2013-10-03-Transylvania, Romania

Snow was falling in Transylvania as we drove from our hotel near Brazov to Bran Castle. A snowfall this early in October is extremely rare but, for us, was not unwelcomed. This area of the Carpathian Mountains is covered by very tall, magnificent conifers and, cloaked in snow, the effect was magical. Bran Castle is billed as "Dracula's Castle" but the connection to Vlad Tepes, the historical figure who was the inspiration for the fictional Count Dracula more commonly known as "Vlad the Impaler, is tenuous. It is believed that Vlad the Impaler, the ruler of Wallacia (Southern Romania) might have been imprisoned briefly in the castle by the Hungarians, who controlled Transylvania at the time. In the afternoon we descended from the Carpathians and drove across the flat, bleak Wallachian Plain and returned to Bucharest. There we met Chris and Bob , who'd arrived from Philadelphia via London that afternoon. In the evening we had dinner at Caru cu Bere (The Beer Wagon), an ornate Bucharest landmark restaurant.