Dracula land continued........

,

 From Sighisoara we went to Brasov..... about 2 hours by road. First stop was a little way from the center.....

...to visit the St Nicolas Cathedral built in 1495.  It was a Sunday and there was a service going on but we were encouraged to get a blessing......it was a special saints day St Peter and Paul. No photos allowed inside....

We then visited a small museum which had the earliest printed works in Romania....

It had been an old school.....and the talk we were given was as though by a teacher of those times.....
The walk into the center took 20-30 minutes but was interesting......

We checked out the Black Church.......black because there had been a fire and they have never cleaned it as within they think they have a miracle fresco....the Virgin Mary's blue dress became black... all the other people's clothes remained as original. No interior photos allowed!

The main square in Brasov is huge.....lots and lots of restaurants.......

and we did indeed have a fabulous lunch in.............

Next day we went to check out another fortified church and town, Prejmer.....this time thankfully not up 100 steps in 39C heat!  We were again greeted by storks!

This was very interesting.....sort of an original condo building! In times of threat the villagers would all go inside the walls and were assigned a room with a number corresponding to their village home number.

The interior court had an old church and places for the locals to feel safe in times of invasion.....

We were lucky to be there when an organist was practicing...........

There was even a schoolroom..... used from 1556 to 1853

Then it was on to Bran Castle..... now a sort of a Dracula Disneyland! Irish tourists are very welcome in Romania, Bram Stoker put it on the map!!

On the way back to Bucharest we visited the Summer Palace.....It obviously is a highlight for some.... not me! It is quite dark inside ... lots of wood!

The exterior and gardens were very formal.......

Our last stop was to a very small monastery on an island, Snagov Monastery.....  very charming!

This is where Vlad the Impaler (Dracula!!) is supposed to be buried........

Transylvania.......Dracula land!

Arriving in Sighisoara is like going back a few centuries in time! Very old homes... including the one where Vlad Tepes, now known as Dracula, was born. It is a citadel town, recognized by UNESCO.

The Sighisoara hotel, where we stayed, was a private house from the 15th C, turned into a hotel under Communist rule, given back to the original owners after democracy and they then decided to keep it as a hotel. Lots of interesting walls..... although a little off putting to see  this in the entry hall......

 Lord teach us that we must die so that we become wise!

This town was fascinating to explore..... 

...apparently the three story house where he was born has not changed in 500 + years!

......this is what he looked like!

The prior day had been flag day in Romania so City Hall had raised a rather large flag!

We arrived just in time to see it..... moments later it was lowered!

entry to the hilltop town was through 2 sets of towers...

......entering the charming main square.....

The next day we went to Biertan a town with a fortified church from 1524, briefly Catholic, then Lutheran. 

We parked under a nesting stork in the main square...

Then up a lot of steps to see the church at the top....

within the church there is an amazing door. entering the sacristy......

They definitely didn't make it easy to steal from that room!

Various flags indicated reserved seating for the guilds who had paid for their seats!

Frescoes within the tower were unexpected....

This was also unexpected!

for lunch we went to a small village nearby, Malancrav....the guest house is owned by Prince Charles'foundation.

...they do have rooms for rent.....charming but fairly basic......

Back in Sighisoara we went further up the hill in the village, another 100 or so steps to another very old church with original frescoes....

... where we had a private lesson on how an organ worked!

for an evening meal we found a charming restaurant with excellent food....... Casa Georgius Krauss