Cal & Rachel Litwiller's Adventures

Friday, December 28, 2018: Baia Mare to Sighisoara

Our hotel included breakfast, so we were up and ready for breakfast soon after 8:00. The breakfast buffet was wonderful. One of the first we have had on this trip. We have stayed in numerous apartments, or felt the price of breakfast was too high, thus we bought items at local groceries to make our own breakfast.

Soon after 9:00 we were in the car in search of more wooden churches. According to the guide book there are several on our way which are listed as UNESCO sites. To get to these churches we had to travel on some roads that were very rural. As a result, we were able to see more Romanian countryside, farms, hay stacks and horses pulling wagons. We have seen the farmers going into the field, load hay from the haystack unto their wagon/cart and return to their barn. We sure wonder what livestock is in the barn. We have seen several dairy operations, and what may have been pork barns. Along the way, the roads were not always the best, but the scenery was most interesting.

Decorative Entrance Gate

Hay Drying Racks

Surdesti Wooden Church

One of the churches, in the town of Surdesti, was on a very remote road back off the highway. The church was very beautiful, but the road was a challenge. We nearly got stuck trying to make it up a snow-covered street as we left. Sadly, to say, none of the churches we visited today were open. We could only observe them from the outside.

The town of Rogoz has two wooden churches that are about 100 yards apart. Each church was different, including their steeple, but they shared a common cemetery. Again, neither of these churches were open.

More Ornate Entrance Gates

Entrance Gate in front of a Church

Nasterea Wooden Church

Church Entrance - Closed for the Day

Ornate Barn Door for the Barn that is above

Biserica de Lamn Wooden Church (1663) - Two Churches

By this time, we knew our daylight hours were rapidly passing and we had several hours yet to drive to Sighisoara where we have a hotel reserved. We arrived at our hotel as it was getting dark. Thanks for Google maps, we were able to drive directly to our hotel. It is amazing how it is dark by 4:15 pm and not light until almost 9:00 am. We have had to take these hours into consideration when planning.

After relaxing in our rooms, we decided to walk around inside the walled portion of the city. It looked lovely from below. The buildings were well lite, as well as the towers. There was a Clock Tower and 5 or 6 other Towers. It was interesting enough that we decided we would return in the morning to see things in daylight, as well as climb to the castle on the top of the hill. We returned to our hotel, Hotel Bulevard, for a wonderful dinner in their restaurant, before going to our rooms for the night.