AN ENCOUNTER WITH COUNT DRACULA

AN ENCOUNTER WITH COUNT DRACULA

The experience of boarding of the ATR aircraft of Serbian Airways at the  Belgrade airport reminded one of the confusion that prevails in a small Indian  airport. However, the flight left quickly enough and the efficient cabin crew helped us kill time with a shot of Rakia bar and a pack of peanuts.

We landed in Bucharest , Romania, in about an hour and 20 minutes and managed to exit the airport after paying a fortune to the cabbie. The traffic in the city crawled but our patience  exhausted faster and after exchanging few expletives between the five of us , more to give vent to our frustration , we reached our hotel. 

As you grow older you get naughtier , so they say. We too felt that and so decided to visit the old city for a sting of club hopping. Well!, the place kept us spellbound for over four hours with streets of wayside restaurants serving some not so likable( for a vege) food  , faboulous music  ,  and drinks in addition to the various  exotic dances,  all attended to by beautiful ladies. Shahrukh Khan was there too and he decided to serve us drinks and play some antics adding to the fun. He was a steward who christened himself after the bollywood star , albeit temporarily, so as to keep us Indians in good humour. On the other hand , the cabiee who also boasted about his knowledge of bollywood stars and films , deftly coned us of a decent amount of euros. Fun and frolly do come at a cost so we went to bed consoling us thus.

The next morning brought us some bad news. The early morning trip to Transylvania got cancelled by the agency . We managed to make alternate arrangements and soon enough we had Sorei , the Cabbie and our local guide, taking us in his Mercedes Tirac , driving and narrating a abridged version of Romanian history.

We passed through a town that  was a base for the novel , Murder On the Orient Express,  the thriller  where Agatha Christe created the likable  character Poirot , who excelled in solving  murder mysteries.

Like most , one was introduced to the world of Vampires by Bram Stroker. 

Bram Stoker's Dracula was a early 90's American Gothic horror film directed and produced by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. If my memory  still exists,  Gary Oldman  played count Dracula and Anthony Hopkins played Professor  Van Helsing.

Most historians agree that Bram Stroker never visited Romania nor the Bran castle ,which we know as Dracula's castle. He seem to have used his vivid imagination to describe the castle. 

The castle is situated on the border between Transylvania and Wallachia, on DN73

The  castle was not ,in  itself,  very impressive nor huge. In addition one got the impression that people who lived there were small in size , based on the sizes of furniture. However, one did get an ere feeling as you go from one room to the other, which cannot be explained. Faint recollection of the book and the film helped experience the place. 

Nowadays its used as a place to hold party's for large groups , though you may end up as a vampire after you pay the price for holding the event. 

The glimpse of the countryside, typically scarce in  terms of people and homes, nevertheless had lovely shops that sell soveniers , cheese of all type, food if you are lucky to be a non vegetarian. People were smiling and friendly. You can beat the cold with the help of coffee. Well! Almost . If you can manage to communicate what you want. But then that activity too is part of the experience. 

Ready to eat food , cooked by yours truly ,  downed with the help of local spirits  saw us through dinner and then a good night's sleep.