October 2025. Sighișoara. There are two main challenges writing these foreign blogs. One is finding the right button on the phone for the mysterious “comma below” in Romanian names, the other is limiting the number of photos so you don’t get too bored reading the posts. Not that many folk do read the posts to… Continue reading Top 5 Transylvanian Bed & Breakfasts – Casa Cositorarului, Sighisoara
Author: retiredmartin
Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.
A rainy night in Sighișoara
October 2025. Sighișoara. Romania. In the Uber on the way back from the bear cuddling Mrs RM devised a radical plan to boost her blog views. Leaving our room in Brasov for a night we caught a Flix bus from the main bus station, where the coffee, costs as much as the loo, which has… Continue reading A rainy night in Sighișoara
CONTRADICTORY ADVICE ON SURVIVING A BEAR ATTACK
October 2025. Brasov. Five days into our Romanian trip, and it’s time for bears. Mrs RM had decided we could do better than Bran Castle (“a bit Disney), but a visit to Libearty Bear Sanctuary to cuddle grizzlies was a must. What do you mean I don’t get to cuddle them ? These are the… Continue reading CONTRADICTORY ADVICE ON SURVIVING A BEAR ATTACK
BEANS IN BREAD AT LA CEAUN
October 2025. Brasov. Romania. Following lard and brownies at Szimpa Mrs RM needed something more substantial before we left Sfantu Gheorge alone to the tourist rush these last posts will no doubt create. So, for the record (i.e. to jog Mrs RM’s memory when she comes to her own blog), here’s the carbonara and Ursus… Continue reading BEANS IN BREAD AT LA CEAUN
TOP 100 PUBS – SZIMPLA, SFANTU GHEORGHE, ROMANIA
October 2025. Sfântu Gheorghe. Romania. “Not ANOTHER Top 100 pub, Retired Martin !“. Yes, I know I promised that I’d maintain a one in, one out system, so let’s boot out Derby’s Ye Olde Dolphin, which I read has lost its Bass pump. It may be back. I like having the odd non-UK pub on… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – SZIMPLA, SFANTU GHEORGHE, ROMANIA
Fonts, Ferenc Puskas and flying coffee cups. The mysteries of Sfântu Gheorghe
October 2025. Sfântu Gheorghe. Romania. A week in Romania seemed a bit of a risk with Dad and Mrs RM’s folks on the decline; most of our trips have been a 5 day blur. But you need the extra time to tackle Transylvania’s problematic transport. And so it proved, as Bran Castle, inspiration for the… Continue reading Fonts, Ferenc Puskas and flying coffee cups. The mysteries of Sfântu Gheorghe
THE JOY OF GETTING YOUR NAME ON THE UNTAPPD SCREEN IN AFTAR STUBE, BRASOV
October 2025. Brasov. Romania. Four nights in Transylvania, longer than we’d normally spend in one place but Pension Casa Timar was to prove the perfect base to explore the land of impalement and Pale ale*. Brasov is an odd place to negotiate, the rail station in “Tractor District” a mile north of flashy new town… Continue reading THE JOY OF GETTING YOUR NAME ON THE UNTAPPD SCREEN IN AFTAR STUBE, BRASOV
BEAUTIFUL BRASOV
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… Continue reading BEAUTIFUL BRASOV
CASUAL SEXISM IN SUBURBAN BUCHAREST
October 2025. Bucharest. The last of the Bucharest posts, you’ll be delighted to know. If nothing else, Mrs RM will find them useful when she comes to her own more forensic blog and wonders “Where was that fancy meringue ?”. This was Tort de Bezea, one of numerous upmarket cafes in the snappily named Sector… Continue reading CASUAL SEXISM IN SUBURBAN BUCHAREST
ADMISSION : I ACCEPTED A TASTER AT HOP HOOLIGANS
October 2025. Bucharest. We concluded the quartet of Bucharest taprooms at Hop Hooligans in the (relatively) genteel suburbs east of the University. Yes, a gorgeous looking home for Romania’s best known (more Vocation than Brew Dog) purveyor of murk. The bars themselves didn’t change that much, but Hop Hooligan, Ironic, Ground Zero and Zaganu give… Continue reading ADMISSION : I ACCEPTED A TASTER AT HOP HOOLIGANS
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