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TRIP TO DRACULA'S CASTLE
Monday, August 24, 2009 9:03 PM
From:  
To: "Ron Johnson" <ron-barbara@christianwildernesspress.net>
 
 
My 2009 TRIP TO “DRACULA’S CASTLE”
 
            Each year when I come back from Romania people ask me, “Did you go to Dracula’s Castle?”  Well, this year I did.
            I attended a wedding in Columbus, Ohio, in June and there were two young ladies from Romania working there at the reception.  When I spoke to them in Romania they were surprised and later admitted that they were afraid that I might have been listening to their conversation that evening.  But my Romanian is not all that good.  One of the ladies, Manuela, told me that she was from Bran, Romania, and if I would visit there then she would show me around the area.  She would be going to Romania the next week, so I took her phone number and e-mail address and we communicated, which is how we met in Bran.
            As it turned out, a good Romanian pastor friend, Nelu Glitia and his twin daughters, Rebeca and Debora, took me into that area and showed me around, and we did meet up with Manuela and spent some time with her.  From where I first joined this pastor and his daughters the round trip back to their home was about 500-600 miles, which took us two full days.
            The vampire, Dracula, of course is totally fiction, but Vlad Dracula was real and he ruled the Transylvania area in the 1400’s.  His father was Vlad Drucul (i.e. Vlad the devil) and he named his son Vlad Dracula (i.e. Vlad, son of the devil).  Vlad Dracula was also known as Vlad Tepes (i.e. the “Impaler”) because he would execute people by impaling them on a wooden stake.  While he was not considered an unfair ruler, he was a feared ruler, and not only by his subjects, but also by his enemies.  During his reign he was able to maintain relative security for his people.  The history of the area was very tumultuous in his lifetime.  Vlad did not live  in “Dracula’s Castle”, as he was a native of Sighisoara, a city we visited at the end of our trip; and that is the subject of another photo story.  (There is no end to this.)
            If you research Vlad Dracula, you will find different variations of the details of his life. 
            The BRAN CASTLE (i.e. Dracula’s Castle) was the castle described by Bram Stoker when he wrote “Dracula” in 1897 creating "Dracula the Vampire".  He probably never saw the castle.  Who knows if he took the name from Vlad Dracula or if he chose it because it means “Devil” in Romanian.  This Castle is sort of Romania’s answer to Disney World, the more mysterious and exciting they can make it, the more people want to visit it, people like me.  The castle was originally built in 1212, but it suffered damage from time to time.  A castle is not a "palace".  A castle is built primarily for defense; a palace is a "home for royalty"; albeit, royalty did reside there at one time, but Vlad never did.


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Dracula 1 Dracula 2 Dracula3
Headed for Bran, Romania                            Move over and let us by                                  Watch out for the trains.

Dracula 4 Dracula 5 Dracula 6
Haystacks and plum trees                                         Heading into the mountains                                         Passing by rich gypsy "Castles" on the way

Dracula 7 Dracula 8 Dracula 9
Rich Gypsy house                                                         Poor Gypsy house                                                           Gypsy village

Dracula 10 Dracula 11 Dracula 12
Gypsy Mansion                                                           Orthodox Church                                                           New orthodox Church

Dracula 13 Dracula 14 Dracula 15  
Inside new Orthodox Church                               Village and church on the way                                      Finally approaching "Dracula's Castle"

Dracula 16 Dracula 17 Dracula 18  
Front of Castle                                                                Stairs                                                            Roof area

Dracula 19 Dracula 20 Dracula 21   
More roof area                                                             View from the Castle                                                     Upper levels


Dracula 22 Dracula 23 Dracula 24  
More rooftops                                                                Courtyard                                        Manuela center,Glittia twins Becky & Debroa, father Nelu.


The End     Sincerely,   Jim

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