Sighisoara

Saturday morning I caught a train from Brasov to Sighisoara, from where I am now writing you. This, as I think I mentioned yesterday, is the first internet place I've seen in days, hence my catching up on the writing...the train ride was slow and it actually got kind of warm on the train underneath the afternoon sun. I had what would be like a general admission ticket, so I was in a double-decker train car with a bunch of people who were singing loudly, talking in an animated manner, and who, in general, smelt of beer. Were these gypsies? I think so, but I'm not sure. Perhaps the kindly Romanian person who has commented on previous posts here can help me out...

Sighisoara is another ancient town, and used to be the center of Transylvania. I'm staying in the citadel, which is an old area atop a hill in the middle of what is otherwise a big, flat valley. We're way above the surrounding town, in a walled-off mini-city, with more cobblestone streets and 15th-century buildings, and more spooky old churches.

This morning I was really feelin' it in the old knees from doing a lot of walking around the past week. What is "a lot of walking around" for me may not be "a lot of walking around" for you, but I'm carrying a lot more weight, so the prospect of climbing any stairs here (and there are lots of them) didn't seem too enticing to me when I woke up this morning.

That's one of the great parts of traveling alone, however: I felt like staying in bed until like 2 p.m., so I did. I read. I watched TV. I looked out my hotel window at the city below me. I'm on the third floor of the Hotel Sighisoara - no elevator, natch - so the view is kind of nice. A few hours of relaxing did me well, so I went out around three and started to explore. Unfortunately, most everything closes at 3:30 or 4 p.m. on Sundays, so I opted to stay another night here and will go out and attack the town (just as so many invading armies have done over the centuries) tomorrow.

Stay tuned for my next update after I get back from the Vlad the Impaler Museum (he lived here for awhile) and the Museum of Medieval Torture!

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