The Tullmann Travels: Romania 2014: Sibiu: The European Cultural Capital (part 5)

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July 1, 2014

After an almost sleepless night in Codlea at Alina’s aunt’s house, we were able to get a lot of organizing, packing, and planning done before the sun came up.

We made breakfast and coffee before anyone else got up. We walked to the town square with Alina’s aunt, Cornelia, to exchange money at a bank. Then, while Cornelia went to another appointment, Alina and I shared a jelly-filled pretzel (a first for both of us) and found a coffee shop that had wifi. We caught up with on our social media, while cherishing cappuccinos and the internet. We walked back to Coca’s house and enjoyed one more meal before saying goodbye and leaving for the train station. After purchasing the train tickets it was a short wait before we departed from Codlea and headed for Sibiu around 1:15pm.

During the trip we sat across from a Bucharest student who had studied photography at a university. She was the perfect candidate to take our picture. We slept and watched the Romanian countryside roll by on the 2 hour train ride. We arrived at 3:40pm, where Andi, Delia’s husband picked us up. He drove us to he and Delia’s apartment. Delia is a long-time friend of Alina, whom we visited in 2011. At that time she was single and a hairdresser at a Salon in Sibiu. It was a special time when we had visited because she was interested in a guy named “Andi”. We had spent time with both of them and now they have been married for 2 years and have a 3-month old baby named Thomas.

They lived in a new apartment block and Delia welcomed us with a Romanian style Schnitzel (breaded fried chicken), homemade mashed potatoes, and salad. After eating, we spent time admiring Thomas, who was a surprisingly calm and content baby boy. Andi had invited me to go out at 9:00pm to play football (soccer) with him and his friends, but I was too tired. After his game, I got to spend time talking with Andi, while Alina and Delia caught up. Andi has a job with a ministry that works with some of the gypsy camps outside of Sibiu. It turns out he and I had a lot in common. Ministry, running, computers, movies, books, and hefeweizen beer are a few of our favorite things. We planned on running the next morning, but our late night called for sleeping in.