Trip To Sibiu

 15/08/24

Today we travelled from the mountains of Rimet to the city of Sibiu, the same Sibiu that we landed in five days ago. It is a fortified medieval town that is reminiscent of an old Germanic town with its long lasting architecture from the 12th century Saxon settlers. We spent the first evening exploring the city, the main part being the historic centre, an area surrounded by the fortified Saxon walls, the main feature being a large square dotted with bars, restaurants and other shops, many being a bit touristy. 

The next day, Friday, Monica took us to the traditional crafts festival that was happening all weekend, this was the main reason for our visit. It took place at Muzeul Astra, an outdoor walk around museum that had featured many historic buildings from medieval times all the way up to quite contemporary, many of the structures were original and moved to present the traditional ways of living throughout time in Romania, mainly Transylvania. The crafts festival was an event that had many people setting up stalls with personally made items from their specific craft, from woodwork to pottery, basket weaving to chili sauces. It was brilliantly set up and we spent hours wandering, looking and speaking to people at their stalls about their heritage. That evening, we went into the town for dinner and ended up at an Irish pub, which we enjoyed thoroughly, enough to stay all night!

Saturday we woke up slightly rougher than the morning before, Ethan and I went back to the crafts festival to buy some gifts. Sunday morning went to the flee market, which was another proper cultural exchange, loads of people with goods layed out on the floor and tables, offering the chance for a barter. I picked up a few items, including a jar of jalepenos. I spent the rest of Sunday visiting the salt lakes about 20 minutes outside of the city, known as Ocna Sibiu. There was a total of 5 or 6 lakes all with varying salinity, I tried all of them but decided not to cover myself with the salty mud that a lot of people were doing, maybe next time when I am with somebody else. I must have spent around 6 hours there, enjoying serious relaxation. I then came back to go for a few drinks with the others as it was our last night in Sibiu.