Sensational Sighisoara, Sighisoara, Romania

We are getting ever closer to finding Dracula! We've made it to Sighisoara (pronounced See-ghee-Swar'ah), the birthplace of old Drac himself. He was born in a house in the citadel (Old Town) in 1431 and lived there with his father, Vlad Dracul until 1935 when they moved to Targoviste. For more on the history of Vlad III (aka Vlad the Impaler, aka Dracula) see my post " Searching for Dracula ". 

Understandably there is much more of a playful Dracula vibe here than at Sibiu which seemingly wants nothing to do with the Prince of Darkness and the tourists who come to Translyvania looking for him. In contrast, this small city of 28,000 people has a vibrant tourist industry with a Dracula restaurant and a Dracula room (in the location of his supposed birth home), a statue of Vlad III, a Dracula museum in addition to countless souvenir shops selling countless Dracula/Vlad the Impaler kitschware.

We decided to spice up our visit to the Citadel by playing a game from Questo called " Medieval Sighisoara: Defend the Fortress ". It's like an outdoor escape room where it guides you around the city and you answer questions and riddles with hints hidden in the buildings. It helped keep our young kids engaged in what they might otherwise consider a boring history lesson of a place they have never heard of nor are likley to return to. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).