A few days after returning from my Australian adventures and a few days before infamous COVID
This trip has so much meaning on so many bitter sweet levels. Sibiu is my hometown, it is an understated small city with big town vibes that is eclipsed by other Transylvanian cities in size, historical importance and economy rankings.
Its 2007 yearly designation as European Cultural Capital promoted it as an attractive tourist destination. What cemented the status of a must-visit Transylvanian city it was not Dracula (his castle is far to the West), but the efforts of its then mayor Klaus Johannis, a well connected German ethnic Romanian, in reminding German tourists that Saxons once helped build this city.
This trip was meant to be a few weeks long, just so I can spend the holidays with my parents, the first time after my divorce. However, given that COVID brought the whole world to its knees and to an absolute standstill, I eventually spent 8 months with my parents while going to a role reversal, with me becoming the parent and navigating an extended quarantine.
Colloquially called by the locals as “Muzeul Satului” aka “Astra” National Museum Complex became one of the few peaceful and scenic spots that could be visited during the more relaxed periods of the “social distancing”
