...then, the howling of many wolves howled. "Listen to them.", the Count said, "The children of the night....what sweet music they make!".
So a a visit to the Dracula-esque castle at Bran in Romania was a must, even better was to emerge veins unpunctured. Ok, to be honest it was never Vlad's castle but the shops at the bottom of it sure as hell plug the fact the son of Dracul may have defecated here once on his way to a trademark Impale-o-thon.
The citadel at Rasnov nearby was equally impressive and it is one of the few fortifications in the world that can boast the bold virtue of never having being conquered by any invading force. The Turks should have showed up in a large caravan pretending to be on an organised tour of the fortress, those tour groups are virtually small armies that once inside destroy all in their wake.
Sighisoara also ended up on a highly unpredictable itinerary where one can enjoy a fine selection of cold meats in the house Vlad was born in. I could just picture the little tyke running around with his friends playing 'hide and impale'.
On a side note, after various East European adventures I have noticed quite a stark contrast between first and second class trains here. The main difference being the absence of spit on the walls (or urine/faeces if the toilet) in first class. Everything else is a plus from there really when you think about it. I'd also like to point out how much I love watching the Romanian folk music channel when traveling. Even if it is the same story every time for every song: man meets girl half his age, girl resists man, man basically abducts girl.
Finally, you cannot come to Romania without coming to see Bucharest. Sure it is lacking a tourist information centre, sure the city maps at the train station are funded mainly by advertising from erotic massage and strip club ads, sure the sidewalks resemble construction zones next to the road. But all of this just makes it more exciting getting to the big attraction: the parliament building.
It is the 2nd biggest building in the world and was built under the iron fist of Ceausescu in the prime of his captain insano regime. The building is so damned big it just borders on the insane. It just gets even more crazy when you go inside and see gigantic rooms built for such specific purposes, such as the "international treaty signing room", or the marble staircase that Ceausescu ordered be rebuilt 5 times until it "did it for him".
I really cannot stress how big this building is, I kind of imagine the discussion with him and his profusely sweating architect would have been something like this...
ARCHITECT: "here is the plan, suggestions?"
CEAUSESCU: "bigger."
*architect adds a zero onto each size measurement*
CEAUSESCU: "bigger."
*architect adds a zero onto each size measurement*
It was also nice how he cut the city in half to do it, you can see houses that were smashed in half to make way for the whole thing - you peer into someones old living room. Some 25% of Bucharest's historical churches and monuments were destroyed to make way for the urban monstrosity.
On a lighter note, Bucharest also has an impressive population of stray dogs which are actually referred to as "community dogs". When I heard that I was actually disappointed to see that they were not in little Romanian dog jerseys with a small sign on the chest saying "You are now being mauled by community dog 4276.". The pot holes in Bucharest are easily the best in the land, you can lose a child down one without much fuss. The child would then be covered with garbage within a day or be eaten by a pack of said friendly community dogs.
Surprisingly Romania has now taken the title of best coffee and hot chocolate in European travels so far. I am genuinely interested to see if western Europe can wrest the title from the eastern bloc contenders!
Next post shall be from Bulgaria where another language can be crammed along with a crazy alphabet to boot. It's a shame that each time I learn something new I know I force something else out of my head. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive? It's an old joke, but it's strangely apt.
So a a visit to the Dracula-esque castle at Bran in Romania was a must, even better was to emerge veins unpunctured. Ok, to be honest it was never Vlad's castle but the shops at the bottom of it sure as hell plug the fact the son of Dracul may have defecated here once on his way to a trademark Impale-o-thon.
The citadel at Rasnov nearby was equally impressive and it is one of the few fortifications in the world that can boast the bold virtue of never having being conquered by any invading force. The Turks should have showed up in a large caravan pretending to be on an organised tour of the fortress, those tour groups are virtually small armies that once inside destroy all in their wake.
Sighisoara also ended up on a highly unpredictable itinerary where one can enjoy a fine selection of cold meats in the house Vlad was born in. I could just picture the little tyke running around with his friends playing 'hide and impale'.
On a side note, after various East European adventures I have noticed quite a stark contrast between first and second class trains here. The main difference being the absence of spit on the walls (or urine/faeces if the toilet) in first class. Everything else is a plus from there really when you think about it. I'd also like to point out how much I love watching the Romanian folk music channel when traveling. Even if it is the same story every time for every song: man meets girl half his age, girl resists man, man basically abducts girl.
Finally, you cannot come to Romania without coming to see Bucharest. Sure it is lacking a tourist information centre, sure the city maps at the train station are funded mainly by advertising from erotic massage and strip club ads, sure the sidewalks resemble construction zones next to the road. But all of this just makes it more exciting getting to the big attraction: the parliament building.
It is the 2nd biggest building in the world and was built under the iron fist of Ceausescu in the prime of his captain insano regime. The building is so damned big it just borders on the insane. It just gets even more crazy when you go inside and see gigantic rooms built for such specific purposes, such as the "international treaty signing room", or the marble staircase that Ceausescu ordered be rebuilt 5 times until it "did it for him".
I really cannot stress how big this building is, I kind of imagine the discussion with him and his profusely sweating architect would have been something like this...
ARCHITECT: "here is the plan, suggestions?"
CEAUSESCU: "bigger."
*architect adds a zero onto each size measurement*
CEAUSESCU: "bigger."
*architect adds a zero onto each size measurement*
It was also nice how he cut the city in half to do it, you can see houses that were smashed in half to make way for the whole thing - you peer into someones old living room. Some 25% of Bucharest's historical churches and monuments were destroyed to make way for the urban monstrosity.
On a lighter note, Bucharest also has an impressive population of stray dogs which are actually referred to as "community dogs". When I heard that I was actually disappointed to see that they were not in little Romanian dog jerseys with a small sign on the chest saying "You are now being mauled by community dog 4276.". The pot holes in Bucharest are easily the best in the land, you can lose a child down one without much fuss. The child would then be covered with garbage within a day or be eaten by a pack of said friendly community dogs.
Surprisingly Romania has now taken the title of best coffee and hot chocolate in European travels so far. I am genuinely interested to see if western Europe can wrest the title from the eastern bloc contenders!
Next post shall be from Bulgaria where another language can be crammed along with a crazy alphabet to boot. It's a shame that each time I learn something new I know I force something else out of my head. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive? It's an old joke, but it's strangely apt.
2 comments:
The overiding question I feel must be answered, were you whipped by a sexy dominatrix while Frankenstein played an awesome guitar solo and Igor told jokes about tasmanians,
at any of these Dracula themed locales? If not, I think they're just not living up to name!
Now, as to hot chocolates... The Eastern Bloc may have it's moments, but I feel nothing will surpass the hot chocolate to be found in Paris - just up the road from the Czech Embassy is a cafe (well a whole heap of cafes) that are near a church - and there my friend, you will find the finest hot chocolate in Europe.
Ok, I know thats vague, but I at least give you a starting reference - sure beats Timmy's sister'ss directions to find "the smoke shop in a back street of Sarajevo".
Take care kids, and remember, Bulgaria has an awesome Quidditch team, so try and catch a game. KRUM!
Campbell
It seems I am re-living my past through your present. Your experiences in Istanbul remind me of dungy hostels, pre-dawn calls to prayer and the best bread in the world. Keep it coming and enjoy. Thompson
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