I enjoy travelling alone. You can go anywhere you like at your own pace, and if you want to stop and stare at some detail for ten minutes, nobody’s going to tug at your arm and try to drag you in the opposite direction. Interacting with the people you meet along the way is easier, too.
Last week I put on my boots and winter hat and headed to Bran Castle near Brasov. It was the Christmas gift I thought I should give myself – a solo trip to the castle that of all castles seems to have inspired Dracula’s myth the most.
Bran Castle is linked to Bram Stoker’s famous novel Dracula, though the author never visited it, nor did he specifically refer to it. The Castle’s strategic position between mountains, at the border of the old regions of Wallachia and Transylvania, made it a valuable customs point, and a solid defense against the Ottoman Turks.
Vlad the Impaler, who inspired the legend of Dracula, never actually lived in the castle, but he seems to have been locked in it for two months as a prisoner of King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary.
Bran today feels more like Queen Maria’s Castle than Dracula’s Castle. The Queen settled in the castle in the early 20th century with her family.
The Queen suffered from arthritis and had the well equipped with an elevator, which could carry her from the inner courtyard straight to the gardens below, which she had arranged in the English-style, adding to them a Tea House.
Should you ever visit Romania, Bran is one of those places worth a day of your trip.
boy with a hat 
Beautiful pictures, Vincent, and the comments are very interesting too! I most definately will put it on my list if I visit Romania someday 🙂
Glad to hear that. 🙂
You’re a very good photographer, I wouldn’t go in there alone because I’m a coward by birth.
It’s not at all scary. The only inconvenience is the cold. Excepting that and the steep staircases, it’s the safest place in Transylvania.
I have been fascinated by this castle since reading about in a book about the legends of Vlad the Impaler. Thank you for visiting the castle and posting picture.
I hope you will see it one day. It’s a drive away from Bucharest. Or you can wait until they open the airport in Brasov, which will be soon, I hope.
Thanks for taking me, along with your many other friends, there. I enjoyed the tour, pics, and conversation/history. I love old places and history. It is one of my most favorite things to do.
Randy
Fascinating, enjoyed the tour of the awesome castle.
Neat, So it’s not weird if I want to explore places alone.
Not at all. 🙂
i wrote about the bran castle recently and it almost scares me that you took very similar shots to mine (or vice versa as i don’t know when you went)…thanks for posting…like also your poems
I went in December – about a month ago. What about you?
We went end of October, hence the colours on leaves…you also like snow which is my next project also in terms of poetry
http://wp.me/p7z1pV-Jg as i mentioned the October in Bran
I live nearby, but I haven’t been there in a while now. Nice to see you went there!
these pictures are beautiful!
Wow very neat ! and amazing photos as well
nice picture and amazing tour………