Hello from Brasov (pronounced Bra(ch)ov) Romania.  Brasov is in the Romanian province Transylvania.  It used to be an old German town originally named Kronstant.  It is the first Saxon city north of Bucharest.  There are allot of great old German restaurants and pubs here, and allot of interesting culture and history.  The pictures I posted are of a German pub and Romanian restaurant I visited today.

There is a very old Saxon catholic church (I posted a previously posted a picture of it on this blog as well) as well a some very beautiful old orthodox churches.

Tomorrow I am going to the castle of Vlad Tepes, also known as count Dracula, and tonight I am going to look at some Romanian bears.  The food here is delicious and the hostel is very nice and helpful.  I will post pictures of my adventures soon.   Hopefully I catch  some bears on film; that would be great.

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Friends and Family - Happy 4th of Jully, and Hello from Bucharest Romania.  Bucharest is the capital of Romania, and probably its biggest city.  There is alot to see here from historic restoraunts and 3 billion euro palaces that took centuries to build, to ruinious soviet-style housing complexes created by Romanian ruler Nicolae Ceasescu before he was driven out of the country by Romanian demonstraters.
 
I arrived here this afternoon around 2 o'clock after a flight from Amsterdam.  Despite the wories of myself and my mother, there was no problem with finding my way throuh the airport, into the city and from there to the hostel.  I did not have to ask for directions, because I had the help of a good Lonely Planet guide book.  If I had, it would not have been a problem.  People here are very friendly, and almost everybody speaks english as well as Romanian. 
 
Romanian is related to the Russian language, but is quite different actually.  There are alot of old buildings in the part of the city that I am based in, but alot of the old archeticture in other parts of the city was been replaced by communist archetecture inspired by Nicolae Ceasesu's trip to Bejiong in the 80's.  In 1989 the Romanian FSN (National Salvation Front) overthrough their despotic dictator Nicolae Ceasescu.  The city is full of very mellow, and cute, hoomeless street dogs that seem to be right at home in the city.  I am amazed by the amount of American chain stores here.  Thats all for now.

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Friends and Family - Hello from Bucharest Romania.  I arrived here this afternoon at around 2 o'clock after a flight from Amsterdam.  Despite my worries, there was no problem with finding my way throuh the airport, into the city and from there to the hostel.  I did not have to ask for directions, because I had the help of a good Lonely Planet guide book.  Even if I had it would not have been a problem becuase people are friendly here and almost everybody speaks english as well as the native language Romanian.  Romanian is related to the Russian language, but is quite different actually.  There are alot of old buildings in the part of the city that I am based in, but alot of the old archeticture in other parts of the city was been replaced by communist archetecture inspired by Nicolae Ceasesu's trip to Bejiong in the 80's.  In 1989 the Romanian FSN (National Salvation Front) overthrough their despotic dictator Nicolae Ceasescu.  The city is full of very mellow street dogs that seem to be right at home in the city and blend in well.  Surprisingly there is no sign of dog poop, so I guess someone cleans that up.  People here are friendly to American tourists, and I was amazed by the amount of American chain stores here.  Thats all for now.

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Hello from Llanberis Wales - Arrived here yesterday from Dolgecllau.  I had a great time there and got to hear some great music and made new friends and ractice some Welsh speaking.  Llanberis is a nice little village that relies mostly on tourism.  I am looking forward to getting back to friends and family, but I am not looking forward to getting back to the US because I feel very detatched from that place now.  "The chief function of a nation the state is create the conditions which allow the nation to live its life fully, and thus make it possible for its members a full life as individual persons.  In the end the purpose of it all is to enable every human being to live his life as fully as possible." says Gwynfor Evens  the  president of Wales own Plaid Cymru in his great book, originally written in Welsh, called Land of my Fathers.  If this statement holds true, as I think it should then I have reason to be disappointed with the state of affairs in the US.  Land that belongs to an oppressed people the Native American tribes has been greedily snatched up by the rich and now I feel I live in a sort of disguised slavery.  The evil of class ism has blinded many to the habits of our society, for example the  main stream media stories we choose to read and the things we choose to find acceptable.  The government instead of trying to address these problems is only afraid and worried about there own image.  In a fear based system like the one that persists in the US there is no room for creative solutions to problems only war on war on war.  There is no room for full life and individual persons.  There is no reparation for the wrongs of the past.  It has become a land heading directly down the fast lane to its own destruction despite the constant appeals for help to its leaders who singularly refuse to hear any of it.  I wish I could live in a place like Ireland or Wales where there is a sense of belonging and community and a solidarity.

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Hi - Im back in the UK.  I had a great time in Spain and I the people I met there were very friendly.  I think Spain is a very tourist friendly place to go.  Im in Portsmouth tonight after being threatened by the border patrol to be sent back to Spain, but Im getting used to that now.  Almost every time Ive crossed a border Ive been threatened now.  This time it was because I asked why I was being interegated about what I was going to do when I got back.  I was trying to be friendly, but they really dont like Americans.  I think there is still alot of classism in peoples minds these days unfortunitly.  The border man said "have you tried getting into America lately?"  Its another thing wars create: anomosity.  It shouldn't be about where you were born anymore than about what color your skin is.  Unfortunitly, we're still not there yet even if we think we are.  Its another oppurtunity to practice that forgiveness that the only hope for the future.  I just hope that other people start to practice it too, because It only works if everyone does it.  Well that said Im excited to be going to Wales tomorow to the Eistoffodd.  Ill be going back to Llangollen where my mothers family name Yale come from. 

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