The much hyped, much awaited Dracula’s Castle is only moments away. But first, some background: This will be the most crowded site we have visited. Cristina has made a point of telling us this – and to Gate 1’s credit, virtually everywhere we have been has been blissfully empty of the hordes. But this is Dracula’s castle and one of the huge (if not biggest) tourist attractions in Transylvania. The history of the castle is far more interesting than just the “Vampire” aspect (which of course is all fiction). The castle was built in the late 1300’s as one in a series of fortresses that protected the Transylvanian border. Placed at the top of the Bran Gorge, the castle was in the perfect location to withstand attack, and after Romanians took control of the area, it served as the control point for the most important entry into Transylvania. It wasn’t until 1448 that Vlad the Impaler (the Prince who Bram Stoker based his Dracula story upon) was even mentioned in the area – and he was never actually in residence here at the castle, at least not according to historians. But, as stories go, Vlad was the son of Vlad Dracul – Dracul meaning devil, the name the senior Vlad was given due to his coat of arms which had a dragon like devil on it. Vlad being the son was “dracula”, meaning son of Dracul. Thus the name. The whole Vampire thing is just a made up story that Bram Stoker created in 1897 after reading historical documents that called Vlad the Impaler “blood-thirsty.” He was a cruel warrior, impaling his opponents without actually hitting any of their vital organs so they lived for days, impaled on a stake in the ground. There were accounts where warriors did drink the blood of their enemies to gain their powers, but while that and the impaling is nasty and cruel, its not the blood sucking vampire that is so popular among cult fiction today.
As Cristina reminds us, Romanians don’t know anything about Vampires. They don’t exist in Romanian folklore, and there is not even a Romanian word for vampire. However what superstitions they do have are Strigoi and Moroi, two supernatural beings that are dangerous and come back from the dead to haunt you. They feast on the souls of the living, the Moroi in particular feast on the souls of babies. And while Vlad the Impaler was reportedly a believer in these superstitions, that was about the extent of the supernatural connection.
Thus, the castle, while part of the real Dracula (Vlad, son of Dracul) legacy, its historical value is far more important as a study in how the Romanian country was divided, attacked and then brought together time and time again.
So, moving on with the historical aspect of the castle, in 1918 when Transylvania became part of Greater Romania, the castle was “symbolically” offered to Queen Maria, who loved the area and fell in love with the castle. She had it fully restored and turned it into a residence for the royal family. It has been handed down through generations of the royal family, was, of course, taken by the communists as the royal family fled, then eventually (it took until 2009) reinstated to the current heirs of the royal family, Archduke Dominic, Archduchess Maria Magdelena and Archduchess Elisabeth. While the royals worked hard to get the castle back, they are now apparently ready to move on to other things and are looking to sell the castle (anyone have a cool $80 Million US they want to invest?). A wrinkle in the whole works is that if anyone can claim heritage to the royal family and the castle, Romanian law says they have the right to take the property. It seems Prince Charles is very fond of the area, has vacations homes there and loves to visit, and there are also reports that he is a descendant of Vlad the Impaler. If it is the case, and he so desires, he may be able to take the castle from the existing royal owners. Romanian intrigue! Guess only time will tell.
We’ve learned our castle history, now it is time for our in person visit. We arrive at the foot of the castle in the mess of traffic and people and buses that Cristina has warned us about. Although she and Yuntz say they are surprised that there aren’t more buses in the lot, it is still packed with people. We make a quick convenience stop, then work our way through the gauntlet of cheesy souvenir stalls at the entrance to the castle gates. Everyone cooperates with Cristina’s constant admonishments not to shop now, we’ll have time later, and we all file into the castle grounds to make our way up the steep slope to the entrance.
The castle rises dramatically above us on the steep slope, its natural rock base making it appear to rise magically from the mountain top. As it turns out, the whole castle is an unusual shape, due to the those rocks that form its base. we get in line to move into the castle, up a slam packed set of wide stairs and finally enter into an anteroom with a display of all the castle residents beginning with Ordinul Cavalerilor in 1211 through Vlad (of course) in 1431 and finishing with the Archduke and Archduchesses who own it today. Its actually a really nice exhibit that helps you visualize the history of the place. There are tons of placards with information on them strewn about the walls, but it is so crowded you can barely see them, much less be able to read them!
Moving onward Cristina leads us on a tour through the small cobblestone courtyard, into vestibules and rooms used for greeting visitors and to the large drawing where to the “secret stairs,” which is a narrow staircase literally carved into the rock that supports the castle. It’s narrow and everyone goes through here to reach the upper floors, so photos are not allowed (because it would cause way too much of a bottle neck). They are serious about the no photos, as there is a guard standing there to ensure the no photos rule. Of course the photo bomber doesn’t listen and stops on the stairs to take pictures, backing up the whole line and being yelled at by the guard, which makes no impression on him whatsoever. Sigh.
Emerging from the stairwell we find ourselves in what I think was the King’s quarters which has a small bed and desk and chairs, then on through numerous rooms with modern day comfy furniture juxtaposed against earlier dark wood tables and chairs. There are gorgeous 19th C stoves with beautiful tile designs used for heating in many of the rooms, a music room, the Queen’s bedroom, a small dining room area, called the Saxon room, with another beautiful tile wood stove. It just goes on and on, room after room as we wind our way through the upper floors of the castle, weaving in and out of the hallways, interspersed with fantastic views down into the courtyard, but also out across the soaring Carpathian mountains and down into the little town of Bran below (where there is some folk festival going on with sheep and food stalls and tons and tons of people!).
While not the scary, spooky idea you would have in your head when thinking about Dracula’s castle, it is nonetheless a beautiful example of Gothic architecture, and it would be absolutely amazingly wonderful if not for the crowds. The design is fascinating to me – all odd angles and wrapping around itself with multiple levels and towers and little niches we can’t even begin to explore. Cristina tells us they have a raffle every Halloween where the winner is allowed to stay in the castle overnight. I’d love to win that! Just for the night to have this whole place to yourself? It’s especially appealing after we walk down this one staircase which squeaks and creaks so spookily, you just know it’s the sound you want to hear when you are staying overnight alone! But then my hopes are dashed as Cristina tells us that we’d have to sleep in a tent or something like that. Huh? I was planning on sleeping in the King’s bed, thank you very much! Oh well, guess that means we aren’t coming back for the raffle. Bummer.
Tour complete, we decide not to partake in the additional cost Medieval torture instruments exhibit or the Time Tunnel tour. They aren’t that pricey, but we’re ready to wander, take some more photos and eat. Of course, eat! After a few minutes in the courtyard (I do really love the atmosphere in the little space – minus the people), we troop off down the lane to find spots for castle long shots from the lawn. There is a perfect spot behind the tea house, on the side of the little lake at the bottom of the hill where we all partake in our own Castle photos – Jimmy with his Dracula fangs in place!
Now it’s a search for food. We’re released back out onto the streets of the tiny little village that services all the tourists and it is crazy busy. We peruse a couple of restaurant menus, interestingly enough spy a Brazilian Flag hanging from the eaves of one establishment (Rafa! We are always thinking of you!!), but in the end decide to just retrace our steps to the arcade where the bus is parked and eat at the little restaurant right in the front called Cramele Recas – or Galeria Bran (take your pick – menu says one thing, receipt says another!). It’s packed in here too, but we manage to find seats at a cheater bar with some others from our group. Pam and Kevin eventually joined us too and we all had a wonderful meal, chatting and eating. While it was definitely a tourist trap, the food was actually pretty good. Ed had Gulas – which was good and meaty – and more like a stew than the soup version, served with really good fried hash brown type potatoes – and I had the best Sarmale of the trip so far – nice and sour with this great big slab of perfectly cooked bacon on the top. Yum! Plus really good pours of wine. The only downside was the fact that Ed’s meal was super expensive – 42 Lei which is about $10US! It was good, but not worth it at that price, even in a tourist trap. But otherwise – it was quite a delightful little meal and a nice end to our Dracula adventure.
Now, back on the bus we go for the ride back to Brasov.
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