Halloween is one of my top 3 favorite holidays of the year, so you can just imagine how sad I was that I was going to miss the big festivities this year due to my 3 week trip to Eastern Europe. But no matter, I was determined to celebrate one way or another...I figured, since vampires have been all the rage the past couple years, what better than to go to the birthplace of the head honcho vamp himself, Count Dracula. So I set my eyes on Transylvania, Romania.
In case you don't know the legend, here's a quick background:
In 1897, Bram Stocker wrote the famous novel "Dracula" which was based in Transylvania. The main character, Count Dracula was inspired by the infamous Romanian ruler of Walachia, Vlad Tepes, better known as Vlad the Impaler. The name Dracula is derived from the Romanian word "dracul" meaning devil or dragon. Vlad wasn't a vampire but his cruelty and his "thirst for blood" made him the perfect muse. If you don't know what impaling is, it is putting the person's entire body through a large stick (from the bottom, up). Vlad took it one step further and made sure that the stick didn't hit any vital organs so that they would die a slow and painful death, sometimes it would take days for the person to die. And that's just part of the cruelty, you would cringe after hearing the other things he did, but I won't go into details here. When he was fighting the Ottoman Empire he captured 20,000 prisoners and by the time the Turks found them they had been impaled...all 20,000 of them, and they named the horrific scene "Vlad Forest." They obviously didn't call him Vlad the Impaler for nothing.
Bran Castle and Dracula's Castle are believed to be one and the same, since it has narrow corridors, secret passageways, and nooks that would make it easy to hide a vampire. Considering that the author never set foot in Transylvania, his description of the castle was uncanny to Bran Castle.
While visiting Bran (Dracula's) Castle, I felt it was only necessary to wear fangs and a cape (jacket), especially since it was so close to Halloween. But I didn't expect to terrify the group of 20 Romanian school kids that were on a field trip or accidentally making a 3-year old boy cry and hide under his mom's arms. Oops!...I swear I didn't do it on purpose, but it was definitely a good laugh for everyone else. Apparently I didn't get the memo that Halloween isn't hugely celebrated there, and many locals still believe in the legend. No wonder the castle cleared out so quickly when people started noticing the fangs!
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| Trying to look like the Dracula picture behind me. |
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| with our guide, Adrian |
Too bad our guide Adrian declared that I was pretty much the worse vampire ever. I guess I need more practice trying to be intimidating, constantly smiling and laughing definitely didn't help my cause.
Being in Transylvania makes it easy to get caught up in the Dracula folklore, the dramatic setting makes it a perfect place for imaginations to run wild about vampires and the supernatural. Local villagers even believe that vampires hang around on St. George's Day (April 23) and on the eve of St. Andrew (November 29). But putting aside Dracula and the stories, Transylvania is really pretty stunning. The area has a timeless quality to it that reminds me of the "far off lands" that I read about in my childhood storybooks. The Apuseni Mountain range (the "Romanian Alps") is dominant in the Transylvanian landscape, it's beautiful and gives off a mysterious vibe. The region is like a treasure chest of small colorful medieval villages with cobblestone streets, citadels, fortified churches, unbelievable castles, ancient forests, winding roads and mountain passes. It's not an easy destination to go to but definitely worth the journey. I highly recommend it as an "off the beaten path" destination and hopefully I'll be back there soon.
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| Our "neck check" picture |
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