"The whole time was great - people from all over
the world in the World Puzzle Championships (Oct 23-26, 1995) trying
to communicate and often succeeding. The english-speaking clique (us,
the token canadian, the dutch, some of the germans and hungarians,
one czech) hung out together all week and only seriously tried to
drink each other under the table after the competition was over. It
started out on Monday when we hiked down a ski area after riding a
somewhat rickety gondola up. This was quite exciting. Monday night
was the official opening party, which was a lavish affair and included
a Vegas-style show starring showgirls and the most famous singer in
Romania. Tuesday and Weds. were the competition, totaling 9 1/2 hours,
which induced neck strain in all but the most relaxed competitors.
Again a lavish dinner each night, with some shopping at a department
store (sort of odd) before dinner on Wednesday. On Thursday we went
to visit "Dracula's Castle" , I bought a cheap wool sweater
at the nearby market (25000 lei or about $11). At every dinner we
listened to hours of Romanian folk music and each night we heard the
latest euro-techno-pop in the hotel bar. Thursday night an intrepid
group stayed up partying until sunrise, getting our only sleep in
the bus back to Bucharest. "
"When visiting Brasov you absolutely
must: Go for a ride with the teleferic! Favorite Restaurant: COLIBA
HAIDUCILOR Favorite Menu Item: Chicken `la ceaun` Thanks to a great
number of restaurants, your stay in Brasov will be an enjoyable and
comfortable one. Being an old medieval city, Brasov gives you the
opportunity to visit a lot of old historical monuments and museums.
Fondest memory of Brasov: Winter sports, mainly skiing and snowboarding,
bring in the winter season thousands of tourists coming from all over
Europe. Sleigh rides, ski jets or ice-skating are only few of the
things you can enjoy visiting Poiana Brasov. "
