Sibiu, You've Stolen My Heart

Neither of us slept particularly well during the night, partly due to the time difference, but also due to a disco neighboring our hotel.  We were on the top floor, and no one else in our group claimed to have heard anything, but we could distinctly FEEL the bass from the music late into the night, so we were both in need of strong coffee at breakfast.

It was Sunday morning, and we were checking out and heading north.  The final two couples had arrived the previous evening -- two ladies traveling together from New Jersey, and a couple from Gainesville, VA, only about 10 miles from our home.  The weather was gray and cool, with intermittent rain.  We'd checked the forecast for each place we were visiting before we left the States, but we soon learned that they seem incapable of making accurate weather forecasts anywhere in Romania.  We gave up thinking or worrying about.  The drive out of Bucharest in the rain was dreary, particularly as we drove past miles and miles of shoddily built communist housing blocks.  Ceausescu's goal had been for Romania to be 100% self-sufficient, so regardless of whether it made economic sense, he built factories for any and all things.  For example, every single thing destined for the Palace of the People HAD to be made in Romania, which was insanity in and of itself.  To man these factories, he had to force peasants into the cities, and that was when these housing blocks were hastily constructed.   We were told the average two-bedroom apartment was 500 square feet.  Housing was assigned based on family size, but only AFTER you had a child (or additional children) were you approved to "move up."  So desperate for workers was Ceausescu, he outlawed birth control and abortion, and taxed people based on how many children they had.  No or few children, you were penalized.  The more children a woman had, they would shower her with vacations, additional food rations, medals and more.  You might recall the horror of the Romanian orphanages, which came to light after the communist regime fell.  Those orphanages were often filled with unwanted children, for whom families could not provide, as there was simply not enough food to go around.  I had forgotten about the orphanages, but later watched a documentary on them, and it simply broke my heart.  There were also countless stories of abortions gone wrong and people killing unwanted newborns.

On a happier note, we left the city behind and started to climb into the Carpathian mountains.  Rain stopped, but we hit heavy fog.  Our first stop was the Cozia Monastery, built in the late 1300's, which had beautiful original frescoes.  It was Sunday, so there were services underway and lots of locals visiting.  We learned that Romania has the highest percentage of self-professed religious believers of any country in the European Union -- over 97% claim to believe and belong to one of three main churches -- Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, or Roman Catholic.  This was only the first of many churches and monasteries we'd visit over the week, and I asked how they survived the communist era.  We were told Ceausescu tolerated the churches, but that he required all clergy to report on their parishioners.  After the regime fell, there were attempts at punishing these clergy members, but it became all too clear that they had no choice.  In addition, it seems like most people suspected (or knew) they were being reported on, so they had already come to accept it.  Most churches were allowed to maintain their building, paintings, treasures, etc., but only a few were actually kept open for services.  The ones with artwork of note were usually classified as museums (often called museums of Byzantine art), and included on tours for non-Romanian visitors from outside the country.  Like the Soviet Union, there was one central travel agency for the country, which catered for foreign tourists -- mostly from the Eastern Bloc.  Many of the places shown to foreigners were off-limits to regular Romanian citizens.

You Know Who

Cozia Monastery

One of the panels on the outside portico of the church, depicting Hell

Inside the church at Cozia

Cozia

Monks Have Live in the Monastery Non-Stop Since 13th Century

As we reached the highpoint of the mountain pass, we left the clouds behind us and the remainder of the day -- and indeed most days until the very end -- were sunny, with beautiful weather.  We reached our "home" for the next two nights -- the small city of Sibiu -- around lunch time.  About the same time we hit the sunny weather, we had crossed over from Wallacia -- the southern part of Romania -- and had entered Transylvania, or the "land beyond the trees."  We learned that Transylvania had been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire all the way until 1918 and the end of World War I, at which time it was united with Wallacia and Moldova to form the modern nation of Romania.  I had no idea that Romania did not formally exist as a full entity until the early 20th century.  The southern parts of the country had been under Ottoman rule.

On the drive from Cozia to Sibiu

The Austro-Hungarian influence was extremely obvious throughout Transylvania, and particularly in Sibiu.  Ethnic Germans, Austrians, and Hungarians still live in the area, though many left after the fall of the regime, when they were finally free to leave at will.  Still, the architecture and names have a distinctly German feel, and in most every church we visited, all the signs, paintings, and banners were still in German to this day.

Sibiu has a beautiful old town, which was spared by Nicolae Ceausescu's youngest son -- his only offspring still alive today.  Ceausescu is said to have visited Sibiu only once, where he gave a speech on a bridge called "Liars Bridge."  Superstition was that if you told a lie while on the bridge, it would collapse and/or you would die a painful death.  His paranoia was such that, after his speech, he declared a strong dislike for the city and never returned.  He had ordered the old town to be razed, to make way for factory housing, but his youngest son Nicu, loved the city.  He reportedly had a romantic affair with the famous Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci in Sibiu, but neither party will confirm or deny those rumors to this day.  Still, Nicu spent long periods in Sibiu and was successful in sparing the old city from his father, which remains as it was for centuries.  

Walking into Sibiu

The market square in Sibiu

Our visit coincided with the once-a-year ceramics festival, so the market square was packed from corner to corner with artisans selling every conceivable form of pottery.  We could have been in Vienna or Budapest for how the city looked.  After lunch, we had a local guide provide a walking tour of the old city, which includes three rings of fortified walls and countless churches.  The history was fascinating, and again reflected how little I knew about Romania before this trip.  We did encounter a few foreign tourists this day, and learned that several low-cost European airlines provide direct flights into Sibiu.  Given the beauty and extreme bargains to be had, I can see why folks would want to pop down for a long weekend.  I should have mentioned, too, that while Romania is part of the European Union, they have not adopted the Euro.  They were initially deemed "not ready" to convert, due to extreme corruption by successive post-communist governments, but when they finally met all the requirements, the government decided to maintain the Leu as their currency.  There was concerns that prices would rise too quickly, similar to what happened in the Czech Republic and Poland, so they just gave up on it.  The EU technically can force them to do so, but there appears to be no appetite to make an issue of it.

The annual Sibiu Ceramics Festival

Sibiu City Hall, former Communist Party Headquarters

Watching the Tourists

Part of the inner-most fortress walls around the city

Market square

View from the "Bridge of Lies"

The Lutheran Church and German School, still in operation

Our hotel was a Hilton, located outside of town, on the edge of a huge forest and the national zoo.  It was a lovely setting.  The hotel itself was testament to what Romanians in the 1980's thought was chic and stylish.  In reality, what they built was a gold-plated gaudy interior with loud red carpets and even louder heavy crimson drapes and impossibly over-padded chairs in the rooms.  We all got a chuckle out of it, but then again, it was the best hotel in town, so we couldn't complain.

Our Hotel in Sibiu

  

View from our Hotel Room

The Height of Romania 1990's Chic Style

Dinner was on our own, and we had a very tasty dinner at a grill, located at the entrance to the zoological park.  It was full of well-off young families, who had most likely spent the day in the park with their children.  Again, we were the only foreigners in the place, but we made do, and the meal was quite good, and certainly reasonable.     

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