Bucharest to Sibiu

Well we did make it to Bucharest, after a 2 hour delay. Driving into the city was a bit trying as there really are no street signs which made trying to follow printed google directions a wee bit difficult. After getting lost we rather serendipitously found our correct street and our friend waiting for us.
Our first night was spent in a 1970s communist era apartment, which felt remarkably like a Manhattan apartment. Funny that.
This morning we managed to get out of Bucharest with relative ease and make our way to our first stop of Curtea de Arges. We stopped intending to get lunch and check out the church and monastery. We went to the church first, which is the oldest example of Byzantine frescoes in Eastern Europe. We made the slight timing mistake of waiting for the guide to give us an explanation of the church frescoe. While very informative it turned into a world history lesson of Romania and Eastern Europe religion and after an hour we had to get going.


Our lunch turned into a quick swaerma stop and the monastery was limited to a very quick tour.


Our next stop was near the beginning of the Transfaragas road, at Poienari Castle. It's claim to fame, aside from the 1480 stairs leading up to the castle, was that it used to be home to Vlad the Impaler. Many rumors surrounded the castle history, while it is just ruins today as half of it fell off the cliff during an earthquake.


Hey, check out those hams!

We jetted as fast as we could on the Transfaragas, which goes up over the Carpathians with more twists and turns than Lombard St but with equally beautiful views.


We were due in Sibiu by 7 and got in at 8 but had been able to get a phone and called letting our hotel know not to give our room away. After again getting a little lost in Sibiu (they really don't like road signs here!) we found our hotel, walked to the town square for dinner and gelato and planning for our day tomorrow.