A quest for Dracula in Transylvania

Day 11
By Layla

Today was one of the first days on holiday I’ve managed not to wake up at 6am. Usually the insistent crowing of a rooster and the jangling bells as cows and goats are taken up to the fields shakes me well awake and I have to spend the next three hours watching Roz slumbering in smug peacefulness. Alas we had to get up semi-early anyway as today we were off on a ‘citadel tour’. I blame Roz: on her first day at the guesthouse while making polite conversation, she indicated an extreme (and fallacious) interest in visiting churches. Our hosts have been keen on fulfilling her churchly desires and today promised a full schedule of ancient Saxon church action. One full melon, plus an array of other breakfast items, later, and we were off.

First, and probably best, was a ruined 14th century Saxon castle on a hill in a place called Slimnik. We were the only visitors, possibly for days. We were encouraged to climb up into the bell tower though cautioned that we were not allowed to touch the bells. We were initially confused: why would we want to touch the bells? It was soon clear: there were several, attached to long cords that hung at different levels, all within reach and so excruciatingly tempting that if I hadn’t been strictly warned, the village would have been serenaded with my first bell ringing attempt… or maybe the ancient bells would have shattered… We climbed to the very top for some lovely countryside views, and explored the grassy grounds.

It was then on to a far less romantic-looking church, 10th century and still in use. They wouldn’t let us climb the bell tower as it was too rickety (or perhaps they saw the look of bell ringing temptation in my eyes) but sent us round their random museum instead.

Our main stop of the day was the citadel town of Sighisoara (pronounced ‘Shigyshwara’), birthplace of Dracula and home to cobbled streets, gothic churches, and a rather rubbish statue of the vampire himself. We had lunch in a nice little café and then wandered amongst thousands of souvenir shops (looking for snow globes for our friend’s collection, to no avail) before retiring to another café where I ordered pancakes, much to Roz’s amusement as she sipped her beer. And then I tried to make her forget about the pancake consumption and lure her to a nearby ice cream cart… we walked through the park eating ice creams before finding the car and proceeding to the final Saxon church of the day in a town called Biertan, and one of the dullest, as it was large and plain. Good organ though. We had a little wander in the adjacent village and then returned to the car just as the first raindrops started to fall.

We drove home through a torrential downpour which abated as we neared Sibiu, and we arrived just in time for a bit of pre-prandial internetting. Dinner was excellent and I’m afraid I overindulged (not for the first time) – I fear a post-holiday diet is looming…