Transylvania, Day 4: Bad Omens and a Haunted Hotel

Tonight I'm super excited - we're staying inside a fortress which is the only middle ages fortress in Europe still inhabited by people. It is also the fortress housing the building in which Vlad the Impaler was born, and several people have said that it's haunted! On our way to the fortress this morning, we had several bad omens that we should turn back, including: (1) The church we tried to visit was closed, (2) our bus broke down, (3) we got caught in a snow storm, and (4) it's Friday the 13th. But our merry group won't be stopped; we're staying in a haunted hotel where Vlad the Impaler was born. Suck it, omens!

We actually turned one of the "omens" into a positive, because while we waited for the driver to fix the bus, we went to a little local pub. The men there bought the group some local brandy, and our tour guide bought us some wine made in the Carpathian mountains. Clint and I also got a souvenir of a bottle of red wine to bring home, called "Bear Blood."

In the evening we had a tour of the fortress, then dinner in the building where Vlad the Impaler was born (his mom & dad were here, hiding from assassins - it's kind of a problem for that family). It's a beautiful area, and with the fresh snow falling it's quite picturesque. Our guide also bought us some mulled wine in the hotel lobby, which he said is a traditional winter drink in this part of the country - it was delicious!

Now I just hope we meet some ghosts or vampires during the night!

Photos below show our town, Sighisoara, from tonight and our snowy view. The green building is our haunted hotel, the yellow building is the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler (and where we had dinner), and the church is a beautiful one I got during the fresh snow.