Sighisoara

We are in Transylvania, in its Saxon Lands, settled and occupied by Germans since the 13th century or so. A few remain, and there are many traces of the culture. (Later, the Hapsburgs). And most of the non-Romanian tourists we see are from Germany. Sighisoara is a medium-sized town that goes back to the 12th century or before. The old town has been re-done many times over the centuries, but its medieval lay-out and charm are intact. We feel like we are in Rothenburg am Tauber before it was "discovered," but, quite obviously, Sighisoara has been discovered, although not yet over-run. Its chief claim to fame, other than its Citadel and fortified old town, is that it is the birthplace of Vlad Tepes, "the Impaler."

Looking up toward the fortified old town, from our campsite

At the campground Aquarius, with intermittently OK wifi; that's Vicki filling the 
fresh water tank as I take pix; half a block from the river and the CBD

So we're walking around the downtown Friday evening, exploring, walking past 
the high school, and--whoa!--it's the Mircea Eliade High School and Gynasium! 
My undergraduate honors thesis, "A Portrait of the Artist as Homo Religiosus," 
in religion (I also did one in philosophy), was an application of Eliadean notions to
James Joyce; Eliade, in the later 20th century, was the reigning paradigm in history/
theory of religions; he was Romanian; from Bucharest; quite a controversial (and

unsavory) figure, politically and otherwise, as I learned today reading up on him 
on the internet (which was, alas, not available in 1968-69)

Romanians make much of their ties to ancient Rome; 
Trajan conquered the Dacians in 106 AD, and the 
Romans stuck around for another 175 years (rather

less than the 4 and a half centuries they were in the UK); 
Romania refers to Rome, not the Roma (they say)

Next morning, we were at the Saturday market; no street food here; we are 
beginning to understand that these markets consist of goods produced by 
peasants for peasants; not tourists

Baskets, still green

Sighisoara's Citadel, an impressive gateway to the walled/
fortified upper town; 15th century or so

High noon, and the clock characters perform

And the Town Crier appears

Beautiful old streets

Three-dimensional deer representation

At the brandy cellar where I bought some Palinca--the potent 
plum brandy (100 proof)--two cute locals pose

The river and church, close to which we are camped; parking 
near churches, cathedrals, monasteries (and their bells), we 
have learned, always provides for an early start; I like to think 
of them as over-sized alarm clocks

And in English Too

"'Course, I can't say I seen London, and I never been to France, and I ain't never seen no queen in her damn undies as the fella says. But I'll tell you what, after seeing Los Angeles and thisahere story I'm about to unfold--wal, I guess I seen somethin' ever bit as stupefyin' as ya'd see in any a those other places, and in English too, so I can die with a smile on my face without feelin' like the good Lord gypped me." --The Stranger, The Big Lebowski

So we've been in rural--hyper-rural--northern Romania for a week or so, and haven't seen a McDonald's or hardly anything in English for a while. Not that we miss it, exactly. But it was a comfort, sort of, to drive south a bit more and see English again, in the usual places.

Dracula Simulacra*

We drove from Sucevita south and west into Transylvania, in the direction of Bistreti, to a hill overlooking the Tihuta Pass. It was still raining, low clouds obscuring the scenery, so we stopped at the Hotel Castel Dracula. We'll see the scenery tomorrow, hopefully.

Although it is not nearly as cheesy as one might expect, the Hotel Castel Dracula is an important site on the world map of simulacra.* The hotel is a 1980s communist-era theme-hotel, located precisely on the spot where Dracula author Bram Stoker said the Dracula castle was.  (Of course, Dracula is an entirely fictional character in an entirely fictional story). (More on this later: Vlad the Impaler was a real historical character, far more horrible than anything Stoker or his numerous successors could imagine). (Although Romanians sometimes claim he has been maligned; he only impaled bad people.) The building itself is hardly what one might expect--just a 1980s hotel/motel--and the Dracula theme is, if anything, understated. We had a large Romanian dinner, enough for two dinners, really, asked about staying overnight in the parking lot, they said sure, and then even gave us the password for the powerful wifi on-site. Life is good. But no water.

Their eagerness in inviting us to stay over has got me wondering. So I am watching The Fearless Vampire Killers again just to make sure I haven't missed anything we might need during the night...garlic strands: check (well, garlic powder); crucifixes: check (improvised); spike and mallet: check (in the tool kit). Extras available in the souvenir stands.

*Look it up

The Hotel Castel Dracula

Courtyard

Wall decor in reception area

Restaurant place mat; turns out the Dracula cocktail is mostly blue curacao

Romanian sour pork soup; made Campbell's vegetable soup taste exciting

My mixed pork and polenta dish; so hearty I'll get two meals out of it

Vicki's weenie schnitzel and frites

Bust of Stoker in the parking lot

Typical souvenir fare, conflating Dracula and Vlad; hey, it works!

PS The sun has gone down, and the hotel is now all lit up...

My Home's in Montana, I Wear a Bandana...

Actually, we're feeling pretty much at home here in Moldavia, northern Romania...

Logging trucks thundering by...

And by...

Fishin' cabins down by the creek...

Nice log homes...

Pretty nice

Log furniture and chain-saw sculpture

More fishin' cabins

Log home construction sites

Just like in the Bitterroot

Mills...at least that's the way we remember it, 1995-2008

But then Montana never had fortified monasteries (well,

maybe compounds of a different sort)

Nor Roma encampments

Painted Monasteries of Bucovina, Part II

More of the painted monasteries...

Detail of the Constantinople siege, Moldovita

Sucevita, the largest of the painted monasteries

Ladder to heaven, on the north wall

On the south wall, the Tree of Jesse; interestingly, Jesse (reclining, as always), 
is surrounded by twelve Greek philosophers

Plato was the only one I could definitely identify

From the north exterior wall, detail of the Eden mural; expulsion

A nun; interestingly (to me, anyway), the three monasteries we visited are all 
relatively thriving, nunneries, many of the women we saw young

Interior at Sucevita

Dome at Sucevita

"Peace, man"

The parking lot at Sucevita Monastery was ample, nice, outfitted for RVs (14 lei one night, 4 the next), electricity, but no potable water. We even saw other campers, from France and Germany, there. Anyhow, it rained all day Wednesday, so we stayed there, also enjoying the free wifi at the Iermia Motel Restaurant down the road. Nice people. Very inexpensive food and drink.

Thursday (today), despite the clouds and rain, we are heading south to Transylvania. In preparation, we watched one of my favorite 60s films, Roman Polanski's great The Fearless Vampire Killers. Very dark, dry humor. Vicki hated it. "I'm really a night bird." "Oy vey, have you got the wrong vampire!"

Painted Monasteries of Bucovina, Part I

Our main goal for Moldavia was to see a few of the painted monasteries of Bucovina. We drove to Gura Humorului to see the first of three, the (I swear I am not making this up) Humor Monastery.

We parked for the night, of course, at the Humor Monastery parking lot; here, 
the next morning, the meter maid is cheerfully counting her receipts, after having 
charged us 4 lei ($1.20) to spend the night; we cheerfully paid

The tower at Humor Monastery; these are all fortified 
monasteries; Romania has been  contested land for aeons; 
the monasteries we visited in Moldavia are all 16th-17th
century; fortified and garrisoned, the paintings both inside 
and outside the churches intended in part to educate and
embolden the troops

Humor Monastery; nothing funny here, really; beautiful,
though

Detail of one of the murals, which literally cover the building, 
inside and out

At the next painted monastery, Moldovita, a beautiful exterior mural depicting 
the 1453 siege of Constantinople; enlarge to see the Turkish cavalry, cannons, etc.

Porch fresco detail; a classical look, I thought, or maybe Byzantine

Another detail from Moldovita; somehow reminds me of Monty Python..

Interior dome at Moldovita

Monastery museum at Moldovita, towers, wall

Moldovita

Strange decor at Moldovita; Byzantine? Feather dancer?