And the moment we’ve all been waiting for…DRACULA’S CASTLE!! Well, I’ve been itching to get there at least. The image of “Dracula”, as most people envision, never really existed. He wasn’t created, but definitely embellished, by Irish novelist Bram Stoker. In truth, Vlad III/Prince of Wallachia/Vlad the Impaler/Vlad Ţepeş is the basis for ‘Dracula’. He was a badass dude, to put it lightly, and made some serious history by impaling the Boyar class of Wallachia. His major motivation for such gruesome acts was to avenge his eldest brother and father. The history revolving ‘Dracula’ is quite extensive and interesting for the sadist at heart. My interest was pure curiousity. Apparently, Vlad the Impaler only made a single visit to this infamous castle, but I was still beyond excited to make the trek.
A very sweaty, hour long, bus ride later and we were among the hundreds of other tourists that had the same idea. Damn! I thought we’d be the only ones that thought of this.
We made the best of it. We took our time checking out all the little nooks and crannies of this huge castle; waiting for crowds to pass to take the perfect picture.
It wasn’t everything that I ever imagined, but it was pretty damn cool. Walking through the inspiration for such a classic novel, was definitely worth the trip. If we were there at night, with no one around, I’m sure that I would be scared to pieces.
The market at the end was just as entertaining. Any thing you could possibly sell at a tourist trap, they sold; mugs, ashtrays, picture books, stuffed toys…it was impressive. I wanted to buy it all! Who doesn’t want a Dracula throw rug and matching curtains?!
Bran Castle was different than I expected, mostly due to the amount of tourists, but it was worth it. If you’re ever in Transylvania, it’s a must see. Just don’t expect anything too scary unless your afraid of line ups.
~Josie