Brasov, Romania

June 11-14, 2009
"Just might be the best city in Europe"... or so their motto goes. Hard to disagree though as it is a very nice place complete with a Hollywood-type "Brasov" sign ( zoom in behind the church steeple picture).
I visited one of the three castles with Dracula connections nearby... tenuous connections at best and the actual count wasn't all that evil.

Bucharest, Romania

June 9-10
Quick stop in Bucharest... maybe should've spent a day or two more but everyone seemed to be breezing through. The Canadian consulate is the ugliest I've seen! Bucharest lays claim to the biggest building by volume in the world? Maybe the biggest residence?? Google it if you care... just made for a good picture.

Varna, Bulgaria

June 5-9,2009
YoHo hostel had an interesting pet... Mexican Salamander. Lungs and Gills.. but once out of the water for a day(week?) it loses the dual ability and is lungs only... evolutionary step in one animal.. cool!

Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

June 1-5,2009
Nice fort on a hill complete with light show... but only on nights where enough tourists pay $12 each to have it happen... usually a bus tour group. My backpacker friends and I had to wait a night or two ;)
Used cool open source (free) panorama software called hugin. Google it...

Sofia, Bulgaria

May 28-31, 2009

Great Hostels... too much noise at Hostel Mostel but still one of the best hostels I've stayed at. If only they'd keep the RyanAir weekend bachelor partiers away!

Plovdiv, Bulgaria

May 24-28, 2009
I had planned to go back to Istanbul but as I was wishing a friend a good journey to Bulgaria I realized I'd be just as well off going to the Russian consulate there... and I wouldn't be backtracking. 30 min later I was on my way to Bulgaria.
In Plovdiv at Hikers Hostel I had an interesting discussion with a local about women she knew who were having their U.S. green cards revoked after investigation by U.S immigration authorities. They were cracking down on sham 2-year marriages used to gain residency.

Selcuk and Ephesus

May 20-22,2009
Selcuk, Turkey: Toured Ephesus and Temple of Athena.
Pics: 2xEphesus + ghost town near Selcuk.