We left our gorgeous apartment in Sighișoara at around noon on 9th August (we'd requested a "late" check out as it is usually 10am and we didn't even wake up until after ten!) and arrived at Sovata at 2.30pm and after having driven around in circles for a bit eventually found the Amethyst hotel we had booked for £52, funnily enough one of the most expensive places we had stayed in Romania thus far excepting Bucharest. The parking was next door and discounted to 20 lei (£4) for 24 hours, and it wasn't too much effort wheeling the suitcase in and all the bags!
The lady at the hotel there was so helpful and told me she had put me in a room with a kitchen (I think I had booked without as it was marginally cheaper) but it was good to have the fridge, they had their own travel cot (so much easier not having to get it out of the car), I really made use of the balcony in the evening, and Tiger enjoyed switching the lights on and off and putting the bin on her head!
Sovata is located in a beautiful wooded valley in a salt-rich region know as "Salt Country". Sovata-Bai (the spa resort) was a popular spa resort int eh 19th and early 20th centuries, and unlike some other Romanian spas, has seen considerable investment following the collapse of Communism. In fact, the town was absolutely buzzing with mask-wearing tourists and it really felt like Romanian tourism was very much alive and well!
After settling in, Tiger had her bed in the bathroom (see the picture of my DIY black out window!), we went for a walk around the lake and then splashed out 80 lei (£15) to go round the town in a horse drawn carriage (the alternate option was a toy road train with 30 masked tourists, so we definitely had the posher option). Tiger was pretty overwhelmed by the carriage and the horses but seemed to start enjoying it towards the end. After the ride, she literally ran full pelt back to the lake and the children's playground. At the moment, I seem to be visiting a different Romanian playground every day!
Finally, back to the hotel, Tiger safely asleep in the bathroom and I had a memorable time sat out on the balcony, chatting to friends back home and listening to the live music from the nearby restaurants. I have a great video on my phone of me dancing around to the Italian folk song "Bella Ciao", made famous recently from being the theme tune to Money Heist (La Casa de Papel) on Netflix!
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