"Probably the Best City in the World," 1

So here we are in Brasov, Romania, which modestly bills itself as "probably the best city in the world."

Central square and citadel

Note the umbrellas (there are hundreds--hundreds--of them
around the old town): Brasov, Brassa, Kronstadt...
Transylvania was contested land, German, Hungarian,
Romanian...whatever; still "probably the best city in the
world"; oh, and in addition to its Romanian, Hungarian,
and German names, it was, until relatively recently,
Oracul Stalin

We had hoped to take the telecabin to the
top of Mt. Timpa, overlooking Brasov;
but alas, it is closed on Mondays; a vestige
of Leninism's inherent laziness, we figured;
"come back tomorrow"; we won't

Part of what it takes to be "probably the best city in the
world" is an ancient wall; Brasov's is a whole 3 km, a good
half hour's walk; this the Linen Merchants' tower

The Black Church, Brasov's cathedral

St. Katherine's Gate

Brasov's Synagogue: according to the
plaque, most of Brasov's Jews have
emigrated to Israel but still remember
Romania fondly; although possibly not as
"probably the greatest city in the world"

One of Europe's longest (83m) and narrowest
streets, according to the plaque

Vicki demonstrates it is 1.32 m wide

On the Road Through Danes to Saschez, and Nearly Viscriu, through Rupea, to Brasov

The rest of our day was occupied driving back to Sighisoara, through Danes, Saschez, almost Viscri, and Rupea, to Brasov, where, after major provisioning at the Carrefours, we stopped at another campground (with wifi!).

Road scene outside Sighisoara: we only wanted to buy
one red onion

The beautiful little village of Danes, its main street covered in flowers

A couple miles of color and care...

The World Heritage Site citadel at Saschez

We really wanted to see the fortified church
at Viscriu, another World Heritage Site, but
road washouts...

And finally a bridge replaced by 2x6s forced us to
reconsider and retreat; next time

In the valley near Viscriu; these people probably don't have
indoor plumbing...but they all have satellite dishes...

The citadel ruins at Rupea: not in the guidebook at all

Biertan, 2

More of the fortified 15th century church at Biertan...

Church interior

Beautifully-carved 16th century altar

Choir ceiling

Wooden pews

These a gift of the carpenters' guild; we conjectured

Exterior doors: enlarge to see the date (1524)

Remains of fresco in one of the towers

In another of the adjoining buildings, tombs
of all the bishops, from 1503 to the 1860s

Between the inner and outer walls

Frozen in time: older clock faces

Biertan: Another Saxon Town, Another Ancient Fortified Church

Sunday, from Sighisoara, we drove west to Biertan, another of the ancient Saxon towns, another UNESCO World Heritage Site, its 15th century fortified church

The valley Biertan is in goes on for miles; once heavily cultivated, for centuries; 
the terracing is monumental, but now unused

It was all abandoned largely by its German inhabitants, after  WWII; the towns 
are not quite ghost towns--but close;  nothing much has been built since the 
early 1900s

The fortified church from the town square; concentric 
walls, several towers and wards, all pretty much 15th 
and 16th century, remarkably preserved

Outer wall

Another covered staircase leads up to the
church

View of part of the town of Biertan from the ramparts

One of the great old towers

Another

Part of the church exterior

Hill Church

And, at the very top of the Hill, 176 steps up from the main square, stands what we thought was Sighisoara's most interesting sight, the Church on the Hill

Thankfully, the 176 stair-case is covered, as

are others in Sighisoara

Another wall tower by the church; now

someone's residence

The church building is of uncertain age; some say 15th,

some say earlier, maybe 13th; as part of the German

community, much of its artwork came from Germany,

including Stoss' wood-carving shop in Nuremburg;

when Saxony went Protestant in the 16th century, so did this

church

View from nave; everything is, if not

original, very old

Altar

The church was re-done in the 1700s, many of these

frescoes were white-washed or plastered over;

re-discovered and un-re-done recently; they date

from the early 1400s

More St. George and the Dragon

The large, old German cemetery adjoins the church, sort of

a boot hill; I searched for Scheraus's but found none

Draculand

Up on the hill, here's the house in which Vlad the Bad allegedly was born.

Well, this building stands on the site of

another building, in which...

Vlad Dracul was Vlad the Impaler's dad; "Dracul" simply

refers to the fact that he (the dad) was inducted into the

Order of St. George (the dragon-killer)(dracul=dragon),

most probably for killing/enslaving non-Christians way

back in the 15th century

Nice dragon sign outside; it's a restaurant now, of course;

features shish-kabob (nyuk, nyuk); paired with red wine

(nyuk)

And there's the bust of Vlad Tepes, just

outside the church

Wedding Central

In the old town, on the hill, is the main church, and on this Saturday they were running weddings through at an impressive pace, one procession nearly colliding with the next...

Dress too big to fit in front seat

Heels, cobble-stone streets, please, help her!

I was standing, as I have learned from China on, right

behind the professional photographer

Insert caption here...

And the band played on