Day 23 prompt is here: Tell us about the best road trip you’ve ever been on.

Learn how to participate in #indie30 Art Project.

First of all, it’s time to brag again. The weekly round up highlighted two of my articles ! Yay.

Best road trip ever? May 2013, our first wedding anniversary. It wasn’t “romantic” by anyone’s definition except ours. With a friend and brother in law we set out on a very very long day trip.

Here are some highlights, taken from my writing project aka book titled Exploring Europe Together – A Couple’s Guide to Europe, Chapter 12, 2013-2014

Would it amaze you if I told you that we’ve decided to travel for every wedding anniversary? I bet not! So when May 25 rolled around the corner we were looking for ideas. This time Alex has surprised me. He talked to our friend – the one with the car – and all I knew was that I had to be ready to go to Sighisoara on a very early Saturday morning. Oh and he asked me to “create an itinerary from Arad to Sighisoara going by as many historical sites as possible”.

That wasn’t so hard. I figured Alba Iulia with its citadel, Calnic fortress and the fortified church of Biertan, along with Sighisioara would be an awesome way to spend our special day, albeit we didn’t travel alone.

So on Saturday at 6 a.m. I was up, half mumbling after making coffee and some sandwiches for the road. It was raining when we set off and the rain literally chased us – isn’t this something we always have a problem with? – until Alba Iulia. But once here it was bright and sunny and we visited the Citadel.

Change of Guards at Alba Carolina Fortress

Luckily we also ended up in the city exactly when there was a change of guards, the only event like this in the entire country held for tourists only. Just like Arad Citadel, Alba Carolina is built in Vauban style but unlike Arad one which is closed for the public, Alba Carolina has been restored and is open for tourists. There is a “trail of the three fortifications” which allows visiting the three eras of development of the citadel, starting with the Romans, but we skipped this (10 lei / adult entrance fee).

After a tour of the citadel, we chose The National History Museum of Unification to check out and acted like kids a bit. The photo fee was 15 lei but it also allowed for taking photos at the Union Hall (where entrance is free). The lack of detailed information and the rude workers seem to be what Romanian museums are known for, unfortunately.

Once done with those, it started…raining. So we decide to take cover and stop for a coffee. After the shower, we went to Reformed Church, which was absolutely stunning and where we found the tombs of Janos Hunyadi and other important Hungarian historical personalities.

Then we passed by the Orthodox Cathedral but since there was a wedding taking place we didn’t see the interior.

From here we wanted to go to Calnic, but with not so good sings along the road and although we had the GPS on, we missed the exit. We figured it out 6 km later but decided not to go back. So it was on to Biertan fortified church.

All the way to Biertan, we passed by a vast number of fortified churches taking notes that we should come back to this area and see them all, especially one perched on top of a hill and which looked really spooky in ruins.

Once in Biertan we realized that the entrance to the church was closed…at 5:30 p.m. on a Saturday in late May. I think now it’s time to let know those responsible of this historical site that if they want tourists to visit, they should accommodate them for longer, especially on weekends.

It was off to Sighisoara. I was super delighted to find an almost empty citadel! Since I’ve visited it in 2000 and 2001 during the Medieval Festival when it was packed with people, I was really happy now. But the Clock Tower (with its museum) was closed since 5:30 p.m. I checked the schedule and on Sunday it would have been open until 7 p.m. Does anyone care to explain the logic of this schedule?

Sighisoara Fortress

Clock Tower at Sighisoara Fortress

Us at Sighisoara Fortress

We had a blast in the citadel, walked as much as possible, took photos and enjoyed every second here. We left the car in a parking lot opposite the Orthodox Church and climbed to the citadel using the stairs. One of the guys accused me of trying to kill him when we walked all the way up to the Church on the Hill.

For a photographer, having the citadel almost empty was a blessing. I gladly gave Alex the DSLR camera to play with; while I just…took in the views! And sometimes took snap shots with my smartphone.

Back on the road, we had a very spooky expensive. Since the Deva-Arad road was under maintenance we decided to go via Lugoj. Deva-Lugoj is a stunning road passing through a forest but since it was raining and the air was cooling down, there was “steam” rising from the road, making for a spooky and scary experience. Our friend is a very experienced driver but even so we stopped along the way to just relax. And luckily enough, we had the chance to see a moonbow.

A moonbow is a rainbow produced by the moon’s light and is extremely hard to end up in the perfect conditions to see one. They are relatively faint – due to the amount of light – and always occur in the opposite part of the sky from the moon.

I am still cringing when I remember the other stuff what has happened to us. At the start of an express road, two lorries were coming towards us. One was passing the other, taking over the entire road and honking like crazy. Luckily for us, the driver took a sharp right through a parking space which was there by chance alone. I felt like a cat that had just used up one of her lives!