Casa Baciu Sibiu

... but get the smallest bottle of .3L. Nice change from the Scotch. I also get some BBQ. Yum!

Off to Sibiu, our next stop, a couple hundred km away. We can either double back to Bran and take the major road or a short cut through some local towns. I urge the latter. It turns out to be lots of fun. Time Warp. While driving we found ourselves both in the midst of sheep and cattle that are being driven along the road. Lots of carts pulled by horses.

Signs are sporadic so driving ...

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!

... on my face, watching a foal cozy up to her mom's behind, but then mom's tail started to move. The baby was looking down and never saw it coming. One drop of poo, then several, and my poor foal had **** all over her face. Poor baby! Before then I thought the horses were sooooo pretty...

Our next stop was the Brancoveanu Monastery, the only monastery in Transylvania, which is rumored to have a role in major events ...

... Only here would you also see two strays fighting each other and no one seemed to take notice. It got really nasty at one point and I couldn't watch anymore as it was seriously disturbing. I saw another disturbing sight before I came back to my hostel and it was a small child throwing stones at a cat. I started to yell at the boy "NO, NO", he stopped but mumbled something in a language I didn't understand. I can only imagine what he said! But at ...

... eyed. Some lady at the table beside me had a bag of popcorn and gave it to the kids and they ran off. Similia told me that there is a big campaign to not give money to beggars as it encourages their lifestyle (much like at home). However the difference between here and home is that these kids looked like they could use it, where as the ones at home have many social programs they can use. I am not too sure what kind of assistance these kids ...

... nests on the top of almost every power pole on our way to a Monastery. We made it the Monastery but just had a look around the outside since there was a service going on inside. Next our cabbie took us along a creek where all the locals go camping and this weekend was no exception. We went all the way up the "road" and at the top there was another church. Outside there was a group of about 20 children in what I'm guessing was their Sunday School class since there was ...

... region. Of course, no place in Transylvania is more German than the city of Sibiu (German name: Hermannstadt, or Hermann's town). I even read that their current mayor, Johannis Klaus, is of German descents. Lonely Planet states "the city once again under German leadership." On Monday, my fourth day in Sighisoara, I decided to travel to Sibiu on a daytrip. It is only about 2 hours away by a SUV-like Maxi-taxi. Sibiu will be the cultural capital of Europe in 2007 ...

... this trip. All others I had are multiple country guides like "Let's Go East Europe" and "Lonely Planet Western Balkan." Yes, I really did plan to spend more time in Romania than in other countries. The train stopped at the border area for quite awhile, later moved forward, then it stopped again. This was going on for more than an hour (which caused further delay for my arrival). Finally it started moving fast forward again, and traveling from ...

... we will take a taxi back." I hadn't actually thought this through that much to be honest. I certainly wasn't going to turn around and walk back, so that did seem an important and quite overlooked question. My traveling companion, to her credit, stood silent. She could hardly claim any moral high ground though, as she had agreed aggressively with my desire to march through the Romanian countryside on our impending journey. "There are no taxis in Biertan! It's only a small village ...

... more wild parts and mountains or Romania, Maramures would be the one. Maramures is considered by many to be the heart and soul of rural Romania. With its picturesque countryside of small villages, rolling hills, pastures, and meadows full of wildflowers, Maramures epitomizes all that the rural lifestyle encompasses.(www.visitmaramures.ro) However it was a perfect journey in the nice country not so far away from Czech Republic.