The Castle and The Fortress - Day Sixteen
Woke up to a nice rainy Saturday morning when a call comes through from Razvan, one I didn't pick up but got the message from. He wanted to take me to Bran Castle and Rasnov Fortress today instead of tomorrow as the weather forecast looked dim, reports of possible snow fall even.
So I quickly picked myself up and readied for a trip.
Getting to Bran castle didn't take too long to get to as it is still in Brasov county. Moving away from the rain clouds we actually headed into the warmth of the sun.
Bran castle is pretty interesting and is generally the main attraction for tourists visiting Romania. The main reason for this is that it is marketed as the home of Bram Stoker's Dracula, so it was no shock when walking around inside that there were a few information points on the history of the Dracula legend, as well as numerous stalls around the area selling souvenirs to do with vampires.
Walking around the inside of the castle seemed like a maze but was one carefully bordered off in order to help you follow a route around to ensure you see all of the place without unnecessarily doubling back on yourself. In order to take photos with my SLR camera I would have had to pay extra, and so just took some shots with my phone instead.
At the entrance of the place you buy your tickets, student discount available, show the guards and then walk up a relatively short stone path to get to the entrance of the actual castle.
Each room you enter is relatively small but nicely accompanied by a description somewhere, sometimes you have to look a little around to find it, but it's there! Some of the bigger rooms had much larger descriptions, giving a history of the previous owners/occupants. Definitely a great place to go if you enjoy learning about the stories behind the places, though it is not a necessity.
There is a room which used to have a fireplace and behind that a secret passage leading to the upstairs. However the fireplace was moved to the side in order to allow tourists to walk up the passage with ease, having said this, the shoulder width walls made it an interesting staircase. Unfortunately, a lot of the photos I took of the inside did not turn out as well as hoped.
At the end of the self giving tour, you come out into the courtyard where there is a well, and then a step down is the souvenir shop and also a alcove with a guest book to sign, if you wish to do so.
Exiting the place and walking back down the same way I came in, Razvan picked me up and we headed to a nearby Romanian restaurant where I experienced a forced meat with polenta, cabbage, cream, one chilli and some other things I can't remember exactly. It was good. Dessert was dumplings, well, half a portion as they are very filling.
The restaurant we went to is famous but with an apparently forgettable name that I shall have to enquire about at a later date. The restaurant, and some of the surrounding buildings are collectively owned and are positioned in a great place amongst the woods with a view of the mountains, though perhaps not in the photo below.
After this we headed toward Rasnov fortress but stopped by to get some distance shots of Bran Castle and later on, Rasnov fortress.
Looking at Rasnov fortress from afar, the roof looks intact and in good condition but upon entry, the view is very much different. A lot of the top has been taken off, over time rather than as a whole. One of the most significant aspects of visiting the place for me was the view of, well, everything. When you reach the top, you can see where the rooms used to be but if you look outward you can see the mountains, the woods, the town below, you can see far. This is obviously one of the reasons why the place was built in this location.
Initially, you need to climb the long reasonably steep hill as depicted below before you even get a view of the place, but it is worth the effort.
So I quickly picked myself up and readied for a trip.
Getting to Bran castle didn't take too long to get to as it is still in Brasov county. Moving away from the rain clouds we actually headed into the warmth of the sun.
Bran castle is pretty interesting and is generally the main attraction for tourists visiting Romania. The main reason for this is that it is marketed as the home of Bram Stoker's Dracula, so it was no shock when walking around inside that there were a few information points on the history of the Dracula legend, as well as numerous stalls around the area selling souvenirs to do with vampires.
Walking around the inside of the castle seemed like a maze but was one carefully bordered off in order to help you follow a route around to ensure you see all of the place without unnecessarily doubling back on yourself. In order to take photos with my SLR camera I would have had to pay extra, and so just took some shots with my phone instead.
At the entrance of the place you buy your tickets, student discount available, show the guards and then walk up a relatively short stone path to get to the entrance of the actual castle.
Each room you enter is relatively small but nicely accompanied by a description somewhere, sometimes you have to look a little around to find it, but it's there! Some of the bigger rooms had much larger descriptions, giving a history of the previous owners/occupants. Definitely a great place to go if you enjoy learning about the stories behind the places, though it is not a necessity.
There is a room which used to have a fireplace and behind that a secret passage leading to the upstairs. However the fireplace was moved to the side in order to allow tourists to walk up the passage with ease, having said this, the shoulder width walls made it an interesting staircase. Unfortunately, a lot of the photos I took of the inside did not turn out as well as hoped.
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| Secret steps behind the previous fireplace leading to upstairs |
Exiting the place and walking back down the same way I came in, Razvan picked me up and we headed to a nearby Romanian restaurant where I experienced a forced meat with polenta, cabbage, cream, one chilli and some other things I can't remember exactly. It was good. Dessert was dumplings, well, half a portion as they are very filling.
The restaurant we went to is famous but with an apparently forgettable name that I shall have to enquire about at a later date. The restaurant, and some of the surrounding buildings are collectively owned and are positioned in a great place amongst the woods with a view of the mountains, though perhaps not in the photo below.
After this we headed toward Rasnov fortress but stopped by to get some distance shots of Bran Castle and later on, Rasnov fortress.
Looking at Rasnov fortress from afar, the roof looks intact and in good condition but upon entry, the view is very much different. A lot of the top has been taken off, over time rather than as a whole. One of the most significant aspects of visiting the place for me was the view of, well, everything. When you reach the top, you can see where the rooms used to be but if you look outward you can see the mountains, the woods, the town below, you can see far. This is obviously one of the reasons why the place was built in this location.
Initially, you need to climb the long reasonably steep hill as depicted below before you even get a view of the place, but it is worth the effort.
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