The hostel we stayed in was quite nice, it was a guest house of a very old Romanian lady, who spoke no English. She required her 15 year old neighbour to come and translate. He spoke English very well... I guess this is just another sign of the times.. in most countries English has entrenched itself as the necessary language, for tourism and/ or business.
Guest houses normally have those nicer touches than hostels... fluffy towels, a kitchen to use, private bathrooms and proper bedding. This was the case in Hostel Julia, however the old lady hovered about watching us like a hawk watches potential prey.... ensuring we didn't mess up the house too much.
After cooking some breakfast, we headed straight to the main part of town. Whilst the clock tower may be the most visually appealing feature, of more tourist significance may be Casa Dracula, where it was stated that Romania's most famous person- Vlad Tepes was born. Whilst the drinking of blood was perhaps an urban legend, he killed a lot of people, primarily Turks. he was known as the time as Vlad the Impaler, after the manner in which he killed his victims. He would insert a post from backside to mouth, without hitting any major organs, so they would bleed to death slowly. Ouch!
I had a coffee in Vlad's birthplace, and Cinthia and I talked about what it would have been like during the period in which he lived. His castle exists some 200 km away, and as yet we haven't decided whether or not to visit the castle, as it is allegedly not that spectacular.
Biertan is the next town we visited. It is a miniscule dot map in central Romania. It is picturesque, and lovely, however is located along a dilapidated road. Cinthia and I sat having lunch, when one of those coincidences occurs that you struggle to believe, I noticed 2 faces that I recognised. Whilst unable to pinpoint the faces, I knew that I had been on a tour with these people previously. I approached, told them I was sure I had met then before, and sure enough, I had been on a tour in Mexico with them, some 10 years ago. There were perhaps 5 other tourists in the town.... how strange that I had come across two from east London that I had travelled with 10 years ago, on the other side of the world. Whilst it is unlikely I will run into them in West Africa in another 10 years, I wouldn't bet against it.
The early afternoon was spent driving to the last of the 3 saxon triangle towns, Sibiu. This was probably the most picturesque of the 3 towns, as it had a large open square, and also had a 75 metre high church. The town has had a makeover, as it was the European capital of culture in 2007. The crumbly walls, faded paints and boken tiles were subsequently replaced, and today the period style buildings project colourful contrasts. Cin and I decided it was worth the effort to climb the church tower, as this allowed a 360 degree view over Sibiu.
A 2 hour drive back to Brasov until we can relax, forget about crazy Romanian drivers, check back into our hostel, and have a cold, and well earned beer.
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