Adventures in Transylvania, Romania: the first 2 days

By Layla

We left a beautifully warm and sunny London in a rickety Blue Air plane, which deposited us, three hours later, in a misery of torrential rain in Sibiu, a city in Transylvania, Romania, and, for no specific reason, other than it being named a European City of Culture in 2007, our holiday destination. We were met at the airport by Di, an English woman who runs both the Sibiu flat we’ll be staying in for five nights, and the guesthouse in a little Transylvanian village for the following nine. She was very cheery and optimistic despite the current weather situation, and drove us to our little flat.

Our Sibiu flat is lovely – big and pretty and comfortable, with a kitchen for Roz to whip up scrambled eggs and a DVD player to ensure I get my West Wing DVD fix. Which was fortunate as the weather did not indicate embarking on any activity other than hiding in the flat. Not a problem as we were both completely exhausted after an unpleasantly busy run of work. But we couldn’t resist a little explore so we donned our waterproof jackets and braved the torrent.

Our flat turns out to be in a great position, just under Liar’s Bridge – so named either because of the merchants who used to hawk goods at inflated prices on it, the lovers who promised to love each other forever in order to obtain a kiss on it, or folklore that if you lie while standing on it the bridge will collapse. It’s the boundary of the upper town which is fairy tale pretty, with cobbled squares and towers and pastel coloured buildings and tiled roofs which have something called ‘eyelid windows’, essentially roof windows that look like the eyes of sleepy monsters. And an occasional incongruous Vodafone shop... We had a quick look around and bought some snacks and essential food items in a nice little supermarket before heading back to dry out and read and watch some sleepy DVDs while a neighbour’s dog howled incessantly. But soon it was dinner time and we headed out again, this time to a little cellar restaurant on the square which was decorated in folksy sheepskins and traditional outfits and ceramics and such. The menu certainly favoured the offal-eater, but we had a brilliant cheese dish, and then a lot of polenta – our staple while here I suspect. And some rather nice desserts. I’m not sure this will be a slimming holiday…

The next day was raining again but the dog had thankfully found other interests and was silent. We went out in search of the tourist office to obtain a map, then for breakfast, which proved a challenge. Finally we did as the locals did and bought sort of circular pretzels which we munched as we walked along the street to Sibiu’s only bookshop café, Erasmus, where we contemplated the maps over hot chocolate (me) and grown up coffee (Roz). We walked through a little park back to the main street and The Gallery, as by then it was lunchtime. Roz opted sensibly for soup; I found myself rather accidentally with a plate of boiled potatoes with sour cream on them which was random, though to be fair, not unpleasant…

We received an e-mail from Di telling us that her neighbour’s goats have predicted the sun was about to come out. Sure enough, the rain abated and we wandered to a new square, hosting Sibiu’s most popular bars, and retired to an outdoor café on the square where Roz sampled more of the local beer and I sampled the hilarious lemonade-served-in-a-jug-with-a-straw staple of Sibiu. We were yet again exhausted so crept home for a rest, and then headed out for a pre-prandial cocktail. We found a lovely spot at Café Wien, in the shadow of a pretty church and overlooking the rooftops of the lower town, we sipped superlative mohitos to the sound of a man playing rather pleasant live music on a keyboard. We got a little lost seeking another cellar restaurant and ended up on the square, eating delicious pizzas outside and watching the world go by. It seems possible that Monday is Sibiu’s Sunday (most things seem closed on Mondays) and so Sunday night was the going out night for Sibiu’s population. After dinner we slipped into The Orient Express, a little bar next to our flat, and had excessively strong cocktails and played chess in bizarre but cool surroundings while being serenaded by live guitar music. And then home for another mammoth sleep. Both of us are starting to feel rejuvenated…

Up this morning and Roz has made us French toast – an excellent start to the day. And the goats were right – the rain has stayed off. Maybe the weather coupled with our newfound energy will tempt us further afield… but first to the Orient Express, where we will use their wifi and have morning coffee…