Romania - Eastern Europe - page 527

floors can be a bit taxing, so ask for a first-floor unit if possible if you're not keen to
lug luggage. Bathrooms are modern with a tub/shower combo. This hotel also has the
best in-house dining options: Choose between the cozy cellar beneath the hotel, the
courtyard-terrace round the back, or the cafe-lounge-bar area just off the lobby.
Pia$a Cetâ$ii 7, Sighi@oara. & 0265/50-6014. Fax [phone]. www.casa-wagner.com. 22 units (10 new units
planned for 2007). Oct 15-Apr 15 45 € ($56) double, 65 € ($81) suite; Apr 16-Oct 14 60 € ($75) double, 80 € ($100)

suite; 10 ($13) extra bed. Rates include breakfast and VAT. MC, V. Amenities: Restaurant; bar; business services;

room service; laundry. In room:TV, minibar.

€

Hotel Sighi@oara With its timbered ceilings, wooden floors, and occasional
original frescoes, the citadel's largest hotel is also charming. There's also a great lineup
of amenities, including a vaulted cellar-restaurant that practically doubles as a
museum of curious antiques. Guest rooms are decorated to conjure up a mild sense of
the medieval, particularly those with vaulted ceilings; they're all different sizes, but are
fairly spacious, with large windows and flower boxes framing views of the cobbled
streets; those on the top floor provide great rooftop views through angled ceilings. Not
all rooms have air-conditioning. The biggest drawback here is the good likelihood that
a busload of tourists will turn up at any moment.
Str. !colii 4-6, 545400 Sighi@oara. & /fax [phone]. [e-mail]. 32 units. L190 ($68/£36) dou-
ble; L300 ($108/£58) apt. Rates include breakfast. Rates higher during Medieval Festival. MC, V. Amenities: Restau-
rant; bar; fitness room; sauna; massage; room service; laundry. In room:A/C (some), TV, minibar, hair dryer.
WHAT TO DO & SIGHTS TO SEE
Part of its charm is that there's not much to do in Sighi @ oara; the citadel itself is the
attraction. As you roam the streets, don't be surprised if déjà vu sets in; the town is
tiny enough to be covered on foot in just a few minutes, but there's joy to be had in
retracing your steps, as the architecture is affected by even the subtlest changes in light.
Spend some time visiting the citadel's few churches and museums, which add context
to the broader picture; try to climb the Clock Tower as early as possible, taking in the
fantastic view of the city before the tourist hordes arrive (in fact, from up there you'll
see the buses making their way up Strada Turnului signaling that the historic town is
open for business). Then visit the Church on the Hill, which seems ordinary from the
outside, but is imbued with a fascinating energy. Besides the sights reviewed below,
you can also take in the 15th-century Gothic-style Church of the Dominican Mona-
stery, adjacent the Clock Tower. Don't forget to wind down the day by grabbing a beer
on Pia $ a Cet â tii; there's sometimes a craft market and usually a lively atmosphere.
The Clock Tower & City Museums Surmounting the main entrance to the
city, the whole Muzeul de Istorie (History Museum) is a tower climb, so be prepared
for some legwork. It's one of the more useful history museums, starting with a model
of the town as it was in 1735. There is also a collection of surgical instruments that
includes a bloodcurdling array of knives and saws, not to mention enema syringes that
will make you grateful for being born into an enlightened age. The best exhibition
room (reached via the short stairway next to the display of Dr. Josef Bacon, who
founded the museum in 1899) includes several chromo-engravings of everyday life in
18th- and 19th-century Sighi @ oara. As you ascend the clock tower, you can check out
different components of the elaborate clock mechanism, straining your neck along the
way to get views of the city. From the top, the magical 360-degree view includes shin-
gled rooftops, fairy-tale steeples, turreted guard towers, and—in the near distance—
the encroachment of modern apartments. Polished metal plaques indicate distances to