We disembarked from the cruise and were picked up by Toni Tatar in his silver Opal Van for our three day two night excursion. When I first contacted Toni he told me that his wife was pregnant and he might be unable to be our guide if she delivered prematurely; he had received such rave reviews on TripAdvisor that I told him that, if possible, we really wanted him to work with us. And he ended up being able to join us!
On a side note, I was not able to get into any seat in the van on my own. It was so high up that I had to be pushed by Toni and/or John to reach it…..plus, there was not a hand hold to help pull myself up. Years ago I became unable to pull myself up onto the deck on the back of our motor boat so Jeff (son-in-law) fashioned a step made up of ski rope that I could put one foot onto to assist my lifting myself up onto the deck. The kids have all “lovingly” called it the “Bebe Hoist”! So John said that I need a Bebe Boost!!! Toni stopped at a little street market to see if there was something there that we could use — no luck!
We were off to Transylvania — first to Peles Castle in Sinaia. This was truly an exquisite site….we were gobsmacked! But on the way we passed some interesting sights.
And then we were coming to Peles Castle. King Carol I fell in love with the scenery in the Carpathian Mountain range and bought the land for a hunting lodge. Construction was begun in 1873. It is more of a palace than a castle and has a varied history. During the Communist era it was closed and used only rarely…and just for dignitaries. The others took the regular entrance but Toni and I got to go another way — no stairs! I couldn’t see everything, but very close. I was so glad not to miss anything.
I’ll let the pictures tell the story.
It was at least 2:30 by the time we finished looking and taking pictures and we were hungry….but it was really too late for lunch. So we were just going to have an ice cream. But John got up to the counter and changed courses — a slice! Pretty good pizza.
We took some pictures of the terrain after leaving Peles to show how mountainous an area it was.
We looked for and then stopped at a Romanian Home Depot to purchase a step stool for me. John named it the “Bebe Boost”.
We drove into Brasov to explore this small and charming village and spend the night. Toni dropped us off in front of our hotel on the main square so that we could check in before our walking tour of the town. I forgot to take a picture before messing up the room, but am including it from the next morning.
Just enough time left for a quick bite and a walk back to the hotel before we ran out of gas…..personally, that is! Just a reminder: rain was in the forecast for both of the last two days — we really lucked out with the weather!
More examples on “lovely” communist architecture!
In the morning the first stop was in the town of Prejmer to see the Fortified Church. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the largest fortified church in Romania. It was built in 1212-1213 by Teutonic Knights.
Inside the outer wall is a church, courtyard areas and 275 rooms built into the walls for the people to live in. Also there are holes in the outer wall to use for shooting or pouring hot oil upon assailants. A most interesting place!
The next stop was Bran Castle, the reputed home of Count Dracula. This however is a myth! But the mystique remains all around the castle. I was unable to enter this one at all, but rode all around the outside and gardens with Toni.
There was an elevator back down for me to a tunnel filled with pictures and videos and scary sounds.
I posed with Vlad, Maria and others in the tunnel….
I saw Dracula himself outside right before we had lunch.
After leaving Bran we were headed back to Bucharest for a tour of that city — next blog. There were some sightings along the way, the first being more houses of the time.
That’s all for now. One more day in Bucharest next!
Beth
Beth's Blogs 
Love all the beautiful flowers!
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