Dogs, Dracula and digging

We had a full day in Sighisoara today, which is enough to do justice to this pretty, small town. Famed as the birthplace of Vlad Dracul, there are surprisingly few fangs and capes to be seen here. It is a real town, with businesses other than tourism, and a population with things to do other than fleece visitors. They try to make an effort to keep the old buildings in good condition, but only in the now typical Romanian manner. It is common to see satellite dishes on the sides of the buildings, "Do not walk on the grass" signs next to parched patches of weeds and boxes of junk left in the corner of the churches. This does add a certain charm to the place when you leave your Western expectaions behind, especially with the streets being a mix of tar, cobble and dirt. These streets have a significant population of dogs, whose sole purpose seems to be to look cute and receive cuddles from passers-by.

We climbed the clock tower, which is a construct only possible in this part of the world, with eerie model people who appear on the hour, wooden stairs crowded with Romanian tourists who will not give way and holes in the wall which appear to be designed for the use of boiling oil. There was a lovely view from the top.

I tell you this because the picture here is of the view from our current toilet, a toilet which one must dig with a trowel. I think this view is better.