Today has been spent exploring the area around Brasov - Brasso in Hungarian & Konstad in German - starting off with a visit to Bran to see the castle associated with Dracula.

The castle itself is quite sweet and was the summer home of Queen Maria - one of Queen Victoria's grandchildren. The castle was extensively renovated between 1920 & 1927 but there has been a castle on this site since the early 1200's. In the mid-1400's the castle was rebuilt and given to Vlad the Impaler who had lost the Romanian throne - and he may well have stayed here but that's about as close as it gets to any connection to Count Dracula..........

While the Romanians seem to be in two-minds about the Dracula stories - the castle does trade on the whole Dracula/vampire thing and while the castle itself is worth visiting & set in pretty gardens (i know - castle/pretty gardens) (that should tell you something) it does have a a vast array of stalls selling the most astonishing range of - er - artefacts...

The other thing that bemuses the Romanians are the Cheeky Girls - i guess the English would be similarly perplexed if all we were known for was Harry Potter & Right Said Fred..............

After Bran we came back to Brasov to wander around the town - another splendid mediaeval town centre with the Black Church at the centre. Built between 1387 and 1477 it is the largest Gothic church in Romania and gets its name from an Austrian attack on the town during which the Austrians tried to burn the city down. The church has undergone restorations since then and isn't black anymore...

Out of the centre and near our hotel is St Nicolae's church. In the grounds of St Nicolae's is the first school in Romania - dating from 1495. It was a school for those wishing to become priests - so not an ordinary school - but it is still interesting and - amazingly - houses around 6,000 old manuscripts - the oldest was printed in Krakow in 1491 - there are many on display from the 1500's & 1600's.

Tomorrow we go through Prahova Valley - famous for its wine and in Azuga there is a Halewood winery - we will then be visiting Peles Castle after that......

Ah - Peles Castle - beautiful setting - more of a (gin) palace than a castle- begun in 1875 & finished in 1914 - all gothic & dark wood - the interior is enough to give you nightmares with all the twiddly-bits & clutter (artistically arranged, no doubt) - the sweet guide said she found it beautiful (thereby dismissing my question with the contempt it deserved) - hmmm.....

In the grounds there are the Pelisor Palace and a hunting lodge but neither of these is open to visitors. We stopped at the Sinaia Monastery on the way down - which was interesting - Orthodox churches never cease to fascinate (which is just as well).....

One difference you'll notice between Romania & Bulgaria is that even small Romanian villages have quite big, ornate churches while Bulgarian villages tend to have smaller & much less ornate ones - well, simpler on the outside but ornate inside (if you see what i mean).....

Sadly we leave Romania tomorrow - but start a new adventure in Bulgaria! Anyone wondering if Romania is worth visiting - yes it is - 5 days has given me an interest in seeing & learning more about this fascinating country. July & August aren't great times to visit as it can get very warm - whereas January & February can get quite chilly - but does have good skiing in the Carpathians near Brasov.....

So - Bulgaria then.........