Post Romania

So perhaps you read my previous post regarding my "vacation" to Romania. Upon my return I was exhausted, irritable and very, very happy to be home. About a week and a half after we returned, I finally received a follow up e-mail from the tour company. It was both funny and shocking at the same time. The company seemed to be somewhat misinformed about our trip, so that was funny. The follow-up also included the names and personal e-mail addresses of each of the tour group members, including myself. This list of personal e-mails was sent to the whole tour group without my prior consent of releasing any personal e-mails. Boy, oh boy, was I not pleased. Below is the follow up e-mail from the tour group (please note that I have deleted passages in which they promoted upcoming tours and also removed some names):


Dear Fiendish Friends & Transylvania Travelers,
Fang you for being part of our Summer Haunted Vampire Vacation to Transylvania. Although I didn't go this one personally, I've been in touch with Radu and he's filled me in on how great it was. Thanks from him and the driver.
Now we would love it if you shared your feelings about the trip with us: What were the highlights? What did you love the most? What wasn't so great? More importantly, we'd love it if you shared your photos with us! We are looking forward to getting XXXX's tour report to put online, but we really need everyone's pictures to add to our website.
On behalf of Radu (and the fearless coach driver), my business partner XXXX (who was jealous he didn't go when he heard how nice and normal and well-behaved this group was), and XXXX in our dungeon (oops, we mean our office), allow me to thank you all for being such a pleasure to work with. We wish every tour group of people were as nice and friendly and fun and weird and as intoxicating (and as intoxicated?) as this one.

Oh yes, and need I remind you - PLEASE TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW ABOUT OUR TOURS!
AND PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO SEND PHOTOS! Thanks.
Cheers & Chills & Thrills & Beast Witches,
"TOURS OF TERROR"

Here is the email roster of our "SUMMER DRACULA TOUR 2009" gang of guys & gals & ghouls:
{Insert list of names and e-mails here}


I was very quick with my response. I had a response typed and sent within hours. Here is my response:

Dear Tours of Terror,
Thank you for the follow up. Here is my honest opinion of the tour:
I was not prepared for the amount of time spent traveling on the tour bus. The trip was anything but relaxing, having to get up early each day and be on a bus for hours on end. We ate most lunches at gas stations and then ate dinner very late at night, as late as 11 pm one evening. We were not given a lot of time to explore on our own, and it was anything but restful. And as for well-behaved, I would beg to differ slightly. We were awakened on a couple of different nights by our drunken American cohorts banging on hotel room doors and carrying on conversations in the hallways, etc.

Radu was extremely knowledgeable, though he managed to sidestep a lot of the history of Vlad Tepes as well as the history of the novel. Though I had read a good deal about Vlad Tepes and Bram Stoker, my husband had not. We were both disappointed because we were treated as though we were supposed to already know about Vlad the Impaler and were supposed to be extremely familiar with the book. When we asked questions about various cities we stopped in and sites we saw, we were treated with a somewhat condescending attitude and were ridiculed.

Don't get me wrong, some of the trip was absolutely delightful. However, one day we spent over 8 hrs on a tour bus and stopped briefly to see a random church. We did no other sightseeing this day and nothing related to Dracula at all save for the fact that we were in Romania. Then later that day Radu almost got arrested. Have you heard that story yet?

Thank you for the update on the travelers that were not able to join us. I wish you success in future tours, though I don't think that I will ever join another group tour for as long as I live. I believe many of the other travelers enjoyed themselves greatly, though I found out the hard way that I am not suited to this particular mode of travel. I hate to be rude, but I am not pleased that my e-mail was shared. I do not recall agreeing to have my e-mail shared with the group. Yes, some of the folks we met were lovely people and I gave them my e-mail. However, there were others that I hope never to see or hear from ever again.

Thank you for the extraordinary opportunity. I have stories that are unbelievable and the pictures to prove it. I have an interesting cautionary tale that I will be able to share with my friends and family for the rest of my life. Nevertheless, I have never been so happy to have a vacation end and I am now in desperate need of another vacation.

Next I will post the amazing and bizarre response from the tour guide. It's awesome.