Viking European Sojourn River Cruise Day 5/27 - Bran Castle - Dracula - Vlad The Impaler
Today, we return to Bucharest, but not before touring the famous Bran Castle, reputed to be the home of Count Dracula. Of course, Dracula is a legend made famous by Bram Stoker's book, or is it?
 |
| In preparation, Arlona bought these last night and we loaded up... |
 |
| Our first glimpse of Bran Castle |
 |
| It was a bit of an uphill hike on slippery cobblestones to reach the castle |
 |
| The entry staircase - note the inscription above the door - it will be explained below |
 |
| The entry chamber with portraits that explain the family lineage |
 |
| Most of the doorways were ornate and had interesting shapes |
 |
| Staff only doorway |
 |
| I'd like to see their hiring policy |
 |
| Artifacts from the various residents are on display |
 |
| A view out to the central courtyard |
 |
| Remember the inscription above the entry door? This note explains it. |
 |
| There are tons of different rooms - it is a little like a maze inside |
Our guide, Lorin, regaled us with some vampire humor.
- Why did Dracula like being a tour guide? He enjoyed showing his guests a bloody good time.
- What is Dracula's favorite room in the house? The Living Room.
- What is Dracula's favorite beer? Bloodweiser
I didn't say they were good...
 |
| This was replica armor |
 |
| There is a "secret" stairway - it's on the tour so it's not that much of a secret - a docent yelled at me - "No Photos!" |
 |
| Looking out toward the courtyard from a little higher |
 |
| The castle offers an impressive view of the countryside |
 |
| A not-so-secret stairway |
 |
| Spooky |
 |
| Romanian coat of arms updated to include Transylvania |
 |
| There were defensive canons installed in a few places |
 |
| Vlad had some interesting torture devices |
 |
| The face at the top makes it look like it will be a good time |
 |
| Another defensive canon |
 |
| Back down into the main courtyard |
 |
| A cool bench |
 |
| A neat entry into a gift shop |
 |
On the way out, I caught Arlona making a move on the undead - he didn't seem impressed
|
 |
| We grabbed a ham and mushroom pizza while we waited to board the bus for the return trip to Bucharest |
The trip was nearly four hours. This was in large part due to the absolutely crazy traffic in Romania. There was one stretch of road, perhaps five miles, that took us an hour to transit. Too many cars, and not enough lanes. Couple that with the fact that as you drive through the mountains, the road looks like this.
 |
| Try doing that on a bus |
At one of our several-minute stops in traffic along the way, we spotted a stag off the roadway.
 |
| Nice rack |
We made a "comfort stop" on the way back. (That means bathroom break) We found these paprika-flavored chips and gave them a try. They're pretty good - nice flavor and ever-so-slightly spicy.
We came through Bucharest a different way to avoid some of the traffic. We were treated to views of rows of plain apartment buildings that Lorin referred to as "Commie Condos". These were built during the communist regime and were aesthetically appealing as what you might expect to be built by the communists. Today, they have been purchased by residents and financed by the government resulting in Romania having the third highest percentage of home ownership of any country.
We arrived back at the JW Marriott and checked into our room. We have been told by multiple people, that if you go to Romania, you have to try Papanași (pronounced 'papanash'). What is Papanași? It is a big doughnut and it is piled with sour cream. What they call sour cream isn't what we're used to - it's more like crème fraîche. Then, it is topped with another small doughnut (like a doughnut hole) and covered in sour cherry sauce or blueberry sauce. OK, we'll take one for the team.
We grabbed an Uber and went to Caru' cu bere, a local restaurant known for its Papanași.
 |
| Of course, I tried another local beer - Ursus, the most-produced beer in Romania - I liked it |
 |
| The main attraction - we opted for the blueberry topping |
 |
| We split the dessert - it comes with two - so they put one on a plate for each of us |
It was tasty and now, we can say that we've had Papanași.
We Ubered back to the JW Marriott and had dinner - the leftover pizza from lunch. This tradition is a reference to Arlona's paternal grandmother who always said to eat dessert first so you knew how much room you had for dinner.
Tomorrow, we will check out of the JW Marriott and board a bus for a Bucharest tour. Then, we will make the 45-mile ride to Giurgiu where we will board the Viking Lofn and begin the river cruise portion of the trip.
More from Bucharest tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment