Romania Travel Diary - 2 Day visit to Sibiu from Bucharest
Hello guys,
I am back with my another travel experience to share with you all.
This time I am going to share my visit to Sibiu, Romania. I have been living in Bucharest for a few months which is the capital of Romania. Romania is a country in southwestern Europe and shares border with Bulgaria, Hungary, Ukraine and has coastal areas with the Black Sea. It is known for beautiful landscapes, big castles, medieval era cities, one of the largest government building called the Palace of Parliament (Palatul Parlamentului). It is one of the largest countries in Europe, roughly the size of UK or half of France. Same time, it is one of the least known places in Europe where we can still see traditional rural civilization, old handicrafts, friendly people, colorful countryside towns and villages where time seems to have stood still. The people here usually speak Romanian with few who can also speak English, French, Spanish, and Russian.
We planned a two day trip to Sibiu on the eve of Xmas to explore this beautiful medieval-era city with beautiful Germanic architecture in its old town, central squares, churches, museums, and remains of medieval era walls & towers around the city. We heard a lot about the beauty of Sibiu on the eve of Xmas, especially Xmas Fair in the town. We booked the bus tickets online and started our journey of 300 Km in the morning so to enjoy the beautiful landscapes on the way. Once out of the city we saw fields, trees, houses covered entirely with snow on both sides of the road, beautiful and completely white. The journey was smooth and been through many small lovely villages with natural beauty all the way.
After the journey of about 5 hours, we reached the city and then our Hotel. The receptionist welcomed us warmly and realized herself that we are not Romanian so started conversing in English. We quickly rested ourselves and moved out of the hotel to explore the city. We preferred to walk to the city center instead of taking a taxi. On the way, have seen many houses and streets decorated with beautiful lightings due to Xmas. When we reached the city center called Piata Mare - a Big Square famed for its towers, museums and wonderful old houses around. We realized a large crowd present there as if all the people of the city has come out to enjoy Xmas Fair. The Fair had many shops of handicrafts, food, wines, sweets, home decorations, winter clothing. The weather was very cold, even made it difficult to use naked hands to capture pictures. I made a video call to my parents in India to show them the Xmas Fair and fun. After roaming for a while we tried a local dish called Gogosi which means Doughnut in Romanian and is like stuffed fried bread. After our dinner, we headed back to the Hotel to prepare ourselves for another day of fun and explorations.
Day 2 - We readied ourselves in the morning and left the hotel early. The first place we visited was The Brukenthal Museum in the "Piata Mare". This museum is based on the collection of Samuel Von Brukenthal, a 13th-century Governor of Sibiu who sponsored major cultural projects in an effort to make Sibiu a center of intellectualism.
I was really impressed by the exhibitions of collectibles, beautiful paintings from famous painters, artworks of great artists. There were also various exhibitions of hunting tools, decor, and items of well-restored furniture which belongs to Kings, Queens and Royal Families earlier. The museum is divided into various sections and we visited just two - Romanian and European Galleries. We were glad to know a bit about the history, cultures, and traditions of Europe at large. After having a good time we come out of the museum to roam around the city center. Clicked few good pictures of buildings around.
Through a small tunnel under the Council Tower we went to Small Square "Piata Mica". There was one small bridge nearby called "Bridge of Lies" - the first forged Iron bridge in Romania. There are few legends associated to the bridge like if one stands on the bridge and speaks a lie, it begins to creak and may get collapse. We were exhausted, so started looking for a good restaurant with vegetarian options. We found just a few of them, one was full so been to the another called Einstein Cafe. We ordered Hot Chocolate, Pizza Margherita with veggies and local tomato soup with roasted capsicum. Being a vegetarian we usually do not find many options for food outside India. But the food was tasty and mouthwatering.
After an unexpected and tempting meal, we went to the Council Tower. You can climb all seven
floors of it to have an amazing view of the city. It is a 13th-century building with a big clock on sixth floor and has been rebuilt many times. We had to climb rounded, narrow and steep stairs to reach the terrace. On the first few floors, there were small exhibitions of photos and paintings. Photos showing a glimpse of hard work done by volunteers who rebuild narrow rail-road outside the city. On the sixth floor, we saw the clock machinery built in 14th-century. It is a great symbol that takes you to the late medieval era. When we reached the top floor, entire beautiful and colorful town was in front of our eyes. The city view glued my eyes on it with its charming appearance. It was really a breath-taking view of the medieval era city. Before leaving, we captured many pictures of the landscape view of the city in our camera.
We have also been to two churches in the square, the Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church and Holy Trinity Cathedral. The churches were peaceful, sacred and very beautiful inside. The architecture was wonderful and mostly European. Every inch of the wall and ceiling was painted to show the Jesus Christ and his stories from the Bible.
Though we have been to many places in the Sibiu, one thing which especially caught our eyes were the Staring Houses in the city center. Yes, we could see the eyes on top of buildings as if they were watching us but actually they were attic windows in the shape of eyes to keep the buildings ventilated. In the days of communism, they instilled fear in locals and made them realize that they are always been watched by the Government.
This was all about our last day in Sibiu, we had our dinner and headed back to our Hotel. Next morning we left for Bucharest after having a good time in Sibiu and looking forward to another such trip.
I am back with my another travel experience to share with you all.
This time I am going to share my visit to Sibiu, Romania. I have been living in Bucharest for a few months which is the capital of Romania. Romania is a country in southwestern Europe and shares border with Bulgaria, Hungary, Ukraine and has coastal areas with the Black Sea. It is known for beautiful landscapes, big castles, medieval era cities, one of the largest government building called the Palace of Parliament (Palatul Parlamentului). It is one of the largest countries in Europe, roughly the size of UK or half of France. Same time, it is one of the least known places in Europe where we can still see traditional rural civilization, old handicrafts, friendly people, colorful countryside towns and villages where time seems to have stood still. The people here usually speak Romanian with few who can also speak English, French, Spanish, and Russian.
We planned a two day trip to Sibiu on the eve of Xmas to explore this beautiful medieval-era city with beautiful Germanic architecture in its old town, central squares, churches, museums, and remains of medieval era walls & towers around the city. We heard a lot about the beauty of Sibiu on the eve of Xmas, especially Xmas Fair in the town. We booked the bus tickets online and started our journey of 300 Km in the morning so to enjoy the beautiful landscapes on the way. Once out of the city we saw fields, trees, houses covered entirely with snow on both sides of the road, beautiful and completely white. The journey was smooth and been through many small lovely villages with natural beauty all the way.
After the journey of about 5 hours, we reached the city and then our Hotel. The receptionist welcomed us warmly and realized herself that we are not Romanian so started conversing in English. We quickly rested ourselves and moved out of the hotel to explore the city. We preferred to walk to the city center instead of taking a taxi. On the way, have seen many houses and streets decorated with beautiful lightings due to Xmas. When we reached the city center called Piata Mare - a Big Square famed for its towers, museums and wonderful old houses around. We realized a large crowd present there as if all the people of the city has come out to enjoy Xmas Fair. The Fair had many shops of handicrafts, food, wines, sweets, home decorations, winter clothing. The weather was very cold, even made it difficult to use naked hands to capture pictures. I made a video call to my parents in India to show them the Xmas Fair and fun. After roaming for a while we tried a local dish called Gogosi which means Doughnut in Romanian and is like stuffed fried bread. After our dinner, we headed back to the Hotel to prepare ourselves for another day of fun and explorations.
 |
| XMAS Tree at XMAS Fair |
I was really impressed by the exhibitions of collectibles, beautiful paintings from famous painters, artworks of great artists. There were also various exhibitions of hunting tools, decor, and items of well-restored furniture which belongs to Kings, Queens and Royal Families earlier. The museum is divided into various sections and we visited just two - Romanian and European Galleries. We were glad to know a bit about the history, cultures, and traditions of Europe at large. After having a good time we come out of the museum to roam around the city center. Clicked few good pictures of buildings around.
 |
| Bridge of Lies |
After an unexpected and tempting meal, we went to the Council Tower. You can climb all seven
floors of it to have an amazing view of the city. It is a 13th-century building with a big clock on sixth floor and has been rebuilt many times. We had to climb rounded, narrow and steep stairs to reach the terrace. On the first few floors, there were small exhibitions of photos and paintings. Photos showing a glimpse of hard work done by volunteers who rebuild narrow rail-road outside the city. On the sixth floor, we saw the clock machinery built in 14th-century. It is a great symbol that takes you to the late medieval era. When we reached the top floor, entire beautiful and colorful town was in front of our eyes. The city view glued my eyes on it with its charming appearance. It was really a breath-taking view of the medieval era city. Before leaving, we captured many pictures of the landscape view of the city in our camera.
 |
 |
| View from Council Tower |
We have also been to two churches in the square, the Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church and Holy Trinity Cathedral. The churches were peaceful, sacred and very beautiful inside. The architecture was wonderful and mostly European. Every inch of the wall and ceiling was painted to show the Jesus Christ and his stories from the Bible.
Though we have been to many places in the Sibiu, one thing which especially caught our eyes were the Staring Houses in the city center. Yes, we could see the eyes on top of buildings as if they were watching us but actually they were attic windows in the shape of eyes to keep the buildings ventilated. In the days of communism, they instilled fear in locals and made them realize that they are always been watched by the Government.
 |
| Homes with Eyes |
This was all about our last day in Sibiu, we had our dinner and headed back to our Hotel. Next morning we left for Bucharest after having a good time in Sibiu and looking forward to another such trip.
Comments
Post a Comment