Castle hopping through Transylvania

Transylvania is dotted with castles and ancient fortresses like this one. We snapped a photo from the car as we drove by.  What follows is a peek at 3 places we stopped to explore:

Dracula's Castle in Bran

The headquarters of Vlad Tepes Dracula (Vlad the Impaler, to his friends). We were impressed with how it is built into this steep rock.

When we entered the doorway, we saw a sign that seemed appropriate:

That set the mood for what we antipated seeing. However, it actually just means "be careful on the stairs".

An innocent looking living area. But how did he acquire that bear rug?  Was that a trophy from a night hunt to quench his thirst for blood?

Could this be where he slept when the coffin got uncomfortable?

This close up of his family tree shows his father's name, Vlad Dracul. Dracula means "son of Dracul".

Vlad had an army called the Knights of the Teutonic Order. We suppose this was the dress for battle.

and this was what they wore at court.  But where are the vampires? Are we in the right place?

Well, it turns out that Vlad the Impaler might have been the inspiration for Bram Stoker's character partly because of his well-earned reputation for the brutal way he killed his enemies. But he never was as famous as the fictional Dracula.

A parting view of the courtyard and the wonderful view of the mountains in the distance.

Next stop - the ancient fortress in Deva built in the 1300's.  Nowadays you access the site via a gondola up the mountain.

They built a series of outer walls in concentric circles to protect the fortress - each wall a little higher and closer to the fortress than the last.

Even after the gondola ride, there are more stairs to reach the fortress.

This caught out attention as we climbed the stairs!

Inside the ruins at last.

Here's a couple of relics that fit right into the surroundings.

It was a cloudy, drizzly day but in one direction was the view of the city of Deva.

In the other was the farmland and the mountains beyond.

The day cleared up as we visited Corvin Castle in Hunedoara.  The top of the tall middle spire is cut off in this photo. 

This is what is on top of the spire. This sculpture of a knight was mounted on the spire in 1853. You can see the date (shown backwards here) on the flag he is holding.

This beautiful edifice was the home of 5 different monarchs - each did their own additions making it an enormous castle.

We enjoyed these costumed characters who played their roles as castle residents.

There was a moat, but the original drawbridge is now a permanent ramp.

These "battle-worn" old guards weren't so tough.

These young guards seemed to be waiting to hear the secret password.  We figured it was "Can I take your picture?"

The family crests of the various monarchies grace the rafters of this impressive room. One of the newer additions to the caste.

In a much older section, we were struck by how high the mantle is on this fireplace. The tag Vicky's wearing means she paid for the privilege to take pictures.

A definite change in ambiance as we moved along.

This lookout shows how thick the walls are - over 5 feet!

Into yet another addition. More refined workmanship here.

There is a legend about the well in this courtyard.  In the mid 15th century the well was dug by 3 Turkish prisoners to whom the king promised freedom, if they found water.  The prisoners dug in rock for 15 years and at a depth of 28 meters, finally found the precious water. In the meantime, the king died and his wife decided not to honor the king's promise, but to kill the prisoners instead.  Apparently on the walls of the well was found etched an inscription that said, "you may have water, but you have no soul".

The bear's pit.  A space between two walls where legend has it that prisoners were thrown to the wild beast that was kept there.

Ornate outer wall of one of the sections of the castle. Note the carvings of black ravens - an important symbol to one of the monarchs.

The story was that as a young child he was given a gold ring to signify that he would become king.  While playing at a picnic he left the ring behind.  A raven picked up the shiny object and dropped it in his lap as they rode in a carriage back to the castle. Thus the insignia on the family crest.

Lovely classic turrets.  We can just imagine Rapunzel sitting at the window! Enough time spent frolicking through Transylvanian history.  Now, back to work!

Casa Valentin

Casa Valentin is a facility in a town called Cataloi near the Romanian/Moldovan border.  It is named after a young boy who died of AIDS.  It is a vacation camp in the summer and an after school centre during the rest of the year. Only poor, handicapped or otherwise disadvantaged kids are invited - oh, and at no charge.

There is a garden and fruit trees where kids learn how to work and to produce food. The staff make jam and preserve the fruit and vegetables for the kids who come to Casa Valentin. The activities and games are planned and adapted to the physical and mental abilities of the kids who come.  They learn and they have fun.

The bunkrooms are cute and comfortable - each with a different color scheme.  Children with handicaps often bring a caregiver with them to vacation camp, so sleeping accommodation can get a little tight.

We met Adrian and Gabriela Popa in May 2011.  He is a Baptist minister who plays the violin, she is a trained nurse and a gifted organizer. But their passion is helping poor and needy kids.  We loved them right away and were so impressed with their vision and dedication to these young people.  Gabriela is the executive director at Casa Valentin and she gave us an idea of how we could be of help.

The windows at Casa Valentin are leaky and single paned.  Meaning that the building is hot in the summer and cold and drafty in winter.  After doing a little pricing and comparison shopping, we had our project! And a little extra surprise.

The Church organized a European Young Single Adult Conference for the last week of July. It would be the first time it was held in Romania.  The happy problem was that there were more kids registered than beds in the facility they had rented.  Humanitarian missionaries to the rescue!  By the time we got word, it was the height of summer camping season.  It took us several trips to find 30 air mattresses, 30 sleeping bags, and 3 air pumps, but as you can see, we did it. We literally emptied the shelves of 3 large stores in Bucharest. We got the pillows and pillowcases from Ikea.

On the day before the conference was to begin, we rented a Jeep Cherokee, packed it to the roof and drove to Oradea - near the Romanian/Hungarian border.  We were met at the facility by 3 young single adults who were part of the organizing committee.  They helped load all the stuff inside.  We wished them good luck and told them we would be back at the end of the week.

We returned on Friday evening in time for supper (we're no dummies). There were about 180 kids in attendance.

They were from 11 different countries and spoke 12 different languages.  So workshops, classes and firesides were conducted in English (the common denominator).

On the left are President and Sister Hill (our new mission president and his wife).  In the middle is Elder Schutze - an Area Authority Seventy who stayed and attended every day of the conference.  Home for him is Germany.  On the right is the mission president for Hungary and his wife.

We sat and ate with Elder and Sora Howells, the dedicated senior couple from England, whose assignment was to help the young people organize and pull this conference together.  A huge job!  Like us they are serving an 18 month mission in Romania.  They told us they don't know what they will do to keep busy after the conference is over. We are sure they will get involved in something wonderful. They invited us to stay for the fireside that night.

I caught a photo of the choir practicing before the meeting. They sang "Have I Done Any Good in the World Today?" in English...and very well.

After the meeting and before the last dance of the conference, kids from the various countries gathered to take group shots in front of the flags.  Bright and early the next morning, we were back to pick up the sleeping bags etc. and load them up again. Not hard to guess where we were taking them.

That's right.  Back to Casa Valentin to check out the newly installed double-glazed thermopane windows with screens provided by Humanitarian services and....

to donate the 30 sleeping bags, air mattresses and pillows! This little girl was much happier than she appeared when I snapped this photo.

Before we left we got to meet the new group who just arrived for their week at the vacation camp.  They were sweet, happy and excited for the adventure that lay ahead.  All because people like Adrian and Gabriela Popa love all God's children and work very hard to make a difference for them.  We were delighted to know that our projects were going to help all who come to Casa Valentin enjoy the experience even more.