Above and below: the Romanian countryside as we rolled into Sighisoara on our overnight train on the morning of Day 5.  Basically, all Romania seemed to be was one big farm zone for corn and sunflowers.

"Hmm. . . I wonder what to expect from Romania!"

Train station sign.  The little hook sign on the "s" makes it sound like "sh".  So the name of the town sounds like "See-gee-sho-wara"

Our little pension.  One night: 10 euros ($12).  Not too bad, eh!

View out our pension window

Quaint Romanian houses along my walk through the walled portion of Sighisoara.

REAL Old World cobblestone streets.  Not the sissy perfect ones you see in western Europe these days - laid out all perfect with perfectly square stones - but rather bumpy and uneven stones of different sizes and lengths simply pressed down into the dirt.  I LOVED IT! 

The central courtyard of town

I love the crazy little towers poking up out of the roofs of the buildings everywhere.  To me this was pure Transylvania!

Above and below: Klosterkirche Church

Interior of the Klosterkirche Church which was built in the 13th Century, and renovated at the end of the 15th Century.

And just down the street. . . the interior of the Roman Cathedral Church, built in 1896, which burnt down in 1983 and was rebuilt in 1984.

The Roman Cathedral Church

Oh look, there I am in a Romanian street mirror!

Isn't the architecture fabulous?!  I ADORE those roofs!

Streets barely wide enough for anything!  Just the way I like it.

Two young Romanian boys walking around town together.  As I watched them stride away, I wondered what it must be like to grow up within a small walled town in the middle of Transylvania.  Perhaps they've wondered what it's like to grow up in a big city in California?

Apparently Dracula's descendants like satellite TV just like the rest of us!

Craft and food market in the town square

Worn window frame, cracked plaster, and beautiful flowers.  Virtually any home can be spruced up and brought to life with a touch of living color like this.

Not quite sure what this is all about. . . but this was the home neighborhood of Dracula after all. . . so maybe he's back for a visit!  AAACK!

The rear of Dracula's boyhood home.  The courtyard behind the gate has since been turned into quite a nice restaurant.

Line and shadow on Dracula's home

Looking up at the Citadel Clock Tower from outside the city wall.  The citadel itself was built in 1191 and now houses the Museum of Medieval Armory.

Below the city lays the "newer" and flat part of Sighisoara.  Above: random street along my walk through town.

Below: a church that looks suspiciously Islamic in appearance.  I asked our pension manager if the church was built by the Muslims after they invaded from Turkey and dominated the region, but she said that as far as she knows, it's been Christian forever.  Hmm. . . maybe I need to read up on south-eastern European church architectural history?

The Romanian flag!

An area of shops, cafes, and cars in the newer part of Sighisoara.

OK, there's a limit on how charming cracked and rundown Old World buildings can be before they become dangerous!

Street leading up toward the citadel/walled city.

A Sighisoara trash truck!

Nice view of Transylvanian architectural forms.

A nice, covered walk way up toward the city wall of the clock tower that must be much nicer to walk along in the rain and snow than the neighboring smooth stone street just to the right with a slick, water run-off gouge in the middle of it.  One false slip in a snow storm at the top of the street and you've had a BAD BAD day.

Above: Vlad Dracula's house, now a nice restaurant with great food.

Below: the multilingual description

A little bit of home, from atop the citadel's Clock Tower.

Rooftop of the Klosterkirche Church.

Me and Transylvania!

Amy and Transylvania!

"Look!  We're in Romania!  How fun!"

The Church on the Hill

Originally a Roman chapel built in 1200 but renovated in Gothic style in 1345.

History below:

German right, Romanian left.  It's quite close to Spanish and Italian (and thus English, partially).  Perhaps you can pick out a few words?  Strangely, German and English are much more closely related than English and Romanian/Spanish/etc. even though the Romance language on the left seems more readily recognizable at first glance.

Church on the Hill cemetery, with the vast majority of inscriptions being written in German - a result of expatriate German Lutherans.

A gorgeous orange sunflower.  I'd love to photograph this beauty in direct sunlight!

Me just hanging out on the steps of a souvenir shop in Sighisoara

Amy in front of a for sale sign for her new favorite regional beverage

Dracula's house, by night.  Before arriving in Transylvania, Amy and I had contemplated buying a couple sets of vampire teeth and capes so we could dress up and run through the streets late at night to relive the Dracula mystery in person, but we eventually decided against it.  I mean, the last thing Sighisoara probably needs is a couple of crazed Americans running around town late at night fulfilling some weirdo Hollywood fantasy! 

Would have been fun though. . . provided we didn't earn ourselves a stake in the heart!

Me looking quasi-zombie-esque with fogged up glasses as I drink a yummy cup of cappuccino.  As we sat in the covered outdoor beer garden, the young Romanians around us sang 1950s American rock 'n' roll songs and had a great time long into the evening.

Our small (but ultra cheap!) pension room.  Not so shabby at all for $12!  Personally, I think they could have charged $20 and I still would have been quite happy, especially since the pension owner and her family were FABULOUSLY friendly and adorable.

Next stop: Brasov!

Having made tour arrangements for Brasov through our pension lady, we were picked up at the train station the following morning and were conveniently led to a car driven by an old Romanian who didn't speak a lick of English, or any other language for that matter.  Despite that, the guy seemed fun enough and communicated through a series of hand gestures and grunts.  First site for the day: The Rosenau Citadel.

The citadel complex is largely ruins today, but a significant restoration project is underway to reconstruct the structure which was first built in 1241 to protect against invasions from the Tartars. 

Vlad the Impaler himself, said to have ruled over the area during the mid-1400s.

The Cetate Fortress Fountain

Life sucks being a prisoner, eh!

Here's a creepy little morsel: a skeleton lying in a box under one of the rooms of the citadel as seen through a small glass window looking down on the poor guy (gal?).  Sometimes I ponder what these people would think if they knew their skeletons would be put on display for random tourist from afar in the deep future.  "Yeah, in the 21st Century there will be ultra tall metal buildings, flying steel birds, self propelled carriages, and your skeleton on display."

"?!?" 

A small white washed room in the citadel

Above and below: Amy and I trying to pay homage to the legendary werewolves of Transylvania, and instead looking like a bunch of American spazzes!

HISSSSSSSSSSS!!!

Newly renovated inner courtyard of the Rosenau Citadel.

Spectacular tiled roof.  I just love these Old World euro roofing styles!

Tourist man Dan on a step

The citadel school, with a sculpture of Jesus Christ on the cross from the 18th Century

Amy about to fall over a precipice

A not-so-well pieced together double-shot of the town of Rosenau below the citadel and the Piatra Craiului Mountains in the background with a peak elevation of 2,238 meters (7,500ft?).  Not visible in this picture is the nuclear power plant steam tower off in the distance.

When we first got to the Rosenau Citadel, our non-English speaking driver pulled up to this random spot, parked his car, grunted something then pointed with his thick sausage-like fingers up toward the forest.  Amy and I thought, "Yeah. . . AND???"  Not exactly knowing what we were doing or where we were going, we figured we'd just get out and explore.  Romania seemed safe enough, and it's not like a busload of religious terrorists would drive up and kidnap us or anything. . .

AAACK!!!  ;-}

Next stop: the famed Bran Castle from Bran Stoker's Dracula.

A fun stone corridor, labeled "The Secret Passageway" which didn't exactly seem so secret since everyone and their grandmother was walking through it.

Above and below: the beautiful inner courtyard of Bran Castle.  I would just love to be here in a heavy snow storm, wandering around the exterior balconies in search of a steaming hot cup of coffee in a room on the other side of the castle.

Above and below: nice stone roof of the inner courtyard and steeply slanted roof of the exterior overlooking neighboring hills and valleys.  Charming, eh!

Beautifully handcrafted wooden bed

Walking up to Bran Castle

Above and below: the rolling hills and farm lands of central Romania

Upon departing Brasov, we were advised by our English speaking train station greeter "not to go outside, lest you get robbed by the craftiest of thieves who can cut your backpacks open in less than one second!"  Believing him, but not wanting to stay in the train station for the entire 5 hours we had to wait for our train to Bucharest, I decided to venture out for a little look-see.  While I wasn't robbed, I was accosted by two gypsy children who appeared to be severely burned as well as having a not so pleasant skin disease to boot.  They spotted that I was a tourist and basically run up to me right away and started grabbing and climbing on me.  Clutching my backpack, I made it back into the train station (while being watched by local Romanians who were probably amused by the display) where the children automatically disengaged as soon as they saw police officers standing next to the entrance.  According to our train station greeter, "The inside of the station is safe, but I can't guarantee anything outside."

Through the Carpathian Mountains in Transylvania off to Bucharest!

Southern Romania, here we come!