A visit to Dracula’s castle
Regarding the Oct. 31 Associated Press article, “Halloween treat: A Night at Dracula’s Castle in Transylvania,” during October 2012, we sailed on a river boat cruise from Budapest, Hungary to the Port of Constanta on the Black Sea. We took a side trip to Bran Castle, which was very enjoyable.
A narrow road leads to the steps to the front door. The first floor reception room is huge. My wife looked at a wall at the back of the reception room. With a slight push, she opened the entrance to a tube that went to the third floor. Up we went, no longer with the tour group.
She opened a door and we entered the torture chamber of “Dracula,” which contained a guillotine, rack, thumb screws and lots of other torture devices that we could not name.
Upon rejoining the tour group, we were introduced to the manager of the castle. My wife suggested that the torture room should be arranged as a bedroom and rented out. Four years later, her suggestion is in place – with coffins!
Vlad the Impaler had control over the valley’s narrow passage way and charged a toll for passage. Placed at most of the narrow windows was a small cannon utilized to enforce collection of the toll. Various paintings of Vlad presented his great pride in his mustache. My guess is that he utilized several ounces of wax to keep it in place.
Clarence M. Spicer
Canonsburg