Liverpool to Sibiu

Sibiu (est 1190AD) is European Capital of Culture 2007 (along with Luxembourg), and 8 girls with 4 teachers came out to visit from Archbishop Blanch School in Liverpool (2008 Capital of Culture). Here they are, on the Gossips' Bridge, just before the huge thunderstorm hit and drenched us all. The following day they all came up to Magura for a night's stay and dinner outside on the terrace, overlooking two sets of mountains. Slightly different from the usual urban views in Liverpool.

Neigh-bours

The driver of the horse and cart is my neighbour, Rodica - her husband Aurel is there on the right. They are heading up to the shepherd camp to see how their sheep are doing and to get some cheese. You can't really see her, but the horse's foal is trailing along behind them. She was six weeks old when this was taken last Sunday.

Hands-on management

Milking sheep is a long process, and it happens three times a day. These guys live up in the shepherd camp all summer with the flocks, and the huge, aggressive shepherd dogs.

While the sun shines

On the road from Zarnesti to Bran, we found this trio turning hay in the roasting heat. They thought it was a seriously good joke that we wanted to take their photos, but between gusts of laughter two of them spoke to us in an efficient mix of Romanian, German and English. We left knowing that we had provided a good dose of entertainment.

Brasov faces

In the market at the bottom of Republici Street you will find all the regular stallholders, and irregular ones, too. Like Victoria, who has a glistening heap of wild blueberries that she and her three children have picked in the forest early that morning.
And on a step in the street, this lady was concentrating on the final touches to her wildflower posies. She only has a few to sell, and needs to sell them all. Despite being a fast-growing European city where property prices have rocketed in the last couple of years well beyond local people's ability to afford them, Brasov is still home to many people who live hand to mouth, quite literally, gathering wild food and flowers from the forests to give themselves a meagre income.

The Transfagarasan Highway

The Fagaras mountains contain Romania's highest peaks, up to 12,000 ft. Not huge by Andean or Himalayan standards, but tall enough to hang on to some snow the year round. The highway snakes up and over the mountains, at times supported by what look like twigs when seen from below, and occasionally covered by shelters to stop cars being crushed by falling rocks. On the south side of the summit we drove round the millionth tight bend to screech to a halt – confronted without warning by a huge dam – Vidraru. Then once beyond that and through another tunnel, we snaked down through tree-covered rock pinnacles, on top of one was Vlad the Impaler's ruined castle, Poenari. You can visit, but it involves 1,500 steps.

Cow parade

On the way down from the Fagaras mountains, en route to Curtea de Arges, we passed a very long procession of cows being led back from their pasture to their respective homes. In the mountains, the cows and sheep go up to the high pastures for the whole summer, but here they commute every day from barn to pasture in the morning, and back in the evening after a full day's grazing, between milkings.

Homorod's hidden treasure

Omitted from the Rough Guide, Homorod is another unspoilt Saxon village, with another delightful fortified church. Let in by the charming Ioan Tomi, we admired the painted wood panels, and were allowed to play the tiny, 17th century organ. He and I had a broken conversation in German and Romanian, while Nicola climbed the tower. 'Don't forget us', said Domnu Tomi as we dropped him back at his house. As if.

Leather and sweat at Dambraveni

We'd passed Sighisoara and were looking for the signs to Biertan; then round the corner we saw a horse fair in full swing. We dived in and soon became popular through the medium of Nikon. Transylvanian men, on the whole, love being photographed. This chap was very proud of his little blue roan, eight months old and ours for 250 Euros. But up the hill we found Stella and her owner Jonas, who was delighted to show off both her class and his driving skills. It was a hot day, and the smell of sweaty horses and saddlery was all-pervasive, along with the occasional scent of buffalo and panting piglets.

Saxon villages: Biertan

After Homorod and the horse fair at Dambraveni, we reached the haven of Biertan, a beautifully preserved Saxon village with one of the best fortified churches in Transylvania. We stayed in a delightful apartment restored by the Mihai Eminescu Trust, had dinner below the citadel, and watched the world trot by.

The spicy life, weatherwise (lots of variety)

The weather was pretty stunning most days, but in the mountains hot days are followed by cool – here the village is about to vanish beneath a bank of cloud. And the day we had in Sibiu was a hot morning followed by a fabulous thunderstorm right overhead.
It was fun to sit under a parasol in the Café del Sol watching the populace scurry through the downpour, although one particularly fearsome thunderbolt right overhead caught us unawares and gave us palpitations.

Thanks for the fence

Shepherd dogs are bred to ward livestock against large carnivores, and against a 6ft tall bear or a pack of wolves, something this size comes in handy. NB the girl is about 5'10" tall. She wouldn't be so brave if the fence fell down...