Sighisoara & Kid-un-friendly dining

We finally arrived in Sighisoara, and to “Grandma’s House”—our 15th century Medieval cluster of rooms in the upper citadel. A strange mural greeted us on the living room wall: a grandmother who, upon first glimpse seemed to be clutching two small pineapples, but was, on second glance, grasping a book. On the opposite wall, the inscription: “Grossmutter’s Hause.” (Speaking of odd phrases, we kept seeing signs that read: “Drum Bun!” alone the highway. No idea yet what that might mean but we patted our fannies accordingly.) In the large bedroom hung a very lascivious portrait of a tiny, waisted, wide-hipped blonde who on first glance seemed to be clutching pineapples, but on second glance….
Sighiosoara is birthplace to Vlad Tepes (the Count). So we had to (at 50% off for residents of Grandma’s House) eat at Vlad’s home, which was decorated in medieval bloodsucking kitsch. Thankfully, there were enough dragons to keep the kids entertained (dragons even on the plates), while we all stumbled our way through a dreadful meal.

We keep expecting some version of Greek peasant food here—but what I keep reading on the menu (and what indeed shows up), are things like: “mush” (polenta mash), meatball-like sausages that resemble, well, lopped off appendages (though the kids shovel these balls into their mouths with abandon), chicken soup (real broth but Liptonesque noodles), and at Restaurant Vlad-Dracula, a tuna salad that was a lump of tuna mash surrounded by canned corn, chopped pickled cucumbers and peppers, and undressed cabbage slaw.
The effects? Both Christopher and I have sludge in the guts (though this may be the result of very sweet red wine we’ve been drinking to keep our sense of humor as our children shred napkins and bread, leaving a wide trail through all these restaurants).

We are discovering Romania is not built for children—most restaurants are ill-equipped and keep insisting on giving the Bakken bambina tall wine glasses and fancy china. While our kids have stepped up as best as they know how, stemware is just too tempting.