Vlad Tepes, Dracula and Vampires

I used to tell people I lived in Cluj and they’d be like, “Huh?” Then I’d tell them it was in Romania and they’d scratch their head with their mouths hanging open. Then I’d say, “It’s in Transylvania” and they’d grin and slap me high-fives and go, “Sweet, vampires.” LOL Well first of all, to dispel all rumors to the contrary, I’ve been living in … Continue reading Vlad Tepes, Dracula and Vampires

Hey, hey we’re the gypsies!

And people say we Gypsy around! LOL Who are the gypsies? Well you can read the wikipedia article but it isn’t all that informative. If you’re going to visit Romania, you need to know who the gypsies are. The legal, politically correct name is “romany” people (rromi in Romanian) which sounds almost exactly like “Romanian” (romani in Romanian) and confuses the hell out of everybody … Continue reading Hey, hey we’re the gypsies!

Choo-Choo! Riding the rails ROMANIA style

Hey do you remember that old Guns n’ Roses song where Axl sings, “You know where you are? You’re in the jungle, baby! You’re gonna diiiiieeee……..”? Well that used to be Romanian railroads, also known as Căile Ferate Române and for short CFR (pronounced chay-fay-ray). Digression: CFR (the railways) have literally nothing to do with CFR the soccer/football team. Which you’ve probably never heard of … Continue reading Choo-Choo! Riding the rails ROMANIA style