Off we went in our Kia Picanto towards central Romania and our final destination of Brasov. Tunes playing and Sat Nav showing us the way it was pretty good. There has obviously been a motorway built since our guidebook was updated so we were able to travel along at 130kph along dual carriageway. Well others could go that fast we struggled but still progress was good and the scenery flying past was nice too.
The motorway though wasn’t complete and soon enough we were back on the B roads where the Romanians’ driving really came onto display and we saw some crazy overtaking manoeuvres!! We just relaxed though and enjoyed the show keeping our distance!
The change in road gave us a chance to see a bit more of the country though which was great. We felt at times that we had travelled back in time as the houses were all a little more run down and we saw plenty of horse and carts on the road. It seems a million miles away from Budapest and even further away from “Western Europe”. In fact we had to check to see if we were still in the EU! We were.
The little villages were all very photogenic and the ramshackle buildings all painted in different colours were really pretty. A lot of the people we passed had a real gypsy look to them and the country exuded an image of a hard life had by all. As it was approaching winter there weren’t many crops planted but we did see flocks of sheep complete with attending shepherds. We felt at times as though we were back in South and Central America!
Having been a Top Gear fan for ages it was also nice to see plenty of Dacia cars on the road though I am not sure how good they actually are as they were just about the only vehicle we were able to overtake!
As we approached Brasov there was a bit more snow about the place and in the distance we spied a Ski Resort!! The town of Brasov itself resembled a European ski resort and it took all of our teamwork to negotiate the tight winding roads to find our accommodation.  
When we found it though we were very happy and surprised as we had managed to get a top floor apartment. Perfect for our three nights and judging by our first look at Brasov we are going to have a fantastic sightseeing experience! T

The countryside was dotted with small villages all with a church complete with pointy spire in the centre.

The “motorway” passing through one of the villages.

Shopping for dinner, we didn’t think we could stomach these.