Travel story archives: October 26, 2016
Our trip started as a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, with a side trip to Croatia. It was Halloween season, so we decided to go farther to Bulgaria and then to Romania. We figured that since vampires were all the rage at that time, what better way than to go to the birthplace of the head honcho vampire himself, Count Dracula. With this in mind, my friends and I set our eyes on Transylvania, Romania.
In case you don't know the legend, here's a quick background:
In 1897, Bram Stoker wrote the famous novel Dracula which was based in Transylvania. The main character, Count Dracula, was inspired by the infamous Romanian ruler of Wallachia, 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, impaling involves piercing a body with a sharp instrument (gory, I know!). Vlad took it one step further and made sure that no vital organs were pierced so that the person would die a slow and painful death. And that's just one example of his cruelty; you will cringe if you research 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. By the time the Turks found them, thousands of them had been impaled! The horrific scene was named "Vlad Forest." They obviously didn't call him Vlad the Impaler for nothing.
Bran Castle, also known as Dracula's Castle, is located on the border between Transylvania and Wallachia. As described in the book, it has narrow corridors, secret passageways and nooks that would make it easy for a vampire to hide. Considering that the author never set foot in Transylvania, his description of the castle was uncanny.
While visiting Bran Castle, my daughter Cynthia felt it was only necessary to wear fangs and a cape (jacket), especially since it was so close to Halloween. But we didn't expect for her to terrify the group of 20 Romanian school kids that were on a field trip or to accidentally make a 3-year old boy cry and hide under his mom's arms. Oops! I swear she didn't do it on purpose, but it was definitely a good laugh for everyone else. Apparently we 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 she was wearing. But our tour guide, Adrian, declared that she was the worst vampire ever, considering she was constantly smiling and laughing.
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's Day (Nov. 29).
Putting aside Dracula and the spooky legends, Transylvania is really quite 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 is so 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. I highly recommend it as an "off the beaten path" destination, because it is definitely worth the journey and I hope we can make a trip back there soon.
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