Danny populated his plate with eggs, sausages and fried mushrooms, but heading off to get his coffee I quietly liberated the four mushroom chunks from his plate. On returning, I expected him to complain, but surprisingly he didn't seem to notice. Not only this, but then a short while later he agreed that the mushrooms were very good! We fed this joke throughout the day, and on two further occasions he still agreed the mushrooms were very good. We'll let him in on the joke tomorrow... probably.
We moved on to a discussion on two strokes, which are now our confirmed steeds. On moving to the farmhouse accommodation up in the hills I got a chance see them up close and they appear like colts ready to bolt the stable. As Charlie put it, in comparison four-stroke engines are like grand national racehorses, steady and enduring, but not reactive like two-strokes are. This should be fun.
We spent the day meandering our way throughout the charming old town in the centre of Sibiu. Very quant and pretty, but retaining its charm despite the copious number of ice cream stalls on one of the central thoroughfares.
The large central square had a fountain play area in which small kids were running and cycling in-between the water jets, having a great time dodging the random spurts, and we were having a great time watching them! It was fascinating to see how many faces were all focussed on this action.
The tiled roofs were also fascinating and were stuled in all kinds of intricate designs and colours, and we even ended up discussing the pros and cons if roof tiles!
A central church was stunningly ornate inside, but I was so busy soaking up the peace and calm didn't take any photos inside, I will try and steal one of Steve's pictures.
A few tables in the park were Sibiu's games central with people playing backgammon and cards overlooked by a small audience. It was nice to see how much pleasure this was generating and not a smartphone in sight sorry from our own.
Being a Sunday, the Instagrammers were also out in force and we mercilessly mocked them in our own way on a staircase pouting and preening in pose for our own selfies. The mother in a small family group watching our antics smiled knowingly, while her daughter looked horrified, obviously seeing a caracature of which she did not approve.
Dinner was at a steakhouse recommended to us by a friend and it turned out to be very good and reasonably priced.
I checked out of the hotel this morning and transferred to the farmhouse that will be our base for the week. Located a few hundred metres up in the hills it's great setup with accommodation, kitchen, garage and bikes all in a compact area overlooking the valley below. I'm looking forward to an exploratory run in the next day or so.
Steve, Danny, Christopher and Ray, who joins us tomorrow, will also transfer tomorrow afternoon and we may even get a short familiarisation ride on our waiting colts, before the riding proper starts on Tuesday.
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