During our first day, Lars and I decided to go for a very long drive. First we went from Mugeni to Campulung:
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As you can see on the map, you pass two famous destinations, Brasov and Bran. We were in this region two years ago and visited the first one. And I have to admit that I didn’t like it all. Brasov was a lot more touristic than I had imagined. In my mind I saw an old town with cobbled streets; in reality, I saw a big ugly park and a crowded shopping street. Yes, ladies, I don’t like shopping streets! Maybe we were at the wrong side of town? Anyway, we didn’t stop in Bran – with its (in)famous Dracula castle – at all, since it was even more crowded.
And this time we ignored both cities completely. Instead we concentrated on a scenic drive through the lower Carpathian Mountains. This is a lot more to our liking! Mountains, woods, charming villages, meadows, … It is all so picturesque. Getting hungry or thirsty while driving? No problem, because you can regularly find pubs and restaurants.
Take your time for this drive. Not only because this is a road with a lot of curves, but also because you will encounter slow traffic: cows and trucks that seemed to have survived World War II. And you will stop a lot to take pictures!
Once we arrived in Campulung, we stopped going south and went west, to a place called Curtea de Argeș:
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And at this place, our real adventure would start!