Eastern Europe Summertime.. It was a long flight on Turkish Airlines. Good food, cramped seating. I slept most of the way which l am thankful for. Anne wants to wring my neck! Arrived at our hotel which seemed on the outskirts of Sofia. I slept 10 hours! Unheard of. Off to breakfast & sat with fellow "Trippers" & began sharing stories which is always fun. We met our very handsome Romanian guide Emil & we boarded the bus & took off. There are 36 people on this tour. This is large for me but its incredible by the end of day one you have swapped names , had a few laughs & know that the fun will continue.
We travelled to an ancient fortified church of Biertan, a Saxon village. If there was a battle, the villagers would lock themselves inside the church. There was a door with 9 locks on it. One huge key to open the entire lock. Valuables were kept in this room if battle was afoot. We saw a bastion where couples who wished to separate were imprisoned with 1 bed, 1 plate etc to sort themselves out & change their minds. Next it was onto Sighisoara, one of the best preserved citadels in Europe that is still inhabited. This town centre has been a UNESCO world heritage site since 1999 & is dominated by its CLOCK tower. There was also a bust of Vlad the Impaler as he was born here. Onto Brasov where our trim had a balcony overlooking rooftops & mountains. I wrnt for a stroll with some friends then settled down in the front of the hotel with the smokers with a bottle of wine & some pizza. As the group came home from dinner l could welcome them with a smile. ...
Another hot hot day but beautiful. I'm always in a lather. But hey this too will end! Our mission today on our final Greece/Sicily tour was to find and see 3 distinctive fabulous churches in Palermo. It was going to be quite a walk and a hidden treasure if and when found. First was the Cathedral Duomo of Palermo the largest Norman cathedral built in 1184 in 5 different styles! Next , was one imposing Gate of the Eagle attached to the Kings palace. Very impressive. Then we stumbled upon an ancient falling down but sweet church that had its own bell tower. Up we went with helmets on?? The final staircase was a spiral which stopped Anne in her tracks. I continued upwards to the heavens and the bell tower. We were still on the hunt for the elusive church of Jesus or church of Casa Professa. At long last after being nearly taken out by the cars and motorbikes through the alleyways, we found it! Austere on the outside, OMG, jaw droppingly beautiful on the inside! Magni...
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