You've heard the what. Now it's time to hear the why.

As technology became a bigger and bigger part of every person's action, I constantly felt like it was harder and harder to truly connect with people. Even though I was surrounded by them, I kept going to sleep at night feeling alone. I was deeply craving emotion in my life. Deeply craving conversation. I was just deeply craving connection. _______________________________________________________________________ With a proud partnership from Eurail, I will be traveling to as many countries in the EU as possible (by train and ferry) and trying to connect with people in every single one. Here is the world through my eyes as I do just that. ______________________________________________________________________ (Make sure to click on the photographs for the entire post) ______________________________________________________________________ This trip is dedicated to my true friend and brother, who I hope to see again someday - Casey Hirschman - "I'm just trying to see everything."

[theworldiseeblog-blog]

Now, it’s important to remember we’re still in Eastern Europe and most simple towns do things in the very traditional ways.

Case and point. You’re sick in Transylvania? Ask a local. Chances are, they will refer you to a pharmacy (how most Europeans get their drugs) and then to a Pharmacy cafe (Sometimes, it goes in the opposite order depending on how bad you feel).

What is a pharmacy cafe?

MAGIC.

Let me tell you...

You literally sit down at a table just like at a restaurant. When you sit, they bring you a menu like this and you open it. Most of the well known sicknesses will be there like ‘Flu’ ‘Cold’ ‘Coughing’ etc.

Then, on each page with each sickness, there is a list of recommend liquors to help treat them. 

Now, remember, most liqueurs were originally developed to help with sicknesses. Things like Green Chartreuse,  Fernet-Branca, Sambuca, and many more were all made with loads of herbs and spices to help treat symptoms and help people feel better (Also know as: to make them drunk enough to forget how shitty they felt). 

For the flu, I was ‘prescribed’ Fernet-Branca and served it in a beaker below:

Now, I can’t say it cured me... But I will say that, after a few of these, I didn’t feel sick anymore and was ready to sleep!

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I work in a bank and do a very good job with accounts and things like this. After a while, the bank tried to give me more money to thank me and I kept telling them ‘No, I am just doing my job.’ After a year of this, around Christmas time, they bought me a diamond necklace as a way of thanks.

Overheard at a bar in Brasov

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Now, I told you I was really sick while I was here. And I am not exaggerating. But, I am just like my mom in the sense that I can NEVER sit still or I will feel endless shame and guilt.

So, most mornings, I would muscle enough strength to make it across the street in the Old Town to this incredible place, called Bistro Of The Arts (In Romanian though). I went here everyday while I was there and would spend a few hours every time.

For a sick stomach, you won’t find anything more perfect. Homemade tomato soup with local cheeses in it, fresh bread and locally made teas. Oh and did I mention this is Romania? I was eating 4-course meals for $10, including drinks, etc. And this was considered a very fancy restaurant there.

And they were incredibly grateful. It was so wonderful just to be a part of a restaurant situation like that. I was spending $10 (in 3-4 hours) and they made me feel like I was Mark Cuban coming in and spending $10k. The waitress would check in on me all the time, the chefs would offer to re-make the soups if it sat too long and then, on the 3rd day of doing this, the owner sent over a homemade dessert as thanks. 

All the while, it was snowing heavily outside and I just felt like I was at home, no matter how bad I felt. 

When I was about to pay after my last meal there, I was reading the menu and just the noticed this quote:

“Welcome to Bistro D’ Le Arts. This cafe was built in the 16th century and is one of the oldest buildings still standing in post-communism Brasov.”

16th century! I cannot get enough of Europe.

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So here’s some of my favorite photographs from my first day in Brasov...

“You want me to take your picture? You want to take OUR picture? Yes! Please!”

“I’m from Timisoara!”

This might have been the first vampire I’ve met. (Transylvania is also the birth place of the Dracula story)

All it takes is a kind face to make you remember how wonderful the world is.

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Random simple days thoughts:

I realize how passionate I am about photography when I don’t care if my clothes get stolen but I’ll always keep my camera on me. Always.

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Wow, Brasov was a lot to take in.

First of all...

I ended up getting ridiculously sick once here. I mean, thinking I was going to throw up all the time (Definite flu) and non-stop stomach issues, etc. ALL in the most ridiculous place I could be with this happening... 12+ hours east of the closest city of any sort, in the mountains IN EASTERN TRANSYLVANIA. 

That’s normally how situations go and you have to just take it as a new adventure.

I couldn’t let that keep me inside, for I was really fascinated with how distant this new world felt like. Actually, to be honest, I didn’t even know that Transylvania was a real place before coming here. The people of Transylvania actually get really offended if you call it Romania since they have enough history to distance themselves from it. 

So where do you start? Well, first, the history of this place is unreal. In the medieval times, it was a walled in city that was engineered to withstand constant bombardments from enemies from all angles. Castles are still situated on the cliff sides around this town square. The location of this city was perfectly in between the Ottoman empire and Western Europe.

The church above is called the Black Church for one reason. In the 16th century, everything burned down in this town. When I say everything, I mean 80%+ of the entire population died in this fire. Yes, 80% of the people... Not the buildings... perished in this fire. But, for the buildings, everything burnt also and one of the only remaining buildings was this church. Built in the 14th century, it is now called the Black Church because it was blackened so much by those fires.

This is what the church looks like from the inside. (Crappy picture because all photographs were banned)

Anyways, this town is magic.

One major problem that made me not like it though: It’s ridiculously commercialized. It makes no sense. Here’s this pristine town with more history than any place I have ever visited... In the mountains... In Transylvania... In the middle of NOWHERE. Yet, there are major commercial stores absolutely everywhere. In fact, on the Black Church photograph above, I edited out the Starbucks sign that was directly in front of it. I don’t even know how they get goods out here on a consistent basis.

That bothered me a lot and took away a lot of the simple aesthetic of a place I was really looking forward to falling in love with. 

But, as you’ll see in the next post, plenty of magic still happened here that I am excited to show you.

[theworldiseeblog-blog]

It’s time to move on. A couple days in Timisoara was perfectly needed and I am excited about the town that’s next on the list.

Ever since Budapest a week ago, everyone has been talking about a town called Brasov, in Transylvania (central/eastern Romania), and recommending that I go. So today, I head 12 hours...

into the Romanian countryside today. The farther east I have gone into Europe, the worse the trains have gotten but I do appreciate the simplicity of a 12-hour train ride with no internet and nothing to do except read, write and listen to music.

It was essentially just me and a conductor going with maybe 5-6 people scattered around the train. When we crossed into Romania, police boarded at two separate stops and scanned my passport. Once, they took it with them and gave me a bit of a sweat! This was before I got used to them doing this.

(Quick conductor story: This guy was awesome. He did not speak one word of English but he would come to me throughout the 12-hour ride and bring me to a window whenever we were passing something beautiful. He would let me know exactly how long I had to explore (4-minutes, 1-minute, 10 minutes, etc) on the quick train stops across the countryside. Then, when night hit, he sat right behind me and watch a futbol game, cheering and going nuts in the completely silent train. When the other conductor came to ask him for help, he waved them off and continued watching the game.)

I didn’t know anything about this place. But, here’s what I had heard from the people who recommended it: Deep into the mountains in Transylvania, a beautiful mountain town that is surrounded by castles. Bears still run wild and it’s where the legend of Dracula came from.

I’m in.

I got a hostel before this trip (finally) and knew it was in the Old Town there. I found out when I arrived that that it was a nice 2+km walk in the freezing cold at night time. But who am I kidding... It was a lot of fun. A new town under the blinding stars with music in my ear.

I made it to the place, crashed for the night and got up early to explore with a vivid curiosity.

[theworldiseeblog-blog]

Another interesting thing about Timisoara is the Orthodox religion... To me, 

this is such a fascinating part of Eastern Europe. Here you have these very simple towns, most that are quite poor, and in the middle of them are unbelievably ornate and gaudy churches. 

The main church absolutely dominates the very simple architecture here and, when you’re walking on the sidewalk, they blast the sermons and songs on the streets so you can hear them.

When you walk inside, the weight hits you immediately. A deeply dark church that is very dimly lit but immaculately decorated. There are two guys who are reading constantly and never stop unless to sing.

Even more interesting is there is nowhere to sit. No pews or seats at all, except for just a few for the elderly in the corners and against the wall. Everyone is just scattered randomly. Some people walk up a red carpet to get to large paintings of Jesus and Mother Mary, where they kiss them. Others walk closer to the altar where they lay on the ground and kiss the floor... Then stay on their knees for long periods of time. 

I didn’t know one word that was being spoken but I just loved to sit there and feel the culture and weight of such a place. Different religions is always an interesting part of different cultures. 

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Well, I love traveling. I really do. “The great love affair is just to move” and I couldn’t agree more. There’s such a beautiful feeling in just doing something so far out of the ordinary and just sitting back and enjoying the ride.

Where your mind is very relaxed and open so your thoughts are able to freely come out in writing. And the best part is that the entire time, you have a slight, subtle feeling of nervousness and excitement for a new place you’re going to see. For a new learning experience and a new challenge. A place completely new that you know you will find beauty in.

When you travel this way, you are actively seeking and thinking and living. You are never just another bystander, auto piloting through life… No. You have to think and pay attention and oh my goodness, is it beautiful. Because when you’re paying attention in life, you really do notice the beauty around you. You notice as many little interesting things as possible because your mind is running and your your intensely curious. This is the magic in experiencing different cultures with a truly open mind. Without any preconceptions. Because when you do this, I promise you you will always find something you appreciated about every place. Routine is not normal in life and not the way we are supposed to live anymore.

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Timisoara is truly a special place if for no other reason than the people alone. Such a history. This is one incredible story about the power of protest.

In December, 1989, the people of Timisoara started mass protests. They were tired of being under a communist rule and were willing to give their lives to reclaim their town. It all started right here in this square and became what is now known as the Romanian Revolution. 

There was a very prominent communist dictator at the time and he had refused to visit Timisoara because he was always afraid of the people there. When the uprising began, he faced some pressure and agreed that he would finally visit there.

But first, the government hired a large number of factory workers to go ahead of him and attack the protestors, hoping they could create rest and make it a safer place for him to visit first. 

But they never planned on what would happen next. 

When the factory workers arrived, they turned and joined the protests instead. By the time the dictator arrived, the Revolution had become unstoppable and they captured him and his wife... Putting them in front of a firing squad and killing them with their own might.

This marked the end and, on December 20th, made Timisoara the first city in all of Romania to be free of Communism. 

That is the power of protest.

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“Growing up in a communist city (Timisoara, Romania) was very difficult and I don’t know if people know what that is like...”

“When I was a boy, my dad would go to the market for bananas and spend 20 hours waiting in line for them. We needed it so he would wait for them. 

And it was not unusual to wait 20 hours in line for fuel for your car, only to get to the front and they would be out of fuel. You would have to come back the next day and try again.

And there was lots of corruption. We had a senator who got caught stealing $200k Euros so he passed a law that it was not illegal to steal $200k Euros or less. 

So everyone in Timisoara started protesting and stealing everything, just to make a point, because he had passed this law.”

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Picture break. Some of my favorites from my days in Timisoara.

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Timisoara, Romania.

Truly a city and country I knew absolutely nothing about when I came here...

Here’s how it went. The girl from my train walked me to this square, said goodbye and then I was left with a very uncertain feeling. I really didn’t have any concerns but we were pretty far East in Europe at this point and, again, I really didn’t know a single thing about this city or country. I was very alert, I guess we can say.

The main square was absolutely beautiful and dominated by the sight of this Orthodox church at the end. It turns out 81% of Romanians are devout Orthodox and huge churches absolutely dominated the architecture in most directions. They were all absolutely gorgeous.

I got a hostel once there and walked about 1/4km to drop my bags off. 

One of the best parts of Eastern Europe in the winter? Sometimes, you have the rooms all to yourself because no one else would be crazy enough to be there. 

Perfect opportunity to get some much needed rest and focus.

I was deeply curious about this place because it was so vastly different than any other place I had been to. Again, I knew nothing about Romania... Not the politics, the people, the food, etc. I wanted to just go explore it.

It seemed like the town, though small, had two very ornate squares where everyone congregated. At one end of the main square was the Orthodox church above and a gorgeous Opera Hall (that was built in 1871) was on the other side.

People were just outside and enjoying the weather. Live music was playing from open windows and the air seemed very, very clean. 

It was wonderful to just sit and observe how everyone interacted.

Oh, and pigeons. Lots and lots of pigeons.

[theworldiseeblog-blog]

“My life since then has been quite colorful. 

I made so many decisions that changed everything. After being a waiter for a while, I worked in a hotel for three years. After that,  I went to a few other places in Scotland, worked at juke mills and then eventually decided to go to London, where I worked in a biscuit factory. 

I ended up staying there for 20 years. 

But I was a bit of a rebel in a sense I guess. 

There was many times when I would show up late to work so they took money off of my paycheck. But my work proficiency never suffered because of being late... I got the exact same amount of work everyone else did, just in less time. But my bosses didn’t care and still penalized me, which I didn’t think was fair. 

I stood up for myself and told them I wouldn’t work until they paid me. I figured they would fire me. But, to my surprise, after a lot of discussion with the personal manager and so forth, they gave me all the money I was owed. I was fine with that and went back to work but people ended up hearing about what I did and there was a lot of my superiors talking about it. 

At the same time this was happening, there was a union representative that they weren’t very happy with so they asked me if I would take over for him. Now, I had no experience with this and my English wasn’t very good so I studied up to polish it and told them I would when I was ready. 

Right away, I became the Chief Shop Steward in a factory with 1600 members and 12 Shop Stewards under me.

I did that for about a year and a half and things went well but the workers were being mistreated so I called a strike that ended up involving 5 of the factories. It was quite large so it wasn’t long before we won the recognition, meaning everyone that joined the factory had to join the union. It was a big win. They gave me an office in the factory and the company paid me more. 

I ended up doing this for 20 years and was quite successful at it. But I wanted something new. I had someone that worked in the union with me so one Christmas, in 1983, we were drunk and decided we would go treasure hunting in the ocean. I learned how to scuba dive so we could do this. 

2 years after this conversation, his wife’s aunt died and left them a lot of money so he bought a 46’ boat. And that was it. I said I would give up my job to sail the world and go treasure hunting. My wife did not mind and my son was doing so bad in school, the headmaster said ‘He’d be better on a boat.’

We left and got out on the ocean but after some time, things got difficult. Unfortunately, when you’re in close quarters like that, people don’t get along too well. It was him and his wife and me and my wife and son. The two ladies didn’t get a long with each other so, very quickly, we kind of had a fall out. 

We had sailed away in September to cross the Atlantic but by this time, the weather was too bad and, with all this in mind, we decided to pull into a port in Portugal. My partner who owned the boat said he had to go back to England quickly and sell his home so he took his wife and me and my family spent the winter in Portugal.  As soon as we had some space, I decided I have to do something else because of the friction.

So I put a deposit down on a restaurant right beside a beach in Portugal. My partner in England said he would split it with me. 

But I couldn’t speak Portuguese so I knew I would need to spend some time learning the language before I opened the doors. Unfortunately though, during this time, my partners roof burned down at his house before he could sell it and he decided to pull out.

That was it. We didn’t want to do the restaurant by ourselves so we said we would go back to England. 

I could’ve gone back to the factory but it would have been kind of like putting my tail between my legs so I thought of something else to do. I bought a moving company, taught myself how to do it and ended up being in business for 15 years until I recently retired.

I can’t help but think that, if I would have just stayed in the factory, my pension would have been that of a king. 

But, in my life, I always chose adventure.”

Me: “Do you regret your decision to choose adventure?”

“Yes and no. Financially, I would have been much better but I would not have had the adventures I had. Life would have been boring. And I don’t like looking back… It’s gone. It’s gone.”

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I can honestly say, with all sincerity, that there is no more incredible story I have ever heard in all of my travels. You can ignore every other post I make but please take a minute to read this one.

While on my train from Budapest, Hungary to Timisoara, Romania, I chose a cabin with this gentleman and desperately hoped he spoke English. Older people in Eastern Europe almost always have incredible stories of their upbringing during very difficult times and I wanted to hear this guys.

There was nothing I could do to prepare for the story that came.

“When I was 15, the Hungarian Uprising began. When that happened, you had a choice to make: You could stay and take a chance or you could flee. The Hungarian government was communist and ruled everything at that time and it was getting bad. For example, The Hungarian Prime Minister demanded independence at that time so they executed him.

Now, I come from a peasant family so I lived out on a farm with my parents. When the Uprising began, I knew I really had to flee to Austria because they had been shooting almost everyone at that time... But my family was poor and we had no money or way to make this happen. 

So I had no other choice. I packed a briefcase with all I could find to help me which was a sandwich, a pistol and a hand grenade... And I just ran. 

I ran for a very long time and slept in forests, fields and mostly under hay stacks.”

“An important to know was that my dad had a sort of mechanic job that I sometimes helped with. When I did, he had a uniform that I always had to wear.

This is what I wore the entire time I ran... and it ended up saving me many times when the Russians would ask me where my papers were or where I was going. I would always just tell them I was going to work or home from work... And I got very lucky many times. They would have likely shot me if they found out I was on the run. 

It might have also saved me because I could speak Slovakian fluently so I was able to communicate with the Russians when they came across me. When they would see me, the first thing they would ask you for is your papers and I would always just say to them ‘I am only 15... I haven’t got any papers because I am just now going to work.’”

(Another way he dodged a major bullet is that you didn’t have to have your papers until you were 16 at that time.)

“My sandwich only lasted me a week so I survived on sugar beets and apples that I could find along the way… But I was barely surviving. 

Then, one day, I came to some train tracks and saw a village on the other side and realized the border was likely close by. 

It was and it turns out I got very, very lucky. “

“When I reached the village, it was starting to be day light and I ran into the border patrol. Two guys. With a couple of dogs. And it was right on the edge of the village, on the train tracks, on the Hungarian side. They were coming out of the village as I was going through and they said ‘Where are you going?’ 

Now, when you’re 15, you’re quite impertinent, or should I say, cheeky. I just said ‘I’m going to the village, where do you think I am going?’ and they just kept walking. Now, this might not seem like much but it was so lucky, in fact, that the railroad worker in the signal station saw everything and stopped me to tell me I was very fortunate.

I got to the village. I saw they had lookout towers every 300 meters or so but never saw anyone in them so I figured I was okay... But I was also very naive. 

I saw another village across a field and planned to just walk across the field to get there and then figure out how to get to Austria from there. But this is how lucky I was again... That village turned out to be in Austria. If I crossed the field there, I would’ve likely been shot. So I stayed in the village I was in.”

“I met a guy in the village and he asked if I was going to try to cross. I’ll always remember, he told me ‘Be careful or you’ll get shot.’ 

He told me about a hen house, closer to the border, and that there might be a guy who could help me and let me sleep there. I did just that and when I got there, the guy was very apprehensive of this. Still, he showed me the place to sleep and he told me he would wake me at midnight. When I woke up, it was so incredibly foggy that you couldn’t see anything at all so he just pointed a line and told me that, even if I didn’t make it to the village, I would be in Austria if I followed that.”

When I got to the Austrian border, I had to run across in complete darkness. I had to go across some more railroad tracks that were close to the village and I knew that the border patrols would be walking about.

I just ran. 

Now, when I was running across the tracks, I made a lot of noise because of the stones on the track. They heard me and shouted... But they couldn’t see me because the fog was so heavy. You could only see a few meters in front of your face. 

Then, they started shooting in my direction. But again, they could not really tell where I was. 

However, they had dogs and they released them.

I threw the grenade I had at the dogs as I ran. I am not really sure if it was close to them but all that matters was that I made it across.

...

(Starts laughing) That was very strange.

I ran into Austria and the Austrian police quickly captured me right across the tracks. The border patrol couldn’t do anything so the police took us into a lovely community center, where we stayed until the end of December. Then, they let us go anywhere they wanted. A lot went to Canada, some went to the States… I personally signed a contract for the NCB to go and work in the mines in Scotland for 5 years. However, I showed up at the mines, looked down and said ’Since there is no window, I do not think this is such a smart idea.’ and looked elsewhere for work. I ended up becoming a waiter.”

There will be a part two!

[theworldiseeblog-blog]

If anyone is wondering how I travel, here is exactly how I do on a trip like this...

When it’s the day to move on, I normally wake up naturally pretty early. I get up and go straight to a bistro for some espresso and internet to look at a map. I pull up my current location and check all the countries/cities around it. Then, I pick one that seems interested and, if all goes well, is somewhat in the correct direction and then just go. 

Eurail also has an incredible app that works offline and allows you to check every train schedule in the entire EU. I pull that up, see when the next one is leaving and then just go.

I never book a place until I get there... Which can be good and bad at times. I like to get there in the day light, if possible, and then explore a bit and get a place close by. I normally get one night to make sure I love it and if I do, I extend from there.

With that being said, I knew it was time to move on from Budapest for a little bit so I woke up, checked a map and saw I was right next to Romania. A place I knew NOTHING about but was so interested in. I had heard about a great town called Brasov so I got on the train to go there. 

A 12 hour train ride through the countryside sounded amazing.

However, once I was on the train, we had a quick stop at a place called Arad after a few hours. I just felt like moving so I jumped off, saw another train and jumped on that one. It was going to a town called Timisoara, a place I had never even heard of, and I was really interested to find out. A few hours later (and one of the greatest conversations I have ever had in my life - will be on the next post) and I was there. 

I sat next to a wonderful girl on the train and, when we arrived, I asked where the central square was. She offered to walk me there and we talked in broken english the whole way.

I absolutely live for this.

[theworldiseeblog-blog]

How do I possibly sum up this amazing city in just a few posts? 

I can’t and I won’t even try to. If you want to hear about it, have a bottle of red wine with me and I would love to tell the stories of the magic I found in this incredible place.

Budapest, I can’t wait to come back.