I slept in a bit. I got up and left for breakfast at McDonald’s at around 8:30 AM. I had the usual burrito wrapped sausage egg and cheese plus orange juice.

I went back to the hotel and asked the front desk person to help me book a reservation for a tour of parliament in Bucharest. The front desk lady did not speak English very well so our conversation was slightly difficult. She made the reservation under Jeffrey instead of my last name. I just hope that there’s no other Jeffries which arrive for the 10 AM tour tomorrow.

I packed up my stuff and headed out. From experience I have found that whenever you go on a long train ride it is probably best to eat before hand. So I stopped at Subway and had a quick lunch and got a to go cup on my way out. I got to the bus stop just as bus number for to the train station was loading people but I hadn’t bought my ticket yet. Therefore I had to wait for the next bus.

When I got to the bus station I discovered that the next train to Bucharest wasn’t until 1:42 PM which was about an hour and 45 minutes. I wish I had known the train schedule that way I would not have wasted so much time just sitting in the Brasov train station.

As I waited a Romanian man struck up a conversation with me. He was ethnically Hungarian but lived in Romania. At some point the Austria Hungarian empire had crept into parts of Transylvania. Therefore there are still some ethnic Hungarians living in Romania. He showed me photos of canyons and natural formations where he lived. He had come to Brasov to look for work but I believe he was unsuccessful. He has a wife and a 10-year-old son. I could only wish him well in his job search.

Previously I had seen an advertisement in McDonald’s for a job paying 28,000 Romanian lei which is equivalent to US$7100. The cost of living in Romania is very low compared to western Europe. The US dollar can go very far in Romania.

I boarded the train and found other people sitting in my seat. We played the usual game of musical chairs until we could get some semblance of order according to what our tickets were assigned to. I was one of those people at one time where I just sat wherever I wanted to and didn’t realize that the tickets have a specific wagon and seat number.

The scenery immediately after the train station was very beautiful. It reminded me of Gatlinburg. The Carpathian mountains may be the poor man’s Swiss Alps.

There is a young lady sitting across from me who I found out spoke English. I asked if she was American and she said no. Later on I found out she was a New Zealander living in London. I started to ask her about life in New Zealand and where New Zealanders vacation to. she answered my questions that seem disinterested in my situation such as where I was from and why I was vacationing in Romania. So I decided to leave her alone the rest the trip. I’ll put on my headphones to listen to my iPod not necessarily because I was craving to listen to music. Instead it was to drown out all the Romanian that was being spoken in the background.

As we approached Bucharest north station I found it unusual in that not many people are getting up to get their stuff in anticipation of the trains arrival. I guess because the train was terminating in Bucharest it seemed a bit over prepare to get off so quickly.

As I got off the train And walked into the lobby area of the train station a man asked me if he could take me to my hotel. He was offering 50 Romanian lei but I declined.

Are use the train station is free Wi-Fi to determine the best route to my hotel. It showed me going to the bus stop and getting on bus 85. I had trouble buying tickets at the machine so I got it from the lady at the ticket booth. I asked for both bus and metro ticket for 24 hours.

After a while bus 85 did come and I got on. The ticket card did not show any barcode or electronic stamp on it so I figured it was OK. However the ticket control officers boarded the train and was asking everyone for their ticket. I gave them a ticket and they said that it was invalid. They told me to get off the bus. I had to pay a fine of 50 Romanian lei (about $8.50). I tried to explain to them that I was unfamiliar with the transport ticketing system as I have just arrived into the city. But they did not speak English and were adamant about giving me a fine. This aggravates me because it is my first time in their city and they should have cut me some slack. Since I did not know if I was allowed to continue my journey on the bus I just walked to my hotel. I believe it was probably around 2 to 3 miles down the road.

When I got to the hotel and explain the situation to the front desk gentleman. He recommended that I get a new card from the newspaper booth around the corner. Looking over the map it may be that I may not have to get a bus ticket anyway because most of the attractions are within walking distance Albeit at a bit far.

I decided to have supper at Pizza Hut which was just a short walk away from my hotel. I ordered a small pan meat lovers pizza. Here’s an interesting phenomenon. The 300 mL cola from the fountain was six Romanian lei. However the 250 ml cola served in a glass bottle was seven Romanian lei. In short its slightly less drink for more money.

I think the waitress forgot about me what it was time to pay. She was busy serving many other people in the other room. I wasn’t sure if it is appropriate for me to tip the Romania but I did anyway. I was trying to check on the Pizza Hut wifi, but the Internet wasn’t working.

I spent the rest of the time before sunset wandering around the streets of the old town. Most of the old town is made up of bars in Gentlemens clubs, with occasional souvenir stand mixed in.

I’m back in my hotel and will probably go to sleep in a few hours. Tomorrow I have a tour of parliament scheduled. I’ll spend the rest the time visiting histiric landmarks and maybe in a museum or two.