We entered the lion’s den on Day 2 or perhaps more appropriately ventured into Dracula’s castle. It was a 3 hour drive to Transylvania from Bucharest. We have always been fascinated and frightened with the mere mention of his name growing up. The countless stories and myths have been fodder to our imagination. Now, he could be lurking anywhere as we nervously tiptoe uninvited into his castle. Just to be safe we thought of bringing garlic and stake with us ala Van Helsing or if he shows himself, we are ready to tell him that we are pinoy kababayans as we like dinuguan as well – heh heh heh. Andrei, our Tour Guide quipped however these are all myths and legends and there are no vampires in Romanian history. Yes of course, credit goes to Bram Stoker’s novel that continues to inspire all media types of entertainment. As written, “the hero of the novel, Count Dracula, an original monster, far better known than his historical counterpart, could be the fruit of multiple suggestions the author discovered in going through the history of Transylvania, where the old fortress seems to be an ideal setting for bloody phantasm and terrible vampires.” Bran Castle or better known as Dracula’s castle sits massively on a rock in the middle of the Carpathian Mountains. Dracula was AWOL at the time of our visit. Siguro natutulog kasi hindi puwedeng masinagan ng araw. But we discovered his association to the historical character Vlad “The Impaler” Tepes Dracula and Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. Prince Vlad of Walachia spent his childhood in Transylvania and he was known for his “bloody avenger nature”. Meet Prince Vlad Tepes-Dracula, his second name meaning “the Devil’s son in Slavonic language”, and inherited name from his father, Vlad Dracul (Vlad the Devil), who was decorated by Sigismund of Luxemburg, king of Hungary, with the Order of the Dragon.” Amidst pouring rain and wind chill, our group hurdled the 15 minute trek up the hill of cobblestone road. The tour of the castle lasted around 50 minutes. It was fascinating to actually be within the stone walls of this medieval fairytale castle of Dracula. The refurbishing of the castle is in progress and probably in the future many fascinating additions to the story about Dracula will continue to raise and inspire our imagination of a vampire life. The trek going down from the 3rd level was tiring as we traversed the single-line only wooden stairs (some portions creaking) and uneven overhead beams. But we survived, I myself was amazed I did it despite the arduous task of getting myself rested wherever and whenever there is opportunity to sit. Lunch was at the local restaurant and we tried the traditional Romanian feast food of cabbage rolls with polenta and slice of ham, called “salmare’. Accommodations for the night was at Kronwell Hotel in Brasov, Transylvania. We were disappointed not being welcomed by Dracula’s minions but the rooms were beautiful and Count Dracula will not be in our dreams tonight!
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