Sweet Sighisoara

We will spend the next three days in Sighisoara , Romania. We are staying at a pension that was built in 1797. We arrived early and when we checked in we were given our choice of rooms. As soon as we found out the one room was built on the citadel wall our choice was easy. Our bed is built right on the wall of the citadel, and the wall of our room is the wall of the tailors' tower. The city originally had 14 watch towers that were maintained by different groups, such as the tailors, blacksmiths, etc. The tailors tower is the second oldest and one of the 8 remaining towers in the citadel. It was built in the 1300's.

The area of Romania that we are in is Transylvania. Transylvania is one of the few medieval regions in Romania that survived Ceceascu's reign. He ravaged villages all over Romania, bulldozing them to make room for factories and industry. Sighisoara was one of the lucky villages to survive. It is a sweet, ancient town full of beautiful churches, buildings and a clock tower that was built in the 1200's.

For those wondering about the Dracula connection.... Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler) was born in Sighisoara . He lived here in his early childhood and spent his "impaling" years in another town close by that we will move to in a few days. The tales of Dracula are loosely based on his life.

The pension that we are staying in is very peaceful and beautiful. We are enjoying have some down time. Sorino, the owner is a great host. He believes in providing his guests with the best quality local foods, so we have a huge spread of organic soft eggs, regional cheeses (10 choices), salamis (6choices), breads baked in a wood oven, local honeys and home made jams(6 choices each), fresh plums and grapes, French press coffee with hot milk or tea. There are also 6 kinds of home made syrups that you can mix with mineral water and 4 different types of organic juices. Oh, and I almost forgot, yogurt and 4 choices of cereals. Can you say SPOILED?

Each afternoon he has sat with us on the patio and we have shared a glass of Elderberry juice, and in the evenings we have had a glass of Tuica ( Romania's answer to Palinka).
On our second night here we came back from dinner and Sorino was sitting with two other couples enjoying some Tuica. He invited us to join and we were soon joined by another couple, and the another. Soon we were a group of two from Seattle, two from Switzerland, Two from Argentina, a couple that the husband is from St. Petersburg Florida and the wife is Romanian, Tom and I, and Sorino. We passed a couple of very pleasant hours laughing and telling travel stories and talking about where we are from. And the Tuica was flowing.....

Each day we walk the city and see the sites in the early part of the day, come back and relax in our room or on the patio, and then head out again for dinner and some night photography. We have realized we could make a killing here as wedding photographers. We saw no less than 12 brides and grooms here yesterday. What an amazing backdrop for wedding photos. Horn honking is a traditional part of the bride and groom arriving so it was a bit loud at times yesterday.

Today Sorino arranged for us to have a taxi take us to some small villages near here that have fortified churches and lots of other interesting things not to be missed. We will have the taxi all day for the equivalent of $35.00. The Swiss couple decided to join us so we will share our taxi and our total will be half that! Can't wait to see what adventures are in store for us today!