Monday, June 1, 2009

dracula.


Buna Ziua from Romania!

I have spent the last week in Bucharest visiting my friends, the Kay family. Today we drove through the mountains to the Transylvania area to see a glass factory and two castles. The first castle was Bran castle, which is also known as Dracula's castle. It was so refreshing to get out of the dusty, bustling city and drive into the green mountains with snow-capped mountains hovering in the distance.

In Romania, June 1st is Kid's Day, which meant that there was a little fair set up at the base of the castle and tons of children were exploring Dracula's castle. In addition, the castle has just been reopened after being closed for renovations, so the current owner of the castle was actually there to celebrate. All in all, it was a busy day at the castle. Thomas has been an excellent tourguide all week, and today was no exception. Although Bran Castle is famous because of the rumor that Vlad Tepes (Dracula) lived there, it was also the home to several well-known Romanian monarchs, so Thomas explained some of the history of the area to me as we walked through the castle.

The inside of the castle is not as creepy as one would imagine. The walls are all white-washed, because one of the Romanian queens turned the castle into a sort of summer home. Out every window and off of every balcony is a spectacular view out over the mountains, complete with tiny villages nestled into the valleys.

I have a couple more days here in Bucharest and then I'm headed to Switzerland!

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