Waking up early in Brașov city
After crossing through a wild bear reserve in the Part 1 of the Day 2 and hiking to reach the Tampa Mount peak at 960 meters altitude in the Part 2 of the Day 2 of this Leaving All Behind series, I got up early also on my third day in Romania to keep on visiting some Brașov places and also do some bus trip to Bran castle (Dracula's castle) and Râșnov citadel.
And..., first things first:
YouTube Short having a coffee (long espresso) with a dedication written in the paper cup, while heading to Council Square (city center):
YouTube Short in Council Square from where you can see largest Southeastern Europe Gothic-style Black Church church (left), Sfatului House former mayor's office (center) and Hirscher Haus restaurant (right), one of the oldest buildings in whole Brașov:
In case you didn't know, Brașov city is part of the historical region of Transylvania (historical and cultural region in Central-Eastern Europe) and is located in the center of Romania, surrounded by the Southern Carpathians, and it's a nice beautiful city to set your headquarters at and from where to visit other places nearby.
Brașov (and Romania) has plenty of history and culture which comes from Hungarians, Turks, Germans, Austrians and also Russians, due to their Communist period because of Stalin.
YouTube Short walking through the cemetery surrounding orthodox Saint Parascheva Church (10 towers and a dome with 16 windows):
YouTube Short visiting Baza Sportiva Olimpia, a tennis club located at the foot of the Mount Tampa Nature Reserve that in winter season is transformed into a big movie-like skating rink:
Taking the bus to go to Dracula's castle (Bran town)
*Fun fact: In Romania is pretty easy and cheap to catch a bus, in fact it could be as cheap as for free, plenty of times. Truth is they have some bus ticket expending machines around and also some small booths where there's a clerk for selling you the ticket BUT everyone, or almost everyone I saw there during all those days, were just hopping up and down the bus with no ticket and no payment (locals also) and noone stares at you or tell you anything about or whatever.
It's a pretty common activity.
Some times a couple of ticket inspectors hop on up the bus and ask everyone about their bus tickets but the truth is that in plenty of bus trips I took, I only met them once.
*Anecdote: I first started paying my bus trips, whenever I could or saw a expending machine nearby but also the truth is I took plenty of bus trips for free. One of those times I coincided with a couple of inspectors that asked me for the bus ticket and I didn't have it 'cuz I took it in a rush. They tried to scare me about the fact and make me pay like a fine in cash (80 RON) but I just told them "No way" and I was heading to hop off the bus when they just asked me to pay a single trip (at regular price) in their small portable machine, via debit card. I accepted that and that was the end of the story.
For the bus trip to Bran there was no special ticket or expending machines providing it so I paid the bus driver in cash when I figured out what bus is.
*Tip: A nice tool to use for that thing of figuring out which bus catching for going somewhere, it's selecting the Google Maps "Public Transport" tab. It doesn't work in all countries but in Romania works perfectly.
I'm sorry to disapoint you telling you this: Neither this castle from 15th century was Vlad Tepes III (Vlad Dracul) residence, nor Bram Stoker or his filmmaker crew were around here, ever.
In fact, Bram Stoker was never in Romania and this association Romanians made with Bran castle comes from the similitude of this castle with the mention in the Bram Stoker's book of a similar castle in a similar hill he had in a dream and wrote in the book.
Regarding Vlad Tepes, the only relation with Bran he had was to passing through this town when going to war but in 2002, a Romanian writer published a book affirming that Vlad Tepes was imprisoned here for 2 months before being transferred to Visregrad Fortress prison, according to some documents he found (but noone saw or read).
The castle it's owned since 2009 by its legal heirs (Archdukes family) being now a museum you can visit for $6/ticket. In the 20th century the main role of this castle was being the main residence of the Romanian royal family.
About Vlad Tepes III ("the Impaler") we will talk deeper in another post dedicated to when I was visiting his tomb in a small hidden monastery in the middle of a lake but, I can advance you that, after plenty of battles, he died in the war against Turkish but treacherously murdered by his own boyars (Transylvanian nobles),and beheaded and dismembered after death.
If you're wondering at this point if I got into the castle for just $6 ticket, no I didn't, since it's just a tourism-driven thing but I just wanted to be there, following the path and history of Vlad, and to explore the surroundings.
Taking the bus from Dracula's castle to Râșnov Fortress (Râșnov town)
In the very main door of the Bran Castle you can catch a bus to come back to Brașov city and, in that same way back, you will pass through Râșnov town, thing you can take advantage of to hop off the bus and take a look to the beautiful town and the citadel nested up in the mountains.
*Anecdote: Can you believe I walked ALL the way up to that fortress (not picking the elevator or cableway) with a 8kg. backpack on my back and memorized part of its extense history for recording the place live and when I got up there I realized I had no battery on my GoPro? Yeah, haha, shit happens.
This fortress located at 200 meters altitude on the Carpathian Mountains has plenty of history since it was built by the Teutonic Knights in the 14th century and it was always the only mean for refuge of the inhabitants of the town when the all the enemy armies were crossing from Bran town through Râșnov town, in order to reach Brașov town.
In the six centuries of sieges and attacks this fortress suffered (mostly by the Ottoman empire), was only surrender and conquered once, by the Hungarian Prince of Transylvania Gabriel Báthory (17th century, and directly related to Countess Elizabeth Báthory, the serial killer who was taking bblood baths from her maids), after finding a hidden path to the secret spring the frotress' people was using to not die of thirst.
*Legend: According to legend, the Hungarian Prince ordered a 150-meter-deep water well to be dug inside the fortress to make it totally impregnable and not dependent on that external secret spring. For this he made use of 2 Turkish prisoners to whom he promised their freedom if they managed to finish digging the well alive. The 2 Turkish prisoners took more than 17 years to excavate it and when they went to ask for their freedom, Gabriel Báthory ordered them to be executed.
Taking the bus from Râșnov Fortress (Râșnov town) to Brașov town for having dinner and conclude the day of adventure
When I arrived Brașov at around 7 pm I was already pretty tired but I was in need of a dinner so I walked around the town to find some just decent local place and, during that walking, I came across a musical show by the local band.
YouTube Short of the local band playing some music next to Black Church:
I found a place in the terrace of a restaurant (wich name I forgot) in the city center and I ordered a beer pint and another traditional dish around here.
*Anecdote: The cook absolutely forgot about my egg topping the dish (pretty sure on purpose to save it) but I was so hungry that I didn't realize their mistake until I was already almost tucked in bed.
In the next article we're leaving Brașov town behind and taking a train to visit Bucharest, the capital of Romania, and from wich city I will keep on moving on and visiting other places.
Leaving All Behind series: Day 1, Day 2 (Part 1), Day 2 (Part 2).
All photographs were taken with my Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G camera.
YouTube Shorts recorded with my Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G camera.
Image of the bus trip to Bran is a screenshot taken from Google Maps.
Some sources on which I relied to give some accurate info about Brașov town, Bran castle and Râșnov Fortress: (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8).
Brasov and Romania tourism website.