The penultimate day

Cosmo and Wilfred had enjoyed the warmth of the pods so much that they were refusing to get up this morning, saying they would rather stay and enjoy the warmth. This is becoming a rather common theme with these two, good thing we only have one more morning we need to convince them to get out of bed for.

We finally managed to get them out of bed, only by promising them a few games of whist and karma. Wilfred mostly won of course, with Cosmo taking second most times. This caused a bit of feud between the two, though it was instantly forgot after the game had ended.

We then headed off to Tampa, this time taking the cable car to complete another one of our minor projects. This being Cosmo’s first time ever riding in a cable car he was terrified; but luckily Wilfred managed to convince Cosmo to give it a try, though it really did take some convincing. After finally getting onto the cable car Cosmo really did enjoy himself, wanting to instantly ride it again.

The views from the top in the day were stunning, though did not compare to those of the sunset we had seen a couple days prior.

After heading back down we went in search of some postcards to complete our final minor projects. They proved more difficult to find than you would expect, taking us at least an hour to find any. Then the search moved to finding a post box, this proved a lot easier than the postcards only taking us a two minute walk from our hostel.

We then headed off to a local shopping center for some supplies. While trying to locate the supermarket inside Cosom got distracted by a pool hall, where of course we had to stop and play a few games.

We then headed back to get pack away our kit and prepare for the final day of our expedition. With all of our minor projects completed and our major project well under way, we have now started preparations for our presentation.

Tomorrow we are making our way back to Rasnov, where our expedition started. While there we are hoping to visit the citadel and will be taking Eddie to the dino park, which he has not stopped talking about since arriving in Rasnov.

Cosmo goes on a day trip

We started the by sharing breakfast with our neighbours in the hostel, then heading off to Sinaia for the afternoon. It was an easy journey, compared to the four hour train from yesterday, only lasting about an hour.

After arriving in Sinaia we headed straight to Peleș Castle, and the monastery. The views were incredible and Cosmo and Wilfred thoroughly enjoyed them selves, forcing us to take photos all along the way.

After spending most of the morning and afternoon at Sinaia we headed back to Brasov to grab something to eat. After finishing up some delicious pizza we went to the fountain in the council square to meet up with team 3. It was good to see team 3 as we had not met up with them since the first day of our expedition.

After saying our goodbyes to team 3 we met up with the leaders, filling them in on how our explorer belt had been going.

We now only have two days left of our expedition, where has the time gone. over the next two days we will be staying in Brasov, hopefully heading up the cable car, visiting some more of the local attractions and finishing up all of our minor projects.

Completing the loop

We started off the day by exploring the rest of Sibiu, and getting some lunch while we waited for our train to Brasov. The journey was long, almost four hours, though Cosmo and Wilfred still seemed to enjoy it.

After arriving we headed straight to our hostel, though it wasn’t your typical hostel as you can see.

After grabbing some dinner we headed to Mount Tampa. It was quite the climb leaving Cosmo and Wilfred rather tired, though the view from the top was defiantly worth it.

Cosmo and Wilfred really enjoyed the view almost refusing to leave when we told them it was getting dark, though the promise of food helped to convince them.

Whilst heading back down Mount Tampa we ran into team 1, it was good to see them. The last time we had met up was on day 2 of the expedition. That is the first week of the expedition done, only three days to go.

Tomorrow we will be heading out to Sinaia for the day, then returning back to Brasov to finish up exploring the last parts of the city.

Cosmo meets some new friends

After the long day yesterday we had an early start this morning, heading straight to the bus station in Turda to catch the 6:30am bus to Sibiu. The bus took three and a half hours giving us plenty of time to catch up on some much needed sleep while Cosmo and Wilfred enjoyed the beautiful views from the bus window.

After arriving in Sibiu we were greeted by some very friendly Romanian scouts who showed us around the city and helped us to find our hostel. Cosmo and Wilfred we extremely excited to make friends with the Romanian scouts and to explore the beautiful city of Sibiu. Though the dino park may have proved a little to exciting for Wilfred.

After having lunch with the Romania scouts we parted ways, for now, so that we could get settled down in our hostel.

We later met up with the scouts again, and some more of their group. After exchanging neckies and getting to know each other a bit better; they taught us how to play a new game, that involved running, holding hands, making seats out of people and even aeroplanes. Cosmo and Wilfred were very tired from all the traveling, so decided not to take part.

After a very busy day we finally headed back to the hostel to rest. Tomorrow we will be exploring the city more and heading back out to Brasov to continue our expedition.

Big thanks to the Romanian scouts for taking us around the city and being so helpful and friendly.

The Adventure Continues…

After an early morning and an “interesting” bus ride, we finally mad it to Turda the halfway point of our expedition. On arrival we were again greeted with swelteringly hot temperatures, making the 30 minute walk to get to our accommodation somewhat less than pleasant.

Though spirits were high as we would soon be heading off to visit Salina Turda, a place we had been planning on visiting since our first training camp. On our way to Salina Turda we decided to explore what the city had to offer.

After hyping up Salina Turda in our minds for so long we feared it would not be as good as we had originally thought, but boy did it deliver. It easily surpassed our expectations and became one of our favourite moments from the whole trip, even Cosmo and Wilfred had a great time.

Tomorrow it’s another early morning for us, catching the bus to Sibiu where we will be meeting a Romanian scout group, and hopefully getting to explore the city a bit as well.

Cosmo & Wilfred visit the pool

The night had been warm, so as soon when we woke we headed straight to the shops to see if we could find anything to help with the heat. Cosmo found himself a lovely hat to keep the sun off and Wilfred found a banana boat to use in the pool.

After returning from the shops we headed to the leisure centre to cool down a bit and complete one of our minor projects. As expected Cosmo and Wilfred were the first in the pool splashing about and enjoying the banana boat Wilfred had got for them.

Once we had finally cooled down a bit we headed into the city to explore a bit more; we visited the many towers and churches Sighisoara has which gave us a new perspective on one of the most beautiful cities we have ever visited. While exploring the city we managed to find a local leather maker who was making traditional leather bracelets, sheaths and belts. This covered another one of our minor projects.

After a long day of exploring, we decided to head up to the Church on the hill to watch the sunset. After what felt like a thousand stairs, or what must feel like ten thousand for Cosmo and Wilfred, we were greeted by a busker playing Thunderstruck on the guitar at the top of Scholar’s Stairs. The sunset wasn’t quite as good as last nights but Cosmo and Wilfred enjoyed it non the less.

We have an early morning tomorrow heading off to Turda where we plan to visit the salt mine and explore the city.

Cosmo takes the train

We had an early start to the morning, after packing all our things we set off to the train station where we caught a train to Sighisoara. Unfortunately we forgot to get Cosmo and Wilfred tickets so they had to live in the bag whilst we boarded the train.

When we got on the train they were desperate to get out, they shared a seat showing how they had become best friends in only a few hours.

The train was sweltering, as soon as the conductor opened the window Cosmo rushed to stick his head out. The wind was refreshing instantly cooling the whole carriage down.

The train took 2 and a half hours, taking us over 130km from Brasov to Sighisoara. Carrying us far away from the thunderstorms of the previous day. As we arrived we were greeted by the beautiful city of Sighisoara, considered the most beautiful and well-preserved inhabited citadel in Europe.

After exploring Sigisoara we headed back to the campsite to have some dinner, continuing to enjoy the site of sighisoara.

Tomorrow we are looking forward to enjoying the city some more.

Thunder Buddies

We started off the day by packing up the tents and getting ready to head off to catch the bus to Brasov. After our long day of walking yesterday we decided to let Cosmo carry some of the bags to the bus stop.

Minutes before arriving in Brasov the heavens decided to open showering us with rain, cracking the air with a monstrous roar of thunder and bright flashes of lightning. We sprinted off the bus getting to the hostel as quickly as our legs would carry us, though sadly not quick enough to save us from looking like we had swum to Brasov. The thunder and rain had shocked Cosmo, this had been the first time he had experienced anything other than the heat of the last couple of days.

No matter how hard we tried we could not convince Cosmo to join us in exploring the slightly flooded streets of Brasov. Instead he refused to leave his bed saying he would only leave once the thunder had stopped.

Saddened by not having Cosmo to keep us company we set our self a quest of finding a way to make him feel better. We searched long and hard through the streets of Brasov, finding many interesting places on travels.

During our search we heard wind of a place where someone might be able to help. This place was the Black Church. Originally built it the late 14th century it was partially destroyed by a great fire set by invading Habsburg forces on April 21st 1689 leaving visible burn marks, hence the name the Black Church.

Unfortunately we were not able to take photos inside the church, though we can say that the views inside are amazing it truly is a place worth a visit if you are ever near Brasov.

Inside the church we met Wilfred, a young elephant who had overheard us talking about the Cosmo situation and thought he could assist us.

Wilfred explained that he had experienced many a thunder storm in Brasov, and so new exactly how to help poor Cosmo. After returning to the Hostel we saw an extreme improvement in Cosmo, he really had helped. Cosmo would not be afraid of a thunder storm ever again and Wilfred would have a friend to travel Romania with. Together they were Thunder Buddies.

Cosmo visits Bran (only the castle)

We started the day nice and early to try beat the heat, it didn’t work. Cosmo started to build up a sweat, the heat was getting to him, the shade helped for the small amounts of time we had to spend in it.

The journey from Rasnov to Bran took just over three hours, when arrived we setup our tents at a camp site called vampire camping, although we are yet to see any vampires actually staying at the campsite. We then headed off to Bran castle, once the home of Vlad the Impaler and Dracula, now one of Cosmo’s favourite places in Romania.

Cosmo even left his mark on the visitors ledger at the castle.

After leaving the castle we headed back to Bran to celebrate “Fit Like’s” 21st birthday, Cosmo definitely enjoyed the meal and the relief from the heat of the day .

Tomorrow we will be heading into Brasov, we are looking forward to visiting the black church and the world famous Brasov sign, as well as hopefully covering some of our minor projects and experiencing the culture of a larger Romanian city.