We caught a train to Brasov and every station we passed had its "platform dogs". They lounge around on the platforms and look at the waiting passengers with sad eyes and get fed. There are so many homeless dogs here but they have left us alone so that is the main thing. We did read that a Japanese business man was bitten by a stray dog and because it cut an artery the guy died.
Eastern Europe looks like Asia when it comes to managing rubbish and in Romania the rubbish lies in huge piles on the streets and it is also dumped on the edges of the farmlands, probably just out of sight of the dwellers!
We passed many huge factories in varying stages of decay. One of the locals told us that after independence the factories were sold by the state. There were contracts that stated that the factories could not be changed for 2 years. After 2 years the new factory owners stripped the building of its valuable metals, equipment and chemicals and sold these. They made a lot of money as the factories were bought for a very cheap price and then the locals were left without employment.
The countryside is very flat and like most of the other East European countries we have been to there are fields of corn, alfalfa, wheat and potatoes. As we approached Braslov we saw mist covered mountains. There were many horses grazing in the fields and shepherds watching their grazing flocks of sheep and goats beside the rive
rs.
Brasov was a nice city with a large cobbled pedestrian area and the familiar outdoor restaurants that we have seen everywhere. The square was used by merchants and barters in the medieval days. The town hall at the end of the square was used to torture witches and heretics.
There was a display of Trabant cars in the square.
We visited the Black Church which was built in 1477 and is the largest Gothic church in SE Europe. Inside the church is a 4000 pipe organ and it is the first church that we have seen carpets hanging on the walls which were from the Turkey.
We used a web site to find accommodation here and ened up in a huge old house that was owned by a retired police man. He had huge glass bottles of pears, cherries, plums, and apricots in sugar fermenting on the porch to make fruit brandies called tuica which is usually 30 proof.
