Thursday, August 17, 2006

Transylvania part 1

8/17/06 - hey there folks...back again before the two weeks have passed...there is just too much when you first move to a new country...so i hope you don't mind an extra update or two...first off, thanks to all those who sent e-mails and questions...things overall are going quite well and i am really excited as school starts on MONDAY!!!! bring the kids on i say...i am very tired of meetings....i am adjusting to being in romania, with all of its quirks and differences...but that is for another e-mail at a later date :) now i need to get back to transylvania...which was a week and half ago already...i am celebrating my two week anniversary of being in the country tomorrow....wowowowowowow....so exciting....but i digress...shocking, i know :)

on with the trip to transylvania...here's bran castle...this is commonly heralded as "dracula's castle" and therefore has tons of tourists visiting it all the time....we stayed in bran, so of course we became some of those tourists....but most romanians know that this is NOT dracula's castle and that it really is somewhere else....which i am hoping to visit...but it has been said he slept here...but i guess he "slept" all over the country....

i have to say i really liked this castle...as it felt very "cosy" on the inside...which is very different from most castles...this one had much in the way of dark, warm wooden beams and beautiful stoves in the rooms to help heat them...they were ceramic and you can see them in the picture below...the chest was also quite stunning...this was in the "count's" bedroom...not dracula...but the owner of the castle...who's name escapes me at the moment...but all throughout the castle there were beautiful pictures of the women who lived there and guests from italy and greece...it had such a homey feel...

okay...it seems that blogger is limiting what i post tonight...so i will be back with more in just a sec...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Dear Dani! I have been following you since you were in the Atartic - really interesting stuff. I am a Hungarian born us educated Psychologist who knows much about Romania because both of my parents were kicked out with what they could carry when Tranafter it has been Hungarian for 1000 years. If you are not superficial you might check into why and how 2-3 million Hungarians are treated as 3rd class citizens in a country that was theirs for 900 years - another interesting item is that the revolution against Ceocescu (the former dictator was started by Hungarians but never given credit for.) I do not want to get you involved in local politics but in Eastern Europe sometimes it is helpful to know what is going on. Do not get involved - just learn...Sincerely, bszabados@earthlink.netdos