Wow. Never did I think I'd be spending Halloween at Dracula's Bran Castle on Halloween... but as life unfolds it's capricious plans for me, this is precisely how I celebrated Halloween 2010. Kent, Emily, and I headed out on a weekend roadtrip to kick off a ten-day trick of Eastern and Central Europe. Our destination was Brasov, but we took the long and winding road from Debrecen (Hungary) through Transylvania... partly to experience the true eastern (European) culture of Romania, but mostly because our Google Maps route took us on the fourteen-hour scenic route...
Regardless, I developed great anticipation of Brasov... not really knowing what to expect, I was stoked for the Halloween enigma... There is no doubt about it, the road to Brasov was a quintessential picture of Eastern Europe: donkey drawn buggies, shoddy roads, a myriad of hitchhikers, wild dogs, roadside chickens, and open-field fires... it was amazing! In order to understand the people, the culture, the politics, the commerce, the art, etc... I had to visit the countryside. We stopped in a town called Zalău for lunch... wow, talk about an what an eye-opener... (I'll have to expand on this later)
And, when we arrived in Brasov, I realized it was worth the journey. This central Romanian city is beautiful... from the landscape to the architecture to the people! The main square was quite a site... the Black Church was cool too...
Civilization seemed a bit more familiar in Brasov; we even came across some kids dressed in Halloween costumes...
In the evening we walked up to the base of Tampa Hill to have a look over the city... here are our ghosts creeping across the fields at dusk. Of course, I couldn't be satisfied with the spot I had, and needed to hike the hill... Emily and Kent went back into the town and I headed up Tampa Hill just as the sun disappeared... I suppose it was just me being me, but I had to exhaust myself running uphill for a while before I would feel accomplished. The view was blocked by trees all the way up, but I finally found a tree to sit in for a while and admire the stars and waning luna. It was worth it; it always is.
We stayed at a killer Bed & Breakfast joint called Pensiunea Hanna... and had the sweetest hosts ever.
We spent most of the next morning in the outskirts of Brasov, at Bran Castle. I learned a bit about Vlad Dracul (Vlad the Impaler), also known as Drăculea... about the legend, his resistance against the Ottoman Empire, and about his cruel and unusual punishments he served his enemies... it's actually quite disturbing, and it was a bit eerie roaming his 'haunt.'
On the way back into the city, we stopped off the main road to explore some woods... hiking in Brasov Poiana was a pretty good high, but I found myself thinking of Luna the whole time... Autumn hikes just aren't as cool without my pup by my side... no matter where I am.
I am a vampire... the only garlic-loving vampire in Transylvania.
Of all the street musicians we saw this week, there was one particularly notable group: Trubadurii din Transilvania... authentic Brasov troubadours...
No comments:
Post a Comment