Day 11: Sibiu, Sibiu, to you and you, and you!

June 26, 2018

Sibiu, Romania

Last night we found out that the rental car company where we were planning to pick up our car this morning moved from 2 miles away to near the airport.  It would take about an hour using public transit to get there, so we opted for a taxi.  Randy couldn't reach the taxi service on his phone, so he asked the hotel in our square what to do and they offered to call for us.  So we were up moderately early, carried our bags to the hotel and waited there for the taxi.  To the airport where we searched in vain for our rental company--Payless.  Finally, Randy talked to another rental car company and found out that Payless goes by another name in Timisoara.  We found their office outside of the terminal and got our car.  This is what we received:

So, despite ourselves, we took it (we weren't sure if we had any other choice).  And we drove and drove.  We finally got on the A1 (an interstate to those in the US), but then there was a detour--several detours because of road projects partially funded by the EU (there were huge billboards about it).   Google Maps even had us on a tiny little road that went right next to huge nuclear power plant silos--no fences or gates.  We just drove right beside them; they were very close to the road.  Eeerie!  Finally, Google Maps got us back on the A1 and we made our way to Sibiu (pronouned sib-oo, emphasis on the second syllable).  We had to wait outside our apartment building (which was very dodgy-looking) for our host.  He showed us where to park the car--who would steal it?, and around the apartment.  Very compact, but very cute.  The bedroom has a totally cute balcony off it, which is why it is called Lovely Balcony.  I'll try to get a picture tomorrow of it.

We checked it out and headed out.  It was 4:00 and we hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast--we needed food!  Our host told us about the, literally translated, Big Square and Little Square.  The Big Square has a tower you can climb, the Little Square is filled with sidewalk cafés and coffee shops.  Also, there was a grocery store in Big Square so that we could buy cereal, milk, juice, and fruit for breakfast.

On our walk, we saw what was probably the town wall, moat, and outer town wall when Sibui was still a tiny village!  They are on the edge of the Old Town.

Inner wall

Inner wall

moat between the two walls--the outer wall is on the right

Exit out of the outer wall

We saw the Little and Big Squares (and a church as well as some other squares).

Little Square

Big Square

From a church we visited

We climbed all the way to the top of the tower of the Evangelical Cathedral of Sibui.  For 8 Lei (they don't use euros), which is about $2, a guide will show you the grave markers that line the west wing of the cathedral.  The rest is closed for repairs and renovation (it has evidently been going on for a few years!).  The guide was great, but expected us to know more Romanian history than we do (Joshua knows a bit more than Randy and I).  Then we climbed the bell tower.  Wow--wooden stairs, first in a spiral with no handrails (with people coming down at the same time), then steep stairways with shallow treads.  But we made it, and the view was awe-inspiring!  Coming down was even more difficult, just easier to breathe through it.

The cathedral

A baptismal font cast by a bell maker in the 14th Century.

The tombstones were moved from the church to the west part of the church.  This is for a man named Pike (like the fish).  You can see two pike on here--one on the top and another on the bottom on his coat of arms.

This one references St. Nicholas whose story is that he helped a poor family with money for dowries for their three daughters (the boy has three balls of money--two in his hands, one in his pocket).  Also there is a dog below which references the dog turning into boy and back to dog (werewolves) in the stories of the area.  

This references Vlad the Impaler--Dracula.

At the top of the first set of stairs to the tower

a few more flights up

another flight up

reached the bells!

Up another flight and here's the prize!

The roof of the cathedral

One of the four towers--each of which has a window you an open for photos!

stained glass window in the tower

There were piles of these roof tiles.  Glazed terra cotta.

The spire

Even more treacherous going down!

The 6:00 bells went off when Joshua and I were by them!  We had to cover our ears.

going down--look ma--no handrails!

The cathedral

We found a café for dinner that has many different flavors of lemonade.  Joshua had strawberry lemonade, Randy had cherry, and I had elderflower-kiwi lemonade.  All of them had seeds of the fruits in the lemonade.  Yum!  We agreed that mine was the best, followed by Joshua's.  Randy's was good too!  The food was okay, but not exceptional.  We've realized that many meals here contain potatoes.  Cabbage is prominent as well.

We saw a protest beginning in the Big Square and watched for a bit, then diverted from their marching to go get our breakfast groceries.

Back to our apartment for some screen time and nap time (to each of us our own).  We had plans to go drive the mountain roads tomorrow or go to an outdoor Romanian history museum that our host recommended, but the weather forecast says 100% chance of rain throughout the day with temps in the 60s.  Bummer.