Castles

The next day, we had booked a tour of the area’s castles: Rasnov, Bran and Peles. I had high hopes for all three.

I was told that Rasnov is more impressive on the outside than on the inside. Indeed, that’s true. Coming up, you see it perched high on a cliff surrounded by fog. We drove up a winding curve and into the entrance. Our tour guide was great. Normally, you pay your entrance fee and an additional fee if you want to take pictures. She said, "do you want to pay your fee or wink wink do you want to take pictures too?"

We wandered around the grounds. There was no indoor plumbing, so I used an outhouse for the first time since about 1993. Eww eww eww! The highlight was a 173 metre-deep well. Two Turkish prisoners were promised their freedom when the well was finished, and they laboured on it for 34 years!

Our guide wanted to show us a neat trick. She had a ball of newspaper and was about to throw it down the well when a man came up and told her she was not permitted to do it. Apparently, this is usually the highlight of anyone’s visit to Rasnov and she didn’t know why the rules were changed now. As soon as he turned his back, she lit the newspaper on fire and shoved it down the well.

It fell down…and down…and down… None of us could believe how deep it was! It burned out before it hit the bottom. Very very interesting!

We were given a bit of time to explore the museums and the outside walls. The museums features some medieval woodcuts and Melissa and I made up stories about them all. There was also a medieval grave that I quite enjoyed. Outside, two beggar children accosted us: ones I had never seen the likes of before.

They were filthy. "Banii!!!" We ignored them. "Dollars! Euros?" Melissa and I started giggling. We started talking to each other and the kids hovered around us and tried to imitate our speech. This became apparent when Melissa started recounting her recent trip to Albania and was describing an exchange between her and an Albanian man she met on the bus. "Skjhjhkjn" "Yes" "Udxnkhjdlk" "No" "Ydknloaqvl" "Maybe"

The kids thought that this was hilarious and started trying to repeat what she was saying. "Pdhjujdhhd? Tdokjhslkjlks!" Then I had the brilliant idea of talking completely in a made-up language. She thought this was hilarious so we started barking, mooing and squeaking to each other. Sure enough, the kids tried to bark and moo back at us, but we were laughing so hard we had to leave.

Bran was next. Bran is seen as the traditional Dracula castle, although his only historical connection is that he might have spent a night here once. It looks very pretty on the outside, all whitewashed and Mediterranean-like. We climbed up a steep hill and entered into the castle. In all honesty, I was a bit disappointed. It was completely re-done in the 1920s and except for a secret staircase, the place seemed more like a luxurious villa than a castle. Apparently, Erzbet Bathory was imprisoned here after they authorities caught her killing young girls for their virgin blood. Unfortunately, that room was closed and off-limits.

Outside was the Dracula market. Stall after stall of tacky, cheesy merchandise featuring Vlad Tepes. I bought a mug for a friend and was going to get a Tshirt that had a vampire and beautiful girl with "Thinking of you from Transylvania" written on it, until I realised that it wouldn’t survive one time in the washing machine. Heh.

Onwards to Peles! Although built in the 1880s, I was told this was the most impressive castle. And impressive it was. We wandered around the gardens, taking in all the statues. Inside, we were given special slippers to wear which reminded me of a combination slipper/curling shoe slide-on. Our guide looked like a little vampire and was very interesting.

In Peles, each room is decorated to reflect a different country. Sometimes, eight different kinds of woods are used to decorate a single cabinet. Venetian glass, gold leaf and marble are used lavishly. It was so beautiful and elegant inside. Unfortunately, you can’t go upstairs due to safety concerns but the downstairs was enough.