Sighisoara

We're staying at the home of Dorothy Tarrant and Roberta Bustin, right inside the citadel of Sighisoara. This city dates back to the 13th century and is one of seven fortified towns in Romania populated by Germans called Saxons. It is one of the best preserved old cities in Europe and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.



That's Sighisoara. Dorothy and Roberta's house is a beautifully restored old house with a charming guest apartment on the upper floor which is all ours. This is what we see when we look out our bedroom window.

Not too shabby!

Dorothy grew up in England, taught in Boston, Mass. for 20 years and has lived in Romania for since 1993. She directs a program called Veritas which provides supportive services to disadvantaged children, youth and seniors in Sighisoara. Most of the people benefiting from Veritas are Roma (Gypsy) and it began with a group of American college volunteers who came to help out after the fall of communism.

Veritas runs an international cafe, a children's center, programs for the isolated elderly, camps and other programs. There is also a Romanian Studies Program that allows college students to live with a Romanian family and volunteer while they are here. It is affiliated with the Nazarene church.

You can check out what Veritas does at www.veritas.ro.

High school students are recruited to provide walking tours of the historic areas of the city. We had two lovely tour guides, Grade 12 students, whose English was amazing. Since we were the only two signed up for the tour, we got very personalized attention and learned a lot about this amazing city.