We drove towards the small town of Bran so as to visit a castle rising in tiers of towers and ramparts from the woods against a mountain and often referred to as Dracula's castle, though it has only tenuous associations with the count.
Initially built to safeguard the trade between 1377 and 1388, the castle as we can see it today owes its looks to its most famous one time resident, the granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Queen Marie of Romania. Having been confiscated by the communists it was to be later returned (2009) to Marie's grandson, Dominique von Hapsburg though it continues to be open to the public.
There were hundreds of visitors when we got there and going up the spiral stairways into the chambers we found it difficult to visit the castle at our pace due to the crowd. Nevertheless it was quite an interesting visit.
Initially built to safeguard the trade between 1377 and 1388, the castle as we can see it today owes its looks to its most famous one time resident, the granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Queen Marie of Romania. Having been confiscated by the communists it was to be later returned (2009) to Marie's grandson, Dominique von Hapsburg though it continues to be open to the public.
There were hundreds of visitors when we got there and going up the spiral stairways into the chambers we found it difficult to visit the castle at our pace due to the crowd. Nevertheless it was quite an interesting visit.
I managed to buy a beautifully embroidered waistcoat outside the main entrance at one of the many stalls selling traditional Romanian handicraft of all sorts, whilst we were waiting for the bus.
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