We awoke on our last day in Brasov to very inclement weather so there was no rush to get up. Our train to Sibiu wasn’t due to depart until the early afternoon but luckily we didn’t have to check out of the apartment until midday. So, we could relax, read and get ready for the last leg of our Transylvanian tour.
We got an Uber back to the train station (8 Lei) in plenty of time for our train. Turns out that we had even more time than we thought as we stood on the platform freezing cold for an hour waiting for our delayed train to arrive from Bucharest. When the train finally slunk into the station we couldn’t feel our hands or feet and were very glad of the warmth on the train. The train managed to make up a bit of time and not before too long we jumped off in Sibiu, the final destination of the trip.
The owner of Iony Apartment was waiting for us to let us in and again we had booked an excellent place. A much larger apartment than the one in Brasov and had everything we needed. Again location, location, location was the key as it was right on the edge of the old town. As time was getting on we dumped our stuff and headed off to explore the delights of Sibiu.
Within a minute we arrived in Piata Mare, the main square in Sibiu and what a place. The plaza is enormous with stupendous buildings, all nicely renovated, lining all sides. We immediately took to Sibiu and had to admit that Piata Mare rivalled our Union Square in Timisoara as the nicest we had seen. The centre of the old town is actually made up of three conjoined squares, Mara, Mica and Huet, all linked by small alleys and archways. We loved wandering round taking it all in. This being Romania, there were lots of cafes spilling out onto the squares and we were glad to see that most had heaters. We had a beer on Piata Mara watching the lights come on as the darkness enveloped Sibiu. There was a really nice vibe in Sibiu and there were not the crowds of Brasov, already we were talking about coming back as we only had one full day here. It would also be nice to come back and enjoy the town in warm sunshine.
We moved onto Piata Mica through the archway underneath the Council Tower to find another smaller square, well it is more triangular really and at one end had the Liar’s Bridge. Legend says that if you tell a lie while standing on the bridge it will collapse, best not to see if that is a lie! We were hungry now so plumped for a café on the triangle that had no customers but did have heaters. We often wonder why some places are full while the next door restaurant is empty. We often go for the empty one. Spread the love hey! Turned out to be a great decision as the staff were very friendly and the food was fantastic. I had ribs and Emma had chicken in cheese sauce and was up there with the best food of the trip. So if you are ever in Sibiu try ‘Delis Restaurant’, it is near Nod and Tango which are in all the forums but you will be sat with all the sheep. As it happened, the restaurant began to fill up around us so I guess some people were in the know.
The forecast for the next day was not great, however the best weather looked like it was going to be in the morning so we headed out fairly early to explore more of the city. We love these sort of towns with lots of small alleyways to wander round without any real purpose or direction. These sort of towns don’t exist much in Africa and Asia so we have really been enjoying it during this trip. We wandered around the city walls, Astra park and Piata Huet. Everywhere you look there are fantastic historical buildings and it is definitely the nicest place we have been so far in Romania. I’m sure Timisoara will be just as nice once they have finished all the renovations there, but for now it has to be Sibiu – sorry Timisoara!
The forecast was correct for once and the rain came, so we headed back to the apartment for lunch and holed up for the afternoon watching football. City won so I was in a good mood and we headed back to Piata Mica for our evening meal and even went back to Delis. Now we don’t normally do that but it was so good that we couldn’t resist. We didn’t regret it either, another lovely meal and we even treated ourselves to a bottle of wine. Later, as we wandered through the narrow cobbled streets back to the apartment we saw a full moon rise over a church. As it was Halloween, this seemed like a very fitting end to our terrific train trip around Transylvania.
