Village People

Hey everyone -

They keyboard here is not agreeing with me, so bear with the typos and short entry.

The tour is getting better day by day. On Friday morning, we headed off to a little village called Viscrii (from the Saxon "Weisskirche"), which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We had to travel on a bunpy, bumpy dirt road to get there (damn you, back seat!), but it was worth it. The village is almost completely isolated, and its cute little houses are all well-kept and brightly-painted. There are all sorts of foundations supporting the village and its inhabitants, so it's much cleaner and more beautiful than surrounding villages. Inhabitants take part in the "Sock Project," in which they earn money by knitting various items (socks included, obviously), and sell them to the public.

You have to wonder who they sell them to, though, since there were only 2 other tourists in the town with us. The main attraction of the village is the White Church itself, a fortified Saxon church from the 1600s. It still has a loyal congregation of about 15 people, descendants of the original Saxon (German) population that moved there in the 1500s or so. The Church is in decent condition, but climbing the rickety tower was still an adventure. The people who take care of it are amazing. They still speak the Saxon dialect and maintain all of the traditions of their people - even after living among Romanians for over 400 years! A Saxon family invited us for lunch, in what was definitely the highlight of the trip (shush, Nic). They made homemade wine and plum brandy, and this fantastic tomato soup and cabbage stew, all made with ingredients freshly grown from their garden. We ate it at a long table in their garden, among their dogs and cats, and it was by far one of the best things I've done while traveling.

We're in Sigisoara now (birthplace of Dracula!), which is cute and old and all the buildings lean to the side. Off for the England gane and one last Romanian feast tonight, and then back to London on Monday. Sadness. I know Romania will all be changed when (if?) I come back, but it's been a great experience to be here now. Yaay Romania. :)

Off to Scotland next - on July 4th - woohoo! Talk soon!

= :)