I'm back in Chicago.  Bucharest was ... interesting.  I also had enough
free time to see a few other places (I wasn't in Romania for vacation),
including the castle at Bran which is referred to as Dracula's castle.
Perhaps Vlad Tepes did spend time there, but Queen Marie redecorated the
place early this century, and somehow it is hard to think of Dracula as
lying in a castle that now has flowerbeds.  The Carpathians are still
suitable - deep mountain forests and apparently some wolves still live in
the remote areas.  BTW, Stoker got it wrong.  Transylvania is not Dracula
country, Vlad was a Wallachian. 

  I've already seen my first anime since I got back,Patlabor Movie 2.   I'm
now more convinced than ever that future KOR movies should use Akemi Takada
again for character designs.
  The character development  in Patlabor 2 was interesting.  Even though
Noa gets little air time, it appears that she has matured considerably.  I
missed Kanuka Clancy, but I can see how it would have been difficult to fit
her into the story.  So, does anyone think that Goto and Nagumo will ever
be more than friends?  Can they even really be friends?  Nagumo has a
professional respect for Goto, and she knows that Goto is attracted to her,
but it seemed as though Goto is Nagumo's friend, but Nagumo is Goto's
colleague.  

                                                                        dml