I am Mary and this is the story of how I met Sibiu.
Let’s commence with the beginning: Once upon a time, in a not so far land, somewhere in Eastern Transylvania where they say it is the coldest, in a dark and freezing December day I have been born without knowing what an adventure awaits. Wait! I guess I am going too far behind. It all started when…
After the last 3 years spent in Bucharest, the long awaited time to change the landscape arrived. Tired of traffic jams, pretzels for breakfast on the run and never being alone, I slowly planned my next escape to another city.
Sibiu was appealing to me due to various reasons, one of them being its history, one of the medieval towns in Romania, the unconquerable fortress, the “largest and wealthiest of the seven walled citadels” sounds promising, right? The city still has the old citadel walls and a lot of historic sights and buildings. For those who enjoy walking, like me, it is a blessing, the cobblestone streets without car access are pedestrian friendly. The town was built on two levels: the Upper town (with three squares: the Great Square, the Little Square and the Huet Square) and the Lower town (comprising the area between the river and the hill). These two are connected by the Bridge of Lies, and I’ve already mentioned too many landmarks in one sentence so I will stop. Words are not enough. Walking besides the historic walls give you the impression you travelled back in time. If you are a medieval aficionada, you will fall in love with the feeling that the city gives you.
The second reason was its size (area: 121 sqkm, population: 154,000). For a person suffering from FOMO, I slowly realized that Bucharest, the capital city, full of opportunities, events, possibilities, was just an illusion for the regular human being with a nine to six schedule from Monday to Friday. It is true, here you have all the concerts, best theater plays, most diverse bars and restaurants that you could not visit given a lifetime for exploring, best companies to work for, and so on and so forth. However, a big city life implies giving up a lot of time for getting from one place to another and at the end of the day you anyway feel too exhausted to sign up for one of the abovementioned opportunities granted by the capital city. After an objective analysis, my calculations found out that in a smaller city you can save each day some time which you can later use for same-day events or for travelling to Bucharest or surroundings for a one time event. It was worth a try. Besides, a smaller size implies a certain degree of coziness as well.
The third reason could be called proximity and it is closely related to the size. By proximity I mean closeness to a lot of opportunities: an airport that could take you far away, but also a highway and some landmarks in the surrounding environment. Sibiu is located in Central Romania, 2h away from Brasov, 2h from Cluj, 3h from Timisoara and 3,5h from Bucharest. Hopefully, the highway to Pitesti and then Bucharest will be ready soon and that will improve the time to get there. Besides the easy access to important cities, Sibiu is close to Făgăraș Mountains, the famous Transfăgărășan road, Păltiniș ski resort and many more that I will reveal in time.
The fourth reason is both objective and subjective. The multiculturalism of this town was very much appealing to me. Perhaps I can blame it on the familiarity of the context since it would remind me of my childhood, perhaps it was just my TCK spirit in action (the idea that as a TCK, I’ll feel good among people who are like me – influenced by various cultures). Historically, Sibiu has been a multiethnic town. In its beginning a German town, with Saxon inhabitants, but also Romanians and Hungarians. Today the majority of people here are Romanians, but there are still some ethnic minorities and regardless of the percentage, their culture remains. Astra Museum offers a lot of opportunities to discover the various cultures that were present here across time organizing various events to promote them (of course, I will write about them).
Wrapping up the objective reasons for moving here, let’s have a look at the personal ones. First, the moment I realized I wanted to leave my hometown was the moment I started the search for a “new home” defined at that time as The place, somewhere where I would find my peace and I would not want to leave again. Currently, I consider myself having no roots in the sense in which I cannot feel at home somewhere specific. For me, home is an internal feeling triggered by the coziness of being with the dearest ones, with those people who matter the most, thus, home was something that I could carry on with me constantly. God bless the freedom of movement (although now we had to give it up, hopefully just for a short period of time)! Some people might ask me if I do not have places that remind me of childhood experiences, a favorite gelato place, the best bicycle route, a tree in which I used to climb. Of course I do have all of those, and I cherish sweet memories with a lot of places, however perhaps my eagerness of always looking for new adventures, of creating new memories and living intensely the curiosity within me, weighs more. I lived having the temptation of the ‘who knows what expects you around the corner, Mary’ present everyday. On the other hand, I was curious about anything related to the definition of a community, the one that you can notice in movies, but the one I never got the chance to experience lucidly. People in small villages living happily and helping one another, acting as one if needed. I was always wondering if this actually exists nowadays or if it was something characteristic of the past when movement between towns was not easy due to the absence of transportation let alone the movement between regions or countries. This desire to keep going forward but taking a look at what you leave behind might be another element of the neither/nor conscience that I possess. Sibiu is another milestone(point) that I reached in my search for a place that had the guts to settle me down, and I have to confess that up to this moment the idea of leaving did not cross my mind. How did this happen? Not sure yet, but I promise to share with you the evolution of my story here so stay tuned until the next chapter.
