Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Transylvania Day 4: Sigshora and Heading Home

Leaving is always a hard thing to do, but alas it was that time again! WE packed our bags and loaded them in the car, and decided that our flight not leaving until almost 7 we had time to go exploring Sigshoara in the daylight!
On our way up to the old city we found some little markets. Everything was so expensive compared to our country markets, so nothing really tempted me!


This is the bell tower! It is what this city is famed for! It is pretty large and nice looking but my favorite part is located 3/4's the way up. There are manicans with kegs and something else on display! At first I thought they were kids partying until I realized they weren't moving! It was hilarious! This is also when Brent finally learned that bell towers ding on the hour for what hour it is (example 8 dings=8 o'clock!). I am very proud of my law student!

The old city was full of little alley ways! The streets we laid rock that was uneven and since it was raining I was walking REALLY REALLY slow! I am pretty prone to falling!

We went inside a church, that wasn't suppose to be open, but the cleaning lady had left the lock off. This is the spiral staircase inside!

Once of the look out towers for the old city. There was a complete wall around it all!

This is the covered stairway. It use to have over 270 stairs but now it has been reduced to half! Thank goodness because walking up that was a pain and a half!

This was the church at the top of the hill!

We walked around the city for an hour or two and then decided to get on our way. The next few pictures are to emphasize how outstanding the fall colors were while we were there!
Since we still had a lot of time to kill we went along a tiny dirt road to a monument that was on Brent's Atlas. Looking back it was a bad idea because my stomach hurt really bad for the rest of the day, which only worries Brent! We did see this cool horse though!


The monumnet turned out to be a wall... Totally worth the full 24 hours of pain!

We think had we kept driving we would have found this tower sitting in water, and that was the actual monument, but I did not feel like turning around at this point!

We drove and drove and drove. There was a small city that had more markets! Everything was so afforadable, I indulged and bought a second souvenir! It was only 20 lei ($6.00 USD) and a gorgeous vase! I am purposely not taking any pictures of our souvinors because I would rather show them off when I get home, but if there are people who would like me to post them I can!

At the airport we just relaxed in the car, until the rental person arrived. There were more feral dogs. Cade and Kristi fed him their remaining Bread and we gave him some corn nuts (which he didn't like to much!)
It was such an amazing trip! I was not sure what to expect but this was more than I could have imagined! The beauty of the countryside and the kindness of the people made Transylvania one of my favorite places that we have been so far! It was such a great experience, and I would happily go again!

Transylvania Day 3: Lunch, Viscri and Singashora

After all that touring and exploring hunger was pretty noticable! We had agreed before our trip to only really eat out once! As we were driving through the canyons to our next stop Cade decided to pull over at this charming looking place! There was and English part to the menu (kinda) so we stopped!

Brent and I hadn't eaten for most of the day and so we decided to make sure we got enough. Sicne we weren't sure if the meal came with sides we got two sides just in case... Co we ordered a soup bread bowl, I got breaded Chicken and rice with mushrooms (turned out the chicken came with French fries too) and Brent ordered polish sausage, rustic potatoes, and it came with a salad as well! here is the big big big bread bowl! (I was kinda full after this!)

Kristi looked at the menu and under sides it said "Chili", and she wanted some chili so she thought that would fill her... Turns out she didn't even touch it! Brent and Cade both tried a small bite and spent a good while trying to get their mouths cool again!
This is Brent's sausage and potatoes!
Here ismy rice and chicken (apparently I ordered the entire chicken!)
Here is our feast! It was really delicious and there was so so s o much of it! I pawned a lot of it off on Kristi, Cade and Brent but I left full and happy! We bought all that food for about $14.00 USD! Brent's Parents would LOVE LOVE LOVE Romania!
After the feast for and army we were content to drive for a while! There was this small village that Cade read about in a travel book at our hostel, so we decided to go for it! Th

We arrive in Viscri around 5:00 pm and drove up the small dirt roads to find that it was closed. as we were attempting to find a better view to take a picture of it, we found that the back gate was open!
This is in the main archway!
all around these monuments are little cemetaries! This town was so small I can not even communicate it! It was probably 60 kilometers away from any big city and it looked as it no more than 200 people lived there! We saw kids playing in the main road, and when they posed for a picture for Cade and Kristi they gave them candy and they were SO excited! We saw only a few cars, and mainly horse karts!
Here is one of the Karts! The horse was drinking from the water trough in the middle of the road! It was for sure a different way of living and made me really grateful for what I have!
We drove to Singashora and located our 4 Star accommodations! After checking we went out on the town!
We climbed up to the Old city (which was up 7 flights of stairs) to this mystical view! The moon wasn't really full but Brent did a great job making it look that way!
Brent and Cade love taking pictures, so sometimes Kristi and I like to mess around! While one of the boys is messing with one thing or another!
When we got back to the hotel we watch some more television, played some more cards, and got cozy!
Alright, we didn't share the bed, but the four poster bed is so much fun we had to pretend! Another full and amazing day in Transylvania!

Transylvania Day 3: Peles Palace and Bran Castle

On day three we had another early morning followed by a little bit of driving! The first place we went is called Peles Palace! It was built only a few hundred years ago but it was pretty amazing! The palace was closed but we were still able to walk around the grounds!

The fall colors were a topic of discussion! They were beyond vibrant and gorgous! This strem was on the palace grounds!

On the trail up the drive to the palace we found some fun cannons! Brent was thinking about sitting in the little chair... I am glad he didn't! I have a feeling it would have led to an international incident!

As we tried to walk up to the gates we quickly found out even the grounds close to the palace were closed! We think that someone important was staying there or something so we weren't allowed to take and close up pictures! this is the castle I imagine for Beauty and the Beast!
On the 45 minute drive to Bran's Castle (Dracula's Home) we stopped at one of the road side markets. I can not tell you how inexpensive this place was! Over our travel's I limit our souvinors to one spoon (me), one pen (Blair), pictures (Brent), and one free choice. This has worked great and kept spending down, plus we try to buy something that is going to be really memorable! The great thing about here is we had our pick of basically anything we wanted! Although I looked and looked and looked I couldn't find a spoon or a pen (that was cheap) at one of these stands!


When we got to Bran Castle, we were expecting dark and dreary! Man were we wrong! If anything I would describe it more "shire-like" than anything else!

Inside the castle, there was a set up tour, which is nice because we didn't miss anything! This is the secret stair case that is used by the royalty to get to different parts of the castle!
Overlooking the courtyard were some gorgeous colors!


Brent had to do the famous Dracula bite! he is finishing the book right now and I read it a few weeks ago, so I feel like we were both very well educated for this trip! It tickled so much so I couldn't stop laughing!

This castle was very educational, but not about Vampires, more about the royalty who lived here. There were large posters everywhere basically telling people that Vlad the Impaler was not Dracula so there was no reason he should be as famous as he is!

This is the very beautiful courtyard! All the greenery made for a very enchanted experience!

Once we finished in the castle, we walked around the grounds! I love this picture of Brent. This lake is about 200 steps below the castle, so it is on a different level altogether!

I like this picture!

Oh did I forget to show you what the castle looked like? This is what we saw for the first time... ya I still think Vlad was Dracula, I don't care what they say!
After we finished at the castle we scoured the market for a pen! I found and inexpensive spoon (6 lei) but none of the stands had pens! I asked EVERYONE! Finally, Brent found a stand that had one! Blair, mission accomplished! I got you a pen!

Transylvania Day 2: Brasov

Our car was moving and we were happy! We drove for about 5 hours straight to Brosov! Once we arrived at our Hostel and checked in it was about 7:30 pm and so we decided to hit the town for a little while! This church was about 100 meters away from our hostel! The grounds were open so we walked in!

These doors were so intricate... they were also two very different colors!

i was debating whether or not I should ring the bell, because you are usually not suppose to do stuff like that. So I asked Brent "Should I actual ring the bell" and this American guy walking behind the tower with his girlfriend responded "yes you should!" We laughed and so I rang it! I was scared we were going to get thrown out but apparently no one really cared! A few minutes later we heard the bell ring again! I can only assume our American friend rang it himself later!
in the same complex as the church was the graveyard. usually I love looking around graveyards but it was getting dark and this one was getting creepy. No green lawns for this place! They were stone monuments! I love it!


This is the famous monument in Brosov, the Roof is Black but by the time we got there we couldn't see much of anything!

WHAT A LINE! Is that Brent in the second to last? Yes, yes it is! What could we be waiting in line for?

This AMAZING CREATION! We saw people walking around with them and they looked so good we had to get one! It was 5 lei ($1.66 USD)! They gave us 8 different flavors (strawberry, coconut, banana, chocolate, vanilla, whip cream, blackberry, and apple).

This was the main square! People were everywhere just hanging out and it was a great feeling to participate in!
We really enjoyed our time in Brosov! After the town we stayed in our room and played cards for the rest of the night (until about 11 pm). It was a long and wonderful day!