Friday, September 19th 2014
Morning visit to the Astra outdoor folk museum: Sibiu's answer to Cardiff's St Fagan's museum. Beautifully situated around two lakes, it consists of a collection of homesteads, churches and other buildings, windmills, wells, tools, apple presses, etc. Just 20 minutes from Sibia on No 13 bus (about 30p each way): very enjoyable morning.
Morning visit to the Astra outdoor folk museum: Sibiu's answer to Cardiff's St Fagan's museum. Beautifully situated around two lakes, it consists of a collection of homesteads, churches and other buildings, windmills, wells, tools, apple presses, etc. Just 20 minutes from Sibia on No 13 bus (about 30p each way): very enjoyable morning.
Back in Sibiu, unable to get onto the 2:30 minibus to Brasov: there 20 mins before it left, and there were clearly not enough seats for all those waiting to get on, but driver seemed to be some sort of power freak, telling us all to wait, and apparently unable to tell us who should go and who should stay behind, until he was due to leave. (No such thing as a queue here!) By this time, it was too late to go for the earlier, 'Rapid' train (anything but rapid, but cheap), but there was a faster 'super-rapid' one 20 minutes later (the last for several hours): double the price, but still reasonable by western standards (a little over £9, for about 100 miles). Unlike the more frequent but unreservable bus, lots of leg room, and it only took 2h 40 mins (about 1/2 hour longer).
Joined by Laura (a Spanish girl I'd met at the hostel) and three Uruguayans, who had also been trying to get on the bus.
Joined by Laura (a Spanish girl I'd met at the hostel) and three Uruguayans, who had also been trying to get on the bus.
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| Brasov |
Arrived back at 5:40, and got a bus to 'Council Square', just in time to join the daily walking tour of Brasov, which took us to the Black Church (a large Gothic church so named because its walls had been blackened by the Great Fire of 1689), along Rope Walk (claimed to be one of the narrowest streets in Europe), the 'Black Tower', the German school, the first Romanian school, etc.
Tour ended at 8:30, by which time it was dark. Carmen, the guide, told us about a festival that was to take place the next day, called 'Solomon's Fest'. It involved a parade through the city of people wearing traditional costumes, and the 7 km walk would end at Solomon's Rock, where there would be music, dancing and barbecues. It would start at 11:00. My train would leave for Gheorgheni at 17:20. Perfect!
Saturday, September 20th
Slow start, but stuff packed and stored, well in time to join the procession up to Solomon's Rock. Parade was accompanied by a military brass band, as far as Union Square, where most of those in costume got on a bus to go the rest of the way.
Met three young students from Australia, Holland and Norway, who were working as volunteers in Brasov, and walked up with them.
Tour ended at 8:30, by which time it was dark. Carmen, the guide, told us about a festival that was to take place the next day, called 'Solomon's Fest'. It involved a parade through the city of people wearing traditional costumes, and the 7 km walk would end at Solomon's Rock, where there would be music, dancing and barbecues. It would start at 11:00. My train would leave for Gheorgheni at 17:20. Perfect!
Saturday, September 20th
Slow start, but stuff packed and stored, well in time to join the procession up to Solomon's Rock. Parade was accompanied by a military brass band, as far as Union Square, where most of those in costume got on a bus to go the rest of the way.
Met three young students from Australia, Holland and Norway, who were working as volunteers in Brasov, and walked up with them.
At Solomon's Rock, a stage had been set up, and the dancing had begun. Several people had walked a little further, up to the rock itself, where there was a picnic area, at the start of several more walks.
Spent a bit of time at the festival, then walked back into town, in plenty of time to get the train.
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