Transylvania - Dracula country!

Here among rugged mountainsof Transylvania; spires and cobblestones form part of the old settlements, around which vampire legends abound. It is the latter (and THE CASTLE) that led to its Dracula links.

The highlights:
Sighisoara is a hilltop fortress, which is the birthplace of Vlad Tepes, sometimes called the "real" Dracula being renowned for activities such as driving stakes through people! The house in which he was born is a restaurant today. With a Saxon clock tower and Gothic churches and a huge hilltop cemetery, my visit seemed dominated by music as I attended 2 classical music concerts and many young people were carrying around and playing violins.
Brasov's old town centre is full of 800 year old buildings including the Black Church. But the reason most people stay is to visit the nearby Bran Castle - Dracula's castle. Attractive from the distance on its hilltop, inside there are no evident Dracula links as you get pushed along in the crush of people following the one-way tourist route throught he castle.

More interesting is the ruins of Rasnov Fortress, which is also nearby. A stunning location on the mountain top, one can easily see why only once were its defences broken.
Not actually part of Transylvania, but also visited as a day trip from Brasov was Sinaia, home to the stunning Peles Castle. Let you imagine run riot when the word castle is mentioned, the image produced is probably something likes Peles. So much ornamentation, gold, carved wood, venetian glass, marble with statues and frescoes outside. Incredible.

Hot, hot Hungary

And it is the weather I am talking about having sweltered through my time in Hungary, except for the last two days. Fortunately after the two trains I arrived on, the rest were air-conditioned.

Started in Sopron, a small town on the Austria-Hungary border, half way between Budapest and Vienna. It was so small I didn't even see a McDonalds there (only place so far I think). It has a beautiful Old Town with still much of the centre surrounded by original Roman walls. Most of the buildings are homes to the local residents with only the odd restaurant and museum here and there. Not many tourists but the highlight for most is to climb up the fire tower that is built above one of the entrances to the Old Town. Nice views but unique because it is built on Roman foundations, then in two different styles as it was made taller at different times. They also had a very interesting archeological museum. Need museums with a difference now as I have seen so many. There is also a Goat Church, presently under renovation, that has a cavorting goat in bas relief above the door. A very quiet, relaxing place to stay and the Pension I stayed in was very nice with a great breakfast.

A local speciality

Then followed the border south east, through agricultural lands very much reminiscent
of the Wimmera or Western District plains in Victoria, to Pecs in the south of the country. The most bizarre building here was the mosque church on the main square. Originally a church was built on the site, then when the Turks invaded they knocked down the church and used the bricks to build a mosque, then when the Turks left it again became a church with the minaret removed. Other sections have since been added. So it still has the painted cupola traditional to mosques, mosque lamps and some other traditional mosque features. Bizarre. Also in Pecs there are a number of Roman ruins visible but unfortunately the museum with the best examples didn't open while I was there and I couldn't find the Porcelain Museum either. The other two interesting things I saw were the synagogue and cathedral.

The Monastery-Church

Then it was on to Budapest, Hungary's capital, with a very attractive location on the Danube River. There is the castle area on one side of the river and the Old Town on the other. Lots and lots of tourists, including tour groups on buses and also groups touring on huge boats along the Danube. A very stunning Basilica, where last night a concert was held in the square in front - a full orchestra playing. With so many museums, the only one I went to was the National Museum where I learnt something about Hungary's history. I didn't realise that Hungary has been a country, and sometimes powerful one at that, since the 9th century. And for trivia - did you know Hungary has used the metric system since 1875? There was also a very attractive synagogue here, one that is more attractive than most. An attractive city, but I think I prefer Prague maybe because I visited it first.

Changing of the guard, Prague Castle

Fisherman's Bastion, Prague Castle

Slovakia Sample

Had I had better weather in Zakopane, Poland I would have done a day trip into the High Tatras in northern Slovakia but that wasn't to be. So instead I just had 4 days in south west Slovakia, Trencin and Bratislava to be precise.

I decided to stop over in Trencin on my way to Bratislava after reading some good reports about it. A small town, I was struck by the picturesque and commanding and castle that towered over the town as i arrived by train. There was a resemblance to some castles seen in picture books or even fancy decorated cakes. So I trekked up there to have a look after arriving to join a tour in Slovakian - so didn't understand a thing that was said but got to see inside all areas of the castle. lots of art works on display but also history and archaeological relics from digs in the area. There were some English explanations for the displays fortunately so was actually quite interesting. Besides Trencin has an attractive Old Town (as most places in eastern Europe do), relaxed atmosphere, cafes so just wandered around and had a nice meal there.

Trencin Castle

Bratislava is bigger and much more touristy - the highlights there are a 4-poster bed castle, which wasn't that inspiring. I visited a museum of clocks, which had some interesting things especially tiny sundials but lacked specific details and I think the clock museum I saw in New Zealand was better. Spent one day taking a short cruise down the Danube River to Devin Castle, which is still in ruins but such a strategic location. there was walls, some windows, arches and foundations but it was so hot that my exploration was limited. Then took the boat back again. The drama with this was when we lefty and went under a few bridges we turned around, went back to the starting point and changed boats as the motor on ours was broken!!!! Bratislava is not a place I would recommend highly. two days there was plenty.

Bratislava Castle from the Danube
The most photographed sight in Bratislava - a bronze statue

Krakow

It was good to spend some days in the one place, Krakow. My first shock was all the English I heard while walking around, so many tourists with many English speakers. Krakow is a very pretty town with lots of colourful old buildings that have not been rebuilt like in Warsaw and Wroclaw. It has a great town square with an old hall in the middle plus a bell tower and a cathedral on one corner with outdoor cafes and restaurants encircling the square.

There is also a castle on a hilltop overlooking both the centre of town and the river, what a location. It, as in so much of Poland, has a stunning cathedral which also has a huge bell up the top. I also got to see the state rooms for free, as free on Sunday. I liked the friezes around the ceilings and the wooden ceilings in some of them and the 'framed' ceiling paintings in some of them and huge tapestries including ones featuring the building and loading of the ark. Also visited the Crown Treasury and Weaponry - so many swords, cannons, guns and armour in one place but also some absolutely stunning plates, cups and clocks made from gold. Both the weapons and the riches were decorated with gems and carving and painting. Wow.
Had the confronting and very sobering experience of visiting Auschwitz-Birkenhou concentration and extermination camps. At Auschwitz it was the collection of 43 000 pairs of shoes and false legs and crutches amongst other things that brougt it home. Also the photographs of some interred and the short time they actually survived there, either being sent to the gas chambers or dying of illness or starvation. The film I saw at the start was very confronting, so much so that children under 14 can't watch it. In contrast it was the size of Birkenhau - it is huge, and the chimneys being all that remain of many of the huts plus the size of the partially demolished crematoria and gas chambers. I can see why it will hopefully encourage visitors to do everything in their power to prevent this ever happening again.
Following on from this I visited the Jewish Quarter in Krakow where there was a Krakow-focused Holocaust Museum, particulalry interesting because of the personal stories it told. Some so sad and some with hope and amazing survival.

On the other extreme I also visited the Salt Mines where salt used to be dug from underground. But while mining the salt, the miners also created lots of salt statues of people and scenes as well as a chapel and most amazinglz a church which was entirely made of salt - the altar, bas reliefs on the walls, a statue of Pope John Paul II after his visit and statues. Amazing. What impressed me the most was the fact that miners did it rather than artists.