Where exactly is Vlad the Impaler?

One of the many perks of living in Munich is that it is practically the geographic center of all of Europe.  This makes it very easy and affordable for us to travel around.  A two-hour flight can take us just about anywhere on this continent.  So it’s nice to be able meet family or friends for quick little getaways when they happen to be somewhere ‘nearby’ in Europe.  A few weeks ago we did just this when we joined Julie’s brother Logan for a couple of days in Romania.  He was in Bucharest to recruit new employees for this coming summer season at Grand Tetons National Park.

Julie and I were especially excited for this trip because it was our chance to encounter the origin of Dracula and relive one of our favorite books ,“The Historian”.  This book is a great historical/fictional account of Vlad Tepes (a.k.a. Dracula) who once ruled in Southern Romania (Wallachia).  I highly recommend you read this book by the way, and then you will understand the excitement that we felt.

Before we could go out on our own Dracula search we first had to arrive at our hotel in Bucharest.  We had read that taxi scams from the airport are quite common in Bucharest and we felt prepared to avoid becoming one of those duped tourists.  But there was nothing we could really do when the driver demanded an excessive fare and refused to give me back or let me even take a photo of my taxi pickup ticket (which contains the relevant claims information and explicitly says “customer must keep”).  Had our bags not been in the trunk then we probably would have had some more leverage, but instead we became another fooled tourist.  In the end, the rip off taxi ride cost us only $40 which is still quite cheap for a long taxi ride from the airport, but just for comparison’s sake the return taxi ride only cost us about $10.

We quickly forgot about the rip-off when we found out our hotel room had a huge balcony terrace.  The terrace was actually bigger than our hotel room, and appeared to be the only room with an outdoor space.  Our luck was turning around. 

After checking-in and dropping off our bags, we met up with Logan and our personal tour guides (two Romanian locals who are employees of Logan) who generously offered to drive us around and show us a good time for the next 24 hours.  We started out with an Italian dinner and some drinks at a bar.  It didn’t take us long to notice that Bucharest is one of the few places left which still allows smoking in restaurants and, furthermore, just how much we have unadjusted from such practices.

We set out the next day for a drive with our tour guides to the countryside towards the Carpathian Mountains and Transylvania.  We first visited the stunning Peles Castle, which was the residence of the four kings of Romania during the 20^th century.  It has similar elements to our own Neuschwanstein in Bavaria because of its location high in the mountains and its architecture.  Though what definitely stands out as unique to this castle is its gorgeous woodwork both on the exterior and the interior.  

There were stray dogs everywhere - even hanging out by castles

Us and our amazing tour guides

A dragon head!!!  Dracula?!?!

The picture Julie took inside before she got in trouble for not having a photographer pass (she didn't know... oops)

After a quick stop for lunch, we set out for Bran Castle in Transylvania.  This castle is fictitiously marketed as “Dracula’s Castle” even though there is very little connecting Vlad Tepes (or Bram Stoker’s writing) to the site.  But we went along with the folklore and pretended we were also searching for clues about Dracula.  It is an old 15^th century (or perhaps earlier) defense structure against the Ottoman Empire with a maze of thick stone corridors and rooms. 

Perfect place for a Dracula sighting

View of the village from the castle

Beautiful old architecture

We found Dracula AND a creepy vampire-like ginger!

More of the beautiful architecture

The following day our wonderfully generous tour guides left for their home back in Transylvania, so the three of us were on our own to explore the city of Bucharest.  Our main sightseeing for the day was Curtea Veche - the old ruins and 15^th century residence of Vlad Tepes in the heart of the old city.  The site is also connected with an Orthodox church, which is something we hadn’t really seen before.  

Bust of Vlad Tepes on the left, the Orthodox church on the right

Another stray dog 'guarding' the ruins on the left, inside Curtea Veche on the right

Bucharest is a unique city in that it doesn’t feel touristy at all which often made us feel like we were the only tourists there.  It’s not the most beautiful city we have seen as the poverty is high and the communist era definitely left a mark.  But we enjoyed walking around and seeing some its more raw elements (like shady electrical wiring, crazy city commuters, lack of infrastructure, etc.).  We also found it interesting that the language sounds quite intimidating and foreign but when written it is very similar to Spanish or Italian (with a few extra special characters).  In fact Romanian is considered one of the romance languages.  It’s the kind of place one could probably find lots to do and it’s probably full of little hidden gems, but we didn’t have the time or resources (without our private tour guides) for such exploring during our quick stay. 

We mostly stuck to the small but concentrated old city, which is populated with lots of bars and outdoor cafes.  At one point we stopped by an Irish pub for lunch where we enjoyed a good laugh.  We put in our orders: two fish and chips for the siblings and a cheesesteak sandwich for me.  Twenty minutes later we saw the waiter bringing over the fish and chips and a slice of cheesecake.  At first, I figured the cheesecake belongs to another table, but then I realized probably why he was so surprised by my lunch order in the first place.  He had heard me say “cheesecake” instead of cheesesteak sandwich.  To be fair – I did point at the menu when ordering, and it looked like the waiter looked to see what I was pointing at.   After clarifying the issue and waiting another twenty minutes, he finally brought me my cheesesteak sandwich.  However in the meantime, I had snacked on Julie’s large fish and chips and I no longer wanted the sandwich.  In fact, I kind of wished I kept the cheesecake after all.  Lesson learned:  Don’t turn down cheesecake even if you didn’t order one. 

A pretty street in Old Town

Logan and Julie and a true depiction of a Bavarian man 

After exhausting the old part of town, the three of us were all pretty worn out with the 48 hours of intense tourism.  We decided to just head back to our private terrace and spend our last evening enjoying the sun and spring weather.  Sometimes it is good to relax once and a while when taking a vacation – though it has taken Julie a lot longer to figure that one out.

Julie and an interesting piece of art