Sibiu (Coming Soon)

... A large castle wall surrounded by a moat is nearby. This town is not covered by my tourist info. It is interesting what makes the list.<br><br>Along the road in several towns, elderly were selling potatoes and onions. These items were identical from person to person and nobody was stopping to buy. I have to think that a couple dollars a day was as much as most were making. <br><br>Our wanderings were well worth the extra time but we arrive in Sibiu well after nightfall and miss the ...

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!

... had either meatball or bean. Follow that with very tender pork in a light paprika sauce. At the end, I have as much as I want of whatever pastry is available, the most notable one being a sort of pound cake with a layer of apple, whipped cream, and berries on top. I ate nearly a meal's worth of just the dessert at the last family-style meal. The local liquor is palinka, which honestly is like most anyone's local liquor to ...

... mills, homesteads and every other building you could imagine. You couldn't walk in the rooms, but you could peer inside where they had it decorated with old beds, tables, clothes and linens. The place was pretty empty and it was nice strolling the grounds to myself. The weather still is crazy hot and I kept ducking into the shade for a little bit here and there to cool down. After around 3 hours I still never saw everything, but I think I ...

... cities in Germany, Austria and Italy here. I have heard a few Italian and German speaking people here. I stopped for a pizza and a beer at an outdoor cafe and a couple of little raggedy cross eyed kids started talking to me in Romanian and staring at me. I felt guilty that here I am eating this huge pizza that I will never finish (at least not at one sitting), going on and on how cheap it is, and these starving kids are staring at it ...

Romania's public transport network is not perfect by any means. The trains are rubbish and the buses are a bit erratic. Enter the Maxitaxi, or minibus to you and me. They do have some sort of timetable but generally leave when they are full and stop (to drop off or pick-up an additional passenger, welcome to perch on a provided plastic stool in the corridor between seats), when they feel like it ...

... s can make it in a country of Turkish coffee and apple tea, women surely must.   Next : Sibiu, Romania, where I write from today. ...But first ,  the border of Turkey and Bulgaria, on our bus trip to Sibiu. It was like another stop on our trip, where for 5 hours we were able to tour the Turkish/Bulgarian border control system. Though we had no choice, and bought no ticket for this extremely complicated tour of Romanian smugglers and Duty Free shopping excursions, we got to: -Have our bags ...

... to the entire room. I mean, this guy was GOOD. I stayed for a while and enjoyed the entertainment, then decided it was time to move on to the jazz show. Fortunately, it was just as Jabba finished his set and started to blob towards me, the single woman in the room, visions of the gold bikini in his mind. Whew, I made it out just in time! When I got to the bar the place was packed. I ordered a beer and noticed an open seat next to 2 men, and asked if I could sit ...

... and (supposedly) Romanian dance music. Beer and mixed drinks here are cheap too. A huge bottle of beer (even imported ones like Beck and Heineken) usually is under 5 Lei. After the nightclub closed, Lumi actually took us back to the hostel lounge to continue the party and to have even more drinks. The two English guys brought out several huge plastic (plastic?) bottle of Beck's beer and some local brand. Whoever even brought out Vodka and ...

... of language skills. The thought, I'll admit, was a bit troubling. I peeked down the steps and did indeed see some railroad tracks below. There may have been a sign. Other than that, this was hardly a train station, but close enough I reasoned. It didn't matter anyway, as we were to only begin our journey here. From there, though, we had little more information. Back on the main road, there was what appeared to be a store. We walked past the sickle-wielding teens and into the ...