Chris Solo Central Europe, Thu Jun 22, 2023
Heading North to Transilvania, Braşov → Satu Mare (day11)
I consider this the beginning of the end of my trip. I've seen many new places over the past 10 days, now I have about 6 days to get back to Zug and catch my flight home.
I'm not searching for twisty roads any more, just and efficient and hopefully interesting way back. But tonight I get to say, "I've stayed in the Hotel Transilvania". :)
Ride Log
Google said 6h46m actual was 6h15m, so I was 7.6% faster
I had parked on the street in Braşov in a space controlled by a parking metering system, but I never figured out how to pay for a parking ticket.
Since I didn't have a citation as of ~10pm I figured I'm probably good for over night. Fortunately in the morning, still no evidence of citation and the bike was still there ;-).
Got out early (7:30am), no parking ticket.
Gas and gas station coffee.
Restaraunt for a nice latte machiatto.
Rolling hills and beautiful farms.
Lots of Stork nests, one with three maybe four babies. Most have one baby. But some have two or more. Wikipedia says White Storks typically lay 4 eggs.
Parking is on the opposite side as USA, facing traffic. You can tell the difference between a parked car and one that is simply stopped for some other reason by which way they are facing.
Military convoy heading towards Ukraine. Looks like instant bridge parts. Overtaking that convoy on twisty roads was interesting. I lost traction several times on the tar snakes.
Very hot going into Satu Mari, >29°C and the last 50km are flat and boring.
Much of the ride today was fast with very good roads and not too many slow town crossings. But there were more towns near the end as it was getting hot and quite humid.
Didn't stop for many pictures.
Stopped for a Good Latte
Groceries stop
Victor, Passionate About Motorcycles
Had a nice conversation with a kid (Victor) who was very interested in motorcycles. Keen on the differences between BMW, Ducati, and Honda.
Took his picture sitting on the bike, got his email address, sent him a link to FUZ-moto.com
Victor's English is really good, excellent vocabulary and perfect grammar, just a bit slow and careful speaking.
He asked me my age and said I look much younger. I love you Victor! Hahaha
Casa Transilvania
Walking Satu Mari
Dinner at the Dome
Excellent food, crispy baked trout at a restaurant/hotel called "The Dome"
Hám János
Hám János is a Hungarian bishop popular in Transilvania
Apartment blocks
Not all areas of Romania are beautiful old towns. But it's clean and there is no evidence of crime being a problem.
Fantastic Fountains
Reminiscent of the Las Vegas Bellagio, these musically animated fountains were an amazing surprise.
Today I saw many women in small towns wearing this type of traditional clothing. I haven't found anything about the ethnicity, but they didn't want me to take their pictures.
Here's a page about traditional clothing in Romania, women's aprons and skirts but it doesn't describe anything quite exactly like what I saw. The closest is the vâlnic but the map of where that is worn is north-east of where I saw them.
My right fore-arm is hurting. Started on the dirt 2 days ago. Getting worse. Also having problems with two fingers on my left hand from too much clutch work going through small towns. Too many days without rest. I'm going to drive cross-hand a lot tomorrow and try to give it a rest.
Next
