Arriving in Brașov was a bit of a shock to the system as suddenly there was heavy traffic again, all of which knew where it was going, except us. Luckily the satnav was brilliant once again and we found our hotel relatively easily although it was not where we'd thought it would be from the internet pictures. We knew it was about a 10 min walk to town but what we didn't realise was that it was halfway up the mountain behind the town. Access to the hotel was up an extremely steep slope with a narrow entrance but parking was free and there seemed to be quite a few spaces. As per our usual routine, we dumped our bags and headed out to explore.
Brașov was one of the Saxon 7 cities (of Transylvania) and developed as a trading colony in the 13th century. Saxons lived within the city walls which like so many others were built to defend themselves against the Mongols and Turks, but Romanians were confined to living in Șchei, outside the citadel - an early version of apartheid!
Although this building looks fabulous I don't think it's anything other than the tennis club.
The adjacent athletics track, which judging by the state of the seating hadn't been used for a major meeting for some time.
Strada Sforii (Rope Street)
Apparently this passageway was built in the 15th century to give fire fighting brigades passage between the major streets at either end. Depending on who you talk to it's either the 1st, 2nd or 3rd narrowest in Europe. Unfortunately it is now a magnet for graffiti and sections are set aside for scrawling on - I suppose it could be worse like Juliet's Balcony in Verona which has a wall set aside for people to stick notes on with chewing gum!
At its narrowest point, you can touch both walls on either side of the street.
There are two small towers overlooking the old town, but the climb up is apparently only for the extremely fit and agile which clearly rules us out and then there are more steps when you actually get to the tower. This is the White Tower which is actually much larger than it looks as the back wall is curved. The nearby Black Tower, which I forgot to photograph, is a different shape and also white (another fire - see later for explanation).
Just like Hollywood, Brașov has its name in large white letters up on Mount Tampa behind - we're planning to catch the cable car up tomorrow.
The Town Hall in the main square. The tower is known as the Trumpeter's Tower,it had heralds poised on top to warn residents of invasion or other danger. According to one version of the Pied Piper legend, the children of Hamelin emerged here at the end of their underground journey (personally I think it unlikely as the two towns are some 1,000 miles apart)
Time to sit and enjoy a beer and watch the world go by.
And just for a change.
Unfortunately for me the craft stalls rather spoil the appearance of the square, especially as you can only see the backs from wherever you sit.
Whilst we were resting I was reading someone's travel blog of Brașov and they mentioned a statue of a fairy playing a trumpet positioned high up on a building. "Wouldn't it be lovely if we could find it" I said to Ian. With that he looked up and straight ahead of him was the very thing so I wandered over and took a picture but I only had a small lens so it's not particularly good.
The people on the next table to us were tucking into huge cakes so I tried to sneak a photo. I think they are Papanasi - which are deep fried doughnuts, filled with cheese and served with crème fraîche and blueberry jam.
I got a little braver and asked if I could take a picture.
I think the ominous black clouds were causing Ian to stride off in a very purposeful way.
The Black Church (with a suitably dramatic sky) often claims to be the largest Gothic church in south Eastern Europe. The church is not black at all, the name comes from its appearance after a fire in 1689. Unfortunately it was closing for the day which is a shame as it houses a collection of 120 Turkish rugs donated by Saxon merchants during the 17-18th centuries.
This lovely building is the Romanian Orthodox Church.
Rather strangely, when you first go into the building there are what appear to be shops and an open air café and then the church behind.
This statue is of Johannes Honterus (1498-1549) a Transylvanian Saxon, renaissance humanist, Protestant reformer and theologian and probably best known for the printing press and library he set up here.
This square is also named after him.
The weather had deteriorated now and we'd left our umbrellas in the hotel so we were rather scurrying. St Catherine's Gate, part of the city walls.
And Șchei Gate which was built in 1828 but on the site of an earlier gate. During 13th-17th centuries this was the only gate through which Romanians living in the Șchei district could enter the Saxon citadel.
I just thought immediately of Canada when I saw this and luckily it was on a zebra crossing so I didn't get run over taking the shot.
We stayed down in the main square for dinner; pizza for me and spaghetti Bolognese for Ian (plus half of my pizza as it was huge). Unfortunately they didn't have the wine we wanted, so we made do with a couple of beers.
I often joke about how I take virtually the same shot when returning from a walk, but in my defence I thought the light was lovely after the rain had passed through.
This is the Weavers' Bastion, the largest and best preserved of the city's original seven. From here you can hike through the woods to the cable car station.
