The Traveling Pancy

One of the ironies of life is that we often ignore those places that are closest to us. Although avid international travelers, years ago we purposefully decided to visit and explore the grandeur of some of the most beautiful places in the U.S. – our National Parks . So we have been on a quest…

As a family, we’ve always prioritized experiences over things. Three years ago, I was wracking my brain for a special experience for my husband’s milestone birthday. I recalled that when in college, we went to the Kentucky Derby.  We camped in the rain, sat in the wet infield and never saw a horse.  What we…

From Peles, we drove about 10 mins to a Serbian restaurant in Sinaia, Taverna Sarbului. We were starving so welcomed the large selection of food – bowls of green salad with tomatoes and cucumbers fresh off the vine drizzled with herbed olive oil, plates with assorted cold meats, cheeses and spreads, baskets of warm, thick…

One can’t leave Romania without seeing its famous castles. We’d skipped seeing Peles and Bran Castles during our independent travel because we knew that Iulia from the Traveling Tulip had arranged a tour for our group. So we were up early and on the bus by 7:30am navigating the Bucharest rush hour, eventually reaching the…

Tonight’s dinner provided another opportunity to explore Bucharest; our hosts with the help of Iulia from the Traveling Tulip arranged a three stop progressive dinner, or what they called a gastronomic tour.  We grabbed umbrellas and raincoats as we walked to our first location, the famous Hanu lui Manuc in Old Town across from the…

After six hours of focused work in a conference room, it was welcomed relief to do a combined team building and cultural learning activity in Old Town Bucharest. Thanks to Iulia from the Traveling Tulip, rather than an ordinary walking tour, we participated in a scavenger hunt that helped engage us in finding clues while…

Our group dined this evening at the Trattoria Buongiorna, a convenient 10 minute walk from the Athénée Palace Hilton. Many of our colleagues had arrived this afternoon from all over the world, so after a drink, dinner and some fellowship, most of us were prepared to walk back to the hotel and turn in for…

We woke to the drumming of rain on the window pane – looks like our luck with the weather has changed. It was time to put money in the parking meter, so it seemed easier to get the car, drive up the hill, load our luggage and find a restaurant outside the citadel for breakfast….

The drive from Brasov, although only 75 miles, took almost two hours; it was a pretty, but slow drive through small towns and farmland; rarely did we lose sight of the snow-capped peaks in the distance. We were beginning to think that in the short time we had, that maybe we had made a mistake…

We arrived in Brasov mid afternoon. The city has about 250,000 people and although traffic was moderate, driving through multiple traffic circles was a bit harrowing. We passed the ‘old town’, parked the car in a lot with rates the equivalent of $1 per hour and walked back to the cobbled town square for lunch….