Travel, the saying goes, broadens the mind. Maybe it did a couple of centuries ago. Now, not so much.
For one thing, the things you go to see tend to depend on the kinds of things that you are interested in. Because she'd read (on the internets) that there is a pottery festival going on there, the central square in Sibiu, Transylvania, it was stop no. 1 on the wife's list of things to do in Romania. Unfortunately, just as the wife could go on the internet to find out about the pottery festival, the local potters could go online and look at designs from around the world. The pots tended to be not much different from the things you'd see at the May Fair in Norman. A lot more hand-work for a lot less money than you'd pay in the USA, but the designs and materials were not that different. The uniquely Romanian pots the wife had in mind didn't exist. Everybody does modern stuff and modern stuff all looks the same from Sapulpa to Sibiu.
If the pots were nothing to write home about (although I suppose I'm doing so right now), the photo opportunities were very good. The setting really helped. It was not just the old medieval buildings that formed the backdrop to the crowds. It was that colorful vases arranged hapzardly on cobblestone squares form interesting tableaus.
The people watching was also great although they tended to watch us much more than we watched them. They must not see too many Indians in the heart of Romania and the cultural norms probably have nothing against staring because lots of people stopped in the street to stare at us and give us the once over. Nothing too uncomfortable, and besides I can't complain -- I was surreptiously shooting people on the streets. Here's a stealthily shot photo from the pottery show:
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