These first few are the wonderful view from the balcony of my hostel. Transylvania really is gorgeous. Yes, Brașov really does have a Hollywood-style “Brașov” sign up on a mountain. Good job shoring up that wall! Shame about the rest of the house. I hiked up the mountain with the “Brașov” sign; this is the beginning of the trail, but it soon got a lot more rugged. At the top I found out there was…Continue Reading →
Here are some more pics from my voyage across Transylvania in October 2005. The follow 5 pics are from Biserica Neagră, the Black Church.
These pics are from my first big trip across Transylvania, in October 2005. Most of these are from the cemetery at Biserica Sfântul Nicolae (St. Nicholas Church), a gorgeous 14th-century church in the old town area of Brașov. These last two pics are from another, more modern cemetery, the name of which I could not find. I took these photos from the street called Șirul Plăieșilor. This was on the wall outside the cemetery; definitely…Continue Reading →
[Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|Part 4] This is part 4 of 4. See part 3 here. Graffiti near the top of the castle. I didn’t deface any of the walls myself, but I did pry a tiny gray rock out of the ground on the main path leading into the castle, to keep as a souvenir. I realized a few days later as I was flying back to Paris from Bratislava that I was flying on…Continue Reading →
[Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|Part 4] This is part 3 of 4. See part 2 here. Here’s me actually in the archway of the tower. I sent my best friend Ben a text message from right here simply saying “I AM IN DRACULA’S FREAKING CASTLE,” and then I realized it was 6am at his place in Philadelphia; oops! A look at the castle wall from the far end. A little background about the place: Apparently there…Continue Reading →
[Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|Part 4] This is part 2 of 4. See part 1 here. Like I mentioned above, a big part of the castle was destroyed in an earthquake in 1888. I believe the gray stones on the left are from the original walls, and the red bricks on the right are part of the reconstruction, but I can’t be sure this is correct. Here’s the view down the other side. They’ve installed walkways…Continue Reading →
[Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|Part 4] OCTOBER 2006: I traveled to Romania for my second time to see a number of things I wasn’t able to the first time, the most important of which (to me) was Castle Poenari — the real Dracula’s castle. Visiting Vlad Tepes’ real castle was a lifelong dream of mine, and it was pretty mindblowing to finally see it with my own eyes. I’ve included a lot of information about getting…Continue Reading →
