Choose another map, showing:

• Bulgaria
• Ukraine
• Turkey
• Mediterranean
• Europe
• Eurasia
• Eurasia, Africa & Pacific
• The World

Other entries in Bucharest

Row, row, row your boat gently down...to Dracula

I woke up this morning a little dehydrated...understandably so...but overall I felt pretty good. Puiu was coming to pick up Shan, Nick, and I for a tour to Lake Snagov at 10am. FYI - Lake Snagov's draw is a monastery on an island that was heavily patronized by Vlad Dracula. Supposedly at the end of his life he was brought there and buried. He is still held in very high esteem. (For more information - Google it, or read 'The Historian,' it's an excellent book) Anyway, I've been desperate to go see it. We stopped at some sort of Palace on the way and had alot of fun taking pictures with the huge Lenin statue that has been unceremoniously ditched on its side in back of one of the out-buildings. There is a picture of Shannon sitting on his head. After a few laughs we were back on our way through the Romanian countryside where horse and wagon are still in use. The mood was only altered a TINY bit when Garth Brooks 'Ain't goin down til the sun comes up' came on the radio and Puiu blasted it...so weird. We'd been making plenty of jokes about the whole trip since the monastery sits on an island and there is a small matter of rowing the 2km or so over to it. This is why we walked out of the hostel with the strains of Row, Row, Row Your Boat ringing in our ears sung by the rest of the staff. Smart-asses. Luckily we had boys because Shannon and I would still be out there. She and I both gave rowing a good go and finally gave up trying after having to endure too many jokes about being 'a hamster in a wheel.' There was alot of rowing...not alot of actual movement but give us a canoe and we'd have been across in no time. It was all pretty hilarious and I'm rather surprised that we didn't capsize with all the standing up and shifting spots. The lake was beautiful with reeds and grass and it was a beautifully sunny day...I could have stayed out there for forever.

We finally made it to the island. There were just a few animals, an old woman, and some outbuildings in the little community. (There was also a working well! The real kind with a bucket and crank. The water was really good too.) There are only 4 or so monks at any given time and they ARE monks after all so I assume that what they had was all that was required. The monk we got was pretty grumpy, which actually seems appropriate given that he's essentially the guardian of the Impaler. The inside of the church was similar to Curtea Veche with extensive painting of faces and scenes...much different than any other kind I've seen. The alter is pretty much just a slab in the ground where charming Vlad is resting peacefully. They have a bronze etching of his slightly intimidating face on the marble with candles lit in front. It all seems a bit odd for someone who'd impaled thousands of people on stakes in just such a way that it took them days to die. If that wasn't enough he seemed to enjoy the gruesomeness so much that he made a forest of staked people and threw a dinner party among them. Maybe it's all about context and perception?! Anyway, I snuck a photo of the tomb while the priest was distracted yelling at Nick for taking a picture of something else. I wasn't about to pay $40 to take some pictures, so I apologize if you have a problem with that. The church is small so we weren't there too long before we started the long row back. I felt bad for the boys because the current and wind were not in our favor. Normally Puiu charges for the rowing but luckily he liked us.

We were all famished by the time we got back to shore so we stopped at the little snack bar type thing that they had on the park grounds. Puiu ordered us Hungarian meatballs that you eat with mustard. Very fatty, VERY good! We needed to get back to catch our night train to Budapest so we started back. Puiu had offered to drive us to the train station and Nick had to go there too so it worked out well. WE got our railpasses all validated and stamped and then went in search of food with our last 20lei. I am a little sorry to say that we chose McDonalds. It was SO good and they serve fountain Fanta....can't go wrong there. 

Add to del.icio.us Add to reddit