I first travelled to Romania in 2005 and arrived at Otopeni Airport in Bucharest. I came over for a weekend trip to do the normal tourist route of seeing Bran castle in Transylvania.

After travelling on the coach to the far side of Romania I sat and wondered at how magic this land is.
Once you have broken free of the grey centre of Bucharest the rural areas have some of the most scenic landscapes I have seen also the mountains in winter time are very spectacular.

The centre of Bucharest needs to be brightened up too many grey buildings of little or no character. The town centre needs to have the kids run round with paint ball guns and really add all the colours of the rainbow to it and I'm sure it would be an improvement.

I also travelled to another castle that weekend Pele's Castle in Sinai this castle is spectacular and is all gold inside a very well kept its definitely worth seeing and there are many good restaurants in the area.

I found staying in Brasov a very enjoyable and also travelling up the mountains in the cable car exciting. In the winter this is a very popular skiing resort. Having never tried skiing yet but I saw many people enjoying the slopes and having a great time in the snow.

I have travelled to Romania a number of times since and found it a land emerging from the years of communistic dictatorship rising now to become part of the European Union. This will bring a great deal of prosperity to this land with Romania being sighted as the best place in Europe to invest in property and property prices ranging from as little as 2000.00 pounds upwards.

Romania is emerging into a strong stable place to invest in I have invested in property there and its part of my dream to live there and watch my investments in Romania grow. Romania is quickly becoming the hidden jewel of Eastern Europe.

Looking back at the photos of my first visit I remember our tour guide taking us through the story of Vlad Tepes the man who most believe that the Dracula story is based on. Vlad Tepes was known as Vlad the impaler who obviously used that method to dispatch his enemies. Vlad was never a resident of Bran castle, He was no vampire either and the true vampire legend is still shrouded in mystery.

Romania has long suffered at the hands of the worst dictator in Europe but now emerges as a refreshing place to visit Bucharest has many tree lined boulevards and is considered as the Paris of the East. The palace in the centre of Bucharest is a vast building I was looking at it thinking about how I would be hate to be the window cleaner for that lot. It was built by the dictator but now used as a government building.

I found that I liked being in the mountains the best of my times I have spent there the Carpathian Mountains are a wonder and the clear air and stunning views make it the most memorable part of my time there. Romania has now become one of my most favoured places to travel to mainly because it has no tourist traps just good people, good food and spectacular scenery.