Romania-Hungary Trip Comes to an End

Toward the end of our week in Transylvania we went to one of the country's most popular tourist destinations...Dracula's castle. We rode by carriage at midnight under a full moon as fog shrouded the roads. The horses, frightened, reared back at the sight of the castle, but the driver calmed them with some Hungarian phrases. Mike leaned out of the carriage window and asked in a weak British accent, "Driver! How far to the castle?"

We then decided to come back the next when the sun was shining brightly, and we drove up in Levente's van. The castle sits atop a hill, and around the base of the hill are gathered many t-shirt vendors, stray dogs sleeping here and there, and two men under an umbrella selling shots of palinka from two unmarked bottles.

We walked up and up a path to the top of the hill, occasionally stopping along the way to catch our breath. When we got to the top, me and Mike immediately went to find Dracula's bathroom, which was fairly modern. 3 or 4 urinals, a toilet, and 2 sinks.

At the entrance of the castle, we had to put slippers over our shoes (right) so as not to get mud or dirt on Dracula's brick and tile floors. Some people ignored the rules (probably Mike) and went without slippers.



In the early twentieth century (maybe the 1920s), the queen of the castle decided to go with a Spanish-themed renovation. Spanish tiles on the roof, stucco on the walls. And filled the castle with antiques she collected. Her picture was on the walls, and it turns out that a lot of Dracula's castle is dedicated to her memory. Above, we see Dracula's chest of drawers.

It was difficult to imagine the military purpose of the castle. But evidently it sits in the mountain pass that leads to Transylvania, and Vlad Tepes (Dracula) held the castle to defend the region against the invading whoevers (Turks?). He may have actually only been there one or two summers, it turns out.

Andrei Codrescu went back to Romania for Frontline to report on what had changed since the end of Communism. If you go to watch the video, Clip #3 begins at Bran and then at the 6 minute mark (you can fast forward) Andrei has a funny encounter with a man playing Dracula. If you fast forward, though, you'll miss the "Miracle Child," Romania's most popular gypsy singer who stands at 4' 10" or something.
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/romania/thestory.html

After Bran Castle we attended the wedding of my uncle's relative, Monica (I included a picture in the last entry). Then it was back to Budapest. We stayed one more day in Budapest in the City Panzio hotel, which was across the river from the Hilton we stayed at when we first arrived. As I recall, the City Panzio did not have air conditioning -- I could be wrong about that. But that alone was the deciding factor of whether or not the hotel was enjoyable or not. This one was centrally located near shops and street vendors and a huge market. So that was great.

By that time Mike had grown a large enough mustache that he thought the Gabo gypsies would accept him. We watched as he rode a horsedrawn wagon into the sunset, waiving his fedora. We never saw him again.

Our trip to Romania was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Only once because we would never, ever go back. Actually, I would like to go back to Budapest, Torocko, and maybe see some more of Cluj Napoca and maybe Szeged where all my paprika comes from. I'll also keep an eye out for gypsy caravans in hopes of catching a glimpse of Mike.