Translyvania, not just for vampires anymore!

I just returned today from a long weekend in Transylvania, specifically in an area known as Sibiu county. A town in Sibiu county, Rasinari, was host to the 2nd annual Cheese and Brandy festival on Sept 10-11. Our project director, project officer, myself, and a fellow consultant colleague were attending because our project, "Enterprise Development Strengthening" also known as EDS, was one of the organizing partners for the festival. The 200km drive from Bucharest to Rasinari took a little over 4 hours by car. The shocking part is that from what I am told, the roads along the route we took are some of the best in the country!

The entire time at the festival, we were given the royal treatment - which started with the mayor of Rasinari meeting us at our guest house dressed in traditional clothes and offering shots of brandy! The next day, after a morning and afternoon of sampling some very strong Romanian brandy and "palinka" (a very strong home distilled alcohol), we were treated to a 3 hour lunch with the mayor and the organizers of the festival. No need for dinner after that, although the mayor insisted on buying me a plate of mamaliga cu branzei (corn cake with cheese) when we returned to the festival. He also wouldn't let me pay for any beers! The day ended with watching traditional Translyvanian dances and a huge bonfire.

One of the more interesting people we met was a shepard who brought his flock of sheep to graze in the hills above the festival each day. The first morning we were there, we walked up into the hills to talk to him and take some pictures. After chatting for awhile, thanks to my ever improving language skills, I knew he had over 300 sheep, 6 dogs, and 2 sons (one of which is standing with him in the picture above). He had his most senior dog, Boitan ("Boy-tahn") demonstrate his sheep herding skills for us. When we left to go back to the festival, he brought all 300 sheep along and had them graze above the festival grounds while he took a break for a beer or two. Of course, his 6 dogs dutifully stood watch. The mayor later told me that he thought the sheep added a great touch of traditional rural life to the festival. I'd have to agree - as a matter of fact the effect was so authentic that on the second day the shepard actually sold one of his sheep to a local family who promptly slaughtered it and had a barbecue on the spot!

After a couple of days in Rasinari, we moved into the larger town of Sibiu, about 25 km away. Sibiu is a town right out of medieval times, with narrow winding streets and walkways, buildings that are hundreds of years old, and beautiful Saxon churches. The heritage of Sibiu is mostly German, however very few Germans remain, since most of them were displaced during Ceaceascu's reign. Sibiu is getting a lot of ever increasing attention because it has been designated to be the European cultural capital in 2007. Hence, the streets and squares are all being refurbished, and many of the older buildings with cultural significance are being renovated. It is truly going to be spectacular once it is done. The main square of Sibiu will easily be as grand and impressive as Stare Mesto square in Prague. More importantly, the revenue it will bring into this economically depressed area is going to be an incredible and much needed boost to development.