Brasov

The train dropped me off at the beautiful medieval walled city of Brasov - in the heart of Transylvania. This really is a picture postcard perfect little town and I fell in love with it straight away - so much so that I stayed an extra night. The town square is dominated by the Black Church- home of the largest organ in Europe - oohh. I voluntarily climbed the mini mountain behind the town and enjoyed the hike. The town has lots of hills in which to go hiking plus you stumble across old watch towers and sentry posts.
From Brasov I took a couple of trips into the nearby countryside. I visited Bran Castle, built on the hilltops as a line of defensive against marauding Turks. It was a Royal getaway in the 1920's so the interior is crammed full with ornate furniture - not really matching with the exterior. Alot of tours visit this place as Bran Dracula's Castle - it has nothing at all to do with Vlad Tepes but it does mean that there is a wonderfully tacky Dracula themed tourist market outside. Get your Dracula T-shirts here! It took all my will power but I did manage to resist!.
From Bran, I visited the medieval fortress town of Rasnov, only a short distance away. Rasnov was a citadel city atop a hill and the citadel still exists. It is the best preserved example of its kind in Europe. The film Cold Mountain was filmed here - it was mountainous but nowhere near cold. Romania's weather goes from downpour one minute to absolute scorcher the next. The great thing about the citadel is that it still has its original torture implements intact. Apart from the usual and common to find stocks and yokes, this place has an iron cage suspended from one of the high points in which to lock people into until they die. It also had a hanging frame in which you could be tied and hung by the wrists. Great fun was had by everyone hanging themselves up! After viewing even more torture implements I had to come back to town and immerse myself in the great outdoors.
I really am amazed by the outstanding beauty of this place but I am told that my next destination is even more stunning... can it be possible.