Off the Beaten, Crappy Road: Viscri

On the tail end of the Schlink's monastery trip, you could imagine after 6 days of driving, sightseeing and partying, we were pretty eager to get home. Not to mention it was surprisingly chilly and rainy the entire week, and repeated wearing of only 2 pairs of pants and one sweatshirt (with a sticky toddler, mind you) was getting old. So imagine how hard I had to fake a smile and "go with the flow" when my husband suggested we make "just a quick detour" to see yet another: fortified church. Such a lovely suggestion as we had already detoured off the road to Brasov to see a medieval fortress in Rupea that was closed for renovation.

Best seen seen from good ol' E60.

Mark exclaimed, "UNESCO added Viscri to their list of must-sees, so we should do as they say!" Ah. Well, when in Rome... or rather, Romania...

There are two roads that give you access to the secluded town, and they both suck. Please forgive my crudeness, but they were worse than the road we took through the gorge when heading to Bucovina. They gave us a jolty, stomach turning ride all the way into the predominately Roma town. The town, which was wet and muddy from several day's worth of rain.

Hey lil slugger!

I instantly regretted wearing my flip flops as I slopped and slid my way to the entrance, but continued on, dodging the vast array of slugs and snails along the trail.

Outside walls added 1525.

Fluent in Romanian, French AND German.

Standing in the Lard Tower:
for storing bacon and ham.
With a guard on hand!

A little less kept than the other fortified churches, Viscri's 900 year old church (built in 1100!) was still beautiful and full of character. The fortress walls were open to explore and there was was a three level museum dedicated to the details of Saxon life: what they ate on, what they wore, what they did, even what they slept on. We were also treated to a spectacular view of the cemetery and valley beyond the walls before making our way into town where my real fun began.

A lovely foot warming selection.

Awww! Baby socks and hats.

Socks! Gorgeous, hand knitted, wool socks adorned the fence of a local's home, and I was SO into it. Apparently there is a healthy export of wool socks and accessories to Germany, helping to keep the town on the map. Our sock seller taught me how to size them by wrapping the material around my fist. If the ends meet, they will fit. (An old co-worker also once taught me a trick for sizing pants: wrap the waist band around your neck for a similar effect. Although, I would argue my waist is much fatter than the circumference of my neck these days!)

I went hog wild with shopping and was tempted to stop at more vendors on the way out, but the thick sludgy mud, buggy puddles, and ruts in the road kept me in check. It was time to head home. *Happy sigh*