Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Ramblings of a Polymath (more like a ferret) & His S
This is absolutely nothing about Dracula but more about Queen Victoria's granddaughter Mary who became Queen Maria of Romania and refurbished Bran Castle as her summer home.
We had booked a one day tour of Transylvania through our travel agent. A woman in Bucharest who provides private tours in her car hadn't responded to requests for a booking, so we resorted to the travel agent tour. A week before we arrived in Bucharest, they contacted us to say that it had been canceled because it was the Orthodox Easter. We had spent the week trying to organize something and then discovered that Uniworld were going to offer one when everyone arrived at the hotel. All rather last minute and only finalized at 8.30 lat night, we set out at 8.00 am.
Unfortunately, instead of being the tour of Bran castle and a Saxon village, it was just Bran Castle. It was a long depressing drive for 3.5 hours. The countryside was littered in rubbish, primarily plastic bottles and shredded plastic. Absolute mountains of them along the rivers and creeks, garbage bags of rubbish dumped on the roadside and fields occasionally tended by men with horses and carts and little in the way of modern equipment.
The first significant village at the base of the mountains was interesting because of the 100 or so houses I could see from the bus, every one was different. The only common element was the wooden fretwork decorations on the verandas and gables. Wonderful patterns and so decorative; but all in a state that suggests that without restoration all will be lost in the next 30 years.
At the top of the mountain, the resort of the wealthy. Not surprisingly, no sign of decay, but then again, nothing to excite.
On down the other side of the mountains into Transylvania. More abandoned farmland and plastic bottle rubbish, but stunning scenery with it's snow capped mountains surrounding the vast plain.
Bran Castle was sited at the border between Transylvania and Wallachia. It stands above the narrow pass at the base of two mountains. It's hard to know how much of a town grew up around this small castle because almost every structure now is devoted to tourism, largely tacky.
Bram Stoker set his Dracula novel here, however it is unlikely that Vlad ever set foot anywhere near the castle. The truth is far more interesting. The fist king of a united Romania was King Carol 1. His son was Ferdinand and when he attended a wedding in England he met and fell in love with (or it was organised by the royal families), Mary, the granddaughter of Queen Victoria. I'll post her biography below because she was a influential woman.
Marie turned the castle into her summer home and had it fully renovated, including removing the well that had been incorporated into the castle and installing a lift. All the furniture was lost under the communists however it is now refurnished with antiques from the period and is a good representation of what it must have been like when she lived there. Ches wasn't all that impressed with the castle. She says it was cute enough and the story of Marie interesting .... but! I suspect that the long drive through all that polluted countryside set the mood.
We were then driven to a nearby restaurant which was also interesting but not memorable.For my part, I enjoyed the castle however I couldn't shake the disappointment in not getting to see a Saxon village. They are the villages that Price Charles regards as being the most honest medieval villages in Europe with a genuine atmosphere.
We dozed on the way home as there didn't seem much point at looking at depressing scenes from a different direction.
We had finally managed to make a booking at Caru' cu Bere, the beer restaurant. The atmosphere on the three occasions we had gone in to try to book was always boisterous and that was the sort of night we had. Lots of wait staff, so you never have to wait long for anything, dancing performances and wandering minstrels. Well, a wandering Charlie Chaplin and two parrots.
I had the Lamb pastrami which Ches had had at Cafe Capsa, so I now understand why Cheryl raved about hers. In both cases they didn't butterfly a leg so much as a lamb steak of some sore that they roughly cut so that the whole piece was around 2cm thick.
Ches enjoyed her usual European beer and the entertainment, particularly when I became the target of Charlie. See the photo and you'll know why.
Pastrami-Style Butterflied Leg of Lamb
Ingredients
1 6 to 8-pound whole leg of lamb
2 cups yogurt
2 tablespoons finely-chopped garlic
2 tablespoons coarse salt
1 tablespoon freshly-ground pepper
1 tablespoon dry mustard powder
1 tablespoon powdered sage
1 teaspoon ground allspice
Directions
Butterfly leg of lamb or have your butcher do it for you. In a nonreactive bowl or pan, cover meat with yogurt, turning to coat evenly. Marinate, covered and refrigerated, for at least 12 hours or overnight. Remove from marinade and pat dry with paper towels.
On a cutting board cover garlic with salt. Mince and flatten with side of a heavy knife until garlic forms a paste. Scrape into a small bowl and mix well with remaining spices. Rub butterflied leg of lamb with spice mixture. Cover tightly and marinate, refrigerated, at least 8 hours or overnight.
Heat a grill or broiler until very hot. Cook on grill or broiler rack, 10 to 15 minutes each side, for rare to medium-rare meat. Remove lamb to a carving board, cover loosely with foil and let sit 10 minutes before carving into thin slices.
Princess Marie of Edinburgh, more commonly known as Marie of Romania (Marie Alexandra Victoria; 29 October 1875 – 18 July 1938),[note 1] was the last Queen consort of Romania as the wife of King Ferdinand I.Born into the British royal family, she was titled Princess Marie of Edinburgh at birth. Her parents were Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia. Marie's early years were spent in Kent, Malta and Coburg. After refusing a proposal from her cousin, the future King George V, she was chosen as the future wife of Crown Prince Ferdinand of Romania, the heir apparent of King Carol I, in 1892. Marie was Crown Princess between 1893 and 1914, and became immediately popular with the Romanian people. Marie had controlled her weak-willed husband even before his ascension in 1914, prompting a Canadian newspaper to state that "few royal consorts have wielded greater influence than did Queen Marie during the reign of her husband".[2]After the outbreak of World War I, Marie urged Ferdinand to ally himself with the Triple Entente and declare war on Germany, which he eventually did in 1916. During the early stages of fighting, Bucharest was occupied by the Central Powers and Marie, Ferdinand and their five children took refuge in Moldavia. There, she and her three daughters acted as nurses in military hospitals, caring for soldiers who were wounded or afflicted by cholera. On 1 December 1918, the province of Transylvania, following Bessarabia and Bukovina, united with the Old Kingdom. Marie, now Queen consort of Greater Romania, attended the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, where she campaigned for international recognition of the enlarged Romania. In 1922, she and Ferdinand were crowned in a specially-built cathedral in the ancient city of Alba Iulia, in an elaborate ceremony which mirrored their status as queen and king of a united state.As queen, she was very popular, both in Romania and abroad. In 1926, Marie and two of her children undertook a diplomatic tour of the United States. They were received enthusiastically by the people and visited several cities before returning to Romania. There, Marie found that Ferdinand was gravely ill and he died a few months later. Now queen dowager, Marie refused to be part of the regency council which reigned over the country under the minority of her grandson, King Michael. In 1930, Marie's eldest son Carol, who had waived his rights to succession, deposed his son and usurped the throne, becoming King Carol II. He removed Marie from the political scene and strived to crush her popularity. As a result, Marie moved away from Bucharest and spent the rest of her life either in the countryside, or at her home by the Black Sea. In 1937, she became ill with cirrhosis and died the following year.Following Romania's transition to a Socialist Republic, the monarchy was excoriated by communist officials. Several biographies of the royal family described Marie either as a drunkard or as a promiscuous woman, referring to her many alleged affairs and to orgies she had supposedly organised before and during the war. In the years preceding the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Marie's popularity recovered and she was offered as a model of patriotism to the population. Marie is primarily remembered for her work as a nurse, but is also known for her extensive writing, including her critically acclaimed autobiography.
We had booked a one day tour of Transylvania through our travel agent. A woman in Bucharest who provides private tours in her car hadn't responded to requests for a booking, so we resorted to the travel agent tour. A week before we arrived in Bucharest, they contacted us to say that it had been canceled because it was the Orthodox Easter. We had spent the week trying to organize something and then discovered that Uniworld were going to offer one when everyone arrived at the hotel. All rather last minute and only finalized at 8.30 lat night, we set out at 8.00 am.
Unfortunately, instead of being the tour of Bran castle and a Saxon village, it was just Bran Castle. It was a long depressing drive for 3.5 hours. The countryside was littered in rubbish, primarily plastic bottles and shredded plastic. Absolute mountains of them along the rivers and creeks, garbage bags of rubbish dumped on the roadside and fields occasionally tended by men with horses and carts and little in the way of modern equipment.
The first significant village at the base of the mountains was interesting because of the 100 or so houses I could see from the bus, every one was different. The only common element was the wooden fretwork decorations on the verandas and gables. Wonderful patterns and so decorative; but all in a state that suggests that without restoration all will be lost in the next 30 years.
At the top of the mountain, the resort of the wealthy. Not surprisingly, no sign of decay, but then again, nothing to excite.
On down the other side of the mountains into Transylvania. More abandoned farmland and plastic bottle rubbish, but stunning scenery with it's snow capped mountains surrounding the vast plain.
Bran Castle was sited at the border between Transylvania and Wallachia. It stands above the narrow pass at the base of two mountains. It's hard to know how much of a town grew up around this small castle because almost every structure now is devoted to tourism, largely tacky.
Bram Stoker set his Dracula novel here, however it is unlikely that Vlad ever set foot anywhere near the castle. The truth is far more interesting. The fist king of a united Romania was King Carol 1. His son was Ferdinand and when he attended a wedding in England he met and fell in love with (or it was organised by the royal families), Mary, the granddaughter of Queen Victoria. I'll post her biography below because she was a influential woman.
Marie turned the castle into her summer home and had it fully renovated, including removing the well that had been incorporated into the castle and installing a lift. All the furniture was lost under the communists however it is now refurnished with antiques from the period and is a good representation of what it must have been like when she lived there. Ches wasn't all that impressed with the castle. She says it was cute enough and the story of Marie interesting .... but! I suspect that the long drive through all that polluted countryside set the mood.
We were then driven to a nearby restaurant which was also interesting but not memorable.For my part, I enjoyed the castle however I couldn't shake the disappointment in not getting to see a Saxon village. They are the villages that Price Charles regards as being the most honest medieval villages in Europe with a genuine atmosphere.
We dozed on the way home as there didn't seem much point at looking at depressing scenes from a different direction.
We had finally managed to make a booking at Caru' cu Bere, the beer restaurant. The atmosphere on the three occasions we had gone in to try to book was always boisterous and that was the sort of night we had. Lots of wait staff, so you never have to wait long for anything, dancing performances and wandering minstrels. Well, a wandering Charlie Chaplin and two parrots.
I had the Lamb pastrami which Ches had had at Cafe Capsa, so I now understand why Cheryl raved about hers. In both cases they didn't butterfly a leg so much as a lamb steak of some sore that they roughly cut so that the whole piece was around 2cm thick.
Ches enjoyed her usual European beer and the entertainment, particularly when I became the target of Charlie. See the photo and you'll know why.
Pastrami-Style Butterflied Leg of Lamb
Ingredients
1 6 to 8-pound whole leg of lamb
2 cups yogurt
2 tablespoons finely-chopped garlic
2 tablespoons coarse salt
1 tablespoon freshly-ground pepper
1 tablespoon dry mustard powder
1 tablespoon powdered sage
1 teaspoon ground allspice
Directions
Butterfly leg of lamb or have your butcher do it for you. In a nonreactive bowl or pan, cover meat with yogurt, turning to coat evenly. Marinate, covered and refrigerated, for at least 12 hours or overnight. Remove from marinade and pat dry with paper towels.
On a cutting board cover garlic with salt. Mince and flatten with side of a heavy knife until garlic forms a paste. Scrape into a small bowl and mix well with remaining spices. Rub butterflied leg of lamb with spice mixture. Cover tightly and marinate, refrigerated, at least 8 hours or overnight.
Heat a grill or broiler until very hot. Cook on grill or broiler rack, 10 to 15 minutes each side, for rare to medium-rare meat. Remove lamb to a carving board, cover loosely with foil and let sit 10 minutes before carving into thin slices.
Princess Marie of Edinburgh, more commonly known as Marie of Romania (Marie Alexandra Victoria; 29 October 1875 – 18 July 1938),[note 1] was the last Queen consort of Romania as the wife of King Ferdinand I.Born into the British royal family, she was titled Princess Marie of Edinburgh at birth. Her parents were Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia. Marie's early years were spent in Kent, Malta and Coburg. After refusing a proposal from her cousin, the future King George V, she was chosen as the future wife of Crown Prince Ferdinand of Romania, the heir apparent of King Carol I, in 1892. Marie was Crown Princess between 1893 and 1914, and became immediately popular with the Romanian people. Marie had controlled her weak-willed husband even before his ascension in 1914, prompting a Canadian newspaper to state that "few royal consorts have wielded greater influence than did Queen Marie during the reign of her husband".[2]After the outbreak of World War I, Marie urged Ferdinand to ally himself with the Triple Entente and declare war on Germany, which he eventually did in 1916. During the early stages of fighting, Bucharest was occupied by the Central Powers and Marie, Ferdinand and their five children took refuge in Moldavia. There, she and her three daughters acted as nurses in military hospitals, caring for soldiers who were wounded or afflicted by cholera. On 1 December 1918, the province of Transylvania, following Bessarabia and Bukovina, united with the Old Kingdom. Marie, now Queen consort of Greater Romania, attended the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, where she campaigned for international recognition of the enlarged Romania. In 1922, she and Ferdinand were crowned in a specially-built cathedral in the ancient city of Alba Iulia, in an elaborate ceremony which mirrored their status as queen and king of a united state.As queen, she was very popular, both in Romania and abroad. In 1926, Marie and two of her children undertook a diplomatic tour of the United States. They were received enthusiastically by the people and visited several cities before returning to Romania. There, Marie found that Ferdinand was gravely ill and he died a few months later. Now queen dowager, Marie refused to be part of the regency council which reigned over the country under the minority of her grandson, King Michael. In 1930, Marie's eldest son Carol, who had waived his rights to succession, deposed his son and usurped the throne, becoming King Carol II. He removed Marie from the political scene and strived to crush her popularity. As a result, Marie moved away from Bucharest and spent the rest of her life either in the countryside, or at her home by the Black Sea. In 1937, she became ill with cirrhosis and died the following year.Following Romania's transition to a Socialist Republic, the monarchy was excoriated by communist officials. Several biographies of the royal family described Marie either as a drunkard or as a promiscuous woman, referring to her many alleged affairs and to orgies she had supposedly organised before and during the war. In the years preceding the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Marie's popularity recovered and she was offered as a model of patriotism to the population. Marie is primarily remembered for her work as a nurse, but is also known for her extensive writing, including her critically acclaimed autobiography.
- comments