Blogs from Sighisoara, Mures, Transilvania, Romania, Europe

Sighisoara is a cool place. I spent the early morning avoiding the cold by attending a mass at a very nice Roman Orthodox church. I think that this was the first Roman Orthodox church mass that I sat through from beginning to end and it really was an interesting experience, as well as a toe thawing one. After that I walked around for a bit and checked out what is a beautifully set city. Sighisoara has only been a part of Romania since the end of World War 1 when it was transferred from the Austro-Hungarian empire. It still has a heavy German influence. The first people to settle there were the Saxons, having been invited by the King of Hungary during the 12th century to settle in Transylvania with the mind of defending his realm. ... read more

Sighisoara and Viscri Day 5-6 (June 11-12) Train travel to Sighisoara which is a fortified town in Transylvania. Claim to fame being Dracula’s birthplace (but Vlad didn’t live here long). There was an a museum with old artefacts, especially Saxon which this area still holds a sizable population of. The museum was in a tower, and there was a great view over the area from the top, as well as being able to look at the clock mechanisms. We were glad to be sheltering here from the storm which had come over quickly. As it abated we headed up the covered stairway built to allow children to get to school out of the rain and walked around the local church. There were lovely little square where we had dinner. The following day we were collected by ... read more

It's finally that time of the year... = Yeah, yeah, I know not everybody gets into the Christmas & New Year spirit! So? What do I know? 1st of December it's always a great day for 2 reasons: - begining of winter holidays (for those who love snow, the sledges, traffic jams and so on) - and due to the fact that on 1st December we celebrate Romania's National Day (actually this year we are celebrating 90 years since the great union in Alba Iulia) ... as you guessed that means free day/no work and fortunately this year 1st of December was in a Monday = 3 days off work. During this weekend we also had elections (on Sunday - 30 November) and in my oppinion who ever thought of setting the election day then either ... read more

27/08/08 - A day in the life, and Ceausescu’s Mad Road Today we set out to drive along one of the highest roads in Europe - the Transfagarasan which borders on southern Transalvania. “The road was constructed between 1970 and 1974, as a north-south crossing at the historical border between Transylvania and Wallachia. It came as a response to the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union. Ceausescu wanted to insure quick military access across the mountains in the event the Soviets attempted a similar move into Romania. Consequently, the road was built mainly with military forces, at a high cost both financially and from a human standpoint—roughly 6 million kilograms of dynamite were used on the northern face, and about 40 soldiers lost their lives in building accidents” - Read more about it on ... read more