This morning we had a fantastic tour of “Hangar 7” where we were guided through one of the most beautiful and unique architectural structures we’ve ever seen. This all glass and steel building, dreamed up by the entrepreneur/artistic genius behind “Red Bull” houses an impressive aviation collection, three different restaurants featuring culinary art, one a simple café, one a wholelistic nutrition experience for mind, body and spirit, and a third featuring a famous chef each month from different countries around the world (the price range is around $120-$150 per person and there is about a 6 week waiting list to get in! ). There are artists and musicians that are featured throughout the year giving a platform to young emerging talent. Very unique concepts and a very inspiring experience for all of us! With plenty of ideas swirling in our heads we head on to our destination for today to Budapest. With sadly only a few hours to discover this beautiful city, we arrive to our hotel about 7pm, put our bags down and then out the door to the bitter cold for a long walk to see the river and old downtown where there are beautiful fortified buildings and ornate bridges. We ducked into a restaurant and ordered what anyone should order with only one night in Hungary, goulash soup for all with some good European crusty bread!
Wednesday, May 19th (destination Sibiu, Romania)
Today, we left at 9am and didn’t hit our destination until about 7pm averaging 30/mph!! We thought Eric’s birthday road trip was scary but this was definitely harrowing! On the main road to Sibiu, a two-lane highway, we shared the road with semi’s and cars with so little horsepower that semi trucks were passing them and we saw our life pass before our eyes every ten minutes!! It was a very long day but all was forgotten when we arrived to Sibiu where we were greeted by the promoter of the Red Bull Romaniac race which is an awesome 4 day technical Enurance ride through the Romanian countryside which is hauntingly beautiful! He and his lovely family treated us to some wonderful Romanian hospitality including a tour of the Sibiu citadel, a gorgeous breakfast the next day, some homemade Schnapps, and fun with their darling kids who both at ages 9 and 11 spoke about 4 languages each!! We had so much fun! We also had the pleasure to spend time with their friends and former Romaniac Enduro riders Andy and Sep, both helping now with the race.
Thursday, May 20th (destination Bucharest)
Today our destination was simple. You can’t leave Romania without visiting one of the Transylvania castles and of course we had to see Dracula’s. So we took some beautiful roads through the Romanian alps and ended up on the dramatic/romantic Dracula’s castle. It was more beautiful than scary since it was renovated and the stone covered in plaster inside. It was very well preserved seeing that it was built in the 13th century! We all had fun to see it. The weather was dreary and cloudy so it was a perfect atmosphere. We reached Bucharest by 4pm welcomed by sunshine and temperature in the 60’s for the first time since our arrival 10 days ago. Tonight we will have dinner with our friends, Gaultier and Marina, kids of Guy who we had lunch with on our first day in Europe. Looking forward to our evening!!
Tomorrow we should have our last grueling driving day and reach Itanbul Turley
Doggy at Hangar 7
Us in freezing Budapest
Our host in Sibiu
Romania Back country...Borat was filmed here
Back Country driving
Dracula's caste
Crew Cab Romanian Style
The castle
Transylvania scenery
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