Trouble in Transylvania

Last Updated: September 25, 2020

We took the train to Sibiu yesterday morning. There was a Zorro spotting at the train station, but I wasn’t able to take a picture. Maybe it was Antonio Banderas.

Sibiu is the cutest little town! Full of plazas and churches and a river and it’s all quite sweet. So sweet, that it was awarded the European Capital of Culture in 2007. Forget Italy, if you want a cheap vacation, while still catching some culture, I’d definitely put Sibiu on the list. And their Italian food is pretty good. And… the Romanian language even has an Italian root. Which simply means I can pick out a very occasional word in Romanian, from the Italian, from the Spanish.

So I was planning on renting a bike today, but for the lack of a proper map, helmet, bike lane, and cycling pals, I’ve decided to skip it. My travel insurance thanks me. So I spent the day touring the town. I started with climbing the bell tower in the Evangelical Church. It was actually kind of scary, and I’m not generally afraid of heights. The 2nd half of the climb was on exposed stairs open to below. In the States, you would have had to sign a waiver! It was all fine, until I was nearly to the top and the bell rang. So among the flying birds and expletives, I waited out the ringing bell and finally made it to the top, for a pretty awesome view of the town and countryside.

I had a picnic lunch and ate by Liar’s Bridge near the square. Liar’s Bridge is the oldest cast-iron bridge in Romania, and legend has it that if you tell a lie over it, the bridge will collapse. But I’m happy to reassure you that it’s lie proof. After walking for hours, I decided to walk over to the Art’s theater that I saw on the map. I finally found it, but no one was at the window. So I went in and walked up some stairs and through another door and then down a hall, and then a lady came out of a door labeled “crime lab”.  At which point I proceeded to pee my pant, no not really, but almost, and she assured me that the theater was open and then proceeded to LOCK ME IN the lobby and disappear! At this point, it was beyond a bad movie plot in my imagination, so I knocked on the glass door, for a bit, then looked at pictures in a Romanian magazine for about half  an hour, and then some people showed up.  I had a hard time explaing to them in why I was locked in there. Anyway, long story short, they only show a movie at this theater if at least 4 people show up. Yep, 4, so since there were only 3 of us, they told us to come back at the next showing. :) I love Romania.