|
DRACULA, the PRINCE and the VAMPIRE Since 1972, thanks to some worthy, but pushy and mercantile authors of a best-seller, "In Search of Dracula" (Raymond McNally and Radu Florescu), we have two Draculas squeezed in just one pair of shoes: the historic and the supernatural. This awesome achievement had to take a few wrong scholarly turns, which did not escape unnoticed by the genuine scholars - who started to clear the mess and disentangle the realms (see "Dracula, Sense and Non-Sense", 2002, by the Canadian professor Elizabeth Miller). This 30-year wrangle (1972 - 2002) left us with a pile of discoveries and two clear-cut Draculas, each in his own right: the historical Prince (1431 - 1476) and the supernatural vampire-count (since 1897). This tour shares that pile of information with you - the research of foreign and Romanian experts in history, literature, folklore (the supernatural categories), anthropology, ezoterism. Upon demand, we may upgrade it with disclosures of a level 2 society tour. Day 1: INNOCENCE IS PROTECTIVE Welcome in Bucharest, the capital of Romania! Prince Vlad Dracula, nicknamed The Impaler, had a mighty court here - we shall see it tomorrow. * transfer to your hotel (5, 4, 3, 2 star) * cocktail, briefing, Q & A (in the company of a TSD leader) * gastronomic initiations * overnight in Bucharest * optional: opera, theatre, circus, theme bars, casino Day 2: THE BEARS We booked your dinner tonight at 1100 m., at an isolated restaurant in the Carpathian woods, visited by wild bears every night. Is it O.K? Till then, enjoy a brief sightseeing of Bucharest, then depart for the only spiritistic monument in the world - the weird castle of Hasdeu, in Campina. Overnight in the mountain royal resort of Sinaia (4, 3, 2 star hotels). Day 3: WITCH-TRIALS in TRANSYLVANIA Last night you slept in the vicinity of the most beautiful royal palace in Europe - Peles. Let's visit it, as it might be the last serene minute of the trip. Then cross the Carpathians. Transylvania does exist, you know. This ancient province of Romania added so many stories to its own legends that it passed into a virtual, utopian perception for many of you. Do you think that we have not seen you taking clods of earth and burying them in your pockets? We wonder - how long before an immense hole will pass for Transylvania? Late in the afternoon arrive in mediaeval Sighisoara - in time for a Witch-trial show. The Catholic parts of Transylvania had hundreds of them (the last took place as near as 1753, a few miles away). Optional night-sightseeing tour of the walled-town (this place is so thick with shadows). There will be a day-tour of the town, tomorrow morning. Overnight in Sighisoara (3-plus, 3 and 2 star hotels) Day 4: THE VAMPIRE-COUNT DRACULA (Hell) To navigate in the realm of the vampire-count we shall use the compass called "Dracula", the novel published by Bram Stoker in 1897, plus maps of highly-specialized knowledge provided by scholars worldwide. Please refresh your reading of at least chapter One of Stoker's novel, as we shall turn those pages and face the very sites and perilous circumstances mentioned within (Jonathan Harker had no-one to advise him, and you are familiar with the consequences...). * departure to the dangerous buffer-zone separating Transylvania proper from the domains of the Count (known to the innocents as the County of Bistrita-Nasaud). * arrive in mediaeval Bistrita (mentioned on page 1 of Stoker's "Dracula"). * "Jonathan Harker menu" at the same "Golden Krone" - in the company of baron Alexandru Misiuga. * brief look at Bistrita through Harker's eyes (sightseeing) * depart along the Borgo Valley to the Borgo Pass (1 hour), crossing the town of Borgo Prund - as Harker did on his way, and doom, to the castle. The mystery of the private cemeteries in the Borgo Pass. * arrive (by sunset) at Castle Dracula (functioning as a hotel as well, like a spider's web). Prior to arrival the guide will share the survival rules. You may wish to further the protection by acquiring some "After-life Insurances" and "Indulgences" for 5 sins each. * visit the public parts of the castle * the ritual of the purifying fire * dinner by candle-light, readings from "Dracula" * optional: reception ceremony as member in the Transylvanian Society of Dracula (one way to get away with it) * one more optional -to be disclosed only to those who managed to reach this far * overnight at Castle Dracula in the Borgo Pass, Transylvania, Romania (You may ponder: if Transylvania, Bistrita and the "Golden Krone" exist, if the Borgo Pass and Castle Dracula are there - how about the Count? Eh?) Day 5: BUCOVINA (Heaven) Should you survive the night at Castle Dracula (a few had), you are entitled to stamp the passport with that unique "Castle Dracula" stamp. Then, as there could be no Hell without Heaven, cross the Carpathians into Moldova - the upper region of which is called Bucovina, or Heaven on Earth.It's there. Even the International Federation of Travel Writers and Journalists awarded it "The Golden Apple" reserved for outstanding sites and cultures, while UNESCO has several "World Heritages" here. Five hundred years ago, the Renaissance left Bucovina
if by echo, the village houses in the area employed remarkable outside paintings, turning Bucovina into a disturbing albume of heavenly art and archetypal images. Visit some such frescoed monasteries and villages, then arrive at the fortress of Suceava, playground of two teenage cousins and princes: Stefan the Great of Moldova and Vlad Dracula of Valahia.. * overnight in Suceava (3 star plus). Day 6: The LIFE and DEEDS of the HISTORICAL DRACULA Day-long drive to mediaeval Brasov, the second city of Transylvania. * on route, behold the spectacular Bicaz Gorge and the Red Lake * On route, historical accounts on prince Vlad * overnight in Brasov or the resort of Poiana Brasov (5, 4, 3, 2 star hotels) Day 7; The TRANSYLVANIAN SAXON and PRINCE VLAD For 3 years (1454-1456 Vlad was appointed commander of the southern border of Transylvania. His relation with the Saxons were excellent. For 6 years more (1456-1462), prince Vlad Dracula of Valahia had, alternatively, good and bad relations with the rich and influential Saxons (mainly with the ones in Brasov). The stream of black pamphlets about Vad stemmed in Brasov. * sightseeing of the ancient and mediaeval Brasov * visit castle Bran * optional: win yourself a nobility title (knight, Lady-Knight), joining The Order of Transylvanian Knights (if you can pass the 7 chivalry tests). * dinner at "The Citadel" (with a mediaeval floor-show) * overnight in Brasov or Poiana Brasov. Day 8: The RISE and FALL of a PRINCE Most of us, shooting stars on the sky of existence, glow a few cosmic seconds and vanish. Not Vlad. For 530 years the Romanians remember him whenever their country crosses a moment of crises (corruption, low morale, incompetence, neglect, subjection): "Where are you, Vlad, to come and set the country right?" The thrilling Saxon pamphlets about a "bloodthirsty tyrant called Dracula" gradually lost ground to ever new exciting world news, purported by Guttenberg's invention. Yet, Vlad stands today as an enabler and provider of competence, justice, law and order. Who else turned the unruly, corrupted Valahia, in only 6 years of rule, into a model country - safe, dignified and powerful? His enormous popularity with the humble, the poor and the honest was equaled only by the enormous hatred of the Saxons, of the rival princely family and of the Ottomans (who could not deny his military genius: "I cannot take the country from a man capable of such extraordinary things", exclaimed sultan Mehmed II, conqueror of Constantinopole,- looking at the forest of impaled Turks, in Valahia). What toppled Vlad, if the sultan fled away? * cross the mountains into Valahia, to Targoviste - Vlad's capital. Most legends about Vlad are set here. Visit the ruins of his fortified palace. * continue to fortress Poienari - enlarged by Vlad in 1457. * dine and overnight in the village of Aref, across the hill, the only village in Romania remembering Vlad after 500 years (private houses, bathrooms, TV, telephone). * initiation show: "The Night of Prince Vlad the Impaler- Dracula" Day 9; The HERITAGE of VLAD Chained to one-another, the Count and the Prince will continue to inspire novels and movies and even behavioral models (the TSD has several requests from members abroad to lend Vlad to their countries and solve problems of crime, corruption, injustice, decaying morale etc).The Count is popular in other ways. Those who follow this tour will learn of amazing disclosures, paradoxical and unbelievable at first sight. But that's the reward granted by any society tour. * morning: optional climb to the ruins of fortress Poienari (1456 steps) * visit Mason Manole's legendary church in Curtea de Arges * departure to Bucharest: farewell dinner * overnight in Bucharest (5, 4, 3, 2 star hotels) Day 10: departure from Romania - maybe as TSD members, or knights, certainly as friends and doctors in Dracula. Keep in dracularian touch. B.T.T. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
