Sat. Day 8 (One Week) June 19, 2010 Sighisoara, Romania

Wow, Do I have a lot to tell ALL OF YOU since I wrote last. We left Timisoara, Romania Saturday morning and I tried calling Rodauti, Romania (the village where my Grandmother was born and raised) to see if I could connect with family. Unfortunately, to no avail and the drive was well over 8 hours in the opposite direction, so I had to pass for this journey but the attempt by phone was a start. So, we headed to Sighisoara (pronounced Sigi shoara) which is in the area known as Transylvania, Romania. The moment we crossed into Transylvania, the sky turned completely black, lightening was electrifying the sky and the whole feel became extremely ominous with only 80 kms to go before we reached Sighisoara where we would be staying for the night. We got within 30kms and suddenly the skies opened up and once again a torrential downpour was underway except this time there was winds that not only had the power to sweep the bike across to the other side of the road but the sky changed colour and made it like a whiteout so that I couldn't see the fellow in front of me. We carried on with our hazards on for approx. 5 kms (it seemed more like 20 because of the speed) and the wind was progressively getting more violent. It was a Godsend to see a gas station where we we able to pull over. That was just in the nick of time because then it started hailing and cars were pulling off the road and jamming together under the gas station shelter. People were running inside and I thought we were in the middle of a tornado. It was FIERCE!!!!! It continued all the way to Sighisoara and once we pulled in there we were soaked to the bone. Sighisoara sits atop and is called a citadel because it's a city that looks over a village. We needed taxi and police escorts to find our way up to the top. We arrived in two separte groups with the support vehicle following and we stayed at two separate inns (pensiune's as they are called). We were there barely half an hour when all the power went out. This small medieval town was very eery right from the getgo as everyone seemed to have mesmerizing eyes, black hair and there was an ominous feeling in the air. This was the village of Vlad Dracula (the "a" stands for "son of" and Dracul stands for "devil" thus "son of the devil"). No restaurants were open due to the power outage and the local pizzeria had a stone fire to cook pizza which was dinner for the night. When we road into the city, small bats flew low just ahead of our bike tires and most of the shops, bars and restaurants were in caves. After dinner, a few of us went to a local bar that was buried deep within a cave and we were able to see due to the power having come on but the minute we ordered a drink in the cave, the power once again went out and I found myself laughing hysterically (my nervous laughter) as this was something straight out of Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula". Let's just say that I will never forget Transylvania and it truly lived up to it's namesake. Pictures will follow but for now I am recouping. I was never so glad to leave a place and yes I can say that I experienced it but I was definitely white knuckled. Very different people live here. Even though I slept I couldn't help wonder if there wasn't truth in this whole Count Dracula thing and that would be our next stop, Count Dracula's Castle on the way to Bucharest, Romania. But not now. A day of rest for that one. JACK