Who Ever Heard of Sighisoara

Well, it was an uneventful trip on the train from Budapest to Sighisoara (Shig-he-shwa-ra). Had a compartment to myself until the Romanian border, then it started to fill up. An elderly (and what am I?) couple tried to talk to me, but the only common ground we had was that we could both count to 10 in Spanish. But I did understand her when she offered me her home-made pretzels With poppy seeds, and ate them with pleasure.

I arrived about 7:00 PM, and walked right past the hostel I'd made a reservation at. They didn't have a sign that I could see. But I found another just as I was about to turn around and try another pass. This one turned out OK, single room with facilities. Had a good dinner in town, then back to the hostel.

Went to the TV room and started talking with a young man from FL. Turned out he was born in Winterhaven, where I lived for 3 years from age 3. Later he, his girlfriend and I played hearts. I even ran them the first hand. OF course, my game went downhill from there, but it was fun.

Friday morning I took in the town in earnest. Not really a tourist town. I didn't even see any real souvenir shops. I went into a place that advertised tours, and the best they could offer was an unguided 1/2 day tour. Unguided? No thanks. Later, in the walled section of town, I did find a place that put me in touch with a young lady they knew who gave tours. I arranged for one the next day, and spent the rest of the time familiarizing myself with the area.

The current business part of town still looks very "old Europe". It's at the bottom of the hill, and pretty much surrounds the hill. On top if the hill is the old walled city, with the walls and 7 of the towers still intact. It was built originally in the 11th century, by Germans imported by the Austro-Hungarian Empire to guard the eastern borders. The Germans stayed pretty much on the hill, and the Romanians at the bottom for many years. The entire town burned in the late 1600's, and has been rebuilt. Only the original foundations exist.

The population is between 15,000 and 25,000, depending on whom you ask. The streets, with the exception of the few primary ones, are all of stone. Bet it's fun to walk on a hill in rainy/snowy weather. They still use horse drawn wagons quite a bit. Rubber tires, tho. It's strange to see a horse pulling a wagon with a modern appliance, TV, Washing machine, etc., as cargo. Streets are nice and clean. I wondered about this, until I saw the burlap bags strapped across the poles of the wagons right behind the horses.

On Friday, I took the previously mentioned tour, accompanied by a very nice couple from Nova Scotia, Canada. They are living in Romania at present. He is managing the start-up of a Michelin tire plant in a northern Romanian town. The tour turned out to be very enjoyable. The young lady seemed to know her history, and presented it well. Most of what I've said about the town above I learned from her.

We did see a statue of Vlad Tepes (Count Dracula) and the house he was born in. Not really a nice guy. But then he came by it naturally. His father wasn't a model parent. He ransomed Vlad to the Turks when he was a young boy. Maybe he had to, that was implied. He ruled the area three different times. I'm not sure why the breaks, or who took over while he was on the outs. But then, I'm not too interested in finding out, either.

After the tour, the Canadians and I went to the town market. A real farmer's market. Cabbages in piles nearly 5 feet high. I bought myself a hat with pull down ear flaps for the cold weather I know is coming. Forgot to mention in the email that we enjoyed a traditional lunch that was very good.

That evening, I checked the TV room again. 3 of the staff, plus an American from NY and a lady from Ontario, Can. were there. Got talking with the NY and Canadian. The staff were passing around a bottle of vodka, and all but me imbibed. I guess I'm just a beer and pretzels guy. Later, NY brought down several beers, and I helped with that. NY seems to be on a never-ending world tour. He says he finds work when he runs short of money, enough to finance himself for a while, and then on with the tour. I think maybe Mom and Dad help a bit. Who am I to say?

This morning I got to the train station in plenty of time. Turns out they have DST here too, and it ended last nite. Could have slept another hour, but I made it up on the train. Good trip. Again the compartment to myself for half the way. No pretzels today.

Great scenery along the way. Initially farmland, with occasional forested area. The trees are really starting to turn now. We climbed through a pass through the Carpathian mountains, which was really pretty. Some snow capped peaks. It frosted this morning, and the hills and trees often had a coat of white. Very pretty. After the pass, it leveled off into farmland again as we approached Bucharest.

I'm proud of myself for the way I managed to get through the train station here. Found the international ticket window, and reserved myself a sleeper for the trip to Istanbul on the 3rd. Also found and purchased a bus pass for use all the while I'm here, and found the bus that took me to within a block of the hostel. All of that while avoiding 9000 hustlers trying to get my attention for everything from hotels to taxi's to who know what.

I do have to say that I've found my limit in hostels. I checked in, but I'm checking out tomorrow AM. I found a place in the center of town that is much nicer, more convenient, and, of course, more money. But worth it. My room is a single, but I have to go through a dorm to get to it. No one in the dorm, but still. No lock on the door. 2nd floor room, shower in the basement. The throne room is really a throne. Step in, then climb 3 steps to get to the facility. Nuff said about this place.

One con artist at a hotel I looked at tried to get me to pay 3 days in advance, with cash, in order to reserve a room. I offered my credit card, but he said their machine was broken. So what? You've still got the number. Had I taken it, what do you think my chances of getting the room the next day would have been???

That's about it for tonite. One good thing about this place, the Internet is free, and the keyboard speaks English, as does the screen.