1st and 2nd of December, 2021.
At the gas station, the manager does not speak English but he is trying to help really hard. He calls the camping place but there is no answer. So he asks one of the clients, a young man, if he can speak English. He wants to give me the directions, as I asked, of how to get in there. So he uses this guy to translate them to me. Well, at least at the beginning, because soon enough they both figure that the young man is going into town so he and his girlfriend can drive me there. Yay
They are super nice and she get really surprised about my travels. We drive to the camping place and once in there, he calls them. Bad news: they are under restoration so they are closed to the public. We decide that the best plan is if they just drop me in town and I will try maybe in some pension or see if I can find a monastery.
The Old Town is quite empty. But I also know that my chances of getting a place to stay for free will be better if I am get slightly out of it. Walking around, I see some people inside a bar. I ask for help and one of the elderly man, already quite drunk but still nice, offers to show me they way to one pension. It is really close, maybe 3 blocks away.
In the pension, I ask the manager if there is a place where I could put my tent. He is kind but say he cannot help me. He directs me to another pension, supposedly in the same street. I do no find it but I find a church.
The gate is open and I can see a house with lights on in the back. It is a large area, with buildings and empty space all around. But I am afraid of entering through the gate. I feel like I would be transpassing or something.
A car parks in front of the church but across the street. A lady gets inside a house but a young man remains outside, waiting for her I assume. I decide to ask him if he know anything about this church and what he thinks of me entering and knocking in the door. He believes there will be no problem if I do it. So I do it.
Talking with the people from the house it is trick at the beginning. They are a man and a woman and she seems like not so sure if she want / can help me. They don’t speak English so we are just trying to understand each other. Finally the man tells me to come with him. He brings me to the entrance of the church. Just near the gate, on the right side, I have notice before there is a small wooden area, all covered. He tells me I cam put my tent in there. He shows me where is the toilets and after I say many “thank you!” to him, he leaves.
With my tent ready, I am now deciding what will I eat. Maybe the avocados, maybe the puffuletis, one apple… It is when the same guy come to me with a bag and the puts in the top of one table. He makes a sign that it is for me to eat. Wow! I am so happy but also so touched by his gesture. In the bag there are two oranges, some fried donuts, a chocolate croissant and a big bottle of hot tea. Oh, Loki! I am thrilled!
Next morning I try to leave very early, but even so, there are many people walking around. When I finally get out of my tent, I figure they are parents bringing their kids to the school, right beside the church.
I knock in the house again, but this time to give them back the bottle and to say “thank you” one last time. Unfortunately they don’t answer. Too early, maybe? So I just leave the bottle by the door and take my way back to town.
The first place I try to leave my backpack is a fancy hotel. Uh, nope!
The second one is right at the entrance of the citadel and it is a coffee shop. The lady with whom I talk is super kind and relax and she show me a room where I can leave The Hulk.
I understand why so many people like Sighisoara and told me I should visit it, but honestly, it is just another citadel for me. At least I didn’t see anything out of the extraordinary as I haven’t seen in other citadels. It is cute, it has some nice old buildings, and old streets, the fortress around town is nice, but nothing really spectacular. The clock tower is quite pretty and there are some crazy stairs, with a wooden ceiling, which lead to a church, a governmental building and a old school, but even though is all the way up, there is not a really nice view of town plus the church is closed.
I take some photos. It is cold. I have my croissant and one orange for breakfast. Hands freezing! I walk around and that is it. In less than two hours I am done with Sighisoara. I take my backpack back and see my way out of town.
If I only knew I was about to embark in a loop. Not a time one, because I don’t have the Infinity Stone for that, but in a travel loop. So silly…
