Castle tour

9.12.12 we went with a group from our hostel to see the sights around Brasov today. We paid a driver to take us to Peles (pronounced Pellish) Castle, Bran Castle (Dracula's castle) and to Rasnov Fortress. 10 of us stuffed into a minibus and spent the day driving though the mountains of Romania.

Don't know if I mentioned it before but Romanian drivers are crazy. They pass two or three cars on blind corners on a regular basis. Being in the front seat I had to keep my seat mate engaged in conversation so as not to ride in complete fear the whole day.

Peles Castle was amazing. We got dropped off at the bottom of a very big hill and had to walk to the castle. All along the way there were peasants selling things. Typical hand made goods and in addition there were a few that had set up brazier type grills and the were grilling corn on the cob directly on the wood coals. Yum. I planned to get a piece on the way back to the bus. There was a little boy selling freshly shelled walnuts and I thought of all the lemonade stands my kids had when they were little so how could I say no? Unfortunately this boy was selling to help support his family, not for a few bucks worth of candy and snacks. There were also women selling baskets of fresh picked raspberries. Double yum.

Once we got to the top and purchased tickets we had to wait for an English speaking tour. That's always a change! We had limited time due to the schedule for seeing the other places so we only went on the short tour ( the only way to see the castle was by guided tour) four of our group were German and they happened to get lucky and the was a German tour starting immediately. The English tour that was supposed to start in 20 minutes didn't start for a hour so the german group had to wait for us and that meant rushing back to the minibus, leaving no time for corn or raspberries. The palace itself was very grand and had rbeautiful furnishings without being too over the top (compared to some I have seen anyway!)

Our next stop was Bran Castle where Vlad Dracula once lived. It was very understated and sort of provincial. Tom and I both preferred it to Peles... It's just a personal taste thing.

After Bran Castle we were AHEAD of schedule so most of the group went to an outdoor cafe for lunch. We were joined by the usual stray dogs and cats. Romania is full of strays well versed in begging for food. The dogs are all terribly mangy with thick dreadlock like fur coats, but they are really adorable. They are also very well mannered beggars and know to stay along the outside perimeter of the restaurant.

Our final stop for the day was Rasnov Fortress. It is a ruined fortress/citadel. We took a mini train up the hill to the fortress and an enthusiastic young tour guide took us on a tour of the grounds. The citadel afforded beautiful 360 degree views of the city of Rasnov and surrounding countryside.

After this fun filled day we returned to our hostel to prepare dinner along side our new friends. At dinner we shared the kitchen and table with people from: Finland, Canada, Germany, Australia, Brittany and Slovenia.