See you in - Sibiu, Romania

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See you in - Sibiu, Romania

Sibiu is a city in Transylvania. If you had been there this week, I would have seen you there.

 
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A very striking thing about this little town is how suspicious the roofs are. They are not suspicious because they look unstable or in bad condition. No. They are suspicious OF people. As you walk though the "streets and cobbled stones" of Sibiu, the roofs watch your step. So you better watch it too.

The peering roof-eyes, that come in varied shapes and sizes, accompany your promenade in this nonetheless charming city. Almost romantic, one could say. If I was doing a road trip with ukuleles through Europe and I landed in Sibiu, I'd probably write a love song of longing and looks that are missed and needed, about a yearning for the peering eyes which once used to grace a passionate lover... Yes, I'd probably do that. Something like that anyway.

The look you cast will always stay, the sweetness of these troubled eyes, engraved in me, and to this day, I see them in the rooftops and the skies

 
 

From German roofs I long your call, which is fitting for from my trips, I know in German "Ruf" means call, the one I long to hear thrust from your lips

As with other larger cities in "Siebenbürgen", the history and the architechture are quite German. As is the prettiest church in town, the XIVth Century Lutherian Cathedral of which I'll post a few photos to nicely round up this post.

A short word about these spying eye-windows. Believe it or not, they are not actually built in the hope that the houses might come to life as Monster-houses. It would making rearranging city centers much easier though. They were built as a cooling system for these roofs that used to be mainly used as storage space. That's about all I know, because I'm super-broke (seriously), and they only have paying tours in this city. Buuut, if you'd like me to be less broke and more professional, I can trade your money versus some songs here. Or, a donation or the postcard thing!

Church !

 
 

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Brașov ! (pronounced bruh - shove)

Or, brush off. 

It might feel a bit like you're changing country when you change region in Romania. Less than a hundred years ago, Brașov, like the whole of Transylvania, was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. You know, the guys who eat Schnitzel and Goulash. So as you can imagine, there is in this city, a great mix of cultures. The one catching the eye most being ... German , suprisingly ! Yep. And for interesting reasons.

So to brush off your Brașov knowledge, and entertain your ears with a couple of songs, be sure to listen to the Brașov edition of the Ukulele Road Trips Podcast !

Listen to the podcast - The Transylvania Special

There isn't much more I can tell you than what Ileana tells us in the podcast. Because she's so smart. But, I can give you a little glimpse of the city, and a little taste of traditional Romanian Melodies, with violinist Violetta Mihail !

 
 

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Transylvania - Castles and ... Dracula?

Welcome to Transylvania! Not in a 'scary hungry monster' way. In a nice way. Really, welcome in Transylvania, it's lovely!

After decades of movies about a pale Vampire living in these parts of the world, most people will think of Dracula when Transylvania is mentioned. This is great for tourism, but almost none of the ideas we have about these vampire legends are grounded in anything local, events or beliefs.

Basically, an Irishman called Bram was bored in the south of England and wrote a scary novel.  And did a pretty good job. To make it spooky, he set it in the middle of the romantic mountains and castles of Transylvania and invented a character that feeds on innocent flesh. Originally Mister Stoker was going to call him "Count Wampyr", which is a terrible name. So after having read a bit of Wallachian (South Romanian) history, he changed it to one he read in there: "Dracula".

Dracula did actually exist. And is pretty pissed at the confusion. Here is the story of Wladislaus Dragwlya as he wrote it in Latin, or, Vlad III Draculea, son of Vlad II Dracul, ruler of Wallachia.

 

be sure to switch the subtitles on bottom right of the video. Vlad mumbles a bit.

 

So, as you can see, a monster in his own way, but certainly not one that transforms into a bat.

Somehow, this dated Gothic book by Bram is a blessing. It lures tourists from all over the world who go out of their way just to see Dracula's Castle, "Bran Castle" (not Bram's Castle) as it is known here in Transylvania.

Bran castle (pictured in the video) wouldn't be getting half the tourists it has today, but it is fully deserving of all this attention. And of course the tourists end up visiting a few other things in the region, after having bought the Dracula fridge magnet. And many of the Region's other castles are as interesting as the aforementioned. Less crowded obviously, but not less interesting or beautiful (exept for the one in Peles, which is beautiful, but not interesting).

 
 

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