Dracula's Castle 🇷🇴

Next day we ventured out to Dracula's "vast ruined castle, from whose tall black windows came no ray of light, and whose broken battlements showed a jagged line against the moonlit sky." 

Fortunately for us it was a bright and sunny day so no worry about meeting any vampires.  Bram Stoker's Dracula novel, using the essence of Vlad the Impaler or Vlad Dracula, made Bran Castle world famous while Stoker never stepped foot in Romania.   The name Dracula originates with Vlad's father who joined the Order of the Dragon, a chivarlric order of selected monarchs swearing to defend Christianity.  He became known as Vlad Dracul (meaning dragon). The title was passed down to his son and in the diminutive an 'a' was added to the end and became Dracula.  A secondary meaning of Dracul is devil which seemed to be more fitting for Vlad the Impaler.  

The castle was used as a fortress during the Ottoman sieges and later used as a summer residence of the Romanian Royal Family.  Today it appears quite homely as it's used to display the art and furniture collected by Queen Marie, an important figure in Romanian history.  However the upper levels are dedicated to the supernatural creatures of Romanian folklore, including vampires. 

We also decided to try Kürtőskalács or 'chimney cakes.'  We had a similar treat in the Czech Republic but this version was HUGE and oh so tasty.  Their origins are from the Hungarian-speaking regions of Romania and you can guess how their name came about.  The dough is wrapped around a large wooden cylindrical spit and baked over a flame.  Sugar is then sprinkled on and melts into a thin crunchy layer of carmelized goodness.   Once it's baked it can be covered in a variety of toppings such as coconut, cinnamon, ground walnuts, etc.   Not sure what was in ours but the kids seemed to love it, they were running laps around the car!! 😂🤷‍♀️