TRANSYLVANIA? Yes, as in Dracula.
A gorgeous day for a ride in the Romanian countryside.
When someone knocks off the guard rail, I guess the large petro jugs serve as a substitute....oy.
Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian Mountain range, historical Transylvania extends in the west to the Apuseni mountains. Very picturesque. And you know those Hapsburgs- yup they owned this neck of the woods at one time...1683, renamed to Transleithania and stayed with the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the defeat in WWI. The Romanians take it over, the the Hungarians win some of it back in WWII then "assigned" back to Romania in 1947 at the Paris Peace Treaties. Whewwwwww. Who's on first?
Boca loves seeing the Orthodox Crosses everywhere.
Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula, published in 1897, as well as its later film adaptions has given these Romanians opportunity to capitalize on some touristiky. They have learned well....set up many booths so on the way in and out people can buy, buy, buy...try to avoid the bottlenecks as the place is packed with tourists.
Hey, didn't we see this stuff in Bulgaria? Hungaria? Serbia?
Did you know Bela Lugosi who played the first Dracula was born in Banat- present day Romania?
Bub takes no chances and high 5's the local cross....
Built by Saxons from Brasov in 1382, to defend the Bran pass against the Turks. From fortress, to royal residence to Dracula's digs...those Vampires sure were short folks.
In 2006, after 60 years in communist hands, Brans Castle keys were handed back to Dominic Habsburg, a New York based architect and Queen Marie's grandson. The castle was initially put on the market in 2007 ( a US $135 million final sale rice was predicted), but in 2009 the family decided not to sell it, ensuring the castle would remain open as a museum. A museum?
Pleep get down here!! Dracula is not up there!!
The Pleep is enjoying the history, the myth and the intrigue and of course the magic of Dracula's castle....thinking about Vlad the Impaler....Prince of Transylvania....ooo, ooo, ooo. Vlad was not Dracula Pleep....Pleep knows that Dracula is a centuries old vampire, sorcer and Transylvania nobleman who claims to be descended form Attila the Hun (closely related to Boca's side of the family).
It was believed that "strigori" ghosts, lead a normal life during the day but at night, during their sleep, their souls left their bodies and haunted the village tormenting people in their sleep.
Just in case...the cross on the well will make a fine seat for Pleep as he waits for a glimpse of....it's all about the blood Buddy.
He's not in there Pleep....
what the what? Dracula Special?
Bubs, come check this out....
Dracula's Daughter? The Brides of Dracula? Dracula's Guest?
Pleep, don't let your Mother see that hat...we'll be packing it with the other crazy hats she finds and I get to pack away then give to Goodwill.
colorful....the EU has launched a program entitled Decade of Roma Inclusion to combat the continued discrimination. And now the first created Rom state- Cem Romengo. Emperor of Roma? Have you seen on American TV Gypsy Weddings? Why and how did this get started? Oh yeah, in the land of Kardashian, we Americans will reality TV just about anything. And here in Romania, a 12 year old girl marrying 15 year old boy (legal age is 16)...the poor girl fled but her father brought her back and forcibly made her marry. Isn't that considered rape? Lots of arranged marriages, which Boca calls Pimping.
Pleep loves the Romanian saying "don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today, put it off till the day after tomorrow and you might not have to do it at all". Hmm
Any way over 700,000 gypsies live here. Quite the tribal community. Originally from Norther India where the Mongrols ran them off, showing up here with the Turks in the 7th century. Lots of intermarrying between gypsies and the Romanians and they are famous for their names. For instance, one named his son "good student" thinking he will become a good student. Ah, these folks are always the scapegoat and blamed for much. Today, there are 2 reps in parliament to represent them. Although Boca likes to hire a gypsy here and there to tell fortunes at her birthday parts, here's a novel thought:
How about providing education and assimilating into the main stream society?
PARLIAMENT PALACE DINNER
Tauck Tour...farewell dinner at the Palace. Pleep checks out the crumbling building. Huh? The Palace started to degrade before it was finished and officially inaugurated. Piping has high water losses and vents don't work well either. Lots and lots of water seepage. Never mind poor insulation...Boca thinks it's the poor maintenance. Bubba says it the poor commie construction...both right??
Ah, who was this Ceausescu fella? A member of the Romanian Communist youth movement during the early 1930's....imprisoned 2 times for his Commie Party activities. In 1939 he married Elena- she was also a commie activist. After the the Communists full accession to power in Romania in 1947, he first headed the ministry of agriculture and worked his way up the party ladder. With the death of their leader he stepped in, in 1965....then elected President of Romania in 1974.
Hey Boca, this guy makes you look like Mother Theresa...in an effort to pay off the large foreign debt that HIS government had accumulated through its mismanaged industrial ventures in the 1970's, Ceausescu (1982) ordered the export of much of the country's agricultural and industrial production...resulting in extreme shortages of food, fuel, energy, medicines and other basic necessities of life. To top it off built this place.
Pleep didn't mind the chip in his wine glass...as he was quite thirsty.
Get over it Pleep...anyway, let me tell you, Ceausescu's regime collapsed after he ordered his security to fire on antigovernment demonstrators in the city of Timisoara on Dec. 17, 1989. The same day little Cesar and his wife fled the capital in a helicopter but were captured and taken into custody by the armed forces.
On Dec 25 the couple were tried and convicted by a special military tribunal on charges o mass murder and other crimes. He and his wife were then shot by a firing squad. How's that for some swift justice?
The palace is used for many political events....Bubba has some flashbacks to his former UN activities.
Enough already....I'm over hearing about the wealth gathering and genocide of this nutcase.
Hey did cousin Jeremy draw this Ceauscescu portrait?????
