Sighisoara surprise

From the picture above, Sighisoara looks very nice. But that is not the impression we got when we got off the train in the morning at a  horrible looking station. Contrary to our research there were no lockers or left luggage area, so we headed off with all our luggage to the Old Town. At least, that is what we hoped. There was no tourist info at the station either, just a woman who told us to walk "that way" for "a while." We walked that way for quite a while. It was hot, the bags were heavy, and T refused to walk. The neighborhood was looking worse and worse with bars on windows and stray dogs. Finally we saw a farmer's market. We went in thinking we would buy the kids ice creams and then take one of the taxis outside to old town. The market was a little seedy. When we came out the taxis had all scattered, but there was a police car. E somehow asked the officer for directions and we set off again. This time the houses started looking better and better and with E scouting ahead a little we ended up where we wanted to be. He found a tourist office immediately where they gave him a map and offered to take the luggage he was carrying. We left the rest of the luggage at the sister hotel of our Brasov hotel, and we were off.

Enormous bags of cucumbers and peppers. 

The produce isn't handled as carefully here as in Switzerland.

There were watermelon stands everywhere. At the busiest one the seller would cut out a wedge for the buyer to inspect then stuff it back into the melon.

I bought R a couple of tomatoes. When I put them in the bag an old man who was waiting in line started shaking his head very fiercely and handed me the tomatoes he thought I should buy. They seemed the same to me, but R says he chose very well.

 When we saw this we knew we wouldn't be pick-pocketed or attacked by a stray dog.

Old town was a lot like every old town. It had a church, a tower with a view, cafes on the square, and souvenir shops. We were lucky that there was also a craft fair going on where R and S found souvenirs. The main attraction in Sighisoara is the birthplace of Dracula.

T has been collecting loose change our entire trip and has been itching to spend it. He decided to buy this wooden sword with his own money. Because we were in Romania, he had enough in loose change and some left over.

Because T took the Brasov tour, he feels qualified now to teach Romanian history. Here he is saying, "Well, it all started forty thousand years ago...."

Dracula was born here! On the second floor. We wanted to see the room itself, but no one was around to let us in.

We went up the town tower. The view was good, and the girls loved that there were little plaques all along the edge with the distances to various cities. It was fun and surprising to compare the distances. Also, some of the city names were written in Romanian and we had to try to figure out which they were based on their direction and distance. Also cool about the tower is that it let us see the clock figurines close up from behind. They looked pretty creepy, especially the babies.

Clock baby, dangling over the square.

The days of the week. Why is Saturday so mad?

We have been incredibly lucky with the weather this entire trip. We got a little wet in Poland, but nothing uncomfortable. In Sighisoara it rained a little around noon - while we were in a church and on the town's famous covered steps. We were just calling a taxi to take us back to the train station when it really began to pour. We missed that, too.

The girls found a little nook for themselves at the train station where they could listen to R's nano (radio lab, probably) and watch the rain while we waited for our train. T made friends with a Roma girl and shared his lollipops with her in between her begging.

Another train!

It stopped raining not long after we got on the train and I got some pretty pictures of the sunset.