Scenic Old People and Transylvanian Tattoos -- Sibiu, Romania

Yesterday had an unusual start.

It involved Tessa being able to sleep in.

My favorite thing in the world is to wake up at four o'clock, drink a coffee in the quiet, write a blog as the sun rises, practice yoga, and then take a big, beautiful nap.

After which I wake up again and eat breakfast.

Tessa's favorite thing in the world (or perhaps just the morning) is to wake up at eight o'clock (or around then), and stay awake/asleep in bed for a couple of hours.

Yesterday, Tessa was able to stay awake/asleep in bed for a couple of hours while I wrote a blog at one of Sibiu's fast food stops offering smoothies and wifi.

Then we packed our bags and meandered off to the main square of Sibiu.

Coffee was drunk.

People were watched.

An abundance of German signs were noticed  and squinted at (remnants of Transylvanian Saxons?).

Italian cafes. French bakeries.

Donuts stuffed with sweet cheese.

We moseyed into a supermarket to purchase our picnic.

Walked past the fort and reminisced about our time Ruse's Balkan Hostel with Mandy.

Mandy had titled her photo of us like so:

"Stella from New Zealand and Aimee from Colorado, US, hitching their way across the Balkans......give em a lift if you see them."

"Stella!" I chortled. "She thinks your name is Stella!" 

"Maybe that's my hitchhiking name." 

"Stella is your hitchhiking name... Unicorns are your spirit animal... and aubergine is the color of our trip. I think we're doing pretty well." 

"Stella the aubergine unicorn is probably my spirit animal." 

"Maybe that could be your travel tattoo!"

"YES!" 

Tessa and I had fantasized (in the trajectory sort of way) about getting albatross tattoos at the end of our odyssey. 

Because albatrosses are capable of flying for five years without ever landing. 

"Albatrosses are too profound for me. This is way better," Tessa observed. 

"It still works for me... but you're right. You need something whimsical." 

"Remember that tattoo shop we saw up the street?" 

"Are you seriously considering getting a Stella the Aubergine Unicorn tattoo in Transylvania?"

"Where else would I get a Stella the Aubergine Unicorn Tattoo?" 

We found ourselves walking back to the tattoo shop.

This is how we make decisions.

The aubergine colored motorbike parked in front of the parlor sealed the deal.

Placing the rough sketch

Tessa smiles on the outside for bus crashes AND unicorn tattoos

And signs liability forms in Romanian... 

I was severely disappointed that I wasn't allowed to watch the process, but the result is pretty fine. Say hello to Tessa's spirit animal. Her name is Stella. She's fat and shiny and full of whimsical starlight. 

this is Tessa's response to "did it hurt a lot?" 

Tattoo completed, we once again set off to find our picnic park.

We were able to locate the perfect place. Full of soft grass, fat ponies, red roses, and scenic old people who kept coming and going.

It was like the theatre game "bus stop", where two people sit on a park bench and act out a scene until the director goes "beep, beep!" and one actor makes an excuse to leave and another marches onstage.

We spotted Vlad the Impaler in 3D on the return route.

And this.

You wish you lived here.

This is my favorite Romanian word. It's a donut shop. I think it's nearly as fun to say as "boulangerie". 

Notice the old woman in the red cardigan? That's right, she's the same from the park. Tessa and I believe she goes from bench to bench telling the same story. It's lucky that all her friends are old and probably can't remember that she's told it 72 times this week already.

Scenic Old People!

Animated Scenic Old People! She's telling the story again. Seriously. All the same gestures observed in the park. 

We spent the rest of the evening taking pictures of Sibiu's unique rooftops. And their eyeballs.

 

Some of the windows have cats. 

Some of the windows have skulls. 

Cyclops window. Don't make fun of him. 

I love peeling old paint. 

We found a view for the sunset.

And then walked back to our studio apartment to meet our host for the evening.

I'm still in love with Sibiu.

And now Tessa has a unicorn tattoo.

Named Stella.