In the previous column, we printed Part 1 of the the 2009 Transylvania Halloween Dracula Tour, where a group of travelers from all over the U.S. left for Romania's famed (or infamous) Transylvania on the 12th annual "vampire vacation" for fans and enthusiasts. One of the travelers, Beth Anne Tripi, kept a journal (a la Jonathan Harker), and here is the 2nd part of her report on the journey...
Tour Report Part 2:
Dracula Tour, Halloween, October 2009
Submitted by: Beth Anne Tripi, Photos by Chuck Mauter
Submitted by: Beth Anne Tripi, Photos by Chuck Mauter
Saturday, Oct. 31 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BEST DAY EVER!!!! We walked through Bistrita in the morning on our own just for fun and then piled in the bus to drive to Hotel Castle Dracula!!!! We drove through the Borgo Pass and I almost died of happiness. The mountains are so magnificent. Traveling in the bus for a few hours was always just as much fun as visiting the places we stopped. For me, good music on your I-Pod and staring out the window at the villages and mountains and rivers was a highlight of the trip! Mesmerizing was the word we chose. We arrived at the hotel at about 1pm and wandered until we found our rooms. It's huge and awesome! We had room 213. Oh, and once again, I hope you like taxidermy. A bunch of us had lunch in the hotel restaurant where I had the best soup of my life, and then wandered around. There is a little graveyard and bazaar to shop at, but other than that you are surrounded by farms and mountains. It was great! Photos don't do it justice.
BEST DAY EVER!!!! We walked through Bistrita in the morning on our own just for fun and then piled in the bus to drive to Hotel Castle Dracula!!!! We drove through the Borgo Pass and I almost died of happiness. The mountains are so magnificent. Traveling in the bus for a few hours was always just as much fun as visiting the places we stopped. For me, good music on your I-Pod and staring out the window at the villages and mountains and rivers was a highlight of the trip! Mesmerizing was the word we chose. We arrived at the hotel at about 1pm and wandered until we found our rooms. It's huge and awesome! We had room 213. Oh, and once again, I hope you like taxidermy. A bunch of us had lunch in the hotel restaurant where I had the best soup of my life, and then wandered around. There is a little graveyard and bazaar to shop at, but other than that you are surrounded by farms and mountains. It was great! Photos don't do it justice.
We got ready for the Halloween party at about 6pm and met as a group at 8pm. I was Wednesday Addams! My roommate Susan was a dead version of herself. Donna and Janet were witches. Chuck was the devil (in costume and in plain clothes haha) and Brett was a Vampire King. Jayson was a FREAKY vampire with white contacts and Rick was a pirate-pire with fangs. Emily was a pirate nurse Scallywag and Amanda was Medusa (FABULOUS hair that night). Our pregnant traveler Kelly (5 months, you go!) was the Egyptian Goddess of Fertility and her roommate Nancy was a spooky witch. Mrs. Denise Herman was a sexy devil lady and her husband Scott was a cool pagan/druid/warlock.
When we met in the lobby there was another group from Kazakhstan/Russia and they were in costume as well. The local news crew was there and Kelly and Brett were video interviewed. We were lead outside by “Death,” lighting our path with a torch, as local gypsy musicians played for us. IT WAS A CLEAR NIGHT WITH A FULL MOON!!!!! Need I say more? And although it was about 20 degrees out, the bonfires and happiness kept us warm. A local farmer whose field came up to the hotel was outside with his dogs and sheep cheering us on.
Then we went inside for dinner and dancing. After dinner, we went to the crypt in the basement with the vampire coffin. This was the most scary and fun thing of the trip! We had to descend down a tiny staircase, which Radu turned the lights off on us, of course, and then traveled through a tiny hallway light by candle only. Once we got in the crypt, five of us girls were lined up against the wall innocently listening to out tour guide. And then the candle blew out...It was pitch dark and we all screamed!!! When the lights came back on we had gone from a line of confident travelers into a pile of scaredy cats clinging to each other. I thought Kelly was kidnapped, but she was just crouching behind Emily! The ambiance and your imagination can do funny things! All of us took turns lying in the coffin, except Kelly because of her pregnancy and we all agreed it was too spooky. Then we headed back upstairs (some information was left out intentionally as not to spoil it for future travelers. Go see for yourself!).
Brett won the costume contest and he got to dance with a Russian beauty queen for his prize (seriously, she came in 5th in a beauty contest a few days earlier. Radu said, but he thought she should have won. He loved her!). Now if you heard legends of our group being intoxicated, they originated on this night! Some people were gone! And someone was knocking on my door all night. I was fairly sure who it was, but I didn't answer just in case it was a vampire wishing to be invited in.
Day 5 - Sunday, Nov. 1:
Today we did a lot of traveling on the bus, but we needed a rest and as I said, I loved looking out the window! Chuck was awarded a prize from Radu and Stefan for being, overall, the friendliest and most entertaining member of the group. His prize was a specially selected Romanian Hustler magazine. HAHA! We stopped along the way at a castle (on a hill of course) and climbed another covered staircase. I won't lie, I have no idea where we were (HAHA) - somebody else can identify that. This place was great though and I was ready to move in! I took a lot of photos here. Many of them were looking down at the village below. There was a small cafe here and we had coffees and hot chocolates.
Day 5 - Sunday, Nov. 1:
Today we did a lot of traveling on the bus, but we needed a rest and as I said, I loved looking out the window! Chuck was awarded a prize from Radu and Stefan for being, overall, the friendliest and most entertaining member of the group. His prize was a specially selected Romanian Hustler magazine. HAHA! We stopped along the way at a castle (on a hill of course) and climbed another covered staircase. I won't lie, I have no idea where we were (HAHA) - somebody else can identify that. This place was great though and I was ready to move in! I took a lot of photos here. Many of them were looking down at the village below. There was a small cafe here and we had coffees and hot chocolates.
After this, we drove a little longer and in the evening we stopped at a cemetery along the road. Radu explained that in Romania, they celebrate All Saints Day by visiting their deceased relatives and lighting candles at their graves. The entire burial grounds were candle-lit in the dusk and it was another clear, full moon. It was beautiful. That night we arrived in Sibiu and checked into the Ramada. FANCY! It was the prettiest Ramada I have ever seen, and the most normal (translation – American style) beds I had seen all week. We were released to wander Sibiu on our own and find a place for dinner. Romania is a dog-lover's country, but particularly in this city! We had a pair of dogs who joined our group and wandered with us. If we entered a store they would curl up outside and wait for us to come out. I loved it!
Day 6 - Monday, Nov. 2:
In the morning, we took a walking tour of Sibiu. We found our dog friends again and then some! Our most faithful follower had joined us in the evening as well as in the morning, so a few of us found it fitting to name him. We named him “Vladdie.” We toured two churches, and wandered in the burial vaults where Prince Mihnea the Bad (Vlad connection) and Valentini Frank (Frankenstein connection) are located. We saw Liar's Bridge and the Cat Eyes of the city. Sibiu is a great place to take pictures, and there is a post office easily available if you are looking to mail post cards.
Day 6 - Monday, Nov. 2:
In the morning, we took a walking tour of Sibiu. We found our dog friends again and then some! Our most faithful follower had joined us in the evening as well as in the morning, so a few of us found it fitting to name him. We named him “Vladdie.” We toured two churches, and wandered in the burial vaults where Prince Mihnea the Bad (Vlad connection) and Valentini Frank (Frankenstein connection) are located. We saw Liar's Bridge and the Cat Eyes of the city. Sibiu is a great place to take pictures, and there is a post office easily available if you are looking to mail post cards.
After this, we boarded the coach and drove to Poenari Castle, the true Dracula’s castle – Vlad’s fortress. Ok, I know I have said this before, but this was DEFINITELY my favorite. My eyes must have bugged when I saw how high we had to go because Radu laughed when he saw my face. The trick to the 1500 stairs is to take your time and take frequent breaks. If you just go slowly, it's really not so bad. Every one in our group made it except two, but it is completely understandable because it was frozen and slippery in parts. Rick fell (fall #2) because the stairs were slippery. Brett went to save him and then he fell too. THANKFULLY, they were both fine. The higher we got, the foggier and more snow-covered it became. Reaching the top is an indescribable feeling. We were fortunate, in my opinion, to have this foggy, cold atmosphere. Most past tours climbed to the ruins in warmer weather. This was super gloomy!
This was another place I was ready to move into. We couldn't get pictures of the land below because of the fog, but it was almost better not to know how high we really were! This is where my memory card filled up. I had to hurry and delete other pictures to get the photos I wanted. Future travelers: take two memory cards! Oh, and a special shout out to Kelly. She and her pregnant belly made it to the top! We just had to take the coolest pregnant woman belly shot ever up in Vlad's castle. After the somewhat easier, but still slippery, descent, we got back on the bus and traveled back to Bucharest for our last evening.
We passed the border marker between Transylvania and Wallachia, but I had no pictures left. Dinner was at Club Dracula! This is one of the greatest places on earth! So cool! The dinner is interesting....and we were joined by the Count. Donna was kidnapped by him and was bit in front of an audience in the basement. Most of us were bitten by this vampire.
We checked back in to the Rin Grand for our last night and a few of us had our farewell party with drinks in the lobby together. Thank you again to Chuck for buying drinks! Rumor has it that Rick and Brett were in the hotel nightclub until 5 AM!
Day 7 - Tuesday, Nov. 3:
We slept in today and had breakfast at the hotel. We met at 11am and traveled to the airport to go home. Donna and Janet left us early because they had an earlier flight to Edinburgh, so we said goodbye the night before to them. Nancy was staying in Bucharest for a few more days, so she remained at the hotel. It was sad. I wanted to stay. At the airport we said goodbye to Stefan, who had been good to us, safely maneuvering a giant luxury coach through the mountains. Radu stayed with us until we were checked in, and through security. He was so great! We all couldn't thank him enough. Rick and I chatted the whole way from Bucharest to Paris and we went through his photos of the trip. Three cheers for digital cameras! Then, I had good luck from Paris to JFK and had the whole row on the airplane to myself! I slept. At JFK, my buddy Susan and I had to shout goodbye and run because our flight back to Buffalo was leaving in an hour and a half and we had to get our bags, go through customs, and travel from terminal 1 to terminal 5. We checked into our flight with 1 minute to spare...
This is my point of view of our trip, but I think all of our group had similar experiences and loved every minute of it. Thanks for reading!
We slept in today and had breakfast at the hotel. We met at 11am and traveled to the airport to go home. Donna and Janet left us early because they had an earlier flight to Edinburgh, so we said goodbye the night before to them. Nancy was staying in Bucharest for a few more days, so she remained at the hotel. It was sad. I wanted to stay. At the airport we said goodbye to Stefan, who had been good to us, safely maneuvering a giant luxury coach through the mountains. Radu stayed with us until we were checked in, and through security. He was so great! We all couldn't thank him enough. Rick and I chatted the whole way from Bucharest to Paris and we went through his photos of the trip. Three cheers for digital cameras! Then, I had good luck from Paris to JFK and had the whole row on the airplane to myself! I slept. At JFK, my buddy Susan and I had to shout goodbye and run because our flight back to Buffalo was leaving in an hour and a half and we had to get our bags, go through customs, and travel from terminal 1 to terminal 5. We checked into our flight with 1 minute to spare...
This is my point of view of our trip, but I think all of our group had similar experiences and loved every minute of it. Thanks for reading!
All of the Terror Vacations we have reported on can be found at Tours of Terror / Vacations.
Read Horror Happenings' report on the Weekend of The Witch (Salem, MA) here.
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Comments
wow what a trip that must have been thanks for letting us in on it
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