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I spent most of the morning chilling out in a public park. I like Brașov. It’s a nice little place. Well, except for the train station being a light-year away from the center. That was quite a hike in the burning heat.

It was nearly the middle of the afternoon when I boarded a train to Sighișoara. Alas, it was not meant to be the relaxing ride I hoped for. For the first two hours, a large group of people was taking up much of the upper deck of the carriage, and spent most of the time screaming at each other. And when they laughed it sounded even much worse. Two guys tried to talk with me a bit, but there was a language barrier. They also were hiding a bottle probably filled with some homemade alcohol or something, until the police officer that was constantly patrolling while they were there finally found it. The second half of the journey was much calmer, with the Carpathians lit by the late afternoon sun.

Sighișoara is a beautiful medieval citadel town, one of the last inhabited one in Europe.

And best of all, the cheap hostel I booked is in an old building bang in the middle of the old center. Check-in is automatic, and I had received the instructions by email to enter. So I made my way to the room, and for the remainder of the day, I didn’t see or hear a single soul in the hostel. I really felt that I was completely alone here. But let’s not forget that we’re in the heart of Transylvania here, who knows what kind of visit I could get in the middle of the night?

As the sun set, the day ends, and with it… the first half of the Great European Train Tour. Well, roughly, I have no idea about my exact return date, but it should be around June 30, more or less one week. Thus, it is time for looking back.

Half of it, jeez! How? It’s been so fast. In a way, I feel like it shouldn’t last more than twice the time I already spent on the road. But on the other hand, I really don’t want it to spot in two and a half months. Whenever I feel a bit down, or if in the morning I’m tired and lazy to get out of bed, I just remember myself that I don’t have to wake up early to go to work. I am free, in its widest meaning. I can chose to go wherever I please on this day. And that’s not just for a week-end; It’s what my life is at the moment, and I fear to think of it differently. But enough of this low man’s lyric, that’s in a long time still. For now, just keep waking in a new place, a new city, a new country whenever I wish.

The first half of April feel somewhat both really fast and quite empty. Even though it started in Bratislava, the day where I nearly lost my faithful Eastpak. I went far East, further than before and after, all the way to Moldova, and back in time to the Soviet Union. It’s been a couple weeks of taking detours, with several round trips taking me back to a previous place, like the Balaton tour, the Moldova round-trip, and now going from București [Bucharest] to Sighișoara, close to Cluj-Napoca, where I was a few days ago.

Three countries so far in early April, four with Slovakia, taking it a bit slower. Which is good! I may not been seeing as much as in the previous months, but I’ve started to relax on the schedule, and to take some more resting time. Right now, I feel much more rested and full of energy than at the end of March. Although a bit lonely.

Overall, I’ve slept in 48 cities and four trains, and I’ve been to 21 countries out of 40. So still one country ahead of « schedule »! And the five micro-states are still to come, so I can really take my time now. The only time imperatives I have at the moment are to be in Montenegro by the first few days of May to meet Kamel, and be in San Marino on May 31. Which means that before the end of April, I have to exit Romania and visit Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia and Albania. Which will be the beginning of the bus nightmare.

Balkans, here I come!