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Our 2007 Halloween trip to Transylvania, specifically to visit Bran Castle (Dracula's Castle) and Sighisoara (Dracula's Birthplace)

We flew to Bucharest ('Booooocharest' - Halloween humor) and stayed the night.  We caught a train to Sinaia to visit Peles and Pelisor Castles before they closed on 1 November.  There is also a nice Monastery in Sinaia.  We then continued on our train to Brasov.  We toured the town of Brasov and stayed the night.  In the morning (Halloween Day), we headed for Bran Castle in the morning with a stop at the Rasnov Fortress before continuing on to Sighisoara; Dracula's birthplace.  We stayed Halloween night in Sighisoara and had dinner at the house Dracula was born in.  In the morning we left for the town of Sibiu for one night, then back to Bucharest before returning home.

From our schedule above we did not plan a lot of time in any location and we found that this schedule was perfect.  We did not want to spend more time then we did in any of the locations. 

We also bought a 4 day Inter-Rail Romania pass for this trip so all our train journey's were covered: http://www.raileurope.co.uk

Vlad the Impaler as he was know in Romanian history is the Prince who impales.  Vlad received this title due to the cruel method he used for the execution of prisoners, death convicts and opponents.

The unusual execution method was indeed one of the most sadistic; the victims were in unbearable pains for hours, sometimes even for days, until the moment theyu died.  The more cruel the method, the more efficient for a ruler who hadn't significant material and human resources, but who was willing to achieve order in his own country, in a time marked by strong political troubles.

The Turkish chronicles exploited this cruel aspect of the price, trying to exaggerate it by presenting an episode of Vlad's youth: while he was prisoner, he used to impale the mice in splinters he had made himself and all this just for fun.  This information was taken and spread by the Russian chronicles as well.

Vlad the Impaler belonged to "the Order of the Dragon", known by the people as the Draculesti Order".  The Order of the Dragon (in German Drachenorden and in Latin Societatis draconistrarum) was an institution similar to other chivalric orders of the time, modeled on the "Order of the Saint George" created in 1318.  The symbol of the dragon was meant to represent a positive image, inspired by the Medieval iconography, where it represented the Beast (Satan) that was defeated by the forces of the good (Christianity).

Vlad was given the surname of "Dracul" as a sign of his introduction into the "Order of the Dragon".  It is known that the Romanian word "Dracul" has its origins in the Latin "draco", meaning dragon.  With our without any particular purpose in this respect, his name associated to his deeds brought him a a huge fame.  His specific character, as well as his actions, reserved him a a special place in the Romanian popular tradition.  However, he not regarded as a criminal, but as a Robin Hood, cruel to the rich who were infringing the law, but trustworthy friend of all the poor.  To the Wallachian peasants Vlad stood for the national "hero" who was fighting for their cause.

His image was built throughout Europe by the spreading, at a large scale, of the so-called "German narratives" that were meant to defame the great prince.  In these stories he appears as the Antichrist, a criminal, a cannibal (an engraving of these "narratives" presents the prince in the middle of a splinter forest, waiting for his servants to bring him an unusual menu: human organs).

Vampirism: The concept of vampirism comes from the ancient times.  Even since prehistoric ages, the hunting man discovered that, when an animal is killed, the blood flows, a moment the prehistoric man associated to the lapse of life.

Blood had become in the hunting man's minds the source of life.  Therefore, the members of some tribes used to drink the blood of the animals they had killed in order to recover their vitality.  This practice extended over until the Middle Ages, when the prejudice of the Christian Church transferred this ritual from the living to the dead; this way, the vampires got into history.

However, vampirism as we know it today has arisen from superstitions, created because of the lack of social education in the Middle Age.

In England, in 1823, a law was passed to make it illegal to thrust wooden stakes in the hearts of those suspected to have been vampires.

In the context set by this 19th century vampirism hysteria, Dracula, alias Vlad the Impaler, was reborn.  The vampire-Count became a vampire symbol, endowed with a huge might. Powerful during the night, the opposite of God-the Father he became the father of the black deveil.

The relation between Dracula and the devil, bat and vampire was further consolidated when the "vampire-bat" was discovered in Mexico.  It is an extremely agile mammal that feeds only with blood.

Bram Stoker's Dracula: When defining his character, Stoker was not interested in the Wallachian prince's historical personality; he only took into consideration his notoriety.  However, in the description of his hero's itinerary, the writer used a serious documentation (a Hungarian train schedule, many maps of the Budapest Geographic Institute, other maps and documents provided by the British Museum).

According to Stoker, the main character of the novel, the Count Dracula, would at the Bargau passage point in a ruined castle; during the daytime, he would sleep in a grave and, during the night he would get out as a vampire.  It is there that Jonathan Harker, assistant of the British lawyer, paid him a visit.  He went there in order to complete with Count Dracula the acquisition of a property near London.

Harker was taken hostage and, after some terrible experiences, he managed to escape and return to London.  Here, he convinced some people he know to fight against the vampire Dracula that they followed, from his new residence in the outskirts of London back into Transylvania, managing to kill him in the yard of his own castle.

It is still in the context set by the writings on Vlad the Impaler that Bran castle is taken for the residence of the Prince.  Still there is no documentary evidence sustaining this hypothesis.  The only thing connecting the Wallachian prince and the Bran Castle is his having received accommodation in the castle for two weeks during on of this numerous incursions in the Brasov area.

We arrived at Otopeni Airport an bought a ticket for bus 784 which takes you directly to the city center.  The cost for a round trip ticket on the bus is 5 Lei, or about 1 GBP.  Traffic was awful and the bus took about 90 minutes to reach our stop.  Compared to a taxi, this is still the way to go as a taxi charges by distance and time and from what we have read it can be over 100 Lei to the city center in rush hour from the airport.

Taxi's to other places in Bucharest are cheap, but you must be careful.  Be sure to ask how much it will cost and show them on the map where you are and where you are going to avoid any confusion in the rate.  Make sure the taxi meter is reset and running when you start your journey unless you have pre-negotiated a price.

It was raining our first day in Bucharest and Bucharest is not a city to be walking around in when it is raining.  We were prepared, but the city has very poor drainage and there is standing water everywhere.  The city also has over 70,000 stray dogs and they say on average 50 people are bitten a day.  With all the rain and dogs, we had to be very careful not to step in a 'poodle' :)

The actual erecting began in 1905 and was completed in 1909, and was accomplished by Russian and Italian builders.  Dedicated to St. Biship Nicholas and named after Nicholas the 2^nd, Tzar of Russia, the church was consecrated the 26^th of November 1909 by His High Holliness Vladimir, Archbishop of Petrograd, delegate of the Holy Synod of the Russian Church .

The architectonic style of the Church is of Russian essence, displaying seven spires in the shape of bulbs covered in this layers of gold.  The Church is illustrative of the Russian genuine style of the beginning of the 20^th century.

Polinka: Polinka is the national drink of Romania. It's a very strong seemingly pure alcohol drink you have before dinner to help with your appetite.  We tried it a couple of places as it seems to be locally produced in every town.

Hiring a taxi is not a problem as you will be inundated by taxi drivers when you step off the train in Brasov.  The other bonus with a taxi is that you can negotiate a stop in Rasnov for the same price which is well worth it.

The path leading to the entrance of the castle and a cross at the base of the castle.

Vampires at the castle on Halloween Day

The Rasnov Fortress was built around the year 1215 by the Teutonic Knights and it was mentioned for the first time in 1331.  The citadel was conquered only once in its history, around the year 1600.

The Teutonic Knights or Teutonic Order ("Order of the German House of St. Mary in Jerusalem") is a German-based Roman Catholic religious order formed at the end of the 12th century in Acre, Palestine.  During the Middle Ages they were a crusading military order and wore white surcoats with a black cross. It is now a clerical order based in Vienna Austria.

There is a myth attached to the Rasnov Fortress. During a particularly long siege of the fortress, the citizens of Rasnov were concerned about the lack of available fresh drinking water. Luckily, two Turkish soldiers, having been captured earlier, were put to the task of digging a well in the centre of the fortress. These two men were assured that they would be given their freedom once the well was completed. According to local legend, it took them 32 years to finish the well, but they were still killed afterwards. This famous well still sits in the centre of Rasnov Fortress, and is 143 meters deep.

Draculamb in the Iron Torture Cage

Wooden Crucifix

Portrait of Vlad Tepes

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