Pensiunea Ela Sibiu

... of several sites. We still get a good overview by walking around. The city went through a major facelift a few years ago and looks great. <br><br>As we walk town this medieval road, we see bright lights. It is a camera crew shooting a movie. A bunch of people in costumes are waiting for their cues. <br><br>While taking photos of the main square, an American with his daughter approaches me. He is a professional photographer who married a Romanian a few years ago and decided to stay ...

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

... happen in the country. It's sort of a spiritual center for Romanians. It is set up against the mountains, and I can see why this place would be used for a holy site like this. The chapels are painted inside like Orthodox churches, and they're beautiful, but people were so rapt inside them that I thought it would be rude to take pictures.<br><br>I'll write next from Brasov, hopefully with some more interesting stories to tell!

... 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 ...

... if they get any at all. <br><br>Strolling around my incredibly filling and cheap meal, lol, I climbed the council tower which gave me fantastic views of the old city. It was amazing! I headed back to my hostel as I think I am going to have an early night tonight. I haven't been sleeping well lately and my back has been giving me a lot of troubles. I think it will be a sleeping pill night tonight and I pray that the mattress is a comfortable one!

... I kept getting told I was forbidden with others at the table :( Since I was at the hostel alone and hungry, I went down the restaurant and gave it a go. Not bad but had to have just the broth after about ¾ of the way through. Too much Stomach for me! Met one of the other girls and we set out to find something for (a real) dinner. Had a grilled chicken breast and cabbage, yum!! After that we met up with everyone else and went for a drink on the way back to the hotel.

... here and started their own business as a tour company. With the cost of 100 Lei, it is not really cheap. But at least, I didn't need to worry about the transportation issues. Also, our Dutch guides do speak Romanian fluently and knows local customs well. We stopped at Biertan first, to see the largest fortified church in this region (yes, this is a UNESCO designated site). This 15-century church used to be the site of Lutheran bishop from 1572 to 1867. This is ...

... yeah!), on the north side of the Square. I was glad that most of the staff speaks English quite well. The vegi panini sandwich (5 Lei) was delicious. Then I continued my sightseeing. Turning south from Piata Cetatii, leading up Str. Scolii, it is the Scara Acoperita (Covered stairway). Its 172 steps lead all the way up to another hill higher up. However, due to that it is covered, I found the stairway a little too dark at some points. On top of the ...

... ready to share. We politely declined and offered as many thanks as we possibly could before walking the 15 minutes to the train station (a decidedly easier path than through the woods, I should add). There was indeed a train to Medias in just over an hour, and since there was a friendly restaurant at the train station (you can replace friendly with dirty and scary if you're so inclined) we settled in and bought ourselves a soda. I had the American Cola, which was bottled in ...

... stall I found a slightly rosier picture. It was not clean by any means, but in comparison it might have well been on the cover of Home and Garden. But when I stepped in and began to unbutton my shorts, I looked down at my exposed arm. It was completely black with hundreds of mosquitoes covering every inch of exposed skin. I tried to brush them away, but it was no use. I saw that my legs were also covered, and fearing exposure to my most sensitive spots (and freaked ...