Bucharest, Romania

Over the weekend, I took a trip to Bucharest, Romania with a friend who is a fellow intern with me! While there were a few hiccups on the day we left, we had a ton of fun exploring a new country.

On Saturday, once we got settled into the hotel, we wandered around for a bit before settling on a restaurant that was offering traditional fare!  We stayed at the Novetel in what seems to be the city center as well as within walking distance of other major hotels. The hotel's site actually used to be the National Theater before a fire, so the front of the hotel reflects the facade of the theater.  As for the food that we sampled the first day we were there, we couldn't eat the whole platter we ordered! Definitely worth it!

Bucharest's 1st Hospital

On Sunday, we took a day trip to visit the famous castles of Romania! Our first stop were the grounds of Peles Castle. The larger castle on the site was closed for the season, but we still got to explore the smaller one as well as the grounds.

Romanian Countryside

Peles Castle

After visiting Peles castle, we drove to Bran Castle which is also known as Dracula's Castle.

Bran Castle

In the marketplace outside of the palace, besides finding some sheep slippers, I also found something that I wasn't expecting:

This pillow pet did not come home with me as I already own one!  #orangenation

Post Dracula's Castle, our tour took us to Brasov, a smaller city in Romania. I found it to be very similar to other Eastern European cities with the large town centre.

Brasov Town Center

Just like the Hollywood Sign!

On our final day in Romania, we took a city tour. We were able to get a private city tour as the majority of the large-bus tours had shut down for the season. We were able to tour the museum that featured traditional houses from all the regions in Romania, the Parliament Palace, several Eastern Orthodox churches, and to see the balcony where Nicolae Ceausescu gave his final speech in the 1989 Revolution.

View from the Parliament Place Balcony

Parliament Place…2nd largest government building in the world!

The Balcony where Ceausescu gave his final speech

End of Communism Statue

Elaine and I had a great time touring Bucharest and the rest of Romania! It was the perfect weekend away from the stress of grad school! 

Wandering

I've got a three-day weekend headed my way starting tomorrow. 

And that can only mean one thing…

I'm wandering off to Bucharest, Romania with a friend for the weekend!!

#soexcitedandijustcanthideit

If you follow me on instagram (username: @kewalpole), you will be able to see photos as I post them! 

If not, stay tuned for a few update posts next week!

Upcoming Adventures

Apart from schoolwork, internships, and the social world surrounding the MPA program, I've got a few other adventures in the works for the next few weeks!

Next weekend, I'm headed to Bucharest, Romania! Translyvania and I will be bonding for a few days as I have Veteran's Day off my internship. My fellow intern, Elaine, and I are headed over to check out the city but also taking a day trip to Dracula's Castle.

The following weekend besides doing homework, I'm attending "Fantasia: Live in Concert" at the Royal Albert Hall. Surprisingly, I still have never been inside the Hall despite having lived in South Kensington and having numerous bus routes currently that drive past the building. 

For Thanksgiving, a few interns and I are looking to take the hop west to Iceland! We should be booking out trip to Reyjeviack this week!

In early December, I snagged a cheap ticket to see Andrew Lloyd Weber's new musical, "Stephen Ward." For those of you who don't know, I'm a huge fan of ALW especially "Phantom of the Opera."