10. RO: A Castle, A Fortress…

After a delicious breakfast at Conacul Brătescu we walk our short way to Bran Castle… time for the little ones to learn about the history… and the legend… the castle was decently crowded… had the chance to join a guided group of school kids for a little while… very nice and kid-friendly tour… then took our time to find the secret stairway used to connect the first to third floors of the castle… and the beautiful books in the museum store!
For something new on this Romanian itinerary we chose to visit Râșnov Fortress on the way to our evening destination, Sinaia.
Unlike Bran, the Râșnov Fortress had many buildings, including houses, a school, a chapel… unlike Peleş, a royal residence, Râșnov Fortress is known as “the peasant Citadel Râşnov”.

We walked up the hill with a rain break by the new Dino Parc… another short refreshing walk after the rain stops and we enjoy the fortress with just a few tourists and open souvenir shops… and the rest is a living history lesson!

Another round of heavy rain turned into a thunderstorm cuts our outdoor plans short… we pass by Pârâul Rece shrouded by clouds… only when we arrive at La Tunuri the storm is cleared… a drive to remember… lightning and thunder in Bucegi… a nice walk in the after rain freshness… a nice dinner at Cabana Vânătorească… time to call it a day.

Bran Castle – 5 facts that most tourists don’t know
BRAN CASTLE – THE TRUTH BEHIND THE STORIES
THE FASCINATING HISTORY OF BRAN: A VIRTUAL TOUR OF DRACULA’S CASTLE
The Myth and Mystery of Bran Transylvania
From Vlad the Impaler to Dracula the Vampire (English Edition)

Why “Dracul”? Did he earn this nickname because he was evil, “Dracul” being a folk name for the Devil, the Unclean One? Not at all. What follows is the extraordinary story behind the cognomen that the son of Vlad Dracul, the famous Vlad the Impaler, was also to bear. In the cathedral of the great German city of Nuremberg, King Sigismund proclaimed Vlad Voivode of Wallachia, even though he was yet to reign, and named him a Knight of the Order of the Dragon. It was a great honour to be a member of the Order. For this reason, when he became actual ruler of Wallachia in 1437, Vlad, proud of his membership of the Order of the Dragon, ordered that coins bearing the Order’s emblem should be struck: a dragon and a Cross. And given that “dragon” is similar to the Romanian vernacular term drac (which has the same origin), the people nicknamed Vlad “Dracul” or “Draculea”. Since membership of the Order of the Dragon was hereditary, the sons of Vlad Dracul, Vlad the Impaler and Radu the Fair, were also to be called by the same name, both at home and abroad. And so it was that later Vlad the Impaler came to be known throughout Europe as Dracula Voivode. Is it not a strange tale?