Sibiu

This is Sibiu, where I started my mission. This is the place that gets my vote for the prettiest city in the world. Sibiu was the European Culture Capital for 2007 which means they came through and cleaned and repaired everything recently. The city looks fantastic.

This picture below is the thing that tourists always talk about. It's a section of stairs that go back to Roman times, including the arch work overhead, so I guess its pretty cool, but I like my stairs better. These are my stairs. They are one of many sets of stairs that connect the lower city with the upper city. We called them Scara Iadului (Stairway from hell) because they are long and steep, but the actual name is Scara Aurelilor (the stairway of the goldsmiths) because traditionally the market at the bottom was where the goldsmiths lived, now its just full of gypsies.The Scara Iadului will take you into Piata Mica (The Little Square) then eventually to Piata Mare (The Big Square) which you can see below. The picture is of the Catholic church in Sibiu and if you look at the right side of the picture the other tower with the clock in it is the Counsel Tower. The square has changed a lot since I was here it looks amazing.At the other end of the square is Centru, which is what Romanians call the major area of the city in whichever city they are in. I love the Sibiu Centru because it looks like you are walking down main street Disneyland. It honestly felt great just to be back here.Near Centru is the other major tourist attraction in Sibiu, the Podul Minciunilor (The Liars Bridge.) This bridge was built in the late 1800's and the rumor says that you cannot tell a lie while standing on the bridge or it will collapse. Romanians like to point out that Ceausescu gave many speeches from the bridge so the rumor must not be true. All the same its a very pretty bridge.I lived here for 7 and a half months and loved living here and never thought there was anything weird at all about the town. Alayna is here for 2 hours and notices and points out to me that the houses have eyes and that they follow you. I am now terrified of these houses. Thanks Alayna.This was taken at the market place. Doesn't Alayna look pretty? At least she didn't tell me that the market was haunted or something. We were sad because apparently Sibiu ,being the European Culture Capital of 2007, felt that having the dirty smelly market full of gypsies wasn't the best face to present. I was very upset. The whole reason we went to the market was so that I could haggle with some gypsies. Alayna first saw people using brooms like this in Bucuresti and was desperate to get a picture of one. Unfortunately every time we saw one we didn't have our camera ready. In Sibiu we finally found one.
This is taken in the nicest restaurant in Sibiu. Only the really, really wealthy eat here. This is the restaurant in the Hotel Imparatul Romanilor, which is the Hotel Roman Emperor. We couldn't afford to stay there but we could afford to eat lunch there. The whole meal for both of us cost us about $10. And the food is fantastic! Unfortunately we were near the end of our trip and we looked a little grungy for a nice restaurant. That didn't stop us though.
This is the other place that anybody who goes to Sibiu has to eat, Unicum. It is a great little pizza joint in Centru. This is in my opinion the best pizza in the world, because while the Brick Oven restaurant claims to use a wood burning stove, what they really mean is they use a gas oven with fake logs stuck in there. Unicum actually uses a wood burning oven, they have a log pile next to the oven that they have to periodically feed. It adds an amazing flavor to the food. Alayna agrees with me that it is very good.

Maybe this is what they call burying the lede (lead), but I decided to leave you with a picture of the Evangelical Church. This is the prettiest building in Sibiu and goes back to the 17th century. That is all for Sibiu and if any of you have decided to visit Brasov you should definitely go to Sibiu while you are there because it is a beautiful city and well worth your time.