FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX: Sighisoara & Sibiu

We continued our trek across the Transilvanian plain with our first stop being the UNESCO world heritage listed town of Sighișoara. Sighișoara is an inhabited walled medieval city, with an extremely well preserved old town, built by the Saxons from around the 13th century. It was also where Vlad the Impaler was born. It sure was handy having our own guide to tell us about the various buildings as we walked around the town. As we wanted to have more town at our final destination, our guide suggested eating at a local "cafeteria" where we choose what we want to eat. Romanians (like many cultures) socialise over meals, so sit down restaurants often take a long time. Our lunch was quick, warm, tasty and cheap! A "set" meal only set back 17 lei which is just over AUD5!

Entrance to the upper part of the town, the walled section, with the famous clock tower

Stag house

Certainly beary cute Christmas decorations!

Bootmaker's Tower, one of 9 towers left of the original 14. Each manned by a "guild"

Vlad the Impaler

Um....specifically no trumpet playing!?!

The "tinsmith" tower. The scars of war still apparent from the last attempt at invasion by the Turks in the 1700s

Scholar's stairs. Built in the 17th century so the children have no excuse NOT to go to school, which is located at the top of the hill!

A quick and CHEAP lunch. Tomato and rice soup, fish, potato and bread

As we drove towards Sibiu, George had to give us two important history lessons. One related to Vlad, the Impaler, the real person in Romanian history and then how the confusion started with Bram Stoker's work of fiction, Dracula. The second which was on more immediate importance, was on gypsys, their origins, their history and their culture. We had the privilege of visiting a Gypsy family in their home and I was guilty of lumping the whole lot into one pickpocketing group of scam experts. We learnt that many were skilled, and earnt their living honestly. They are slowly dropping their nomadic roots with many settling down and building homes. Victor & his family warmly welcomed us, offering us snacks and their home made "brew" and shared stories about their lives and ancestors. Victor is a coppersmith, and a good one too, having been in special exhibitions in Austria & Miami and comissioned to make pieces designed by Calvin Klein designers. They buy food grade copper from Germany to make special items to sell. He also made silver jewelry. We did have to pay a small fee to visit but George, our guide, made it clear that we didn't have to stop and enter if we didn't want to. He also told us that copper is expensive and that their wares were expensive but that there was absolutely no expectation to buy anything. Barganing was highly encouraged. It certainly was an eye-opening experience. They were genuinely warm people and no stage did we feel pressured.

Eva and Victor Jr outside their house

Their big yard

Victor, explaining how to work with copper

He gave a brief demonstration

The piece he was working on would become one of these small pots

Eva pouring us some home made brew

They prepared some snacks for us

Showed us photos of their family

Eva also makes clothes to sell

Showing us the pieces for traditional gypsy attire

What gypsy girls wear. Lara would be at an age a traditional gypsy girl would get married...

She scored gypsy handmade silver jewelry

And a ring...

Victor, Eva & Victor Jr. (15)

Our final destination today was Sibiu, another Saxon town in Transylvania. It competes with Brasov for the title of the most "beautiful town" in Romania. Again, our hotel, The Council, was right in the middle of the action. Although the building was old, it lacked the charm of our hotel in Brasov. It is one of the few places where the reality didn't quite match the photos online. The rooms were spacious enough, but it felt like the place was falling apart in some areas. The common areas, though, were pretty and well kept. The location though, was superb. George took us on our usual informative walk before leaving us to our own devices. The Christmas market called our names as we looked for food to eat.