Remember how I said I found THE THING in the gift shop inside Casa Vlad Dracul? I finally went back later that day to buy it. The lady at the gift shop assured me that this, along with the wooden crucifix I also bought, were made in Romania.

“100%!” she added for good measure, and you know, I believed her. She was very mysterious and cool.

I always like to make sure I’m getting actual wares made by local artisans, and in a Taiwan factory. No offense to the Taiwan factories! But I want real Romanian shit that could potentially be crafted from wood from a haunted Transylvanian forest.

Anyway, Henry was very *deep sigh* when I saw the wall of masks and did that thing I do where I stop dramatically and clutch my chest. When you know, you know. And I knew. One of those masks was coming home with me.

After a few minutes of deliberation, this is the one I chose and never looked back! I can’t remember how much it cost but that and the cross were well under $100. I texted this picture to Chooch and he said he wanted it! Can you believe I bought something that’s Chooch-approved?? I told him I’ll put it in my Will.

Here it is on my wall now! Getting it home was a pain in the ass, I will admit to that. We carried it through 4 airports and stowed it under the seat in 3 planes in a black bag that looked like a small garbage bag and I kept forgetting about it until I would notice people giving us furtive double-takes. That’s when I noticed that a tuft of its hair was peering out of an opening in the bag, lol.

My first therapy appointment back was telehealth. My therapist asked if there was anything I brought back that I could show her and I was like, “Actually…..*thrusts the mask into the screen*” She visibly recoiled and said, “Oh!” But then she did say it was cool, lol.

And here’s the crucifix! If you’ve been to my house, you might know that my bathroom is religious-themed and this will be going in there soon.

There was another shop selling these beautiful painted spoons and plaques that we saw immediately upon entering the citadel that day. We still had our luggage with us, en route to check in, so Henry was like NOT RIGHT NOW. Thankfully, Sighisoara is small so we walked past it numerous times that day and I finally ran in and bought the above plaque and the two spoons pictured below:

I love my Sighisoara haul!

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