Crisalia pension Sibiu

... order of 5 times the cost of the entry. This would appear to be a way of getting additional $ from tourist.

As we are leaving, a festival is just starting up. I overheard something about bringing sheep to market as the impetus. There are lots of booths selling cheese, meats and grilled items, and of course lots of beer and local alcohol. I view this as a great way to try some homemade stuff. I buy a smoky cheese that reminds me of Guda, another sharp cheese that might relate to ...

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!

... up to a glacial lake in what I think are the Carpathian mountains. The lake itself had beautiful clear water and a really good view all around. It was also FREEZING up there, so I'm wearing many layers and at one point had my scarf wrapped around my head to protect me from the wind. It's amazing that I was standing in a tropical dress in Maramures only a few days ago.

Next, we went to visit a ranch/stable for ...

... at this place and had more mamaliga (which I love!) and mititi (?) which is mincemeat and grilled. Very good and so cheap. No beggar kids during this meal!

I enjoy walking the streets here as there always seems to be something around every corner. There are these neat alleyways leading to small little squares and more and more of those cool eye lid houses. If tourism really takes off here, this place wouldn't be the same as all the ...

... Sibiu I was immediately enthralled. They have lots of houses that have these eye lid like windows on the roofs. It is very cool. The town is very medieval looking and again it doesn't have the touristy vibe that any other country that I have been to had. I can't understand why there aren't more. It is great here. Sibiu was the European Cultural Capitol in 2007 and had gotten some boost in it's tourism from that. It also has a small airport ...

... 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.

... The idea of visiting an unauthentic Romania started to make me regretting my early decision. I just kept thinking: if I have entered Romania from Ukraine, I would have been in Moldavia region first (instead of Transylvania). South Bucovina in Moldavia is known for its Orthodox painted monasteries (anther UNESCO site). Would it feel more authentically Romanian there? I love Germany and have traveled to Berlin several times (and still cannot stop). However, it ...

... boarded, so why didn't I tie my bag tightly all through my trip? Or at least, why didn't I think about taking the memory card out, just in case? I started to feel a very strong sense of helplessness. Just like what have happened in the past 18 months, no matter how hard I tried, I still could not prevent bad things keep happening. Just like, actually, what have happened in the past 14 years...no matter what... The rain kept falling down, then I started to cry.

... is, Medias was the jumping off point for The Walk, and it was still early enough in the morning to get going right away. First things first, we asked the kindly Saxon hotel owners (Transylvania was once a Saxon stronghold, with several waves of immigrants leaving throughout the 20th century so that now there are only a few left; in truth I actually suspect that the hotel people may have moved here from Germany as opposed to being lingering remnants of an old culture, but what the ...

... it from the east because the eastern part is not so spectacular as the west side and due to this fact it is not so crowdy. For two days there was a bloody heavy rain. So after that we decided to descend to the lower parts. We discovered an impressive refuge called "Urlea". It was a really magic place on the edge of the forests, where just an old man and a various kinds of animals (donkeys, cats,dogs..) lived together. We ...