Sighisoara - Saturday 25th August

It’s been a difficult week with a mixture of bad news and good with the visit of a colleague from the Corporate Office in London who I know from my first foray into the Aviva world. The travel planning has been difficult with finding sensible running times an issue and the on-line system being unavailable since Thursday.
So today's plan was to give my Romglish another outing and try to catch the 7:08 train to Sighisoara in Transylvania (if it’s running, a 5 hour journey).
Well it was a great start as taxis were available at Piata Dorobantilor even at 6:30 and my Romglish saw me through all the way to the train without me even having to repeat anything. Today I even have a first class seat, albeit a very lumpy old seat in an ageing compartment train.

Sighisoara is a Saxon town similar in many ways to Brasov, but much more compact being situated on a small (and easily defendable) hill. The citadel and old town is however almost exactly as it was in medieval times and this has earned it World Heritage Site status. There is also the added attraction of it being the birthplace of Vlad Tepes (The Impaler) who is also sometimes known as Dracula (don’t you just wish you could add a sound effect to a document sometimes!).
Sighisoara station seems to be in the latter stages of a major refurbishment and in a bit of a mess right now but having checked that the trains back to Bucharest are running it’s a fairly short walk to the old town.

There’s a 1930’s Romanian Orthodox Cathedral by the river but with a wedding in progress I didn’t go in, and from here the old town looms above you on the hill.
I cross the road and head straight up the steps in front of me to climb to the town – I really should have followed the road winding gently around the hill. What should an ageing fat bloke expect at mid-day in bright sunshine in the middle of a very hot summer abroad!

Exhausted and over-heated (maybe there’s a reason these steps aren’t on the tourist map!) I find myself behind the Shoemakers tower.

I follow the narrow road around the edge of the hill where there is a great view out across the town outside the citadel.

The Monastery Church which is very plain (if not plain ugly!) also has a wedding in progress and so I am quickly on to the towns most spectacular sight, the Clock Tower.

Vlad’s birthplace is the orangey building on the right and now houses a rather dark and dingy restaurant.

The clock itself looks magnificent having been extensively restored in the 17th Century following a fire.

The town itself is very busy with a street market and the main square has a stage set up and several temporary bars with their own outdoor seating – it looks like a music festival just ended or about to start as there was nothing going on during the day. Unfortunately it ruins the square as a photo opportunity but given the weather conditions (and mine) the lure of the lager is too great – particularly with no return train until 6pm.
After a very healthy lunch of Ursus and Bagel chips it’s time for some souvenirs from the market and then to the three museums, unfortunately thay are all rather small and not particularly interesting although you can buy one ticket to all three and there is no dreaded “camera tax”.

The medieval arms and armour museum is the pick of the three although there is nothing here you won’t see elsewhere, while the torture museum is the most unusual if rather macabre.

I was slightly baffled as to how they thought a gallows was an instrument of torture though until I saw the implements for the rest of the “hanging, drawing and quartering” process! The history museum is focused on the development of arts and crafts in Transylvania.

I walked down through the gateway beneath the Clock Tower via the public toilet where 1 leu gets you in to the loo (sorry couldn’t resist!), and from the lower town you can certainly see how this tower dominates the skyline, and how every available place is built on under the protection of the walls and the towers.

Back up again via the Tinsmiths Tower is one of the more unusual sights, a covered 17th Century wooden staircase leading up to the Hill to the south known as The Scholars Staircase as it leads to The School on the Hill which is next to The Church on the Hill.

This church is simple but quite impressive both inside and out.

From here it’s back down the outside of the hill past the other towers that remain including the rope makers and the tailors. There were originally 14 but only 9 remain and they are of varying conditions.

So back to the station and a lovely 5 hour ride to Bucharest, it was still very hot so it was essential to collect some water and coke on the way. The train runs to time and my Romglish gets another run out as an elderly chap got quite excitable despite having told him I didn’t speak Romanian when I told him I was from Wales (in Romanian). I have no idea what he was on about but just assumed he was a well informed football fan who doesn’t like Bulgarians! Back at Gara Du Nord just after 11 it’s straight out the “side” exit to get a taxi at the proper local rate to get home feeling like I could sleep for a week.