I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I was finishing my scrapbook from our trip to Romania in September. Although I posted several pictures from the trip right after we got back, I wanted to post this page from the scrapbook because the picture on top didn't exist until I glued three pictures together. (Sorry about the glare on a couple of the pictures; I tried several different ways of taking the picture and this one, believe it or not, was the best of the bunch.)

At the mention of Sighisoara, I have had identical reactions from a train conductor, three or four people living in Romania, a friend who was born and raised in Romania, and another born and raised in Hungary -- all of them get a fond look on their face and sigh "Ah, Sighisoara!" And it is a charming place. In addition to being the birthplace of Vlad Tepes, later known as Vlad Dracul, it is a medieval city which stretches from a flat plain up to the top of a hill. There is a very long covered staircase (it looks like an old covered bridge) which was built so the students could get from the town to the school when it rained. There are some modern houses -- relatively speaking -- on the plain, but up on the hill all the buildings are just as they were in the 1400's. They have somehow managed to put in plumbing, electricity and the internet without disturbing the character of the town. I would go back there in a heartbeat.