Sibiu was the first Romanian town that we visited. We crossed the boarder at Giurgiu and promptly got turned around. We righted ourselves and drove through Wallachia to Transylvania.

The countryside is beautiful and the very little if any of the architecture of the individual homes or churches bears any resemblance to homes or churches in Bulgaria. For me at least there was a sense of: we're not in Bulgaria any more. We drove through lots of little villages on decent but not great roads.
<a title="Views from the Iron Bridge by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/6955284328/"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8017/6955284328_e287d3ee02_z.jpg" alt="Views from the Iron Bridge" width="640" height="427" /></a>
Sibiu was named the European Capital of Cultural in 2007 and it's not hard to see why. The city center is beautiful. Churches, towers, bridges, cobble stone, colorful store fronts and a couple of charming squares. The pedestrian walking zone doesn't hurt nor did the good weather. Everything seems nicer outlined in blue sky.
<a title="Main square by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/6955273438/"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7137/6955273438_eba17cd041_z.jpg" alt="Main square" width="640" height="427" /></a>
My first impression was: cute, cute, cute. It was pretty much love at first sight. Everything is so colorful and the roof-lines are so interesting. Oh and the people were so cool. <!--more-->
<a title="Streets of Sibiu by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/6941764264/"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7214/6941764264_85849b9aa6_z.jpg" alt="Streets of Sibiu" width="640" height="427" /></a>
The main sights are all easily accessible by foot. One of the things that stood out to me in Transylvania in general were the various cultural influences both German and Hungarian.
<a title="Biserica Evanghelica church by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7101349831/"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8165/7101349831_32fa1170e6_z.jpg" alt="Biserica Evanghelica church" width="640" height="427" /></a>
One very clear example of this was the Biserica Evanghelica church. It was closed for restoration when we were there so we didn't get to go inside but the outside towers and the colorful tile roof is reminiscent of <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;ved=0CEgQFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSt._Stephen%2527s_Cathedral%2C_Vienna&amp;ei=LLSTT5vRMsL2sgaGqbCpBA&amp;usg=AFQjCNEiv2ULEBwX_2iSXidaebK1u1YDkA&amp;sig2=Rl47ukuOSECBEhdgRC0-0A" target="_blank">St. Stephen's in Vienna</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthias_Church" target="_blank">Matthias Church on Castle Hill in Budapest</a>.
<a title="Signs by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7087843457/"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5119/7087843457_a53e53ab3d_z.jpg" alt="Signs" width="640" height="427" /></a>
We spent most of our time wandering around, eating and taking pictures. We popped into churches, bought some post cards and generally meandered. The one serious thing we did was to visit the Brukenthal Museum--an art gallery.
<a title="Brukenthal Museum by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7101342769/"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8007/7101342769_6ea1e94420_z.jpg" alt="Brukenthal Museum" width="640" height="427" /></a>
The museum is located on the town square. The building used to be the former Austrian governor's baroque palace and in 1817 it was turned into a museum. Lonely Planet says that this museum is "the oldest and likely finest art gallery in Romania." The building is beautiful. The collection is small but well curated in both English and Romanian. My favorites were Romanian pieces.  If you like art, this museum is definitely worth visiting.
<a title="Main square in Sibiu by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/6941761606/"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7092/6941761606_4709469881_z.jpg" alt="Main square in Sibiu" width="640" height="427" /></a>
<a title="Manhole cover by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/6941768756/"><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5115/6941768756_f7dc379847_z.jpg" alt="Manhole cover" width="640" height="427" /></a>

&nbsp;