Cuz I can't really remember what I want to blog about for these 2 places now.
Also... I'm feeling itchy all over after a failed attempt to kill a mini cockroach. I managed to concuss him and I think he's fallen into the dark depths of 'behind-the-cupboard' which is bad cuz I like to keep an eye on my enemies... and this makes it tricky. Now I keep thinking it's out to take revenge so I'm itching. Herm is way up high, and hence is unable to kill my cockroach for me. :(
To quit whining and get on with long-overdue photos...
Yep yep! Now I use COLLAGE - Picasa. This means that some of my photos get cut. Ah well... for convenience... some sacrifices are inevitable.
Photos of Rasnov as above. We took a bus here from Brasov. The driver had to tell us to alight cuz the surroundings of that stop... is like the private housing area @ Bukit Timah. (Not as posh). Anyhow... you just can't imagine that you drop there to get to some ruins of a fortress. So we alighted... and there was nothing we can do but to follow the road and some obscure signs to Cetatea Rasnov. =)
Using alpha for rows and numerals for columns. You see twin following the wide trail in D1. The climb is really worth it - as you can see from A3, B4, C2 and C3. You can see miles away from the top of the fortress.
"In the morning light, during their trip through Transylvania, the future knights will see the profile of the Rasnov fortress. Its mysterious quietness draws them to it, as if hiding in its thick, eroded walls, terrible secrets are waiting to be discovered"
- Quoted from http://www.spirit.ro/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=42&Itemid
Supposedly, a well in the fortress' courtyard - dug by 2 Turkish prisoners in exchange for their liberty (Not sure if they got it or not) made the fortress inconquerable since the inhabitants are able to survive on the water supply from within.
It's pretty... full of brickish ruins - but frankly, I'm not so impressed.. After roaming around and checking out an ancient female skeleton remains beneath the ground in one of the cave-ish exhibition areas, we went into 1 of the few stores within the fortress. I picked up a dracula postcard and because of that, got into a conversation with a Romanian about the tale of Dracula.
I suppose this is a good time for the tale of Vlad Tepes. =)
Vlad Tepes was born in Sighisoara, Romania - one place we wanted to visit but didn't manage to. Tepes really means - impaler. That's what he does; he impales his enemies and prisoners. This exceedingly cruel form of punishment was what gave him his fame. To judge him solely on that would probably to unjust to the prince with one deep sense of justice. It is said that he dislikes sloth and greed. During his short reign, he left a golden cup by the drinking fountain so that his people can use it to drink - and nobody dared to steal the cup even though it's left unattended - till the day he died.
According to the guide, there are two rather famous stories. One was of how he was traveling around and he saw a man with an unpatched shirt. So he went over to enquire about the shoddiness of his attire. The man told him that his wife didn't want to darn it. When Vlad Tepes found out that the man's wife was a lazy woman who doesn't work or mend her husband's clothes, he ordered for her to be impaled.
The other was about his victory over the Turks during one of the numerous battles. He imprisoned some Turkish soldiers overnight and ordered his men to pick up all the corpses (dead in battle) - even those from his own army, dress them in Turkish uniform and have them impaled and stuck to the ground all around the prison so that he can release the prisoners of war and scare them silly. They will then go back to their Turkish Sultan and tell him to cut the crap and stop bothering Vlad's reign.
However short his reign, I guess he was quite cruelly cool.
So I was saying... we heard all these from a tour guide we met in the shop. He invited us to join his mini tour to Bran where he'll tell us more stories. In need of a transport and wanting to hear more about what we're seeing... we bargained a great deal more... and D4 sees us happily in the vehicle on our way to Bran! =)
Bran Castle. This is nicknamed Dracula's Castle. In truth? Vlad Tepes only stayed here for (I can't rem) 1 or 2 nights - as a prisoner (A2) en route to - I don't remember where either. Yeah... Queen Maria and King Ferdinand were the ones who actually got to live here. See B1? The fur skin rug on the floor is real - killed by King Ferdinand on one of his trips.
Queen Maria's heart is kept near one little cottage around the castle. The guide said sth about her exclaiming how her heart will always be here - and hence when she died, they had her heart brought here and her body buried next to her husband's some place else. mm..
B2 is worth mentioning. We got to try cheese and whiskey! The cheese's really good stuff - so we bought some back. =) The whiskey's really strong though. Just 1 teeny weeny sip and my stomach felt warm for ages and ages...
Hehs many apologies about the extremely brief write up and slip shodish appearance of the entry... Sher is seriously a lil tired after being sad about Herm's departure from Warsaw. Will continue with Brasov and finally to the 1500 photos from the 2-week Western European escape w Herm in between writing up the reports... =) Take care all...
Btw, I'm interested in visiting Slovakia. Anyone has any tips for me?
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