Romania: On The Trail of Dracula - Peles Castle, Sinaia and Simon Village

Having left the Princely Court of Vlad Dracula in Targoviste, we made our way through the Romanian countryside up into the mountains for a visit to - what turned out to be - one of the most interesting castles we've ever been to, Peles Castle. I have added pictures associated with this post to my overall set on Romaina on my Flickr Photostream HERE.

Winding our way up the Carpathian foothills hills to a summit, we passed through a number of typical Romanian villages and increasingly glimpsed views of the beautiful peaks on our way to the small mountain pass town of Sinaia. There are other things to do in Sinaia than see the castle, and indeed it's a popular destination in the summer for hiking and biking and in the winter for skiing. The day we arrived, the town was full of people enjoying the sun. In the distance up on the peaks, you could see a large gondola ferrying people up to the meadows and mountain tops for summertime hiking and sight seeking.

We made a bee-line to a nice old hotel for a lunch on the balcony overlooking the city park. We had delicious soup, home made bread and some leafy salad. Once done there, we drove up some more and to the site of Peles Castle, tucked away in a very large wooded park. (Below: Peles Castle.)

Peles (pronounced pell-esh) Castle is not very old in the context of European history, as it was built only just more than 100 years ago. However, it's significant because it was the residence of the very first king of a unified and independent Romania under the monarch King Carol I. Prior to that, "Romania" was actually just a series of principalities (Wallachia, Transylvania, etc.) ruled by their respective princes and loosely bound to the Hungarian King and/or the Church. As a side note, it's interesting that King Carol I was a close relative to the Kaiser of Germany. All these European monarchs were (and are) related. For example, a 110 years ago the Czar of Russia, King of England and Kaiser of Germany were are cousins. And King Carol I was part of that big family tree too.
At any rate, the castle is also significant because, well, it's very pretty from the outside and quite impressive inside. No Dracula angle here, just a visually pleasing castle.

Touring the grounds and the interior was delightful. The diversity of rooms, styles, art and color themes wowed us. Certainly there are bigger and even flashier castles in Europe (Versailles for example), but even up against those bigger and better known palaces Peles really stands out. Massive wood carved statues, banisters and spiral staircases; beautiful Moroccan style rooms; glitzy Venetian mirrors and chandeliers; impressive displays of armor; secret passageways and grand hallways; opulently decked out apartments; sweeping staircases; spiky turrets; cozy library and study rooms - all these and more make Peles one of the most diverse and interesting royal residences we've toured.

After our enjoyable tour inside, we walked the garden-rich grounds outside for a view of the castle from close up and afar. All and all, a very nice visit and a pleasant surprise.

And then we were off - on the road down from the pass and toward the town of Bran where we would stay in a guest house in a nearby village called Simon (pronounced she-mon).

We blew through the main part of Bran on our way in and only got a glimpse of the famed castle there. But, knowing we'd see it the next day we didn't care too much. Onward we went a couple miles until turning off down a road that soon led to Simon. Many villages in Romania are linear - as in, they are not clustered around a central plaza. Rather, most villages are one house or building deep along a road on both sides. Most structures are homes and then of course your typical other buildings like a school, post office, general store, bar, etc. interspersed here and there. Simon is like that - linear. (Left: The guest house we stayed in and our vehicle.)

About a quarter of the way through the village we stopped at the guest house where we would stay. Basically, a guest house is what we would call here in the states a bed & breakfast...except you get dinner too. The owners of this guest house were a couple - Magdalena, who is the village doctor, her husband who is a teacher/administrator at the local high school and their teenage son.

On this day, the father and son were out in the yard cutting down the tall grass with scythes. These are long sticks with a sharp, curved blade at the end that are swung with the blade right at ground level to cut the grass. I tried this. Not as easy as it looks. Anyway, they were cutting the grass to create hay for use by their neighbors. Everybody in Simon seemed to be doing this as we say it everywhere. (See picture above of neighbors piling up cut grass for hay on a horse cart.)

Our original plan for our tour called for us to take a 2-3 hour hike to end the day after arriving in Simon, but since it was already 5 p.m. we postponed until the next day. Too tired.

We did, however, decide to take a nice, leisurely walk along the much of the length of the village. We visited some neighbors as they piled up hay onto a horse cart, observed local farm animals and ultimately stooped at the Magazin Mixt shop (like a 7-11) to get some icy cold Romanian beer that we drank while taking in the view from the yard associated with the shop. (Right: View from our walk through Simon village, Left: view as we drank beer in the garden next to the convenience store in Simon.)

Strolling back, we ended our day with a wonderful meal made by Magdalena featuring a hot polenta and cheese appetiser dish, pork, salad, potatoes, locally made wine and desert. Wonderful.

When planning this trip, I asked the tour company if they could dial back the price a little, and the option given was to stay a few nights in guest houses instead of hotels. I wasn't sure what that would get us, but now that we experienced it first had, I am a big fan. In fact, it would have been great to stay more nights in village guest houses. An excellent way to meet people, see "the real" country and eat some seriously good food. (Below left: Church on main road through Simon village.)

Another interesting thing we learned about guest houses was that following the 1989 revolution, there were a lot of people out of work - particularly in the rural areas. The new government felt that tourism could be and would be a major component of the new Romanian economy and incentivize rural families to build guest houses and learn the basics of the "hospitality" industry. Our guide Andrei actually got involved with that program back in the 1990s and that's how he initially got into the tourism industry. However, as Andrei is quick to point out, the promise of flocks of Romanian, German, British, Russian, French, Dutch and even American tourists flooding the picturesque Romanian countryside to spend their money on accommodations, food and drink has not materialized. Sure, some come. But not as many as hoped. As a result, villages like Simon - so beautiful and well located - are full of nice guest houses with virtually not guests during tourist season.
Our thought was that Romania ought to invest in getting "adventure traveler" to their country. With so many peaks to hike and climb, rivers to raft, parks to mountain bike in and so forth, it seems a natural. We'll see. Anyway, it was kind of nice to have Simon to ourselves as tourists.

Bedding down after our late dinner, we looked forward to the next day's adventures - seeing the famed Bran Castle and visiting the beautiful town of Brasov. Satisfied that we'd had a great day, we quickly drifted off with only the occasional farm sounds in the inky darkness breaking the rural silence. (Left: view from the main road of Simon village.)

NOTE: All pictures in this post were taken by Marc Osborn and are not authorized for any use without written permission.

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.

A Photo Set to Go With My First Romania Post

I just posted as set of pictures I took in Bucharest and Snagov on my Flickr Photostream.

You can see the set by clicking HERE.

I'll be posting more pictures from Romania and Italy over the summer, so check back on my Photostream or this blog to see new ones.

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.

2 More Questions for Republicans - This Time On the Debt Ceiling

What if the very Republicans battling with Obama and the Ds about the debt ceiling would gain financially from the U.S. defaulting on its debt?

Hmmm. That sure would explain a few things, and in particular why Mr. Cantor has dug in so deeply in his fight with Obama. See how he may benefit if our nation defaults on its debt in the story HERE.

Why was if OK to raise the debt ceiling many, many times in the 2000s when W was president, the Rs controlled the House and Senate and our debt was exploding in front of our very eyes, but now all of a sudden its a major issue that may shut the government down or much worse?

Naked politics. That's the answer. Politicians of all stripes and parties are capricious to suit their needs, no doubt. But the Republicans are Jedi frikin' Warriors at changing their tune, position and stance on issues by 180 degrees if it will suit their goals of re-election, winning a policy debate or getting legislation passed. And that's what we're seeing here. They want to make Obama look weak so they can win votes in Senate, House and Presidential races next year...taking back over control of the government for their "serve the rich and big companies" agenda.

2 Questions for GOPers Slamming Obama on Jobs Today

I see that GOP presidential contenders are slamming Obama on the recent job/unemployment numbers released today.

Two questions for those conservatives:

1) Where was your concern about jobs when you were championing the very policies that led to the economic crash of 2008 and after? Seriously, where were your concerns? You do remember that the big economic crash came on your watch and as a result of your leadership, right?

2) Why are your suggested fixes now just more of the same stuff that got us into this mess in the first place...and have done so every time they've been implemented in our history? Big tax cuts for the wealthy and big business, aggressive deregulation of major sectors of our economy and large cut backs on government programs (except defense where you like spend more): that's all you got or ever had and it has resulted in a shitload of trouble four our country over and over again. Why do you keep singing that same song?

That's it. Just want to know.

Space Shuttle Launch Intiated My Interest In News

Today is the last Space Shuttle launch ever. Mildly interesting in the moment I suppose - after all, we've seen and heard about these launches for 30 year now - but it reminded me that the very first Space Shuttle launch back in 1981 was an event that I really tuned in to - the build up, launch, mission and landing. It was a big deal back then for everyone - even to me as a kid of 11-12  years old.

In fact, I think that intense news coverage around that launch and all that it included - the stuff about the space ship itself, the astronauts, the role the Space Shuttle played in the Cold War space race with the USSR and other important issues all helped that news event turn me on to news generally. This naturally opened me up to all types of news - national, political, music and more. And, I've been hooked ever since.

So, thank you NASA for giving me a "boost" into my interest in current events and news.