Bran Castle

We left Brasov for Sighisoara, intent on improving our understanding of what a medieval Saxon city might look like. On the way, we stopped off at Bran castle, the ex-home of a Romanian king and queen, and now sold as a Draculaian outpost. The various hawkers were selling mugs and tee-shirts and masks all with the hyperbolic visage of Vlad Tepes, the original Count Dracula.

In truth, the castle was beautiful—massive beams and white washed walls and Spartan/Medieval L.L. Bean in decoration. More Greek island home than Transylvanian Alp fortification, in other words. Sophia spied every dragon motif (Dracula was a Son of the Order of the Dragon) and at the castle gates she convinced us to buy her a vaguely Peruvian bird flute (which we gladly bought over the weird sheep-skinned/bladder bagpipes the woman was trying to sell her). For the Bakken seniors? A hunk of smoked sheep’s milk cheese and a giant nut-crusted kutosh.

Kerry