Count Dracula, Bulgaria, Istanbul and Home

We enjoyed our sea day in route to Constanta Romania. Finished the last blog post and mostly took it easy. 

Castle Bran

Because the ports in Ukraine were taken off the itinerary, we stayed two days in Constanta.  The benefit for us was the ability to take an overnight trip to Transylvania to visit Dracula’s castle.  It was a long bus ride but the scenery was pretty so all in all it was a good day.  First we went through the plains, Kansas came to mine.  Green flat fields o wheat, forever.  Finally we reached Bucharest and crossed the Danube and a Danube channel that was dug at a great cost of lives.  We skirted town so did not see the old part of town that is known Little Paris due to it’s architecture.  More plains and then we hit the foothills and on up into the mountains—again terrain like the swiss alps, sometimes green and rolling and other times jagged and rocky with a few remnants of snow.  We made several stops and had lunch along the way before reaching the Bran Castle aka Dracula Castle,  around 5:00 p.m.  

Castle Bran

The castle, built in the 14th century, is quite the impressive place high on a hill it towers above green hills scattered with homes. Up the many stairs and we entered. Now for some it is a disappointment as the castle was gifted to a Queen who renovated and refurbished it over the years to be a quite nice place. Not the dark and spooky place you envision when thinking of Count Dracula. We climbed up and down staircases visiting all sorts of rooms. The kings bedroom, the queens sitting rooms, card rooms, armor rooms, and a music room. Small openings were equipped with little canons. But more impressive was the ornately carved doors and woodwork. We did climb up a secret passage which is not much of a secret. 

Count Dracula

Dracula or Vlad the Impaler was the son of Vlad Dracul who was a knight in the Dragon Order The older Vlad got the nickname of Dracul from the dragon on the coat of arms (the devil).  Vlad the Impaler  signed his name as Draculea, the Devil’s son which was distorted to Dracula.  He was know for his cruelty and that is why he later became associated with the name sack bloodthirsty vampire in the 1897 novel Dracula.    A legend was born and that legend continues today.

Palace of Parliment

Bucharest has wide tree lined boulevards and Belle Epoque buildings.  We went to the Palace of the Parliament, the world’s second largest building to the Pentagon.  WOW, it is huge, twelve stories and more than 1000 rooms.  It was built to be the countries headquarters of the communist government in the 1980’s and now houses the Romanian Parliament.  Four stories are below ground,  We walked 2 kilometers inside and saw less than 2% of the building.  The extravagance in its marble floors, columns and walls, mahogany ceilings and trim, oak multi storied doors, crystal chandeliers, hand made rugs and curtains are not to believed.  Most of the material comes from Romania, the mahogany was a gift from Zaire and the silk for the curtains was made in Romania after importing the silk worms from China.  There is a nuclear bunker and one of the rooms features a “sliding roof large enough for a helicopter to fly through”  Only a rumor, the roof does not open.  Romanians have a great sense of humor and lover to tell stories some of which are fictional, there are lots of them about this palace.  One last thing—no are conditioning, their paranoid leader, later executed by firing squad was afraid of being poisoned though an air conditioning system.

Off to lunch to a Bavarian style restaurant, the Beer Wagon, built in 1879 and frequented by the Bucharest aristocracy.  It has served food and beer continuously since then.  Outside we found a gem of a monastery with a small church with intact frescoes much like we have seen in larger more elaborate and ornate churches.  The smallness and simplicity of this one was appealing.  We learned through our conversation with the women tending the church that the American Embassy had donated funds to help with its restoration.  Once she knew where we were from she was delighted to share this information with us and made sure we also visited the courtyard.  Sometimes these brief encounters hold the best memories.   The lovely, peaceful courtyard had many remnants of a cemetery and buildings collected.

We took a short walk around the old streets, there 16 cobble stone pedestrian streets.  We were fascinated by the ornate statues and building decorations and domed roofs.  Street musicians, cafes, and a glass floor over the remains of the real old city.  Back to the bus for several hours to re-board the ship headed for Nessebar.

Next stop Nessebar Bulgaria, a major seaside resort with sandy beaches in a strategic location of the Black Sea.  The old part of town sits on a rocky peninsula and is connected to the main land by a narrow isthmus.  We tendered ashore and walked through the town of small shops, restaurants, seven or eight church ruins from various centuries and old stone and timber homes and remnants of the second century city walls.  The church construction is unique with layers of red and white brick and rosettes and discs for decoration above the archways. 

The highlight was when  Sue said hello to an older woman in a back alley who asked where we were from.  She was highly appreciative of the US and then tried desperately to engage us in conversation.  I think the house was 200 years old, and her children live in homes nearby.  She invited us in to see her very modest home and we stood in the doorway.  Many smiles, guesses to her meaning and then we took pictures and were on our way.  Ah, if only we spoke Bulgarian.

Back to Istanbul!  Fun to wake up on the Bosphorus with boats going to and fro.  One time in the afternoon Nancy counted 38 boats in view all in motion.  Ferries, tankers, sightseeing cruises, police, and private boats….We choose to take a tour to see a few places we had missed a few weeks ago.  Turns out only one of the sights was new.  The Rustem Pasa Mosque is small but magnificently decorated with ethnic tiles.  Blue and white tiles of 20 or so designs ornamented the walls.  We found it prettier than the Blue Mosque, although the grandeur of the Blue Mosque is breathtaking.  

Cistern

Medusa

Nancy finally remembered that she had been to the cistern, an underground water collection system built by the Romans.  It has 336 marble columns many taken from remains of pagan churches and to this day is strong enough to support the city above and still collects water.  Two of the columns have bases that were once ornamental tops depicting Medusa.  In one her head is sideways and the other, she is standing on her head.  Quite humorous, those Romans.  

Chora Church

Chora Church Dome

Chora Church, again a small gem that we had seen many years ago, never gets “old”.  The walls are covered with mosaics depicting the life of Mary.  Early religions in the region worshipped the mother goddess and the current connection to Mary in modern religions is rooted in this history.  When converted to a mosque, the walls were covered with wooden panels to conceal the icons.  Now as a museum, the panels have been removed to unearth the fine art of mosaic tiling.  When money became scarce, the last sections of the church were decorated with stunning frescoes, many of which still remain intact.  

Mary, Chora Church

One more trip to the spice market to buy apple tea.  The afternoon involved lots of verandah time—watching the ships, relaxing and appreciating the trip.  As evening approached, as promised, the bridge over the Bosphorus was lit up and periodically changed colors.  

Now is a good time to muse about the ship and the people we met.  Meant to accommodate 670 passengers, we had 540 or so   We kept wondering where everybody was.  The port cancellations in the Ukraine caused people to cancel.  We are glad we stayed on, but must admit, our first four weeks were our favorite part of the trip.  But we love not having to pack and unpack and pack again and again….The food onboard was exceptional as always.  We forgo the grand dining room and fancy steak and pasta restaurants to eat on the back deck of the ship outside the buffet restaurant, which has much of the same food.  We find our favorite wait staff and feel comfortable there.  We meet people in the laundry room, at meals, on tours and sometimes just around.  Two guys each named John traveling with two women, each named Liz from Australia were great fun.  Jennifer invited us to dinner where we met Keith and Lynn and Marlene.  Keith and Lynn went to Dracula’s castle with us so we had great times during that trip.  Rose and Lou were on the pre-trip and they must have gotten tired of eating with us, as we often joined them for meals.  Juliette and Henry were good photo buddies.  And Raelene who we met in the laundry room has invited us to Picton, New Zealand.

A few factoids:

Tulips are from Turkey—exported to Holland.

We followed the path Jason and the Argonauts took to the Golden Fleece.

80% of the world’s hazelnuts come from Turkey.

At is the highest mountain in Turkey where they think Noah’s ark is to be found.

They have just discovered a 12,000 year old temple in Turkey.

Florence Nightingale worked during the Crimean war in Sinop.

And so we close, heading to the airport at 2:30 a.m.  Through Amsterdam and non-stop to MSP.  Looking forward to seeing Jesse and catching up with our lives at home.  We left when spring was still amongst the missing, we are hoping we have a little bit before hitting full blown summer.  Peace and happy travels.  

PS made it home safely and are glad after a wonderful trip to be here with Jessie, our cat.