Ramada Sibiu

... which is not in keeping with the exterior but is still interesting. The castle as many places in Transylvania attempt to make a connection with Dracula or Vlad Tepes, an inspiration behind the character. Most connections are a stretch as is the case with this castle in which he may have visited once. <br><br>Museums are very cheap, generally, $1-8 entry. But, photos can only be taken if a special photo ticket is bought in addition to the entry, as is the case with Bran. This has been on ...

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!

... the gist on how they lived. It was neat that by every building they would have pictures of that building before they took it to this museum. It looked like they still used mills, blacksmiths, fullers, and sawmills in the last 100 years! <br><br>Went strolling around the old town some more and I get such a kick out of the street vendors. You will have a lady selling lottery tickets at a simple table on street with all the tickets spread out in ...

... that have a community well and the house are made of what looks like untreated old and dry wood, the size of a shack. Most places will have haylofts in their back yard as well as a garden and lots of chickens. There are a lot of streets in town that are still dirt roads.There were horse and carts, sheep herders and a few gypsies. One thing I noticed about the few Gypsy people that I have seen here is the women dress in such bright colored ...

... one of the girls for an afternoon drink before setting off to try and rent a bike. The plan was to rent a bike and ride it to the outdoor air museum, but there were no bikes left to rent so I had to go with the public transportation option. Interesting (and turned out free) adventure and I was at the museum. Walked around for about 2 hours and then went back to the hostel. Tripe soup seemed to be on just about every menu lately, and I had been wanting to try it ...

... itinerary exactly, or to take the longer but much more dramatic Transfagarasan Road through the Arges Valley up wild zig-zagging curves between the two highest peaks in Romania. With near unanimity the group chooses the longer, more scenic route. One of our first stops is the Curtea de Arges, a beautiful Episcopal cathedral originally built in the 1500's. The current edifice dates from 1875 when a French architect was brought in to save it from its ...

... it cannot even be called a "city." However, tourists flood here mainly for one attraction, it was where the world's most famous vampire, "Count Dracula" (&#21560;&#34880;&#39740;&#21331;&#2147 6;&#21202;&#20844;&#29237;) was born. To begin with, "Dracula" is actually a literature myth. It is a figure created by Anglo-Irish writer Bram Stoker (who had never set his feet in Romania but only conducted his research in the British Museum) in his 1897 ...

... The guy, dressed in white pants and a white t-shirt, came directly up to us and asked in heavily accented English, "Is the church open?" "You can walk around the grounds," I replied, "but I don't think you can get in the church." He said thanks and went on his way. I turned to my traveling companion and said boldly, "I am going to convince them to give us a ride. They will be my huckleberries." A moment after I said it, the guy had returned, telling us that in fact it was possible ...

... from place to place when we felt like it. I had a rough idea of what I wanted to do, but it was all subject to change, and often did change. Next, though, I knew we were going to Sibiu, which was proudly preparing to be the Cultural Center of Europe (along with Luxembourg) in 2007. And what a great place it was! The quick run down on Sibiu: What a beautiful city center with a fantastic center square. I could sit in that square and enjoy the city life passing before me for ...