Halloween Travel - if you dare.....

It’s Halloween, with its make-believe ghosts, goblins and assorted other costumed trick-or-treaters, engaging in a tradition that goes back a long time in America. But have you ever thought about traveling somewhere that might actually have ghouls in its history? If you have the nerve, then maybe Transylvania is the place to go.

            It’s a real place, not just something made up in horror movies and vampire novels. Known as “the land beyond the forest,” Transylvania is a region in central Romania, bordered on the east by the forbidding Carpathian Mountains. There really was a Dracula, and he lived here.

            Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel introduced the Dracula legend to Victorian-age audiences, to be followed 34 years later by the classic movie starring Hungarian-born Bela Lugosi. Stoker’s villain is based on legends surrounding the real-life, 15^th-century nobleman named Vlad Ţepeş, known as “The Impaler” for his favored method of dealing with opponents. It is said about 80,000 of them discovered Vlad’s fondness for long spikes from the sharp end. Fun fact: genealogists say that Britain’s King George is the great-grandson 16 times removed of old Vlad.

            Traveling to Transylvania can be like going back in time. It has earned its monicker as “the last truly medieval landscape in Europe,” with horse-drawn carts, shepherds tending their flocks and villagers making hay. Twenty-first-century infrastructure might be lacking in many places, so patience is a must. Trains can be slow, so busing between destinations is preferred, and hiring a car to drive you around is recommended. A Hungarian phrasebook comes in handy, too. Hungary ruled this region for a thousand years until Romania annexed it at the end of World War I.

            Ready to explore one of Europe’s treasures? Here are some things you’ll want to see:

·         Thermal springs. Transylvania has many resort towns famed for their therapeutic waters. The mineral mud and warm salty waters of Bear Lake in Sovata are rumored to cure infertility. In Covasna, you can indulge in a sauna of post-volcanic gases, mainly carbon dioxide with a dash of sulphur, thought to benefit cardiovascular health.

·         Bear watching. The Carpathians are home to wolves, lynx and Europe’s largest population of brown bears, who flourished under the communists because only the dictator, Nicolae Ceauşcu, was allowed to hunt them. The Forestry Commission escorts visitors to places in the wild where they can indulge their wildlife watching to the fullest.

·         The world’s most amazing road. Most Transylvanian roads need a lot of work, but the Transfăgărăşan Road, a 1970s-era military road, winds through the mountains to a lake and through a 900-meter-long tunnel before continuing down into the forests of the Wallachia region. Heavy snow keeps the road closed for all but a few months of the year.

·         Plum brandy. My husband and I sampled palincă in Hungary once, and you never forget that fiery first taste. Around 45-proof—more if it’s the homemade variety—it packs a punch. Served at room temperature, it is downed in one gulp with a hearty “Noroc!” (“Cheers!” in Romanian.)

·         Bran Castle. If Hollywood could build the ultimate vampire castle, it would be this one, near Braşov. This 14^th-century castle was built by the Saxons as a bulwark against the threat of the Ottoman Empire to the east and south and later housed troops to protect German settlers in the region.

·         Poienari Citadel. For serious Dracula fans, this is the real deal. Vlad lived here in the 15^th century, repairing and consolidating the original 13^th century structure. It was still used after his (apparent) death in 1476, but earthquakes brought down much of the structure. The ruins that are still standing can be reached by determined hikers.

 

Eastern Europe is a fascinating place, and you’re probably not going to find a more interesting part of it than Transylvania. We’ll be glad to help you get there—if you dare.