples.
“we might have managed 27, as far as Catherine Gate,”
Blimey!
Ah, my mistake. I thought the cherry/apple thingies WERE pubs/bars.
Cheers
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“OK, Beverley has better pubs”.
Yes, and I remember the White Horse over fifty years ago before Humphrey took over from Nellie.
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No drizzle evident in any of your photos. Well done!
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