Brașov ! (pronounced bruh - shove)

Or, brush off. 

It might feel a bit like you're changing country when you change region in Romania. Less than a hundred years ago, Brașov, like the whole of Transylvania, was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. You know, the guys who eat Schnitzel and Goulash. So as you can imagine, there is in this city, a great mix of cultures. The one catching the eye most being ... German , suprisingly ! Yep. And for interesting reasons.

So to brush off your Brașov knowledge, and entertain your ears with a couple of songs, be sure to listen to the Brașov edition of the Ukulele Road Trips Podcast !

Listen to the podcast - The Transylvania Special

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There isn't much more I can tell you than what Ileana tells us in the podcast. Because she's so smart. But, I can give you a little glimpse of the city, and a little taste of traditional Romanian Melodies, with violinist Violetta Mihail !

Transylvania - Castles and ... Dracula?

Welcome to Transylvania! Not in a 'scary hungry monster' way. In a nice way. Really, welcome in Transylvania, it's lovely!

After decades of movies about a pale Vampire living in these parts of the world, most people will think of Dracula when Transylvania is mentioned. This is great for tourism, but almost none of the ideas we have about these vampire legends are grounded in anything local, events or beliefs.

Basically, an Irishman called Bram was bored in the south of England and wrote a scary novel.  And did a pretty good job. To make it spooky, he set it in the middle of the romantic mountains and castles of Transylvania and invented a character that feeds on innocent flesh. Originally Mister Stoker was going to call him "Count Wampyr", which is a terrible name. So after having read a bit of Wallachian (South Romanian) history, he changed it to one he read in there: "Dracula".

Dracula did actually exist. And is pretty pissed at the confusion. Here is the story of Wladislaus Dragwlya as he wrote it in Latin, or, Vlad III Draculea, son of Vlad II Dracul, ruler of Wallachia.

be sure to switch the subtitles on bottom right of the video. Vlad mumbles a bit.

So, as you can see, a monster in his own way, but certainly not one that transforms into a bat.

Somehow, this dated Gothic book by Bram is a blessing. It lures tourists from all over the world who go out of their way just to see Dracula's Castle, "Bran Castle" (not Bram's Castle) as it is known here in Transylvania.

Bran castle (pictured in the video) wouldn't be getting half the tourists it has today, but it is fully deserving of all this attention. And of course the tourists end up visiting a few other things in the region, after having bought the Dracula fridge magnet. And many of the Region's other castles are as interesting as the aforementioned. Less crowded obviously, but not less interesting or beautiful (exept for the one in Peles, which is beautiful, but not interesting).

"Communist Bucharest"

It's a little bit tricky focusing on communism in Bucharest. The history of that period is omnipresent, and for some, still an open wound, considering how recent it is. But as I learned from the enthusiastic young people here, whom I relentlessly -and unsuccessfully- beg to follow my Facebook page, it's the past. And everybody is moving on.

Nevertheless, I've ended up concentrating a little bit on this turned page. I find it to be a fascinating read, but it if the book it is in, is the history of Romania, it is without a doubt one of it's darkest passages.

The subject has been touched quite a fair bit in the Ukulele Road Trips Bucharest Podcast, and I'm touching it here a bit more, but I will continue the touching through a different medium: the medium of dancing in front of a big building, that tells the story of communism in Romania and the capital.

Wow. That was nice wasn't it? No? Oh... Anyway,

Something a bit more specific from that period, and that for some reason caught my attention: moving churches. Yep. Really. Obviously not by themselves though.

You can read more about this strange idea on Marius' fine blog Tour of Communism.

Or listen to a very under produced song just here. I was a bit tired from all the touching the topic while dancing on the Izvor Park lawn for the video just before. So touching this time the (emotionally) moving matter of putting huge devotional buildings on railing:

(sidenote/question: is anybody actually reading this?)

A few "moved them, moved them" churches peeked here and there strolling through the center: