May 25 - Road Tripping

Bran Castle in Brașov

We took a self-guided tour of Bran Castle, including a torture expo. I loved seeing the medieval garb and armaments. The torture expo was enlightening.

5 hour drives take their tolls! The roads in Romania were not like the roads in The States. The roads here in Romania even made the Ireland roads seem generous. These were skinny, windy, bumpy, country roads and mountain passes. At one point, we were rounding a corner of a mountain pass when suddenly our half of the road literally ceased to exist because the ground beneath it had washed away. The solution that was taken... They just dug into the mountain a bit more and added one lane width of road onto the opposite side of the road then repainted the lines on the road to go around the hole that lead down the side of the mountain. Additionally, we were in an 8-passenger van with very basic seats. There was no support in any direction beyond directly behind me and to ensure I didn't smack my head into the window or the student on my other side I would engage my core. This equated to doing a 5 hour core exercise and I ended up with tension headaches, a tight back, and sore muscles all over. This was probably the most demanding, taxing experience of my entire trip throughout Europe.

Hilde's Residence for sleep!