This was a really quick trip. I went with Terri from the women's group and her husband and son over the Easter/spring break. We took the train out on Thursday morning and came back Friday evening. While that might seem too short, it actually was the perfect amount of time for Sighisoara. This was my first train experience in Romania, and it was just fine - ordering the tickets, finding the right train, and the trip itself. We took first class both ways and had an accelerat train the way there and an inter-city the way back. I have no idea what the actual difference was, but here is a little info. Accelerat definitely is not accerlated! It was perhaps 15 minutes faster than the inter-city one, and the inter-city one actually was nicer. In fact, I dare say it was the nicest train I have ever been on, if you can believe it!
So, we took the train, leaving Cluj around 9:30am and arriving in Sighisoara around 12:30pm. It arrived right on time, and we decided to walk from the train station to the old part of town. It was perhaps a 15-20 minute walk and took us near the big orthodox cathedral in town (unfortunately, locked) and across the river (the world's ugliest, I think!).
The train station in Sighosoara. Very nice looking!
The cathedral.
Ugly river in foreground; UNESCO world heritage site in background. Go figure.
Steps.
And more steps....
Note the drain on the right side. The first I've seen anywhere in Romania. This town was soooo founded by Germans!
The intial feel of Sighisoara was interesting. The main part of the city (outside the old walled section) felt a little more run-down than Cluj, and there definitely were not as many grand, old buildings. There also were many more people straight out begging. I haven't really seen very many people just begging in Cluj. Usually they are trying to sell something (like wooden spoons or a bag of sunflower seeds). The appearance of the gypsies also was quite different. In Cluj they often wear not exactly a traditional dress, but a very distinctive style of clothing. and they usually are just hanging out with their families or selling things. In Sighisoara, they looked much poorer and were begging a lot. It was a pretty marked difference, and I wonder if they are part of another group.
When we got to the old part of town, we first went to the hostel (Bed and Breakfast Coula - inexpensive and nice!) to drop off our bags. It was a pretty cute little place with just a few rooms and owned by a couple in their 50s or 60s. By the time we did all of that, it was 4pm, and the museums were all closed, so we just walked around town for a little bit and found a place for lunch. It was a place recommended by the Lonely Planet guidebook, but they were out of a lot of things (not sure if it is because we were so late in the day, though they are open for dinner too, or if it was because it wasn't the high tourist season yet).
The International Cafe - posing with my lonely planet next to their lonely planet sign :)
One of the piatas in town.
A really cute street with brightly colored, slightly leaning buildings!
After lunch, we walked up the covered staircase (lots and lots of steps!!) that was built in the 1600s to provide the children who went to school at the top of the hill a sheltered way to get there. And, yes, the school is still there and functioning. Talk about a workout on the way to school! There also is a big German, Lutheran church on the top, and we had just enough time to see it before it closed for the day. At some point in its history, these amazing murals/frescoes were covered up. In the 1930s, some were uncovered, and they now have all these little chips in them. Apparently that was done when they were plastered over so that the plaster would stick. After seeing things like this and the amazing mosaics covered up at the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul, it is just astonishing and sad that people would want to cover up or even destroy that kind of thing.
Looking down at the covered stairway.
View from the top.
Behind the church was a great cemetery - very green and park-like. I wish this is what cemeteries in the U.S. felt like! Of course, in places like Texas it would be impossible because there just isn't enough or that kind of vegetation. While there, I found a couple of my family names like Shafer and Binder (instead of Bender). I wonder if my family has any German-Romanian connections??
Cemetery.
A very interesting "fence" made out of old gravestones.
Shafer - my great-grandmother's maiden name.
By the time we finished up with that, it was starting to sprinkle and Terri's son was not feeling well, so we headed back to the hotel. Two of us headed back out to scrounge up some dinner (to eat and to bring back to the hotel for those there). And, boy was it hard finding a place to eat in this town! But, we eventually found a place that made pizza (they had other things on there menu but just made pizza - again, because it is the off-season??). Unlike most places in Romania, they gave us not one but two huge pizza boxes to take the leftovers, splitting the two kinds into separate boxes instead of grouping into one (strange bceause I purposefully had put all the leftover on just one plate!).
Some other nice buildings in town.
Definitely the strangest building that I saw. A mural with a statue of a deer's head coming out of the corner. Strange!
Friday morning we got up (having made it through the cold night - note: not really enough heat in the hotel when it is chilly out!!!!) and had breakfast with our hosts. It was 65 lei for the night and 15 lei for breakfast, but I am just realizing that I might have only given them 65 lei - ooopppps! After that, we headed out to catch the museums: history museum in the clock tower, weapons museum (2 rooms), and the torture museum (1 room in part of what once was the prison). They were all okay and didn't take too long to see (and were not very pricey). The weapons museum included one exhibit about Dracula (Vlad Dracul) who was born in the town in the 1400s. The picture below is of a place that claims to be Dracula's house. He was born in a house on this spot, but the existing structure is not the same one.
Clock tower in the background and Dracula's "house" in the foreground.
Close-up of the figures on one side of the clock tower.
Inner workings of the figures on the other side of the clock tower. These represent the Greek gods and change each day.
View from the top of the tower.
Another view form the top. In the background you can see the hill that the covered stairway goes to - the school is on the left and the church on the right.
Something else that was really interesting is that we got to see work on several of the roads in town. Unlike many things in Romania that are done the easiest and quickest, but certainly not the best way, these roads were being done correctly and by hand. I am sure this is because there are very strict rules that come with it being a world heritage site.
Some of the workers waving at us.
Laying and hammering each stone in by hand. They then were covered with wet sand and pounded in some more and the sand swept off.
Quite a stretch of road to do.
This was just hilarious. There was a big show of 4 firemen coming in and hosing down part of the road (I guess it needed to water to set). I think this will be the most "gay-friendly" picture that you will ever find in Romania!
In addition to visiting the museums in town and spying on the road workers, we went to a few little shops. I bought a wooden egg that won't break (I broke a real painted egg at the cafe in dracula's house - yikes) and that I definitely will be able to bring back to the U.S. (some issue with avian flu means that sometimes they are confiscated at customs). I also got these two really awesome dolls (sort of like vintage barbies) wearing traditional clothes. I had been wanting to get a doll in traditional dress, and these are definitely the neatest ones that I have seen! Before leaving town, we looked at another church (also Lutheran - this place is full of them because of the German heritage) that had some interesting murals on the sides. No pictures were allowed but I got a couple of postcards. Then, we got packed up and headed back to the train station. Our train was 1 hour late, but everything was fine when we got on. It was a fun trip, and I am just glad that I had company to go with me!!
Here are a few more pictures:
Our hotel. In a building more than 400 years old!
And, because it is always important to have a mix of the old and new....
Those are cherry trees. The blossoms smell just like cherries!
More old buildings.
And, a crumbling building.
One of the towers that is still standing. They are pretty interesting because a different guild ran each one (hat makers, tailors, blacksmiths, etc). They sold their products from there and also were in charge of defending that tower and section of wall in case of outside attack. Who knew hat makers could also be soldiers?! Certainly not the mild-mannered trade of today!
And, finally, my lovely travelling companies - the Church family.
No comments:
Post a Comment