Romania: On The Trail of Dracula - Targoviste

Picking up from the first post about our trip to Romania and Italy, our next destination in Romania was Targoviste. You can see the growing set of pictures from our trip on my Flickr Photostream set located HERE. As of this post I've updated it to include Targoviste. Check there for a more diverse selection that  you see in the post below.

Driving in from Snagov was about a two hour drive, interrupted by that great lunch I described in the last post. When we got to Targoviste (pronounced tar-go-vish-tey), it was pretty clear that our guide Andrei had not been there in a while because, well, we got lost.

We knew he'd eventually find our hotel, but we spent quite a while doing so. We were very close a number of times. In fact, on the first try we were only a block away - and we thought we were only a block away - but the street that would get us to where we needed to go was closed off for "private use only." This sent Andrei into an annoyed soliloquy about the sloppiness and corruption of Romanian police and civic officials. His assertion was that the street was blocked off from public use simply because a local official probably lived down the street and did not want traffic on it or wanted to charge a fee to use it.

(Above: Main square in Targoviste.) This sent us looking for another way to get to where we needed to go. Ultimately we found our way, and when we did we were pleasantly surprised. Upon initial inspection as we drove in, Targoviste seemed a bit more "hard" that Bucharest and I was wondering what our accommodations would be like. Well, we needn't have worried because we ended up at a very modern, really nice hotel.

Anyway, why Targoviste? Well, our man Vlad governed the principality of Wallachia, dealt with Transylvania and generally presided at his residence here - The Princely Court of Targoviste. So, we wanted to see where Vlad the Impaler ruled from.

After unpacking at the hotel, we took a walk across town to see if we could find the Princely Court. Strolling through the town's central park to avoid the very hot weather, we saw kids at play, a mini-midway with games, packs of old men playing chess, a beautiful green-topped church, a few dogs running around (more on that later) and some nice old homes.

Eventually we found the Princely Court. Unfortunately, it was not open on Monday. So, no dice for us that afternoon. We did get some glimpses of the tower and scouted out a couple places for dinner, however. In particular, Andrei thought this one place nearby would be good...simply based on his review of the menu and a look around the place. While I had no opinion on the menu, I wondered if this open courtyard style restaurant with some pretty loud music coming from the speakers really was the answer.
(Right: Church in Targoviste.) 

We walked back to the hotel for a rest and reconvened in the evening for a walk and dinner. Not having discovered any other options for where to eat, we went with Andrei's gut instincts and walked back over to the place near the Princely Court. Good call. The music was not loud, the grassy courtyard was lit up and we selected a table with a very nice view of the now very easy-to-see tower inside the Court complex. But the big deal here was the food. Wow. We ordered the "Dracula Stew," a huge plate with two types of Peasant Potatoes, carrot salad, Gorgonzola pork, green salad, Romanian beer, Romanian wine and a chicken dish. Incredible savory goodness.
(Left: View from our table at the restaurant.)

Part of our high rating for this place was the expectation game as the food easily exceeded the expectations. Diane's "Dracula Stew" was not really a stew, but more like chunks of lamb in a thick, rich, dark red/brown sauce. My Gorgonzola pork delivered nicely and those potatoes were a huge hit. Awesome all around. The other thing that made this a smash hit dinner was that the entire meal for three people cost us the equivalent of $40. That's it. Welcome to Romania.

After the meal, I told Andrei that he was "two for two" on his restaurant recommendations and that we'd go wherever he thought was good. And with that, we reversed course and walked back in the warm evening to the hotel for the night.

The next morning we packed up and drove over to the Princely Court for our walk through. As we exited the hotel, there was a large crowd of local people gathered in the parking lot. Andrei explained that they were there to apply for and interview for a few jobs that were on offer from the hotel. That so many people would turn out for just a few jobs underscored the unemployment problem in the town he said. (Right: Princely Court in Targoviste.) 

On site at the Princely Court, there were basically four elements to see: 1) the tower that Vlad Dracula built for defense and observation of the countryside, 2) the court complex itself, 3) the church and then 4) a display of very early books published in the area. We toured each. The books were interesting. Having been around for 500-some years, these thick volumes looked pretty good. Certainly if you knew the language you could read them today. The ruins of the court itself were somewhat interesting, but the were greatly reduced over the centries, so while you could tell there was a faily large complex of buildings here it was a bit tricky to visualize how it was laid out - at least looking at it from ground level.

The highlights were the tower and the church. The church offered another look at the fresco style interior that was the norm in the time of Vlad and before. In fact, we were lucky enough to get a tour of the building by the on-site historian and the on-site restoration expert. While one explained about the building, the other told us how he was restoring the frescoes. (Left: Church at Court complex, Right: Frescoes inside the church.)

Not much later, we climbed up the tower. Once on top, you could easily see why Vlad had it built. Delivering a dominating view of the area, Dracula's forces could easily see what was coming from any direction. From this vantage point, you could now easily see the entire lay of the Princely Court. Much clearer as to who the place was laid out. (Left: Tower at Princely Court built by Vlad Dracula.)

As we gazed down from this perch, we imagined what the place might have been like when Vlad the Impaler strode the halls of these buildings as he ruled from this site. What maniacal plans were hatched, what court intrigues unfolded, who was in favor, who was out, how many people met their end here or nearby? So many things to consider. Fascinating. (Below: View from tower.)

Descending from the tower, we made our way back across the grounds and to our vehicle where we took off for our next destination - the town of Sinaia and Peles Castle.

NOTE: All pictures in this post taken by Marc Osborn. Any use is not permitted without prior written permission from Marc Osborn.

Romania: On The Trail of Dracula - Bucharest and Snagov

This year, Diane and I took a spectacular trip to Europe - splitting our time between two countries. One we'd been to before, Italy, and the other was a place most of us have heard about but most have never been to...Romania.

More specifically, the part of Romania that most everybody has heard of is Transylvania - mainly because of the Count Dracula and, more recently, vampire stories that are so pervasive in entertainment.

To be sure the lure of Dracula was interesting to us, but the primary draw for us was not Count Dracula of vampire fame because, well, he never existed. Rather, we were interested in the history of the real man - Vlad Dracula, also known as Vlad Tepes (which translates in Romanian to "Vlad the Impaler).

Indeed, based on our knowledge of the fictitious Dracula and the Transylvania he inhabited, both Diane and I read the biography of Vlad Dracula, prince of neighboring Walachia in the 1400s and no stranger to Transylvania either. And through reading about him and his often gruesome exploits (he didn't earn the nickname Tepes for nothing) we also learned about Romanian history. We also learned that so bloody were Vlad's methods of ruling that he was used by author Bram Stoker as inspiration as he built his fictional Dracula vampire character for his book. (Left: Vlad Dracula)

Given that we had a great time in another eastern European country a few years ago, Poland, we thought it might be time to check out another east Europe country. And yes, of course, there is that appeal that Transylvania has given all the movies and books written about vampires. Hell, it's cool to have gone to Transylvania and to be able to say so. It's proving to get a reaction every time I say it.

With all that as set up, with this post I'm starting a series of reports on our trip - including both Romania and Italy. For the Romania portion, the places we saw were more or less both important to overall Romanian history and the history of Vlad Tepes. Hopefully by reading you'll get a sense of what these locations were like and why they are important. Along the way, I'll drop some knowledge about Vlad, as well as food, beverage and such.

To begin the series, I'll start with...

Bucharest and Snagov
We flew into the capital of Romania from London via New York and starting in Seattle...all in one day. Literally, a whole day of travel. But, luckily we arrived in the late afternoon. So, all we had to do was stay awake to clean up and eat...and then it was bed time no matter how you looked at it.

We stayed at the nice and well located Rembrandt Hotel in the older district of Bucharest. This locale offered us easy walking access to a load of restaurants and centered us among buildings that show why Bucharest used to be called "the Paris of the east." We ended up going to dinner at a very good place nearby called Caru cu Bere. Featuring traditional Romania dishes and their own delicious beer all in a baroque setting, this meal really hit the spot. After that we had enough energy to take a walk the hip and happening streets nearby where there were narrow street after narrow street chalk full of bars and restaurants - each with outdoor seating. Quite the scene. Lets just say the 20/30 somethings of Bucharest were out to see and be seen. (Right: Out on the town, Bucharest)

We slept hard that night, but were in surprisingly good shape the next morning. Following a delightful breakfast in the hotel overlooking the pedestrian byway, we met up with our guide for the trip. We decided that driving around Romania ourselves would probably not be a great idea given the road conditions and what we'd heard about Romanian drivers. In hind sight we probably could have done it ourselves, but having now used the PAN Travel agency in Romania to plan things out, drive us and guide us we wouldn't have done it any different anyway. And, we arranged it so it was a private tour from just we two.

After breakfast we met up with our unstoppable guide, Andrei. Upon meeting him, we instantly knew we were in for a good time as Andrei has a positive attitude, a good sense of humor and a sense of adventure.

Andrei showed us the "highlights" of Bucharest in a driving tour in the first part of the morning, including the massive Palace of Parliament, universities, opera, traditional neighborhoods and the key locations where the revolution against the communist government happened in 1989. (Left: Palace of Parliament in Bucharest - one of, if not the, largest buildings in the world.)

The only Vlad Dracula angle in Bucharest is that he is fabled to have named the city and founded it as the capital of his domain. More on that on our second visit to Bucharest at the end of our Romania tour.

A more clear link to Vlad, however, was at our second stop of the day - Snagov. Located outside the city on an island in a pleasant lake, the Snagov Monastery is the place where it is strongly believed that Vlad Dracula is buried. So we had to visit.

To get there you have to travel outside of Bucharest into the countryside, through a village and down to the water's edge of the lake in which the island monastery is located. As we rambled toward the destination, we realized that if we didn't have a guide who knew where he was going we'd never have found the place because there were no signs at any time. But, eventually, we got to a parking spot on a village road right by the lake. Exiting the truck and into the hot, hot Romanian summer, we walked the bridge from the land over to the island and onto the grassy, tree-lined way that leads up to the monastery.

Entering the chapel, we marveled at the all-mosaic interior. Unfortunately, the monks would not let us take pictures. Suffice it to say that while small, the church was impressive. And sure enough, on the floor near the later was a picture of Vlad Dracula with a lit candle standing directly over what looked to be a grave marker. So, who knows...we may have (probably did) see "the Impaler's" last resting place. (Right: Snagov monastery, burial place of Vlad Dracula.)

After a leisurely stroll around the flowery grounds, we returned across the bridge and to our vehicle - satisfied that we'd seen our first real Dracula site. And of course learned a bit about the religious history of the area.

With that, we hit the road for our next destination. Along the way, we decided to try a roadside diner for lunch and boy were we glad we did. A true highlight for here, on the side of the road was a restaurant serving DELICIOUS Romania fare. For example, our lunch consisted of a rich soup, thick bread and a dish called sarmale - meat, rice, onions and spices wrapped in grape leaves (or sometimes cabbage leaves). Throw in some nice polenta on the side and we're talking a really good lunch. And beer of course. Romania has some great beer. Ursus and Ciuc.

Filled up and happy, we made our way to Targoviste - a town where Vlad ran his principality from his "princely court."

Check back to the blog later for the next installment of the series!

NOTE: All pictures in this post except the portrait of Vlad are taken by me, Marc Osborn, and are not authorized for use without written permission from me.