OneAndOneIs2

Sorry for the lack of updates, but you know, things to do, places to see...

So. I left Budapest. And I went, via a stop or two, to a little place called Sighisoara. (As far as I can tell, the correct pronunciation is along the lines of "See-sure-ah") Where I stayed for two nights, before leaving and heading slowly but surely for more urban areas.

Why did I stop there?

Well... In 1431, a prince was born to the Wallachian royal family in a house in Sighisoara. His name was Vlad. He would, in times to come, be known as "Vlad Tepes", or "Vlad the Impaler", because of a particularly cruel punishment he was fond of using. He reigned as king on three occasions before dying in 1476.

So far, so dull, you might think.

So if I then mention that his father's name was "Vlad Dracul", does that ring any bells?

If I mention that the son of Dracul would be known as "Dracula" it should certainly chime a few notes.

Yes, Sighisoara was the (alleged) birthplace of the real-life Dracula, the Transylvanian prince whose name was immortalised by Bram Stoker in a truly superb book which I first read in my early teens. I re-read it on my way here and became aware of just how much I had missed out reading it in my younger years. So even if you've read it before, I can heartily recommend reading it again.

Dracula's birthplace is now a restaurant named "Casa Dracula" where I had a pretty good pork escalope. There's a lot of tacky vampire tourist stuff. I bought a few bits, I admit.

Other than that, it's actually a really interesting place. The clock tower is particularly impressive. The roof, top to bottom, is, unusually, taller than the tower itself by some ten feet. It has a large golden sphere at the top which is actually a time capsule containing several literary works. There's a small stall selling particularly nice hot chewy sugary pastry things. The hostel I stayed at, Nathan's Villa, is just down the road from the train station and is a very good hostel. Especially considering it was barely 10 euros a night and did laundry for free.

All in all, it was well worth a visit. Even if you're not much of a vampire buff :o)

But I left there in the early afternoon on a train that was only about ten minutes late, which I was pretty impressed by. I bought some postcards to send people, but because its a Sunday I haven't been able to buy any stamps for them yet.

Ho-hum...