Sighisoara

• Jaredwall's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Sighisoara

Trip Start Sep 09, 2006 Previous
Entry Trip End Ongoing Next
Entry

  Sighisoara, Romania
Monday, September 25, 2006

In Vienna, we bought an overnight train ticket to Brasov, Romania. It was a fourteen hour ride from Vienna to Brasov, where the plan was to see castles, lots of castles, Dracula's castles in fact. It was going to be a Transylvanian-style good time.
Then Jon and I made a discovery. Our train passed through a little town called Sighisoara.
I had seen a History Channel presentation on Vlad Tepis, Vlad the Impaler, more commonly known as Dracula, before I left the States. When I saw that we would go through Sighisoara, I remembered that this town was the birth place of Dracula. Needless to say, that fact, as well as the promise of two less hours on a train, enticed me to see the town.
The train ride was interesting. We talked to a Romanian woman for a couple hours before all the lights on the train inexplicably died, a not-so-subtle hint that it was bedtime

Ascending Staircase

. She told us that border crossing into and out of Romania was difficult and slow, and to punctuate this fact, at two separate points in the evening (morning) guards came in to wake us and stamp our passports.
Upon waking, I gazed out at the Romanian countryside, which appeared to be largely unchanged since the 19th century. Dilapidated houses lined the train tracks and dotted the beautiful, lush countryside, the edifices completely at odds with the natural surroundings.
The same could be said for Sighisoara. Getting off the train, Jon and I encountered Peter, who ran a hostel with his wife, Cristina. He promised us a private room and a ride to the Old Town for about fifteen dollars a piece. Anxious to get sightseeing, we agreed.
The decision was a good one. Our hostel is situated in the heart of the old citadel, about one block from Dracula's house. The old cobblestone streets are quite neat, although not even as well preserved as the cobblestone in Rome, which is much older. I just had a couple cappucinos on the terrace of Dracula's house. Upon entering the house, the first thing I heard was Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On. Interesting, I thought. Vlad the Impaler and Celine Dion. Maybe that makes sense in some strange, distant way that I haven't quite put my finger on yet. I'll contemplate that for a while.

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Cappucino at Drac's	Dracula Comes Out At Night	Dracula Street	Dracula's House
I am Dracula!	Local Architecture	Old City	Old City Cemetery
Old City Gardens	Romanian Orthodoxy	Sighisoara	The City Itself
The Old Town	Vlad the Impaler!

Slideshow Print this entry Share Sighisoara hotels

Previous Entry Next Entry