Tuesday, August 01, 2006, 23:18

Time flies.. it’s nice on vacation :).
Sighisoara transformed radically the past week-end.. from an oasis of peace and quiet it became the epicenter of youth, fun, noise and agglomeration, during the annual Medieval Festival. The city usually triples its population (otherwise below 40,000) during this week-end. The old streets became crowded with mostly young people roaming around, shopping at the numerous handicraft boutiques, attending artistic events – concerts in the gothic churches (classic music) and on the stage downtown (modern music), theatre, exhibitions, workshops, open-air events (the flags-ritual opening was a hit), visiting the museum or.. trying to sell their own art, whether handmade accessories, body painting or ..music. Some were simply sitting down in groups and singing.. guitars.. flutes.. very nice atmosphere. Crowded, but relaxed, fun, open-hearted.. the week-end flew by very fast, as usual.. Mondays after the festival are the quietest days ever.. the contrast is amazing, from the crazyness the night before to almost complete silence.. the city resumes life instantly, stages are gone, everything looks like nothing happened.. only one or two belated funky-dressed tourists remind you of what mayhem was here no earlier than yesterday..
today another much more quiet festival started – Academic music summer school & festival. A group of classical music teachers from Switzerland come over every summer and hold summer music instruments classes – violin, piano, flute and the like, for students all over the two countries (and other countries too, I think). Every year, the program starts with a teacher’s concert (to show us what they’ve got :), continues with a series of small concerts held by students as they progress in their studies and ends with a gala concert held by students, to show what they’ve learned :). Went to the teachers’ concert today, very charming. Classical music does good from time to time, especially live.
That’s the news from here.. my days are peaceful so far.. hanging around at home, doing small drives with dad’s new car (the first europe-compliant romanian car, a Dacia Logan (by Renault) and checking out the scenery and discovering hidden gems of untouched untouristified medieval architecture in the villages around Sighisoara. As long as I can, coz summer wont last forever..
Warm greetings from the green green grass of home! 🙂

Pictures are here.