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Published: July 21st 2017
Sibiu
Piata Mare with Banca Agricola and Orthodox ChurchIt was still drizzling as we walked into the Piata Mare on Sunday morning. The previous evening I had been intent on supper and had only fleetingly noticed the characteristic eye-like windows in the roofs of the houses on the square. Suddenly they were everywhere on every building both old and modern. I especially liked the ones on the older buildings which had the hooded look of a predatory crocodile!
We thought we should try and see if there were any tickets left for the international theatre festival which ended that day but there weren't so we contented ourselves with a leisurely walk around the centre and the picturesque cobbled back streets with their colourful houses. There was a tour of German tourists being shown around the town and indeed Sibiu has a German mayor, Johannes Klaus of the German Democratic Forum which is rather bizarre but apparently he is very popular. This, despite the fact that the number of German speakers remains tiny!
The tourist information place was in a former bank, the Banca Agricola, on the Piata Mare, next to the Orthodox church and Council Tower which made an attractive group of buildings. We got ourselves a
Sibiu
The eyes, the eyes map of the town there and explored the lower quarter via a cobbled street under the Iron Bridge nicknamed the Liar's Bridge after the tricky merchants who met here to trade. If you tell a lie on it, it is meant to creak! Since Sunday services were now over, we popped into the historic Evangelical Church, (Lutheran) opposite the old Grammar School and decided that was it as far as culture was concerned for the day.
Since the rain didn't look like stopping, we decided to drive out of town to an outdoor museum, the Astra Museum of Traditional Folk Civilisation to give it its grandiose title. Pleasantly surprised, we spent the whole afternoon there in the light drizzle and encountered countless different mills, traditional houses and wooden churches from the Marmures region which we weren't going to visit, all set out among two small lakes and woodland. The traditional inn was open so we enjoyed a late lunch of peasant soup and beer. A pleasant way to spend a wet afternoon!
Lynn's app got us back to the hotel and after a rest, we sallied forth to another recommended restaurant in the lower quarter of town. You
Sibiu
Crocodile eyes could tell it was good because it was full of locals and we enjoyed another tasty supper and allowed ourselves a pudding too this time. Again the Romanian Sauvignon Blanc came up trumps. The final display was taking place on the big square and fireworks were due to start just before midnight but the rain put us off and we headed back to bed.
The next morning, the rain had stopped, the sun was out and we decided to go back to the square to take some photos in the better light. The stages were being dismantled, the damp confetti was being swept up by the council workers and the pigeons were back in large numbers. After a few photos, we headed back to the hotel and loaded up the hire car and headed towards Sighisoara.
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Jackie Harrison
non-member comment
Transylvania
oooooo....the eyes!!!