Kolbs On The Road: 20240805 Viking European Sojourn River Cruise Day 4/27

Monday, August 5, 2024

20240805 Viking European Sojourn River Cruise Day 4/27 - Exploring Transylvania

Viking European Sojourn River Cruise Day 4/27 - Transylvania Highlights Tour

Today was a long bus day. After a buffet breakfast at the hotel, we were off at 8:30 AM for a tour of Transylvanian Highlights.

Our first stop was to the northeast in Prejmer to visit the Fortified Church of Prejmer. Along the way, we got nice views of the Carpathian Mountains and a mix of planted and freshly harvested fields.

The Fortified Church of Prejmer was built in the 13th century. It was designed primarily as a church but with 12-meter walls that are 4 meters thick, it was also a principal defense structure.

The walls were imposing - it survived over 50 attacks from the Turks

The main entry

The main courtyard

All of the fortified churches in Transylvania

The gate to the interior

All the 275 rooms were temporary homes for villagers if they came under attack - the doors have the same number as their house number

Each door has a unique geometric shape carved into it as a family crest - it was also used to identify each family's lard storage

The cathedral

The oldest triptych in Transylvania dating to 1450-1460

Members lost in WWI

This building was across the street. On top of it, as well as on top of many other buildings, storks built huge nests.

Biserica Sfinţii Trei Ierarhi or Three Holy Hierarchs Church was down the street

We left Prejmer and headed northwest. Along the way, we passed the impressive 14th-century Rupea Citadel.

Our next stop was in the village of Viscri for a demonstration from the local blacksmith.

Using our guide, Stefan, as an interpreter, he explained how he makes horseshoes and nails and that his son, like him, started apprenticing around 12 years old

This huge bellows system was used to stoke the fire

Making a horseshoe takes 45-60 minutes so he made a smaller, decorative horseshoe that took under ten minutes

You can see the significant difference in size

He also fabricated a nail - his largest order was 250,000 nails - a project that took him an entire winter to fill

Fashioning a decorative horseshoe for us

Some letters are backward but who cares? It needs to be displayed in this orientation so the horseshoe holds your luck - displaying it with the curve on top lets your luck spill.

We left the blacksmith for the short ride to our next stop.

Along the way, we could see the top of the fortified church in Viscri

Our final stop in Viscri was The King's House. King? King who? King Charles III of England! Charles has owned this home since 2006. He no longer stays here as it is now a museum but he has another home in Romania.

The courtyard

Arlona, dodging some liquid sunshine

A workshop with art for a book on local flora

The King's apartment.

Doesn't seem very regal

There's some modern tech

Next, we continued northwest to our final stop, Cetatea Sighișoara or Sighișoara Citadel. This fortified city was built in the 12th century by Saxon settlers.

On the way, we passed a hops field - they brew a lot of beer here.

We also passed the stunning 1930s Holy Trinity Church, Sighișoara

One of the residents of Sighișoara was Vlad The Dragon. There is no word for "dragon" in Romanian so "The Devil" or "Dracul" was substituted - Vlad Dragul. His son was born here - also Vlad, and as the 'son of the devil" was known as Vlad Dracula and Vlad The Impaler.

The walk from the bus to the citadel was a significant uphill climb over cobblestones. Arlona hoofed it. I opted to save my knee and took the $1 trolley.