Pensiunea Mai 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.<br><br>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 ...

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!

... 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 ...

Went to the ASTRA open air museum just outside of Sibiu this morning. It is the second largest one in the world. The bus ride there is always a treat as it's just me and a bunch of rural folk old timers on the bus. I have noticed that most men and women over the age of 50 wear hats. The museum grounds are situated around a lake and the whole area is very big. They disassembled buildings all around Romania and reassembled them here. They have wooden ...

My train ride to Sibiu was a very interesting one. I reserved in a First Class compartment and it is nowhere near the standards of what a Western European train would be! There were stains everywhere and you could hardly see out the window! There were beggars walking around and this guy would drop off a bunch of cheap dollar store items off in your compartment and then come back later to see if you wanted any of them! It was a good thing that ...

... 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 ...

... The competition has been going for something like eight years, with no clear winner yet. What do you do with a building almost the size of the Pentagon? Where are the Fab 5,000 when you need them? Next we do a walking tour through the old portion of Bucharest. It surprises me how classically beautiful the buildings are, but so many are in desperate need of loving care and repair. We see the oldest in the city, and even tour the archeological dig ...

... open field, we hardly cared. The water felt invigorating. The storm, without too much more than wind and those large drops, passed quickly. When we finally took the time to survey the village, our eyes were quickly drawn to the imposing church upon the hill. Yes, I answered to myself, it had been worth it. After viewing the church grounds we walked back down its steps and sat upon the stoop. The church had been locked and I didn't see anyone around that seemed to have the ability to ...

... we arrived in the town center. Sure, we might have saved 6 or 7 of those minutes in the taxi, but think of the children. THE CHILDREN! Timisoara turned out to be a nice little city. The downtown area was very walkable and we had one of the best meals of the entire trip on a rooftop overlooking the city. 3 courses, including some of the best tomatoes I've ever eaten sliced into a salad, and a huge Timisoareana beer each, and the final bill was about $20 for two. Great ...

Next stop was a few hours at Sigishoara, the birth place of Dracula. The medieval town centre is very pretty. Spent the afternoon wondering around the streets, eating and trying to escape the cheeky kid who was able to turn on the waterworks when he wanted to extract some cash from the tourists.