Romania Part 2

During the last week of the trip I revisited Sibiu, Sighisoara, Brasov, Bucharest, and Csíkszentsimon, the village where I volunteered as a teacher in 2015. It was sunny and around 72 degrees every day so we did some hiking and really enjoyed each city. Sibiu, Sighisoara and Brasov are great towns to just walk around and explore; there are not many must-see sights, just charming streets, great shops, and amazing food.

Sibiu is beautiful and we stayed in yet another 14th Century guest house. Unfortunately the interior had been renovated with vinyl flooring, generic furniture and an almost unworkable lock - the location was great, however.

Lots of cabbage at the Sibiu Market

Sibiu

Sighisoara, also known the cutest town in the world, requires a lot of climbing to get anywhere.  I think the best way to describe the city is "atmospheric" (Lonely Planet calls it "fairytale-like"). In addition to wandering around (uphill) and visiting the sites, we hiked up to the Breite Ancient Oak Forest. I wimped out on going all the way to the top so I am not sure we saw any actual ancient oaks. Sighisoara also has my favorite gift shop and cafe.

Sighisoara watchtower

Atmospheric Sighisoara street

Breite Forest - halfway up

We took our last bus ride to Brasov. While Susie did the Transylvania castle tour, I took the train up to Miercurea Ciuc and had a wonderful meal with one of the teachers at the village school and her family. I spent the next day visiting the school, helping in a couple of classrooms and walking around the village trying to take pictures through the fog. I also got to meet Ivan, a very cute baby. After a mad scramble across the railroad tracks, I caught the train back to Brasov -- beautiful scenery both ways.

Wooden gate in the village

Brasov was as fun as I remembered and it was nice to be in a real hotel after spending so many days in guesthouses. Our last hike involved taking the telecabina (cable car) up Mt. Tampa and then walking back down on the "serpentine path" which took forever. The views and scenery made it all worthwhile.

Black Church

View from the top of Mt. Tampa.

Halfway down Mt. Tampa

Our last stop was Bucharest, a city I didn't love on my last visit, probably because the weather was awful and I hated my hotel and its location. This time we stayed in a great place in Old Town. It was warm enough to sit outside and eat and we had two full days to walk around. We visited a wonderful gift shop at the Museum of the Romanian Peasant, tried to visit a Jewish cemetery (it was closed), went to one last outdoor market, and hung out in a beautiful park. On our last day we were able to see the Choral Temple which has been recently restored and is absolutely beautiful. The Jewish Museum, Holocaust Museum, and Great Synagogue were all closed for a special event -- my second visit to Bucharest and I still have not been able visit them because they were also closed last time. We visited the surprisingly wonderful Kitsch Museum and spent time sampling craft beer and wine.

Fabrica de Bere Buna (Romanian Craft Brew Bar)

What I Learned:

• That white cheese on the breakfast platter could actually be lard.  It is used as a substitute for butter and it tastes awful. Fortunately, I didn't swallow it.
• I could live in Bucharest, Brasov, or Miercurea Ciuc.
• There is a lot of great beer and wine in Romania and we brought back a couple of nice bottles of wine.
• I once again proved I could live on gogosi (doughnuts with fruit or cheese) and covrigi (pretzels).
• Romania is a beautiful country and there are a lot more places I need to visit.

Chisignu Park - there is a place for me on that bench