August 18, 2025
We headed out in search of coffee and breakfast since we had no milk at the house. After checking a few spots near the house that were closed we walked up the hill toward the fortress, the Viscri Fortified Church. We found a promising spot and walked in but were told it was only open for hotel guests. At this point Gabby opted out and volunteered to take the kids back to the house and feed them from the groceries Kayleen and her purchased last night. Mihai, Kayleen, and I continued on toward the fortress on the hill. We walked through green space around the fortress and came across two puppies wrestling while a cat watched, keeping a few steps removed. Kayleen and I laughed that it was Ollie and Lenny wrestling while Hope watched unimpressed.
Checking another restaurant on the other side of the fortress we were finally told that everything was closed on Mondays. It made more sense why the one restaurant was out of food last night now! We ended up at the same tiny convenience store that Mihai and I got a beer at last night but this time for a coffee. The three of us sat at the same picnic table as last night and I noticed a pair of sunglasses hanging from the underside of the umbrella. After pointing them out to the group, and commenting on how weird of a place to put sunglasses, Mihai exclaimed that those were Gabby’s! Our morning walk had a purpose beside subpar coffee. We returned home to find the kids entertained with Gustos, Romanian corn puffs. They were sticking them together to make different figures and bridges and Gabby had cooked a nice breakfast for everyone.
We packed up the cars and drove up the hill back to the Viscri Fortified Church. We paid the entry fee for the full experience this time. The fortress had one main tower that we climbed but also a few other areas to explore with different artifacts, most of which were not that interesting to the kids. Lenny did enjoy leading Mihai and me around the fortress as we broke off from the Kayleen, Gabby, Ollie, and Hope group part way through.
I was most excited to see the two puppies again from this morning. They had been napping when we arrived in the ticket office but were awake when we were leaving. Both were happy to accept some scratches as it started to drizzle.
We made it to Sibiu which was much more of a city than Viscri, Viscri probably wasn’t much different 100 years ago than when we were just there. After unloading the cars Mihai and I went looking for parking, more like I just followed him and parked where he said to.
Once I got back to our room, Hope there playing with the boys. Both boys were baby cheetahs that would fight occasionally with Hope reprimanding them and feeding them milk. The type of play Hope and our boys liked had finally found a merging point. She kept some structure to the game and they convinced her to join in on their wrestling. She would lay on the bed and say, “OK you may wrestle me now” when ready to participate.
The city was extremely walkable with many large roads and squares closed to cars. Gabby and Kayleen stopped at a few shops while Mihai and I took the kids on a walk to kill time before our dinner reservation. It started to rain so we sat at a coffee shop outside under a big umbrella. Lenny used his Pokémon time and since Ollie had lost his I didn’t let him watch or play which nearly pushed him over the edge. Eventually we convinced them to pretend they were mimes and a large block of ice was about to crush them. Before they were crushed Gabby and Kayleen showed up and we headed to dinner.
The dinner was very good and with the help of a 10 USD bribe from Mihai to the winner of the quiet game, and some ClassDojo on his phone, the kids were on their best behavior. Lenny started out very much in last place but was determined to win and kept calm and quiet for the rest of the meal, eventually being crowned the winner by Mihai. I think Mihai is a little bias for Lenny as he sees himself as a child in Lenny.
Lenny, like a new found lottery winner, was quick to tell Hope and Ollie how he intended to buy them all kinder eggs with his prize money. He loves being the one with power and to share it with the other kids but likes to remind them of his generosity.
We walked with the kids to get ice cream for desert and take in the city. The Eyes of Sibiu were everywhere, window slits built into the rooves of buildings, which gave the city a unique look. Originally just built for attic ventilation they have become an icon of the city.
Hope continued to be more interested in the silly physical play the boys love. After I threw Lenny up in the air she requested a turn. Being lighter than the boys, and helping me with a jump off the ground, she must have gone 10 feet in the air. She thought about a second attempt for a video but opted out at the last second. Though she was up for her turn of holding onto my arm and being swung in a circle parallel to the ground.
Shortly before we got back to the hotel, we found two odd water fountains and tried to let the boys take a drink. Once I turned one on a little, we quickly learned it was a geyser that shot straight up in the air with the force of a garden hose. I quickly turned it off but then decided why not let them have some fun and turned them both on full blast quickly getting out of the way. As expected, Lenny was ready to party…
We walked back to the hotel passing by open first floor windows with Romania men sitting around without a care of who saw them.
