More Sighișoara

Monday Sept 26

This was our second free day in Sighișoara and it started out pretty much the same as the first day. But there was one big difference: There was mutiny in the ranks!

Ok well maybe that’s a bit harsh of a word but I’ll leave it in for dramatic effect. We are starting our third and final week and in our third destination. After this much time away from home it’s very common for most people to feel homesick and ready to get back to something comfortable and familiar. Fortunately today was another down day but the next four days will be quite busy again.

After a busy two weeks of fast paced action, Bryan and Jason both started to physically, mentally and emotionally check out. Neither wanted to continue and were ready to go right home. Obviously that was not an option. We had a hearty discussion together and talked a few things out. With only a few more days left it looks like we are all engaged and ready to finish out the trip.

After a serious talk there is only one appropriate thing to do, find some pizza! There just so happened to be a nice little second story outdoor pizzeria close by. The waitress told us the pizzas were big enough for just one person, so we ordered one each. They were the size of a medium back home which is a bit more that the personal pan pizza we were expecting, but in order not to offend anyone we did our best to finish them off.

While we were eating a woman came by and placed a card on our table and walked off. Jason again showed us his translation abilities and got about 80% of the translation correct.

It was a deaf lady asking for money. Knowing American Sign Language I tried conversing with her. The language was just familiar enough that I felt like we we talked and just different enough that I wasn’t exactly sure what she was saying.

After lunch we found a little historical museum and took the tour. Casa Breslelor is an exhibition that shelters tools, equipment and machinery used over 100 years ago by craftsmen from Sighișoara and its surroundings, counting no less than 1500 pieces. It was a short but fascinating walk through history in the city. It focused on tools used by different craftsmen and guilds. Around the 15th century there were more than 19 different guilds on these lands who were considered some of the most valuable guilds from southeastern Europe. The items on display here were the tools of their trade and included: butchers, bakers, tailors, dressmakers, tanners, shoemakers & leather makers, potters, carpenters, archers, blacksmith (which also included spinners, swordsmen, locksmiths, needle and belt makers), furriers, wool and canvas weavers, glove, mantel, rope and knives makers.

Next was the clock tower in the center of the mail square. On Sunday the place was busy so we decided to wait until Monday to take the tower tour and ascend to the top. Turns out the only day of the week they are closed is on Monday. So we stood outside at the bottom of the town and just looked up at it instead.

The Clock Tower of Sighișoara is the main entry point to the citadel. With its 64 meters of height, the tower is visible from almost every corner of the city. Its purpose was to defend the main gate of the citadel and also served as the town hall until 1556. Now It's considered one of the most expressive clock tower in all of Transylvania. And the views from the bottom weren't so bad anyhow.

Since we missed the famous tower tour we decided to go back to Vlad's house, which was in the same square, and take the little tour of Dracula's lair. On Monday the entire city was almost deserted. It was rather refreshing to not be bumping shoulders with tourists from all over the world. It was so quiet today that we didn't even think the Dracula's would be home either. We went up to the restaurant on the second floor and inquired about it. We were the only ones there but they took the fee and we headed upstairs.

The place looked and felt basically like a haunted house. We pushed Jason in first and immediately a large fuzzy spider descends on lands on his head. He screamed and remarked how much he hated haunted houses. Still things were already in motion so we continued to push him on up in front. Creepy music was playing and the only lighting was dim and red. At the top of the stairs was an old piano missing a few keys. And a table off to the side with odd little instruments and candle sticks and bottles and such. Then turning to the back of the room there was an obvious mannequin of a woman laying across some chairs with blood running down her neck. Then to the side was an open coffin with another mannequin of what appeared to be Dracula. We moved on into the room, I mean we pushed Jason on into the room and followed behind him. As we passed the coffin Dracula sprang to life and grabbed at him. He shrieked but then we all got a good laugh as did the guy in the coffin. He waved us over for pictures and afterwards he said $2 please. Jason handed him some money, he tossed it over his head and laid back down.

That was the extent of the adventure, it was kinda silly but fun. Before we left we peeked at the menu. It looked great so we decided to come back there for dinner later.

On the way back to the hotel we passed more ice cream shops. This was it! Today is the Jewish new Year and I was determined to start the year off by poisoning myself with one of these specialty bubble waffle cones. These were not just the regular waffle cones that we have in the states. They actually cook a real waffle fresh, and then use that as the cone and fill it with different flavors of ice cream and then certain toppings like M&Ms and chocolate and cookies and others candies. Jason and I both decided to get one. We paid and the girl went back to make the waffles.

Upon retrospect, and taking into account my previous try and some kind of waffle desert I should have used a little more restraint. But due to it being a holiday we decided to go for it. Soon the girl reappeared with the waffles and wrapped them into a large paper cone and piled everything on it. I felt like a little kid taking that from her hands. And oh my lord was it good! Well at least it was till we got done taking the pictures of us holding them. It shouldn't be a surprise what ice cream does if you put it in a hot waffle. That things started melting so fast and in just moments it was dripping down our hands and then arms and on our clothes. We were licking and slurping and chomping at it as fast as we could. It was like we had two hands full of melted ice cream, Oh and I guess we did. The mess really drew some attention and we were soon swarmed by yellow jackets. They were landing in the ice cream and on our hands and what was left of the paper cone. It was a fight to the finish as we were stuffing it in as fast as we could while trying to dodge those yellow jackets and keep from ingesting some. That snack couldn't end fast enough. When we got dive bombed by the bees Mark and Bryan took off and left Jason and I in our sugar frenzy to survive or not on our own. On the way back to the hotel we were still dripping in ice cream and I decided to make a New Years resolution. It wasn't hard to figure out what it was going to be, and it definitely involved waffles!

For dinner we went back to the restaurant at Vlad's house and it was a magnificent dining experience. The whole restaurant was made to look like a house may have looked back in the middle ages. The meal was great and the atmosphere was charming, and of course many of the dishes and sides and condiments had a Dracula theme to them. It was a great way to end the evening. And after the waffle disaster earlier in the day, we all decided to skip the desert!