Conquering Poenari Castle

Yesterday was a big day, and it started with a long, long hike up a LOT of stairs. We made the trek up to the ruins of the old Fortress, and were thereby provided with both a good amount of exercise and some amazing Carpathian scenery. My calves still hurt, but the view made it all worthwhile.

There are a lot of dogs in Romania ( many strays). At the fortress, we met one of the shorter-haired Romanian shepherds, a sweet fellow who made himself our local guide.

Later, we arrived at our hotel in the old resort town of Sibiu (one of the precious old cities in the mountains that was able to save its history from the Communist uglification projects of the 1970s and 80s. It's really quite charming!