Wendel Travel Blog: Fortress and Fairy Tales, Part II

We needed to kill 3 birds with one stone: 1. Find transport to Brasnov, 2. Visit Bran Castle and Rasnov, and 3. Accomplish all that in a day. Since the transportation to Brasnov from Sighisoara could have been dodgy and time-consuming (taxi to bus station, bus to Brasov, then taxi from bus station to Pensione without including buying the tickets and potential close-encounters with gypsies and livestock siting next to us on the bus, and then booking tours to each of Bran and Rasnov castles, we did why we do best... we negotiated with Andrain (our taxi driver from yesterday) to take us to all those places for one low Lei price. He even suggested an extra stop in Rupea, another medieval fortified castle in the region-what's one more fortified castle along the way?

Being in the heart of Transylvania, we have heard many stories of Vlad Tepes, or Vlad the Impaler. I am going to spare you details today, as it is quite gorey. There is a good way of impaling someone (this would mean a quick death) and there was a bad way of doing it. Vlad was the master of the Bad way, and he was good at being bad--he impaled up to 20,000 people in his 6-year reign. However, the few Romainian people we spoke with today, didn't think he was all that bad, since he was the enforcer (there was no police force during his time) and sometimes he actually impaled thieves or rapist, so by displaying the impaled bodies for 2-3 days on his castle front lawn, it was an example for all to see what not to do!! In the end, they beheaded him and impaled his body. So don't know the moral of that story....I guess he just lost his head!

The hype about Bran Castle is all Hollywood. Sadly, Vlad only stayed (possibly) 2-3 nights in Bran Castle on his flight from the Turks in 1462 to another location to the south where he was imprisioned for many years. Actually Bran castle was probably just an inspiration for Dracula, and the writer may never have actually visited the castle. Although it was built by the Saxons in 1382 to defend the Bran pass against the Turks, since Vlad didn't live there, all the castle furnishings are actually from the former Bristish/Irish owner Queen Marie, who lived there in the 1920's.

There are remains from an original castle wall and it was possible to climb up more than 4 stories to see views from the very top. The crowds were incredibly annoying--waiting more than 30 minutes on line, and even longer to pee, and the crowds created lots of bottlenecks around the winding and narrow, stone staircases. The highlight of the visit was to witness a young Romainian,at one of the top balconies, get down on one knee and propose to his girlfriend. It was so romantic, she cried and everyone clapped. I just hope he doesn't impale her one day (opps!).

Our last stop was the 13c ruins of Rasnov fortress built by Teutonic Knights as protection against Tartar and Turkish invasion. We were able to wander the grounds without tripping over tourists, to view ruins, a church, a jail and stunning panaramic views of the mountains. There was your typical Torture museum, 17c well built by Turkish visitors, who were promised freedom once it was completed (it took them 17 years!). At least they weren't impaled before freedom was granted! I really enjoyed walking up and down the stone walls and through the historic rooms and ruins.

Finally, we arrived in Brasov, found our Casa Albert hotel (not exactly what we wanted, but it was fine for one night), and caught the Walking Tour of Brasov (next blog, sorry!)

Rupea Castle approaching from the road-it was cold and misty-how perfect!!