Bran and Rasov
I arrived late in the evening in Brasov, a mountain town in Romania that has tons to do in the area. One of the most visited places in Romania is Bran because it houses "Dracula's Castle," which, ironically, never was the home of Vlad, but instead was the summer home for Maria Theresa, the Queen of Romania and her daughter Ilena during the 1920s. Interestingly enough, Ilena was forced to leave Romania after being married off to an Austrian prince and after Romania fell to the Communists, she moved to Newton, Massachusetts (where I was an AmeriCorps*VISTA for two years) and was a regular housewife and princess to her second husband.
I was fortunate enough to run into a nice Swedish exchange student who was showing her family around the area and I felt better about tagging along with someone who knew the area and the bus routes.
Bran itself is not a big town, but there is a lot of touristy stuff to it, which if you know me, I enjoy. Sadly, there was not enough toursisty stuff for me, but what can you do?
The castle itself was quite romantic looking, with little turrets that look out over the mountains. Inside there is a collection of a lot of the royals belongings.
After hitting up the castle and checking out some of the booths, I saw that there was a "haunted Dracula castle" haunted house sort of thing. Since I had missed Halloween for three straight years, I decided to make it up to myself and ventured in... alone... It was quite fun and actually did scare me some. It was my own mini Spookyworld or Cedar Point!
Afterwards, at the bus stop I ran into the Swede and her family again and went with them to Rasov, another castle on the way back to Brasov, where I was staying for three nights.
This castle was a lot more impressive, reminding me a little bit of my experience at Kamenets Podilsky in Western Ukraine, mostly because this castle was built to protect the towns people from the attacking Turks and Tatars. It also resembled SPIŠSKÝ HRAD in Eastern Slovakia, if only because I had to hike up again up the side of a mountain, but this time I did so in better form.
Once inside the castle grounds you could partake in events like archery or watch donkeys eat grass. I did the latter, it was free.
The castle overlooks the small town of Rasov and has a wonderful view of the surrounding snow capped mountains. It was really a beautiful place and definitely a highlight for me.
Also, another highlight: in Bran I ate an American hot dog. It's been 2 years, people. It tasted so good.
I was fortunate enough to run into a nice Swedish exchange student who was showing her family around the area and I felt better about tagging along with someone who knew the area and the bus routes.
Bran itself is not a big town, but there is a lot of touristy stuff to it, which if you know me, I enjoy. Sadly, there was not enough toursisty stuff for me, but what can you do?
The castle itself was quite romantic looking, with little turrets that look out over the mountains. Inside there is a collection of a lot of the royals belongings.
After hitting up the castle and checking out some of the booths, I saw that there was a "haunted Dracula castle" haunted house sort of thing. Since I had missed Halloween for three straight years, I decided to make it up to myself and ventured in... alone... It was quite fun and actually did scare me some. It was my own mini Spookyworld or Cedar Point!
Afterwards, at the bus stop I ran into the Swede and her family again and went with them to Rasov, another castle on the way back to Brasov, where I was staying for three nights.
This castle was a lot more impressive, reminding me a little bit of my experience at Kamenets Podilsky in Western Ukraine, mostly because this castle was built to protect the towns people from the attacking Turks and Tatars. It also resembled SPIŠSKÝ HRAD in Eastern Slovakia, if only because I had to hike up again up the side of a mountain, but this time I did so in better form.
Once inside the castle grounds you could partake in events like archery or watch donkeys eat grass. I did the latter, it was free.
The castle overlooks the small town of Rasov and has a wonderful view of the surrounding snow capped mountains. It was really a beautiful place and definitely a highlight for me.
Also, another highlight: in Bran I ate an American hot dog. It's been 2 years, people. It tasted so good.
posted by Molly | 9:16 AM
1 Comments:
Hey Molly! Loved your description of the castles, and how about you and Maria Theresa having that connection w/ Newton, MA? Pretty cool. I had to laugh about your American hot dog--me I'm jonesin' for a Morningstar Farms Veggie Burger when I get back! Miss you!
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