Exploring the dark side in bucharest
I’m sitting in a cafe, chosen from googling, “best breakfast Bucharest” after making my way from my Airbnb apartment…about a three minute walk. I ordered a cappuccino & then smoked salmon with poached eggs & guacamole on grainy sourdough bread. It’s delicious & the atmosphere is lively. It’s my second full day in this city…Bucharest, although yesterday was a long one as I full-filled a lifelong dream…I went to Bran Castle.
Back story…when I was a little girl, I had a twisted dark side. I was always drawn to the macabre…to death & weirdness. Cemeteries found me. They still do, & when I was in the UK just recently I couldn’t help but run into a graveyard at practically every turn. I thought I was a vampire in a past life. Now, just to be clear…I thought I had many past lives & I’ve even explored past life regression with a hypnotherapist…the results were fascinating. But, as a kid I had a strange fixation with Bran Castle, Transylvania & Dracula. I yearned to go to Transylvania & the thought I conjured up in my little mind were thrilling & sinister.
Anyhoo…I’m all over that now but…
When I decided to go to Eastern Europe, I sat down before I left home & made a list of places I really had wanted to see…Auschwitz, Bran Castle, the Black Madonna, the Devil’s Throat Cave. When I was in Albania, I almost pulled the plug on going to Romania altogether, but I’m so glad that I didn’t. I had a weep with joy moment the first night in Bucharest having a pint of beer in a lively pub & yesterday I finally got to explore Bran Castle in all its primitive glory.
Honestly, I was disappointed. I didn’t get one shiver! Not one creepy door opened to reveal beady glowing eyes that beckoned me to follow them down into a basement! I did not see one bat! Not one darting spider! At no time during my meandering the halls of Bran, did I feel a rush of icy cold air as a ghost pushed through me! I was not accosted by a tall man dressed in a black suit telling me to follow him back to the vampires lair to meet my maker & thus becoming one of them! Argh! All for not! Hopes dashed! Dreams crushed! I do not think there is one person that wanted this more than me. I’m truly heartbroken.
The tour included Pele Castle, Bran Castle & two hours of free time in the small city of Broslov. When we got to Broslov & the tour guide ditched us to explore this interesting old-world city, I happened upon an outdoor market with local artisans & farmers hawking their wares. There I met a man who was selling the elixir of eternal life (not joking!). Thinking something would come of this trip yet, he queried, “Would you like a sip?”. Of course! He gave me a thimble full on a teaspoon & it was bitter & strong. So of course, I purchased a bottle of the dark red liquid that proclaimed it was made from ingredients past down through myths & legends. The instructions on how to drink the bitter sour potion was that it was to be drank each morning & evening…only one small sip needed! Please, come back for me, he said…everyone that dares get through the bottle always does. Mmmmmwwwwaaaaaahhhhaaaahhhhhaaaaa!
I was thrilled with the tour & when I finally got back after the 12 hour day, I booked another tour to go into Bulgaria. Some of these countries are hard to just wing on your own.
I fell asleep wishing for dreams of ghouls & ghosts.
