Transylvania Myth Busters: Project Term 2018: 03/23/18

On Thursday afternoon, we drove the short distance from Bran to Cristian (by-passing all the vendors in the square since we were late arriving to Cristian). We really had little to no idea what was in store for us. We know that some of the time would be spent with children and that there would be something related to the church, as well, since Father Dobre is the priest at the Orthodox Church in Cristian. The connect with this church and the Myth Busters is that Madame Jeler and Father Dobre went to school together. They have known each other a very long time.

Lunch awaited us upon our arrival. We were welcomed into the home and quick introductions were made. It was a beautiful dish followed by incredible dessert.

The events of the afternoon were a highlight of the day. After lunch, we were shuffled over to the Community Center where all the students were invited to wear a traditional and authentic ie (blouse). Each blouse tells its own story about the woman who made it and wore it. Roxana has a beautiful collection of ies which she graciously offered for the girls to wear for pictures and for our visit next door to the Church.

When Roxana found out the Veronica had deep Romanian roots, she selected this very ornate ie for her to wear.

After a big photo shoot (Oh, did we mention that they had somewhat of a professional photographer waiting there to take our pictures?), we went next door to the church. We got a bit of a tour of the 230 year old church. It is strikingly beautiful, with not a single wall left open. We sang both River in Judea and Children of the Sacred Heart. They were ok at the singing of River, but were pretty darn good at Children of the Sacred Heart.

Group picture read to be sent to the Detroit Free Press Travel Section in hopes that they'll publish this really unique photo.

These photos were taken right after we learned the chorus to a Romanian anthem.

Father Dobre also told stories.Their chuch underwent a renovation about two years. At the time, a "feeling" came to Father through a dream. He felt that there was a spirit among them. As it turns out, below the wood floor of the 230-year-old church were tombs. The space was formerly a cemetery. They collected and washed all the bones and they are now interred in a tomb in front of the altar. He was quick to point out that the "spirits" are good. They do not bring bad to the church. It was an incredible story.

Father and Roxana and their daughter, Ana, with Madame

We used our time in the chapel to share some parts of our Sacred Heart tradition. We sang River in Judea and Children of the Sacred Heart. It was special to sing in the church. Father was really taken with the girls so he taught us a patriotic Romanian folk song. Don't forget you are a Romanian That is not our version of the song. We were recorded singing with Father. The video below is taken from an article in the local Romanian news. At the 4:00 minute mark, the group sings Don't Forget you are a Romanian with Father.

Outside the church is the cemetery for the parishioners. It has a very strong and spiritual place.

We returned to the house where a group of children were waiting for us. Roxana has a regular English program and other community activities each afternoon, for both the younger and the older children. She had the younger students interview the older students and then share what they learned about each other. With the older students, mostly girls, there was sharing and laughing and just general things girls do when they are together.

Before we knew it, it was time for dinner. We had homemade stuffed cabbage with polenta (a very traditional meal) which everyone enjoyed, even those who have been working very hard to try various foods. But the highlight of the meal was clearly the dessert. When we left the table, there were only a few slices of this spectacular cake.

Not to be believed, right? It has a chocolate cake on the bottom and then a cream layer that had fresh currents splashed throughout. It was topped with whipped cream and "tastefully" decorated (ha, ha, ha).

At the last minute, Roxana realized that we hadn't yet colored Easter eggs. She materialized a few minutes later with a vat of farm-fresh hard-boiled eggs and a pot of red dye. Boy, were the eggs a specatular color of red! The finishing touch was to rub the eggs with oil to give them a nice shine. Madame and Roxana showed the proper way to eat the eggs. One person says, "Christ is Risen", and they tapped eggs, and the other person responds, "He is truly risen", also tapping the eggs together. It becomes a bit of an egg-cracking contest, until the eggs are ready to be peeled.

It was a great treat to meet Madame's friends. We left there feeling fully embraced and loved by this family.

Today we had to be packed and ready to go at 8:00 a.m. For some, this meant a 7:00 a.m. "wake-up call." For others, there had to be two wake-up calls. Sebastian, our guide from Carpathian Travel Center, helped us load up the mini-bus and we were off, albeit, a little late.

We are off on the first leg of our road trip away from Sibiu. We are headed to Bran, to see the Bran Castle.

The first leg of our journey would take us to Bran, where we would visit the Bran Castle, the legendary home of Dracula. The closest tie that "Vlad the Impaler" or "Vlad Tepes" had to the castle was that his grandfather Mircea the Elder once lived in the castle. By coincidence (or incredible luck) Bram Stoker’s depiction of Dracula’s castle could not have been better described had Bram Stoker actually been to Romania before the writing the novel. That being said, there are two other castles where there is evidence that Vlad Tepes did live.

Yes, you are seeing it with your own eyes, the Detroit "D" in front of Bran Castle - Dracula's alleged castled.

In any event, this fortress is located between Transylvania and Wallachia, literally. The one side of the castle faces Transylvania while the other side faces Wallachia. There was additional evidence of this in the castle. The walls (as seen from the windows) facing Transylvania were considerably smaller than those facing Wallachia. You don’t need to guard against an attack from your own citizens. There was also a view of an ancient wall which once stood below the castle walls. This was an early version of border control.

This window faces Transylvania. You'll see the difference in the depth of the walls when you look below.

This window faces Wallachia. Notice how thick these walls are? They were fortified to withstand attacks.

In the middle of this picture are the ruins of the outer wall of the Castle. This wall extended around the Castle and served as a border crossing.

Sebastian shared some historical highlights of the castle’s history. Historical Timeline for Bran Castle

It's easier for us to share the link to the history than to recap it all. We learned alot, for sure. Most importantly, we know that the castle has nothing to do with Vlad Tepes (Dracula)! Count Dracula: The Myth

View into the courtyard

The furnishings throughout the house were beautiful. Very comfortable and well-suited for a castle. I bet the interior designer for this job doesn't furnish too many castles on a regular basis.