Sibiu, Romania

Finally made it here! Missed the bus yesterday and I was there early!  The reason being, something I didn't know....time change. Romania is one hour ahead. That explains how I managed to missed my train stop at Arad, Romania. Couldn't find anything in the guide book and when I bought ticket in Hungary the lady never mentioned it. Perhaps she thought I was aware of that fact?
The scenery was flat land with a lot of large farms. Some with corn and wheat still standing, others already plowed. After about an hour the bus started to climb. There were rolling hills, farm land and the autumn colors on the trees. I saw a number of shepherd with large flocks of sheep, quite a sight to see! I must say the sheep looked pretty plump. I was not able to get a photo as I did not have my camera ready. In a couple of instances the shepherd was to far away. My camera needs to be on 24-7 plus have a zoom lense!

Typical hay stacks in Romania

I was charmed by Sibiu, an old walled city. It has many old, peeling, crumbling buildings all which add to the character of the town.

The shape on the roof of these buildings is very different to ones I had seen in other countries. The gables, I believed they are called on the roof appear (to me anyway) as sets of eyes looking at you. Take a look at these pictures below.

1 out of 3 buildings are declared historic monuments. Sibiu has of course cobblestone streets everywhere, with some very steep ones in the centre.













The main square Piata Mare is a spacious cobblestone square with some beautiful architechture around it.

The square was full of people strolling about or resting on the many benches. Taking up a lot of space in the square were many pigeons! Periodically they would rise up, fly in a circle, then swoop down to land in a different area. A little scary as they came flying so close to you. Not sure where some of them got their flying license!  So far none have collided into me, but it has been very close on a few occasions.

I wondered why this bike was up here. 

Guess the person didn't have their bike lock with them at first. Here it is later locked up!

Next step was exploring Sibiu! I took a walk along the 16th century walls & watch towers located a few blocks south of Piate Mare.

Carpenters Tower & old walls

Council tower in Piata Uniri

Roman Catholic Church









Evangelic Church

Evangelic Church @ different time of day

The pedestrian walkway is a nice photo shoot from every angle a camera has to offer. Very popular spot!

On more than one occasion there were couples having their wedding photographs taken at this spot.

Some interesting wedding dress displays at this store.

 

Various signs about town

I loved Sibiu, felt very safe there even walking around in the evening. Granted there were a number of tourists. Romanians away for the weekend, plus many Spanish & Italians.

My next destination was Brasov, Romania.

Deva, Romania

I arrived in Deva, Romania quite by accident, late at night too!  I had missed my train stop at Arad, Romania! I thought the train must be running late but that was not the case. What I was not aware of was that Romania was one hour ahead of Hungary. (I was to discover this the following morning).  As I got off the train a man tried to help me and due to the language barrier he asked a young lady who could speak English to help me. I could not go back to Arad as I didn't have enough Romanian lei currency plus the train didn't leave until midnight. A couple suddenly descended upon me wanting to help. The woman said I could 'go with her man in a taxi & he would take me to a hotel'.  Oh yah, like I would do that! I saw the young lady watching this couple with suspicion. I wondered if this couple were gypsies, I had read how they prey, scam tourists. Of all the countries for this to happen in, why Romania I thought?  I was certainly scared and frustrated as what to do. I had no intention of walking very far and not enough currency for cab.  As I was deciding, I noticed a McDonalds right across the street. There was my answer! I could seek info on wifi and have a safe haven. To the disappointment of the couple off I went to McDonalds. During the wifi search my battery on ipod started to die, I wasn't to happy about that! While waiting for it to charge three young men in early thirties sat down next to me. Speaking English! I struck up a conversation wth them. It turned out Gabor from Germany & Pierre from France were in Romania on business. The third fellow was Alex, Romanian, a taxi driver who they had at their disposal 24/7 for two weeks.  Gabor asked Alex for a decent hotel and they drove me there before they went off clubbing. Gabor thought I was nuts travelling in Romania, let alone by myself. Boy was I glad they had come along!

My hotel

The man at hotel reception seemed kind of creepy to me but perhaps I was just being paranoid! There was a balcony off my room and I decided to open the door for some fresh air. All I could hear was lots of traffic noise and so, so many dogs barking. When I took a look there were so many stray dogs wandering around, just as I had heard of. Oh dear, I wondered if I had made the right decision to come to this country? Needless to say my sleep that night was not the best that I have ever had.  The next morning things didn't appear so bad. I was planning on leaving Deva the next day. Not going back to Arad, going ahead to Sibiu. I was surprised about Deva that there were so, so many apartment buildings. Most a dull grey color, concrete showing signs of  wear and tear. Not really pleasant looking at all. There were so many!

In Deva there was a large fortress located on a hilltop which could be seen from all over town. 

I decided to check this out.  As the weather was very hazy, smoggy looking  I wasn't to sure if  would take ecable car up the hill.  The view would not be very good. The day I was leaving the sky was very clear! There was no path for walking up even half way.

Statues near cable car entrance

 

The next day I headed to the bus station for my trip to Sibiu. I had arrived a lot earlier to ensure I didn't miss the bus. The time came but there was no bus. Upon asking whether the bus was late, I was informed I was. The man showed me his watch where the time was one hour later. During the conversation he said that Romania was a hour ahead of Hungary and in a few days the time would be changed back!  Another day in Deva, tomorrow I will be on my way to Sibiu?! 

While I was waiting for the traffic light to change I noticed a gypsy family with a horse and wooden cart. Of all the times, I didn't have my camera with me!  When the light changed the man at the reins hit the horse to make it go faster, which it did. Still he kept hitting the horse again and again. The horse was galloping as fast as possible on the roadway but the man still kept hitting this poor horse. It was so hard to watch this animal being treated this way!

Another church & inside