Flying Time Sibiu

Gustavo and I decide to rent a car to make the most of the area. Trains are very inefficient for partial day excursions. They do really well on big city to big city connections.

We arrive in Rasnov. We don't see any signs to the fortress then we turn around and there it is, up on the hill. The tourist agency is supposed to be open (according to the sign) but no one is there. This is another common characteristic in Romania, offices being closed when they are supposed to be open ...

... to the purpose, but nevertheless we arrive at the bottom of a huge hole in the hill.

Down there is a cold trap where the snow in winter is conserved as well in summer and this snow converts into a glacier. This glacier then is slowly flowing through a cave system into the mountain. Really unique and special to see such a thing. Was worthwile to deviate from the normal road ...

Sibiu is a delightful city, small - about 250 000 people, but ready to make your staying one of the best in Romania.
The city, on its German name Hermannstadt, was founded in the 12 century and in 2007 was Cultural European Capital.
The Bruckenthal Palace in the Big Plaza, today an art museum and the Evangelic Cathedral are worth a 2-3 hour visit.
Also, climbing all the way up in the Council Tower , the 12 century gate of SIbiu, let us see the city from above.
Great place!

... horses in Romania. I thought they were only in Vienna, but I think they were brought to Romania when this area was controlled by the Austro-Hungarian empire. We fed apples to some of the horses and then went out back to see a lot of them. Unfortunately, they were completely uninterested in us. But there were several foals there, and baby horses (like baby tigers) are adorable! I sat with the stereotypical "awwww ...

... construction has them narrowed to one. The plan was to get to Sibiu, get a room in the old city, have a nice dinner, and walk around the old city. We arrived at 7 PM, every hotel we stopped out was sold out, and it was raining. The European Eccuminical Council was having their 2007 meeting. When did Romania become a conference destination? We found a room in an office building a 5 minute walk from the actual hotel, and had dinner at the hotel.

Me and two of the other girls were set to go to an orphanage this morning. We spent some time grabbing breaky and then called a cab. We drove for about 20 minutes to a little town. Unfortunately for us there were no teachers there as it is a Sunday and therefore we could not go inside. Leason learned in planning ahead. Fortunately, our cabbie hadn't left and was a young male who was more than happy to show us a few things in the area. We drove through a street that had ...

After breakfast today I made a quick run around in the rain to see the sights of Sighisoara. Made a dash first for the clock tower and the history museum inside it. Had a quick camera tour of the Citadel (Old Town) and bought 2 bracelets before returning to the hostel for our 11am departure to the train station. We arrived in Sibiu and headed into the old town for a quick orientation tour. A couple of us branched off after that and went to the Evangelic Church from the 14th Century ...

... a little odd to come all the way to this East Orthodox country to see German styled houses and churches. But I guess I had no extra time left to turn my trip north to visit South Bucovina. Now I only planned to continue south from Sighisoara. Ironically, maybe due to this region is more German than other parts of Romania, Transylvania is actually historically more affluent and advanced than other regions. This has made it easier for foreigners to travel around ...