Today Was... Odd.

So this morning I went to the market and grabbed some items for lunch because we weren’t going to be stopping.

Hopped on a van with some other people from the hostel and headed to our first site…. Pelisor Castle, which belonged to some Romanian king.  The castle was beautiful on the interior and exterior (although we had to pay a fee to take pictures inside… so I decided against that). 

Pelisor: I set my camera to black/white/blue.

We got stuck in a loooong line of traffic (only one main road), so after that our driver decided to drive like a mad man.

After that we headed to Bran Castle, which is often referred to as “Dracula’s Castle”  for no real reason whatsoever.  All around the castle looks like a scene from EPCOT world and it was quite creepy.  The castle itself was NOT where a vampire would live!!  It was bright white on the outside and the interior walls were white as well. EPIC LET DOWN!!

"Secret Stairway"

NOT A CASTLE A VAMPIRE WOULD LIVE IN!!

         

After that we headed to Rasnovului Castle.  It was a walled fortress built during…. Some medieval time period (?). 

The fortifications were great and the view of the Carpathians from the top was fabulous. 

View from the top of the fortifications.

Then…. We walked further into the fortifications to see the remains of the town… once again… DISNEY ATTACKED!  Then, there was an old man dressed in what I can only describe as 18^th century Romanian garb, with a staff of some sort who kept marching out from some little room and saying “hello.”  Now, if I were in NYC I would assume this man was just off his rocker or trying to make some extra money a la The Naked Cowboy.  However, this place charges admission!!  Does this man pay admission each day to be crazy? Or does he work here?

Really, what is this man doing?!?!

Anyway, went back to the hostel and had some pretzel like thing stuffed with blueberry jam (DELICIOUS!!).  For dinner I had lamb chops in peasant sauce along with polenta. 

Tomorrow I need to go by my train ticket for my TWELEVE HOUR overnight train-ride to Budapest.  I was going to buy a sleeper car, but I know for a fact that I can sleep on a train overnight (thanks to a NYC/VA Beach journey), so I’ve downloaded some TV shows (the new Dallas, which I love!) and books. 

Goodnight!!