Episode 9: Dracula's Wedding

You're all I've ever wanted,

but I'm terrified of you

My castle may be haunted,

but I'm terrified of you

I've cast my spell on millions,

but I'm terrified of you

— Andre Benjamin, 2003

After my successful trip alone in Prague, Sarah thought it would be a good idea for me to take another solo trip. And Romania was the next obvious choice considering it was another dream destination of mine and Bulgaria's neighboring country. But this time she thought I should step it up a notch and take a road trip alone. Just me, myself and I.

Yeah. That wasn't going to happen.

So to compromise, I told her maybe I should go by bus, or if I drove, she should come along to navigate. I also gave her that good old guilt trip by saying that it had been a good while since we'd taken a road trip together. That good old guilt trip must have worked, because she took a couple of days off from work and the next thing you know we were both off to Transylvania for a 5 day road trip.

Some of you may already know that there's lots to see in Romania, but for our road trip we had a special agenda ahead of us. And if you were an A+ history and geography student and have been keeping up with my weekly Blog-O-Daria, particularly Week 6, then I'm sure you've already guessed by now what that special agenda was. But for those of you who haven't been keeping up with my blog and failed history and geography like I did, then let me refresh your memory. In Week 6 I talked about being an avid fan of all that is horror, and the blood thirsty vampire being my number one favorite of the genre. So add that up with the Balkans, particularly Romania, being the birthplace of the vampire legend, it would have to equal up to a first hand agenda of hunting down a vampire. But not just a vampire, but the most important and popular one of them all, the great Impaler himself, Vlad Tepes Dracula, Prince of Wallachia, more commonly known as the Prince of Darkness who inspired the name of the vampire in my late literary hero Bram Stoker's 1897 Novel Dracula.

Before the trip, Sarah, the beautiful and lovely historian girlfriend she is, mapped out lots to investigate into the life of Dracula. Everything from the ever popular Bran Castle to his childhood home in Sighisoara. But the one that really peeked our curiosity was the mysterious grave of Dracula located on a tiny island in the middle of Lake Snagov. There's lots mystery surrounding it because Dracula's body was never found. So is he really buried there? Next to whether or not there is really such an existence of vampires, these were the burning questions that Sarah and I were determined to find out, so we grabbed a crucifix, a couple of stakes and hammer, some fresh garlic, I adopted that cool Kolchak persona and we were on our way.

Since this vampire weekend road trip to Romania was so last minute, our usual black Volkswagen hatch back that we rent from Rotto Rental Car wasn't available, so they gave us a a brand new one instead. And this car was smoking, too! It was an extremely smooth and roomy ride that came equipped with a DVD player and navigating system. But neither gadgets were used for the trip. Well, sort of. You see, when we crossed the Danube, the longest river in the European Union, that separates Bulgaria and Romania, the navigating system suspiciously stopped working. Yeah, I know, creepy as hell for starters, right? And the DVD player was just plain stupid to begin with. I mean, when did they start putting DVD players in automobiles?!? Isn't that just an accident waiting to happen? I mean that's totally crazy, right? It's suicide for crying out loud!

Yeah, we popped in our favorite Doctor Who DVD during traffic jams every chance we got.

The first place we entered in Romania was Bucharest. And yeah, Bucharest was the bomb! It was so gorgeous, I loved it there. But because of our vampire hunt, we didn't get to see all of it. We did get to see some of the main tourist attractions and landmarks, such as the Arcul de Triumf, or what I like to call the fake Arc de Triumphe, but still pretty cool, and The Palace of Parliament, the world's largest convention center. And yeah, it was pretty damn big. Definitely worth seeing. Bucharest also had some nice places to shop, like IKEA and a gigantic shopping mall. Sarah needed a dress for an upcoming work ball, so we searched high and low for a dress in various shops in Bucharest.

We finally came upon a wonderful little shop called Victoriei 26 where she found a stunning gown. In that shop we also met some cool friends. And this brings to mind something I'd been observing about living in Europe. After five minutes of entering the shop, Adriana, one of the shops female designers, approached me. This is where I discovered that Europe is the one and only place I've been to where a white girl can come up to a Black boy and say, "hello, I got a Black boyfriend!" Ha! I really wasn't offended at all by her comment. I actually thought it was kind of cute and funny. I just smirked and said, "Oh really? Very cool! He must be the only Black dude living in Bucharest. Where is he? I'd like to meet him." Later on Sarah thanked me for my coolness in handling her comment, and then asked me what is it that makes a phrase such as this so taboo or offensive in the US and not so much in the EU. Well, I just told her that one has to understand that most Europeans have no history of these kinds of racial or social taboos their country. So for Adriana it was just a way of expressing something we had in common. Like, going up to someone you just met and saying, 'oh, I have red shoes just like yours.' Anyway, Sarah spent a good 4 hours trying on dress after dress while Adriana and I chatted. She even called up her Black boyfriend on the tele so we could chat a bit. He and I got along great. We even exchanged info. Turns out he is an actor and musician from Africa who moved to Paris. So we had a little bit in common. He asked me about filming in Sophia and sorts.

After shopping and site seeing, we got back on track and found what would be our first landmark in our search for Dracula, the infamous Curtea Veche, the Old Princely Court, one of his many residences that also served as a torture chamber in the 15th century. It's mainly in shambles now, but outside of it stands a pretty cool sculpture in the likeness of Dracula. We arrived in the daytime, so there were no signs of Drac or any other blood sucking fiends to be found. So we move on to the one place where there had to be a vampire, Dracula's very own crib, Bran Castle, situated near Bran in Brasov.

It was about a 2 hour drive from Bucharest to Bran and around 4 o'clock the sun went down pretty fast. Sarah was really concerned about driving in the dark. Little did she know the darkness would be the least of our worries. You see, when we arrived in Transylvania, near the Carpathian Mountains, just like out of a classic Hammer Horror Film, there was tons of eerie fog looming about making it almost impossible to drive. And I'm not sure if it was because we were in Transylvania, home of the vampire legend, but I'd never seen fog so thick and creepy looking in my whole life. Sarah got chills at the mere sight of it. I was terrified. Now I know why the settings in these classic vampire flicks are always so damn foggy. I mean, objects would just appear in front of me without any warning. We just drove at a turtle's pace until we reached our next destination, a tiny little B&B under Rasnov Fortress, about 5 miles from Dracula's castle.

After getting lost several times, we finally arrived at the B&B. From the look of the place in the creepy fog, we just knew vampires were running the joint, and waiting to have us for their late night snack. But to our surprise, the sweetest little lady greeted us at the door with a smile. There was still a chance that she was hiding some long blood thirsty fangs under that pleasant smile, but it was late and we needed rest. The minute Sarah hit the sheets, she was out like a corpse. But for me, getting to sleep was difficult. And this time it wasn't because of my fear of spiders. It was knowing that Dracula's castle was a measly 5 miles away. At that moment, I also realized I was that guy in a cheesy vampire flick I'd seen so many times over. You know, the stupid dude hanging out with the curious blonde chick, just waiting to be the first one to get devoured by a vampire. Nope, not me. I stayed awake for a couple of hours just staring at the door and window until I finally fell asleep with nightmare after nightmare.

In the morning we checked our necks for bites. But all was good. We went down stairs with a sigh of relief where a very yummy breakfast was waiting for us. Fried omelets with toast and homemade jam. As we ate fast, eagerly awaiting what would be a dream come true for me to finally see Bran Castle, I noticed the good host's reflection in the dining room mirror as she prepared more tea. Whew. No vampire here. So we bid farewell to our good host and was off.

Driving that 5 miles too Bran Castle in the daylight was nice because we got the chance to see the Transylvanian terrain without the heavy eerie fog and darkness obscuring our vision. When we approached the castle, it was simply breathtaking. Just like when I saw the Grand Canyon, Eiffel Tower and most recently, The Parthenon, I got a bit choked up to finally see the castle of all castles. I mean the Bran Castle, the subject of many movies and stories that I'd seen and read in my adolescent years was right there before me. And yeah, it lived up to the hype. It was creepy as hell in person and the eerie fog surrounding it just made it picture perfect. It now stands as the best castle I've ever seen in my whole life, with England's Warwick Castle coming in at a close second. Still waiting to see Neuschwanstein Castle. Hopefully, I'll get there one day.

Anyway, after our quite eerie and entertaining visit to Bran Castle, where we found no sign or trace of Dracula, or any of his vampire buddies for that matter, so we ventured off course again to check out Rasnov Fortress above the B&B. When we got there it was unfortunately closed, but we still got to see it from the outside and took photographs in front of it. Kind of disappointing that we didn't get to tour the inside, but we didn't seem to care, we were still on a natural high from seeing Bran Castle. Besides, we needed to get to the next town. We had some more vampire hunting to do.

Our next destination on our hunt for Dracula was a hopeful one, too. It was even more hopeful than Bran Castle. The childhood home and birthplace of Dracula in Sighisoara. I mean, you tell me...if you were to come back from the dead and be reborn as a vampire, where would you'd go? Yep, back home to mama! But before we arrived, we stopped off at a cool little town for lunch called Brasov. It reminded me of a miniature version of Prague's Old Town Square that I was telling you about in Week 8. We ate a late lunch at a delicious pizza restaurant just chillin' and taking it all in for minute or two until Sarah reminded me of how quickly it gets dark in Romania. We then sped off for Sighisoara, birthplace of Dracula!

Actually, before I tell you what we found in Sighisoara, the word sped brings to mind driving in Europe, so I guess I should tell you a little about it and my latest run-in with the law on our trip. Most of the roads are two-lane, so passing or overtaking, as some people call it, seems to be a pretty popular sport throughout Europe. I used to be annoyed at it when I first got here, now if you look in the dictionary under passing or overtaking, you just might see my face. Anyway, as you know, it's illegal anywhere to pass over a solid line, but most break this law often, especially in Europe. You see one person will do it and then everyone does it. It's like a disease. Monkey see, monkey do. Well, there was this slow beat-down truck going up the mountain to Sighisoara at a snails pace, but this time, I noticed no one was passing it. So I thought to myself, "Oh, this must mean I need to set it off. It would be like my rite of passage of driving in the EU." So I put my foot down hard on gas and was off! I cruised around the truck right into the waiting arms of Romania's Finest. The police. Damn!

After observing so many people getting pulled over for traffic violations, I took close notice of how it seems to be okay to get out of the car first. You'd probably get yourself shot in US for doing this, so I played the good ol' American boy role and stayed in my car. The deputy came up to the window and politely quipped, "grab your license and registration and come with me, sir." It was a surprise to find that he and the sheriff spoke perfect English. They both played the classic hard cop role on me, asking me the usual stupid questions like, "why did you pass through a solid line?" Before I could even deny it, the deputy whipped out a video that was clear as day of me looking like the Joker on Batman grinning and passing the truck full force. My heart sunk. I just shrugged like a kindergarden kid in trouble. After they told me how dangerous it was to cross a solid line, which they were right, they threatened to take my license and have it sent back to the USA. I wanted to cry. I calmed down, took a deep breath and started thinking fast. The thing to do here is try and play on their conscience. This usually doesn't work in the US, but maybe it would work in the EU. I told the officers that it was really hardcore for them to take a person's driver's license away on a first offense and a first time being and driving in their lovely country. The sheriff looked at his deputy with a sigh. Then the deputy handed my license and registration back to me and huffed, "drive safe, and don't let this happen again." Nothing like that good old guilt trip saving my butt again. When I got back to the car I vowed to Sarah that I would not let this happen again. Threatening to take away my license scared me to death. I was terrified. I then vowed to drive safe for the remainder of our trip.

After a nice safe and slow drive to Sighisoara, we then found another B&B to shack up for the night that was conveniently placed right next door to Dracula's childhood home and birthplace. The ride up to the Citadel Square's Clock Tower was pretty rough. You see, besides being pitch black and foggy, there was fresh gravel and rock from street construction everywhere making it almost difficult to drive up the narrow alleyway to the B&B. The car eventually hit a sewer hole that was planet beneath the gravel and came to a stop. At this is point an elderly man came out of the B&B and helped me navigate it out and into a safe parking spot. He was later joined by his wife. They were the hostesses of the B&B. Sarah took notice of their anxious hungry-like manner as they practically sucked their chops begging us to stay for the night. We really had no choice. We couldn't turn back and find another B&B because the car was pretty much stuck in gravel and their was no way I could navigate it back out in the dark without taking a chance of ripping a hole in the bottom of the car, so we took our chances on another night in a scary looking B&B. And believe me, this one was creepier than the last. For starters, the place was 400 years old. That's about the same age as the US! And, it looked like the furniture was never replaced since it was built.

Before we hit the sack, we thought if we were going to find Dracula, then we'd might as well try and do it at night this time. Most likely he'd be out of his coffin and out and about. And that one spot where there's a good chance old Drac might be hanging out is his very own restaurant located above his childhood home. The restaurant was a creep-fest indeed. For example, while Sarah was posing for a picture outside of the joint a black cat passed by. Unbelievable! Anyone in their right mind would have left by this point, but I'm glad we didn't because they made a mean trout! It was so yummy that it took my mind off of what was ahead of us for a minute or two. We stayed at Drac's restaurant for a couple of hours then headed back to the B&B where it was way too quiet for comfort. I played the manly man role by not letting on to Sarah just how frightened I was. But I was terrified. Sarah tossed and turned all night and I pretty much got no sleep at all. But once again, in the morning we checked our necks for bites and all was good. And Just like the last host, they served us up a breakfast of yummy fried omelets with toast and homemade jam. We at and chatted, getting to know each other a little better. But for me, the world's biggest fan of all that is horror, it was just too good to be true. So I looked around for mirrors to make sure they had reflections. But there was none in sight. I started to freak out a bit and then an idea popped in my head. I asked them if they wouldn't mind taking a picture with us. I snapped a few and quickly checked the playback mode on my camera. And sure enough, they were there clear as day in everyone of my pictures. Alas, there were no vampires in Sighisoara, birthplace of Dracula.

Our last and final spot on our hunt for Dracula was Snagov Monestery located on a tiny island in the middle of Lake Snagov. Although Dracula's body was never found, legend says that this is his final resting place. So he should definitely be there or my name isn't Owen T. Davis! I know, I know, I'm losing credibility with you. But you have to trust me on this one. I mean, think about it. This is where his body and coffin is supposed be located. He's got to be there, right? Well, when we arrive in Snagov we had little time to work with because dusk was approaching fast. The island would prove to be the most difficult Drac spot to find on our entire trip. Sarah did her best to find it, looking in every corner, asking strangers, but the only thing that turned up was a lake with no island in sight. We found a hopeful sign that read, call this number for boat to island. Sarah called the number and spoke to the mysterious voice that spoke Romanian only. But it did give us a little bit of hope that an island was nearby. After an hour of more searching we decided give up. I guess it just wasn't meant to be for us to find Dracula's tomb.

The drive back was filled with an unusual air of disappointed silence. As we approached a tiny bridge where construction workers were hanging out taking a break, I grumbled to Sarah, "I can't give up. Let's just ask one more person. Just one more." I could tell she was feeling like me, because she didn't argue. She just vigorously replied, "You're right. Stop the car. We've come this far. It's worth one more try." With the windows rolled up and music playing low, I couldn't hear any sounds as she approached the workers. But I didn't need to hear anything because after a minute of watching Sarah chat with the workers she turned around smiling bigger than a cheshire cat, signaling a thumbs up! The workers told Sarah that we were a block from the path that leads to the island. We were so close and didn't even realized it. If I were not inside of the car I would have done my Happy Dance right in front of the workers.

We found the rather short path quickly and walked down to an opening with a glorious view of Snagov island directly in front of us. It was less than a quarter mile from shore. We looked around only to find the tearful sight of a broken down board walk that would have led us right to the island. I wanted to cry. At this point I just knew something didn't want us on this damn island! I just shrugged and sighed at Sarah then walked to the edge of the board walk as if I were going to jump right in the lake and swim over there. But just as I got to the edge, a tiny boat with a strange little man was whizzing by. I was desperate at this point, so I yelled out, "could you please take us to the island!?!" He too spoke not a word of English, but did yelled back, "Phileppe!" I just looked at him with a puzzled expression. He then turned toward the island and yelled Phileppe again and sped off. Sarah figured out that Phileppe must be the voice on the phone of the gentleman who gives rides to the island! It all came together. Sarah called the number again and sure enough Phileppe was our guy. She managed to let him know we were at the dock waiting and needed a ride to the island that holds the tomb of Dracula. By the way, there is much debate between Sarah and I of Phileppe's name. But I am pretty sure his name was Phileppe, so that's what I'm going with for this story.

Anyway, Phileppe arrived at the broken down dock in no time looking creepier than Bela Lugosi. I whispered to Sarah, "this dude is definitely hiding some fangs." I wasn't taking any chances on becoming the next Blacula, so I snapped a quick paparazzi shot without him knowing. Besides this dude's eerie-like appearance, he was simply one of the friendliest Romanians we'd met on our trip. He graciously helped us into the boat oddly making sure we were on opposite sides. This freaked me out a little bit until he gestured that it keeps the boat from tilting. I gave him a paranoid "okay, okay" response, then checked to see if his image had appeared in the photo I snuck of him and sure enough, he was in it as clear as day. It was relieving to know that he wasn't a vampire, but the possibility of him being Dracula's Igor was still in question. I mean, he is the sole guardian of Snagov Monastery home of Dracula's tomb.

When we got the shore of the island, up close the Monastery was gorgeous. It was peaceful, too. Sarah and I just walked around the grounds of it admiring all the decor. Some would say that it isn't fitting for a man who tortured many during during his lifetime, but who's to judge? I think everyone should rest in peace. Even Dracula. When we finally got inside, there it was right before me, Dracula's grave. I thought we'd never find it. And although there's much debate about whether or not his actual body is resting there, I felt like it was. There was a presence all around. Like his spirit was there watching us.

After Sarah and I got over the excitement, we both realized 3 things right away:

1. We were alone inside of a dark monastery that holds the tomb of Dracula with a strange Igor-like man.
2. We we're the only ones on the island.
3. Nobody knew of our whereabouts.

And then that's when I realized that I really need stop hanging out with white people. Ha!

While we were thinking about all of this, Igor, uh...er...I mean, Phileppe disappeared. That was it for me. I just knew our time was up on earth. Sarah trembled. I was terrified. A few seconds later, he appeared out of nowhere and handed us some cool Dracula post cards. We thanked him for the cards, the ride over, and everything--but we made sure he knew we were ready go. So we headed back to the boat. On the way back he insisted that he give us a tour of the island. I agreed. I figured at this point if he was going to feed us to his master, he would have done it back inside of the Monastery.

When we finally arrived back on the other side, the car was still there waiting safely. As we drove back I swear I have never seen such an eerie vision in my whole life. I mean, I've seen the best of the best horror movies on the planet containing the most eerie scenes one could imagine, but nothing will ever be as scary as driving back from the tomb of Dracula on a narrow road deep in a pitch black foggy forrest. I was terrified. I guess there's nothing like the real thing. The trees seem to howl and sway as I drove as fast as I could. Then something occurred to me. A feeling. And I could tell that Sarah was feeling the same thing, too. This feeling that we'd never experience anything like this again in our lives. So I slowed the car down. Turned the volume up a notch on the song that was playing on the car radio. The Outkast classic, "Dracula's Wedding." The theme song of our vampire weekend. Then drove real slow, savoring the moment in fun and fear.

After our adventure, we headed back to Bucharest where we shopped and ate dinner at IKEA. We also strolled that gigantic shopping mall like we were school kids. I'm not the shopping mall kind of dude, but it's funny what you enjoy and miss when you don't have it. After the mall we found a normal hotel to stay in for the night and got a good nights sleep. On the way back home, Sarah was a little bit on edge. She was worried about getting back late for her evening work ball that she was anxiously awaiting to debut her new dress. She scolded me for my 40 mph driving pace, cackling, "we'll never make it on time if you drive like this the whole way, Owen." I reminded her of my my vow of driving safe, and that driving any faster wasn't gonna happen. She poked that bottom lip out making her look sadder than a school girl with a broken heart. I just melted in my seat and said, "Okay, okay. Maybe I'll take it up a notch or two." Nothing like that good old guilt trip. It even works on me apparently. I put my foot down hard on the gas ditching everything I vowed not to do, like driving faster than the speed limit, crossing solid lines, you name it. As I approached the stretch that leads into the Welcome To Bulgaria sign the spirit of Luke Duke must have jumped right inside of me because I got up even more speed. I leaned back, bumped the volume up on "Baby Let's Cruise" by The Dwight Twilley Band, winked at Sarah and whispered, "no worries, baby. I'll get you there on time." As I flew around the corner of the stretch at high speed, what I saw made my heart sink down into my stomach. It was Bulgaria's Finest waiting for me with open arms.

Okay, for a recap of more of our Vampire Weekend in Romania, check out my awesome photos, they, of course, tell a much better story than I. Just click or paste the link below into your browser:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=725148195805%3A1960544582&cm_mmc=site_email-_-new_site_share-_-core-_-View_photos_button

Despite our little traffic police setbacks, the trip was fantastic and Romania was just a glorious little country. Do put it on the top of your list of destinations to explore. And although we visited every possible spot that a vampire should be lurking about, please don't be fooled. These blood suckers still may exist. I mean, think about it...maybe Sarah and I were lucky or something. Or maybe they moved someplace else that vampires hunters aren't aware of! Maybe they flew south for the winter!! Who knows!?! In other words, I wouldn't discount their existence just because we didn't find any in Romania.

Oh yeah, and one more thing. The next time to you see me...you just might want to grab a crucifix, stake and hammer and make sure its daytime.

Be seeing you.

O