Misprinted train information resulted in a less than 24 hour stay rather than the initially planned 2 day adventure in this land of Gypsies and Vampires.
Our train coming in arrived later than expected and was scheduled to depart 8 hours earlier than anticipated the following day. Mis-stamped bus tickets almost resulted in a 50 leu fine, while misquoted information from our booked lodging for the night led us on a 6 hour wild goose chase through the Transylvania countryside in search of a place we never found. As a consequence, we arrived at Bran's castle, the sole highlight of our trip, just as it closed for the evening.
Even with the best of intentions, it was only after everything went utterly, hopelessly awry that things started to fall into place. Stranded in Bran, with no place to stay and no idea what to do, we found ourselves caught up in a moment of spontaneous uncertainty, where there was nothing to do but let go of any notion of control and embrace whatever the open road had in store.
It was then that we met a group of 3 couples after they sat down at the table next to us. One thing led to another and we soon discovered our new neighbors were on a bike tour from Israel. They were staying at a lodge up the road and when they learned of our predicament,immediately invited us to come stay the night with them.
With an open mind and with no other alternatives, we gathered our bags and followed them to a quaint guest house ran by a lovely French woman. The rest of the evening was spent laughing, drinking and reveling in their shared tales of adventure, travel and life.
Romania was nothing like we had anticipated and yet it was all the better because of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for showing some love :)