Brasov, Romania

I woke up at 09:20 today, showered, got ready, and then waited for the three guys from Holland to finish getting ready and packing their car since I would be joining them today to see a few of the fortified churches built by Transylvanian Saxons between the thirteenth- and sixteenth-centuries AD. Once we were all ready to go (at 10:15) we squeezed in to the car (which had a makeshift wooden chest attached to a modified bike rack at the rear of the vehicle) and drove to our first destination: the Fortified Evangelical Church in Hărman. We drove for about twenty minutes before reaching the church, which had its doors closed to visitors today, but, as we started to walk around the church, an old lady (the caretaker of the fortified church) called out to us and opened the door for us. We then each bough our entrance tickets and proceeded to explore the inside of the fortified church. We entered inside the church, walked up to the top of the bell tower, and then walked around the outside of the church within the fortified walls, before entering in to the fortified walls themselves and the dwellings built against the wall. After exploring the site and seeing everything that was open to visitors, we thanked the caretaker, exited the fortification, and the caretaker then closed and locked the door behind us. As we planned the route to the next fortified church for us to see, two Gypsy girls kept begging us for money with their pet dogs (actually, I saw a few Gypsies wandering about in Hărman); we tried telling them “no,” but they were persistent and eventually one of the Dutch guys gave the eldest girl a bar of soap since they looked like they needed it – he also had to pantomime what soap is used for since it looked like they were going to eat it). We then drove off to the next site: the Fortified Church in Sânpetru. This site was not as picturesque as the last one and buildings had encroached upon its fortified walls, making it impossible to walk around. With this church, we got lucky just like with the last one and, despite being closed to the public, the doors were open and two men doing renovation work inside didn’t care about us entering inside. We walked around the church within the fortified walls and looked inside the chapel, but this church was in a more serious state of degradation than the one at Hărman and needed a lot of renovation work done (I’m not sure if the church is even open to the public during the rest of the week since it looks like it isn’t ready to be shown to anyone yet); also, there were no display signs anywhere to explain the history. Then, as one of the Dutch guys and I were about to enter the church, the two renovation workers began to close the entrance door despite clearly seeing us still inside; so, it was obviously time to leave. We walked back to the car and met up with the other two Dutch guys and resumed our tour together. Next, we drove to the Fortified Church at Prejmer, which was built by Teutonic Knights in 1213 AD. Also, the Fortified Church at Prejmer is the easternmost settlement of the Transylvanian Saxons. Unfortunately, in this instance, we were not lucky; the fortified church was closed and no caretaker was there to let us in. So, we peeked through a hole in the entrance doors and walked around the fortified walls, taking as many pictures as we could. Then, as we returned to the car, we noticed an open door to what looked like an old military garrison next to the fortified church; so, we went inside the compound and explored one of the derelict buildings there. Afterwards, we walked back to the car and the Dutch guys drove me back to Brasov. Once back in the city, they dropped me off, we said our farewells, and they then drove off to Bucharest. I walked toward the center of Brasov, but stopped by a grocery store near the hostel (that Billa supermarket that had eluded me two nights ago) to buy some wine, tea, and other goods. Next, I bought a chicken shawarma wrap at the same place the Dutch guys and I ate at last night (the cook recognized me from last night and we had a friendly chat). Then, I brought all the food back with me to the hostel. I ate the shawarma wrap, drank some tea, and got to work updating the website and typing out journal entries. At 20:30, I walked outside to Republica Street to eat dinner and ended up at a Pizzeria where I had a glass of green apple juice and a pizza with salami, pepperoni, olives, and mushrooms. After dinner, I returned to the hostel, watched the Dean Martin Roast of Don Rickles, and snacked on pistachios, grapes, salami, dried red berries, chocolate infused with oranges, and a bottle of Romanian Rose that tasted of strawberries, cherries, and melon. I then watched the Dean Martin Roast of George Washington. Eventually, after 01:30, I went to sleep.