Bucharest, Romania-Jan 24

What did I know about Romania before going there……let’s see…Dracula, pointy, bright coloured , leather flat shoes, and that the oldest woman to give birth, at 66, was from…. Bucharest. Well, as we pondered of how little we knew of the country we were about to visit on the bus, Nikki asked exactly what I was thinking, just “Who is Dracula?” Well, I decided to do some research.

Dracula
“Dracula or Vlad the Impaler was the son of Vlad Dracul (1436-1442; 1443-1447) and grandson of Mircea the Old (1386-1418). Vlad Dracul was dubbed a knight of the Dragon Order by the Hungarian king. All the members of the order had a dragon on their coat of arms, and that is what brought him the nickname of Dracul (the Devil). Vlad the Impaler used to sign himself Draculea or Draculya - the Devil's son -, a name which was distorted into Dracula.



In order to escape the peril of losing his throne, Vlad would punish the Saxons. Sibiu and the neighbouring area were pillaged and burnt down by Vlad, and many Saxons were impaled. They say that impalling was one of Dracula's favourite punishments, but he was not the only one who made use of it at the time. Other German and Spanish princes would do the same. He used the method for boyars, thieves and criminals, Turks, Saxons and those who conspired against him; more than once it happened that a whole forest of sharp stakes with enemies' heads would rise around Târgoviste, the capital of Wallachia at the time. Horrified by these atrocities, the Saxons printed books and pamphlets in which they told about Vlad's cruelty. These booklets also reached Germany and Western Europe, where Dracula became known as a bloody tyrant.

In 1897, the Irish writer Bram Stoker published Dracula, which made Vlad the Impaler famous world-wide. Stoker read the stories about Dracula printed in the 15th and 16th centuries and was struck by his acts of cruelty. He decided to make him his character; he also read several books about Transylvania (a name of Latin origin, meaning "the country beyond the forests"), and thought that this "exotic" land would make a proper setting for Dracula's deeds.”

Impale- To pierce with a sharp stake or point.

Read more
http://www.rotravel.com/romania/history/app1.php

I bet you all wanted to know that eh? It’s okay, it’s what I’m here for….lol.

Fashion
I am happy to report that the shoe style has changed. All the girls are super pimped out in tight ankle length jeans, revealing a colourful pair of eye poppin stilettos. They all seem to have long, silky hair and are gorgeous. The guy cuties….on the other hand….were more difficult to spot. The three guys we stayed with (Alex, Adi and Dan), of course, were the exception, with their stylish clothes and sophistication.

Music
Our Night at the Roxbury began in a crowed rock bar, and progressed to a fun dance club. The music played in Bucharest is really good for the club. It’s all hip-hop dance music and it is played everywhere, from the taxi radio, to the breakfast diner, to the ice-rink, malls and….everywhere. It was a nice change to the Euro dance, pop music we here in the bars in Taksim.

Random things
 The Romanian language is latin and sounds very close to Italian. I had always thought it a slavic language.
 The people are a mix of Romans and Slavic.
 A popular drink: boiled red wine, added slices of apple and cinnamon…..hmmm.
 The people in Bucharest seemed to have a bit of attitude…not very friendly…maybe it was because we were foreigners.
 Most people speak at least a bit of English.
 The Romanian humour takes a bit of cultural understanding, it's a bit sarcastic and a bit self-deprecating.

Many Thanks
...to Alex, the former Istanbul trainee we went to visit, for having us. To his friends Adi and Dan, who were kind enough to let us crash at their flat. And to Nikki for someone to laugh with about our silliness and the silliness around us.

Romanian links
www.aboutromania.com
www.rotravel.com
www.romania.org
www.caferomania.com