A HEARTFELT WELCOME TO TRANSYLVANIA
5 days in Transylvania, or, "Dracula Slept Here" (w/ apologies to Ms. Edit Forró)
Some have suggested that Transylvania is not for the faint of heart. While this region conjures up the need for iron clad turtleneck sweaters and tons of garlic draped around your neck for most silly minded Americans (such as myself), the reality is something else altogether.
Susie Brooks and I left Budapest last Friday in the company of Edit Forró, in Susie's intrepid little Honda SUV. After hearing dire predictions about road conditions and sleeping accommodations, I must say that if you have a good set of tires to begin with, a good sense of humor and decent driving ability will get you any place you care to go. We stayed mostly on the primary roads, and found their condition to be as good as anything in Hungary.
The Transylvania region is beautiful, and while we found ourselves driving for hours on end, they were not tiresome as the scenery and towns always provided a feast for the eyes. The history of the area is as diverse and fascinating as the scenery. Excavations around the Cluj-Napoca-Kolozsvár (unofficially also considered as the capital of transylvania) region have dated Dacian settlements to the first century AD. Through the centuries there has been a strong influence from both Saxons and Hungarians, and the region, I think, is that much more enriched by their presence and influence.
Our first day found us driving through quaint villages with flower gardens galore. We soon found ourselves gawking at fantastically whimsical tin bedecked roofs on some homes in the Huedin-Bánffyhunyad area. Imagine a two or three story brick dwelling with a multitude of balconies and alcoves and towers all topped off by fanciful designs in tin (aluminum?). Our first night was spent at a lovely hotel at Gyalu/Gilău outside of the town of Cluj-Napoca-Kolozsvár, where we had the best freshly prepared trout I have ever tasted. Cluj-Napoca-Kolozsvár was the birthplace of Hunyadi Mátyás (King Mathias Corvinus), often considered one of Hungary's greatest rulers. It also has an imposing 15th century Gothic church in the town square.
Although this city (aka Kolozsvár and Klausenburg) has fewer historical sites than Sibiu-Nagyszeben-Hermannstadt and is not in as lovely a setting as Braşov-Brassó-Kronstadt, it should not be missed.
The second day found us driving north and east towards the the Székely region, much deeper into Transylvania and definitely much more off of the beaten path. This area is also known as the "Little Switzerland" of Transylvania. This day had three wonderful highlights: the first was the 15th/16th Century castle ruins and monastery of Castle Lázár at Gyergyószárhegy-Lăzarea; the second was driving through the mountains, lake and river gorge of the Gyilkos tó-Veres tó-Lacul Roşu Nature Reserve; and the last (and best) was sharing a delicious meal with Edit Forró's family in Gyergyószentmiklós-Gheorgheni-Niklasmarkt. Since we made such a good first impression, we didn't want to ruin the illusion, so declined Edit's mother's kind offers of a place for the night. Instead, we traveled on through another beautiful valley, also the region where many of Romania's Jews settled and were later evicted, and spent the night at a lovely hotel Castel in Sfântu Gheorghe-Sepsiszentgyörgy.
The next day found us doing alot of U-turns and driving in circles in the area of Braşov, but we always ultimately arrived at our destinations. Brasov-Brassó-Kronstadt is a medieval town flanked by the beginnings of the Făgăraş/Fogaras Mountains - an area as lovely as any I have seen in Europe. The oldest and largest Gothic church in Romania, known as the Black Church, is located in the city center. After negotiating our way out of Braşov-Brassó-Kronstadt, we were off to see the reputed "Dracula's Castle" in Bran-Törcsvár. While I am sure it is interesting to see, the whole place screams 'tourist trap', and should be avoided on weekends at all costs. More interesting was a large Renaissance fortification located at the top of a hill in a village just north of Bran-Törcsvár called Râşnov-Barcarozsnyó. After running away shrieking in horror (at the tackiness) from Bran Castle, we found ourselves driving in the beautiful region of the Făgăraş-Fogaras Mountains. There is an interesting castle fortification in the town of Făgăraş-Fogaras, but unfortunately we did not have time to stop. Nor did we have time to see the medieval town of Sighişoara-Segesvár-Schassburg, alleged birthplace of Vlad Ţepeş, aka Count Dracula. And now I shall digress and become opinionated and politically incorrect.
Why the Romanian powers-that-be have decided to continue to encourage associating the Dracula myth with the Transylvanian region is beyond me. According to Bram Stoker's novel, the castle would actually be located more eastward, perhaps along the border of Transylvania and Bucovina in Moldavia. The vampire legends actually seem to have first appeared in Irish lore, so how it migrated to Transylvania (OK, OK, it changed into a bat and flew) is puzzling. Except for Vlad Ţepeş' rather unfortunate affection for using spikes as, er, punishment, and his brief stays in a few Transylvanian castles (of which Castle Bran was not one), there is no other way of associating this overly mischievous character with the fictional Count Dracula. Transylvania as a region can stand alone without all of the ridiculous Dracula hype. The Romanian government would be better served if they concentrated on promoting the region's physical beauty and historical significance rather than encouraging ridiculous ghost stories.
The rest of the day was spent driving through the Făgăraş/Carpathian-Kárpátok region, and through the medieval town of Sibiu-Nagyszeben-Hermannstadt. According to one travel guide, if you only visit one town in Romania, it should be Sibiu.
We drove on to the town of Hunedoara and stayed at a hotel on the edge of Lake Cinciş about 10 km south of town. The dominating sight in this region is, unfortunately, not the fantastic castle of Hunedoara-Vajdahunyad, but the abandoned steel mills surrounding the town. As ugly as they are, they are readily forgotten when one spies Hunedoara Castle/ Vajdhahunyad Vára for the first time. As far as I am concerned, if you only have one castle to see - and Transylvania is chock full of wonderful ones - see the 14th century Gothic Castle Hunedoara-Vajdahunyad Vára. A smaller copy of this famous castle can be seen in Városliget Park in Budapest. From this castle, we headed back to Budapest via Szeged.
I would encourage anyone with an interest in regions of great historical significance and physical beauty to travel to Transylvania. It has much to offer, and you won't have to lug along those pesky silver bullets, spikes and garlic cloves after all.
Bon voyage!
Respectfully yours,
Jill Wintersteen