Romania - Land of Castles and Dreams

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.

2007 Andy Bolton 39 Liverpool, http://www.bravemain.com http://www.romanian-bride.com

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The Keys to Ultimate Beach Fitness

Everyone's talking about beach fitness. From women to men, everyone wants to look good when they're lying out or hanging out in the water. But to get your body in bikini or swim trunk shape, you need to find exercises that really work and help you with getting in shape. Even if you don't have a lot of time, however, you can succeed at beach fitness. Here are the toning tools and fitness tips you need.

The first thing you need to do for beach fitness is to figure out what your goals are. If you're looking to lose weight, you may want to weight yourself and create a weight loss target for your body. You might also want to measure specific parts of your body arms, waist, chest, thighs, hips, etc. to keep a record of where you are losing weight even when the scale doesn't say that you are. By creating clear goals, you will be able to assess your progress as you move along and motivate yourself when your willpower if flagging.

Next, you should start looking into exercises that will really target the areas that will be seen when you're on the beach. Here are a few beach fitness exercises that you can use no matter if you're a man or a woman:

* Squats
* Calf raises or dips
* Crunches
* Bench presses
* Push-ups

While this list seems short, it targets all of the major muscle groups in the body. And if you're pressed for time, it's the perfect way to still tone your body.

But beach fitness doesn't stop there. You also need to add a cardiovascular component that will help your body burn any excess fat and inches you might have. Try to include at least thirty minutes of heart pumping exercise three days a week. The national recommendation for weight loss is 45 to 60 minutes of cardio 5 to 6 times per week, but if you're not ready for that kind of time commitment, slowly work your way up. When you do cardio exercise, you should be working hard enough that you are breathing heavily, but not so hard that you can not talk at all.

When it comes to beach fitness, you need to make sure that you're eating a balanced diet that's low in calories in addition to your workouts. While it might seem like you could eat more, you need to create a calorie deficit in order to lose the inches that you don't want to show off on the beach.

Machelle Lee owns and operates The Invisible Gym in santa Cruz, CA. Her mission is to inspire people to become physically active and enjoy the benefits of a balanced, healthy lifestyle. For more information and questions you can visit her website. http://www.the-invisible-gym.com

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