Last nights quick winter storm passed through and we awoke the next morning with everything covered in a beautiful blanket of fresh snow. Halloween in Romania! Never did I ever think I would be in Romania but here I was getting ready to celebrate Halloween at Draculas Castle! But first, we got the chance to spend the morning exploring the city of Brasov. We arrived in Brasov around 10am and immediately headed out for a 2 hour walking tour of Brasovs Old Town. The bus let us out near the base of Mt. Tampa, a mountain overlooking Brasovs Old Town. Atop this mountain was a sign of Brasov that was similar to the Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles. Had we more time, it would have been great to take one of the trails to the top for what Im sure would have been an awesome view over Brasov. The tour began at Piata Sfatului, also known as Council Square and is the main square in the Old Town. It was a beautiful square with restaurants and cafes with roofs covered with a light dusting of snow. This would have been a great place to sit back in one of the outdoor
cafes and people watch but the weather was blisteringly cold today. I would have loved nothing more than to sit somewhere indoors but convinced myself that I must explore the city. From the main square, our walking tour lead us over to the Black Church, the largest Gothic church in Eastern Europe. We werent allowed to go inside so we stood in front of the church listening to our tour guide explain some of its history. As we stood there, snow flurries began to fall and the temperature began to dip. It was not going to be an enjoyable walking tour! Our guide lead us through the backstreets of Brasovs Old Town where we stopped at various landmarks such as The Catherines Gate and the St. Nicholas Cathedral. I honestly had little attention span during this walking tour. Although Brasov was a beautiful city, I was far too cold to appreciate its charm. That coupled wtih tonights festivities, I was just not in the mood to enjoy the sights. Our walking tour ended in Piata Unirii where we had some independent time before we had to be back on the bus. David, Paul, Shea, and I stopped for some lunch
at some place that sold nothing but french fries. Afterwards, we returned to Piata Sfatului for some coffee and to purchase some snacks before finding our way back to the bus to return to Bran.
Back in Bran, we had the remainder of the afternoon to prepare for tonights party at Draculas Castle. As we had to be ready by 5pm to head to the castle, Shea and I began putting our costumes together at around 3pm. My costume was a Dia De Los Muertos skeleton and included face makeup. I really wasnt looking forward to the face makeup as I fear breaking out in some facial rash. Shea was dressed as some character named Miss Peregrine from a TV show named Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children that I was unfamiliar with. With our costumes on, we were ready to party the night away. Meeting up with everyone on the bus, we were excited to see everyones costumes for the first time. There were some elaborate and very creative costumes within our group. Erin and Angie were dressed as the creepy sisters from the movie The Shining, Paul and David were dressed as Mario and Bowser from the
Super Mario Brothers game, Margaret was dressed up as some sort of Bolivian devil, and Maria as Waldo from Wheres Waldo. The bus was a total party atmosphere as everyone was in such a good mood and so excited for tonights festivities. Missing from the bus was the Australian couple who apparently had some elaborate costumes that they were not ready by the time we all departed. They would later join us at Draculas castle by taxi. Arriving at Draculas castle was such a surreal moment. The castle was floodlit and with the bright full moon illuminating the clouds behind the castle, it gave Draculas Castle a very spooky look. It was such a fitting scene for Halloween night.
