Vampyre Hunting and other adventures

I always thought that I could probably live in any city, but then I hadn't counted on Bucharest. It is I think the only place to which I've travelled in which I could not find a redeeming feature. It is dusty, dirty and noisy.
The half finished roads are flanked by broken pavements, and thats the pavements you can see. The rest are covered in parked cars, forcing you into the road. Road works and other digging is going on everywhere. Drivers sit on their car horns while the traffic police breathe through their whistles and everywhere flies and dandelion spores float through the air.
The park in the centre is like the large back garden of a house where no one has been in residence for fifty years. The stone walls are crumbling, the lake is full of leaves and the patches of grass are overgrown. The ruins of the old palace built by Vlad Tepes in the 1400's are indistinguishable from the new ruins a street away, and the narrow streets are full of closed shops or bargain shops full of second hand clothes and books.
Piata Urinii is a huge circle of unkempt grass, a fountain in the middle spues out dirty water, while around the outside horrible tower blocks loom up atopped with advertising hoardings no where near as tasteful as the ones in Piccadilly Circus. Down the Boulevard Urinii are more disgusting tower blocks with closed up shops and rusting satellite dishes while at the end is the piece de resistance of the Palace of Parliament. An ugly ediface which makes Rome's 'Wedding Cake' look like a Da Vinci masterpiece.
The best part was the hostel in which I stayed, where the breakfast ingredients of bread, cheese, coffee and jam where left out on the kitchen table until the following mornings breakfast because they had no fridge!
After two nights I needed to get back to the refuge of hills of Transylvania and headed to Sighisoara, the birth place of Vlad. Here, the hostel is clean, but roadworks are still abound and the place is full of Gypsies. But at least I've been able to play some pool and ping pong, while drinking beer with a few aussies. Not much here, but at least its better than Bucharest.

Did very little in my next few days in Brasov. Generally just chilled out at the hostel or in the town with people. I did find somewhere for some proper Romanian food however, and went there two days running, once myself then the second time with others because I'd recommended it.
On both occaisions I started with the beef soup which was delicious, full of meat and vegetables. I'm not sure what they had in the stock but it really tasted good. Then for main courses I had sausages in bakes beans, which was kinda like a cassoulet and very french. The sausages were meaty and the beans were big.
The second meal was chicken and mushrooms in a creamy sauce, with polenta. This was also tasty but nothing particularly regional about it I don't think. I was also convinced into having a Romanian aperitif, which came in an earthenware little cup with a handle, and was hot. I was drunk on the fumes before I started drinking!
I also managed to find somewhere serving a Dracula pizza, although it was a bit disappointing. It didn't come dripping with blood, or even with a picture of a vampire on it. It had a few bits of ham and pepperoni. It was nice though and the crust at a bit of bite to it.
Am now in Bucharest, and at first glance seems to be full of roadworks and empty buildings with glassless windows, but I'm sure there are nice parts. Maybe.
Am no closer to finding the vampyre but maybe in the capital I'll have some luck. Now to this weeks songs.

Theme from Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Nerf Herder
Castles In The Air - B*Witched
Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2

"Left Budapest 11.35pm 30th April. Supposed to leave at 11.15pm but the further east you go the less punctual the trains appear to be. What are they like in China?
Budapest seems a nice place, from what I saw on the train and from walking some of the streets. A little wet perhaps"

I hope its not too plaguristic, what I've just written but I'm sure I've changed enough! But here I am in Romania, Transylvania, and Brasov to be exact. After spending nights in a hotel room with three girls I went to spending a night in a cramped compartment with three romanian lads.
Managed to snatch some sleep but was awake soon after dawn with a view of an incredible landscape. Tree covered hills with villages nestling in the valleys and on the lower slopes. The buildings and barns looked a little dilapidated, but I'm sure that they were inhabited.
Barely saw any motor cars, mostly horses and carts, while others tended to their large allotment style plots of land, either by hand or by horse. It is a little like going back in time, and if any of you have read and remember my first entry, the total opposite to the scarring of motorways and street lights that I saw in England.
Brasov is a lovely place, nestled up next to the mountains. On my first morning I got chatting to an aussie girl, Hannah, who was travelling alone, so we went up the cable car together to the mountain above Brasov. It was a little like something out of Where Eagles Dare, and even had a telephone where you wind a handle to say you're ready to go up or down.
The view was extraordinary. You look down below to Brasov mapped out with its red roofs and then beyond to a huge flat plain and way in the distance more mountains. Then behind are even higher peaks and snow capped. It is a little like being in the Rockies, but very different, and I have been told, almost Alpine.
Got chatting to a welsh couple from Newport that evening and yesterday the four of us took a day trip out. First to Bran Castle, which is advertised as Dracula's Pad, but he was never anywhere near the place. It was a little disappointing as I expected it to be perched further up in the mountains.
In the late 19th century it was home to Queen Maria, and it is still furnished in a similar style, with wooden tables and chests, and rugs on the floor. It is pretty though, turrets and a bell tower, and windy wooden stairs that go up down and around to various levels. There's even a secret stair. The views are again incredible from the balconies.
From there we went back to Rasnov which has a 13th century fortress and is much higher up. The path up the mountain twists and turns, and at one point you have to climb over a tree in the path. I don't think they worry too much about public safety around here. There's not much to see inside apart from the gift shops and musuem in Romanian, but the swords, rifles and crossbows are nice. A couple of donkeys also appeared at one point. But once again the views are lovely.
Have not really tried any local food yet, but the local beer is excellent. The chocolate is also very good and they even have cherry jaffa cakes here. The last two evenings have been spent around the kitchen table (always the best place) chatting to various different people from around the world.
In terms of my search for the vampyre, I am not really much closer. There are some documents signed by Vlad Tepes in Brasnov town hall, Rasnov had an engraving of people being staked, and unless Dracula's modernised by turning himself into a helicopter rather than a bat, he's not at Bran.
However, and I shudder almost to think as I write, each night dogs have been barking outside and wolves howling at the almost full moon, but most horrifying of all, for the past two nights I have been bitten by something bloodsucking and therefore may only have one more night left. I have undertaken to buy some crucifixes and garlic, but I'm not sure that I'm strong enough to resist any longer. I am growing pale and my teeth are getting longer I'm sure and I have trouble getting up in the morning. What is to become of me? Will there be any more entries..?

Funny the way that friendships form
In the blink of an eye, over long summer warm
Persons thrown adversely together
By freak of nature, unclement weather
Or crafted like a work of art
Through time and learning of the heart
But which will last? And which will fail?
Where short story? Where long tale?
These are things we cannot know
As pace of plot runs ever slow
But you'll find it rushes way too fast
So enjoy the moment, savour to the last.

Intriguingly Budapest was actually two cities, Buda and Pest and a few years back was actually called Pest-Buda, until they decided to bring the two cities together as one. It seems to have lots of different areas to it, the narrow windy cobbled streets close to the river on the Pest side, with larger avenues as you move further away, while Buda is hilly and is home to the castle and feels a lot older as you walk around it.
I have been spending the weekend with Beth, Kate and Diana who have now gone on to Vienna, while I plan to head to Romania. On saturday we crossed the Danube to the Buda side and climbed up to the castle. The Fishermans Bastion, and walls are incredible. Built in a greyish white stone, with towers and statues they look like something pulled straight from Minas Tirith. You cant helping expecting to see the Pelennor Fields in front of you rather than Budapest.
The view is however fantastic, especially at night when the cathedrals and churches, along with the bridges are lit up. Near this is the Matthias church, burial place of King Bela and his wife. Every wall inside is decorated with frescoes which is beautiful, if a little busy, and the mainly dark reds and blues used mean that the church itself is quite dark.
I believe that the Buda hills could be made of limestone, and underneath the castle are caves made by water percolating through, which have since been strengthened by brick arches. You get to go down with an oil lamp because parts of it are so dark, but other areas have been lit up. The Labyrinth as it is so called has been used in the past for storgage, but was also used as a bomb shelter during the second world war.
Now it contains copies of the Lasceaux cave paintings, and styrofoam models of people, but it does add to the atmosphere a little, even if that wasnt the common opinion. I did manage to scare them by pretending to have my hand eaten off at one point. Just wish I had had a sleeve in which to hide it! It was a little like going into the Mines of Moria though, especially as at the beginning they had a drum like heartbeat sound playing.
On Sunday, we visited the Terror Museum which is excellent. It contains detailed descriptions of how the Soviet AVH (secret police in Hungary) kept them in power until the fall of the iron curtain, even after the attempted uprising in 1956. It also talks about the labour camps and the deportation of Jews by the Nazis in their short period of occupation. At the end there is a kind of wall of shame, showing the names and faces of lots of leading members who allowed atrocities to go on. Not sure I agreed with that, but there you go.
We also visited the St Stephens Cathedral which is again lovely, and all the more so because it is more modest. Strips of blue and red marble, with white stone in between, along with a lovely altarpiece and painted dome. From the outside it looks a little like St Pauls Cathedral.
The Synagogue is also very much like a church and I think is either the largest or one of the largest in Europe if not the world, the only difference is in the patterns of the decoration which incorporate the Star of David. There is also a museum which contains metalworked objects, as well as a circumcision couch. Not really a nice thing to read about.
Over the weekend I have started to learn about the most important things in life from the girls, namely ice cream, free lunches, shoes, oh and ice cream. I will try to take these things on as much as I can in future.
So this weeks three songs are as follows.

By The Beautiful Blue Danube - R Strauss
Waterfall - Stone Roses
Three Friends - Levellers

Got to Budapest Friday evening and will wait to tell you more about the place, but what I am about to tell you deserves an entry all to itself.
After chatting to my room mates until about midnight while a group of about fifty (no exaggeration) french people were partying two doors down and still going, I went to bed, looking forward to some sleep and then some sightseeing. I will clarify at this point that there were three other girls and one guy in my room, all american, the girls having been out in Guinea working for the Peace Corps, and now doing some travel in Europe.
At 4am I was woken by an odd sound, and being on the bottom bunk one of the girls opened the door, within a matter of seconds, water was pouring into the room and the carpet was getting soaked. None of us really knew what was going on and just sat around on our beds after ensuring that any items were placed up high.
A drunk frenchman suddenly appeared in the doorway and shouted, heavily accented, "Get out! Now!"
We gathered our most precious belongings, after a hurried dressing, for me this was shoes and small bag and stepped out into the landing. This was by now also covered in water but barring our way to the staircase was a horizontal blast of water at about shoulder height. How were we to get out? A couple of guys suddenly appeared from another room, jogged up slippily to the jet, ducked and got underneath and through. Just think of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - "The penitent man will pass".
Needless to say we copied them and got out onto the staircase only mildly damp, and quite pleased with ourselves. I have neglected so far to say that we were on the 4th floor, and now had to get down the stairs which had become a kind of waterslide.
We got down one flight only to discover that there was now a waterfall barring our way to the next landing. There was no choice but to pass through it. You can now remind yourselves of Last of the Mohicans. We were now very wet. The remainder of our journey downwards passed without incident, and we came out into the still warm air, though still dark, the street now full of what looked to be refugees from Waterworld. We were the only ones not part of a group.
No one really knew what was going on, as no management of the hostel were yet to arrive, and the French were still pissed. At some point the water was finally switched off and some people had ventured back to the rooms to collect larger backpacks and suitcases. They also brought down our bags, although they had let some of the girls clothes fall into the mini swimming pool, and they had been soaked.
Having retrieved our bags we were able to change into dry clothes, but we still wanted to find out what was going on.
As dawn broke, street lights went out and the French began to sober up and quieten down. Finally a manager arrived and one of the girls went to find out what was going to happen, and the result was good. We were given our money back and told that we would be given a free breakfast and put up in one of their hotels for free for the nights that we had paid for.
Taxis arrived and started to take some of the French away, but then they refused to return because they were picking people up who had been sitting around on the street! The situation was explained, and eventually we were taken to a nice hotel for a free buffet breakfast, but had to wait a couple of hours before getting into our room. As such I have made instant friends with these girls and am in a four bed room with them, and enjoying the sights of Budapest together as well.
This has also given me the idea to go to Romania tomorrow, and as the best route back is through Budapest, will come back to see more in a couple of weeks time. What a story though, eh?

For any of you thinking that Bratislava may be just a small Prague, its not. It has a few windy cobbled streets and some pretty buildings but it has a much more working feel about it rather than a tourist destination.
It is very small, but when you consider that the Slovak Republic has only been going for about a decade, and that this was once part of Hungary, and then Czechoslovakia, up until now it has pretty much been playing second fiddle, and feels much more like a County Town. It did become capital of Hungary when the Ottomans controlled what is modern day Hungary, and many Hungarian kings were crowned here in St Martins cathedral.
Unusually it is an oblong shape, rather than the cruciform you would expect, and the inside is not particularly ornate, just understated, probably like the rest of the city. The side altars are hard up against the wall rather then set into their own alcoves, but they are nice, and one has a carving which is an exact copy of Da Vinci's Last Supper.
All the museums seemed to be staffed by women over the age of fifty, and most of them want to say hello to you, they are very friendly. The Slovak museum contained some stuff on the differences between the wine making and fruit growing south compared with the agricultural and shepherding north, including some examples of traditional clothing, and glass bottles containing agricultural scenes.
They also had a special exhibit on Jaroslav Jesek (Jerry Hedgehog in english!) who was a Slovak composer and famous in the 20s and 30s mainly for comedy revues. The museum also houses the natural history collection, and has lots of stuffed animals that look as old as those in the Natural HIstory Museum in London.
The old town hall contains a museum with roman and pre roman finds, as well as memorabilia relating to the old guilds, including signs, weights and measures and tankards. It also houses beautifully painted targets, complete with arrow holes! The jail is underneath, and displays the cells and pits, along with torture devices ranging from thumb crushers to spanish boots, which are iron and contain spikes to grind into your ankles.
The castle is tiny and there isn't a huge amount there, although the gardens outside are great places to chill on a nice day and you have fantastic views of the countryside around, including the Danube which runs to Vienna in one direction and Budapest in the other. It does have a history museum which contained a few paintings and some furniture, along with hordes of coins found from all over the roman and european countries. It also holds a replica of the Hungarian crown.
Have spent a lot of time in coffee shops here as there is not a huge amount to see, but it is nice to chill between the busy Prague and the likely busy Vienna. Have had some wonderful cake here as well, and some Pirogi and some more beer, this time Zlaty Bazant, which is very tasty. It is also just as cheap, if not cheaper at about 65 pence a half litre. At a couple of places you can get a discount from staying the hostel I am in, but it is so cheap that I am too embarrassed to do them out of 17 crowns!
Not really met too many people here, only a Canadian girl who's also studying in Europe, and an aussie couple from Tasmania. There have been some other english staying here but they have been the most monosyllabic! Strangely there seem to be lots of Italians and Spanish here.
If you are someone who enjoyed the shenanigans of Prague, I wouldn't necessarily recommend Bratislava, as although it has a nightlife, it doesn't have all the touristy gumph that comes with it. However if you want somewhere cheap, with an old fashioned feel, then this is the place, and I think would be an easier place to spend a few weeks than the Czech capital.

Why do all the pretty girls speak foreign languages?
I long to go and say hello while they eat their sandwiches.
If I could get to know their tongue it wouldn't be such a test.
For me to go and tell the Slovak girls they are the best!

I'd like to start by documenting some of the food I've eaten here. The other day I had a venison goulash with dumplings which was delicious, the meat was fantastic, and all for about a fiver. I also visited another restaurant near the castle which was once frequented by Prince Charles! I had a three course meal, with aperitif, wine and coffee, and all for a little over a tenner. Expensive for Prague, but still...The pork was gorgeous as well, beautifully cooked.
Recently visited a couple more musuems, the history of Prague Castle, which is inside the old royal palace, with vaulted ceilings and everything. Here they hold St Wenceslas coat of mail (who is a patron of the Czechs) as well as several pre-historic artifacts. They also have grizzly remains of humans who have been buried nearby, apparantly with their hands tied and weighed down with stones in order to stop them coming back to the land of the living.
Also toured the Lobkowicz Palace, home of Prince's of Bohemia. The commentary on the free audio tour is actually done by the current Prince. They have some great collections of guns and crossbows, musical instruments, as well as manuscripts of Symphony's by Beethoven (the 7th prince was a patron) and works by Mozart. They have a Breughals, and two Canaletto's of 18th century London, one from the current location of Blackfriars Bridge and the other from Lambeth Palace. It made me feel quite homesick!
Have seen more musicians on the Charles Bridge, including a blues guitarist, and an organ grinder. Also a great puppeteer with puppet pretending to play a spanish guitar while the music plays. Its very clever. Also saw a concert by a Czech rock band called Ready Kirken, who were great. I couldn't understand a thing they were singing but the melodies and guitar licks were superb.
Been chatting to more americans, aussies, canadians and even a couple of finnish girls, and been given some good thoughts of Vienna, Budapest and Bucharest, so now very much looking forward to going there. Also been able to try some real Staropramen which is Prague brewed and don't think have been to bed before 1am for the last few nights, sometimes later. Even had a free BBQ last night which was good.
Next stop is Bratislava, but first the three pieces of music for this week.

A Dvorak - Slavonic Dances
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
Ready Kirken - Druhy Ja

Apparantly Prague means Threshold and comes from the fact that it was a visionary project to be built. Or something...History was a bit sketchy back then. Am starting to enjoy it more here now, and the crowds not getting to me in the same way as they were.
Its great to stroll through the cobbled streets, sometimes realising that you are walking in an area you haven't walked in before and you come across a courtyard or a fountain. The busiest place as to be the Charles Bridge (Karlovy Most) which is full of jewellery sellers, portrait painters and people. Yesterday I did see a group of musicians playing some jazzy type stuff. One opened a bottle of wine and they just passed it round, each taking a swig, before it was recorked. Then when they started playing, the double bass player had a cigarette in his mouth, as did the banjo player. They all looked throughly bored and it was actually quite comical.
I have visited the art galleries up at the castle, which hold some nice paintings. Titian, Veronnese, Tintoretto, as well as Dutch, German and Czech works. One fantastic one, Judith with a Sword, by Furini, where she gazes right out of the picture at you and there is such emotion in the eyes and the fact that its almost impossible to draw yourself away from it. It really is incredible.
The Antonin Dvorak museum is housed in the university area, which is incredibly quiet and reminded me a little of Bologna in terms of the buildings and the streets. The museum holds his viola, as well as copies of parts of his works, including the Largo from Symphony Number 9. I'm sure you're humming it already! The building itself was built as a summerhouse, and the upper room has a fresco covering it which is almost worth seeing alone.
The Franz Kafka museum is also fascinating. They have books and letters that he wrote which reveal a lot about the way he saw the world and saw himself. It seems he was very troubled and confused. The exhibits also have odd things here an there like mirrors and curved hangings which seem to distort reality a little. I'm not sure what his books were about, but I imagine that these were meant to be related. I will definately have to try reading some of his works.
Still can't get over how cheap it is here, especially beer. Have been chatting to a few americans who are studying over in Europe (England, Paris, Budapest) and now know the difference between a Freshman and a Sophomore and what they all mean. Its been bugging me for years. The hostel is also great, a little outside the centre and so it is quiet but with a great atmosphere. They have a little garden out the back and I have made friends with the kittens who live out there. They keep wanting to sit on my lap!!
I'll sign off now as it is likely that I am on the threshold of another night of beer.