Part of our trip we spent chasing after Vlad and Dracula. It is Transylvania after all.

Ages ago my friend M. told me that of all of the places he went in Romania, he wished that he'd gone to Sighisoara. So noted.

Sighisoara is known for being the birth place of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlad_the_Impaler" target="_blank">Vlad the Impaler</a> or Dracula. Vlad spent most of his time fighting the Ottoman Empire and was known for regularly impaling his enemies on large poles where they slowly, very slowly, died. He is said to have even eaten his dinner while watching his victims die. (Dude, that's <em>crazy</em>.)

Now Vlad was not the Dracula of popular myth as many museums and historical cites in Transylvania will make clear but that's okay with me. It turns out that the Dracula we know from popular culture was born of Bram Stoker's pen in 1897 with the publication of the Gothic horror novel Dracula. Stoker apparently never even traveled to Romania before taking the liberty to set his novel in Transylvania. Pretty amazing how these things happen.

I have to say it doesn't matter much to me. Sighisoara was a beautiful little town with or without vampires.

We stayed in a really cute little hotel Casa Wagner in the old town and spent the better part of one afternoon and the next morning laughing, exploring, snapping pictures and otherwise doing silly things. This of course is encouraged when you buy a plastic set of your own vampire teeth.  That was a really great $1.50 that I spent. Hours of fun I tell you. <em>Hours</em>.<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/6956247132/" title="Me at the Souvenir Shop with teeth by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7217/6956247132_cb6ebe4363_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="Me at the Souvenir Shop with teeth"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7102320743/" title="Vlad's place by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7206/7102320743_e18e7b7508_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="Vlad's place"></a>After poking around the town, we decided to have a drink in Vlad's house. Turns out, sometime after Vlad's death his childhood home was turned into a bar and restaurant. I am not sure how Vlad would feel about that but we had a great time. It's totally cliche and totally fun.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/6956252620/" title="Wine in the house Vlad lived by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7091/6956252620_885cf02e5c_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="Wine in the house Vlad lived"></a>
In the spirit of full disclosure, This was also the place we coined the phrase: what would Vlad do? Would he have another glass of wine? Yes. Would he stay up late? Heck yeah. Would he put in his face vampire teeth for a photo shoot? You know it.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/6956253040/" title="Wine at Vlad's place by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8003/6956253040_592015f840_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="Wine at Vlad's place"></a>
Really thought the bar was a great spot to relax for a little bit before dinner. In April it was still pretty cool in the late afternoons so there wasn't anyway that we were going to enjoy a beer alfresco.

We went back to Casa Wagner for dinner because as it turns out the hotel we were staying in also has one of the best restaurants in the old town. I ordered a sour chicken soup, stuffed cabbage rolls and the local polenta dish. I was really happy with everything that I got.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7102324545/" title="Sour chicken soup  by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7249/7102324545_683fe22c3e_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="Sour chicken soup "></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/6956255918/" title="Dinner: cabbage rolls and polenta by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7112/6956255918_3fa5a551fd_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="Dinner: cabbage rolls and polenta"></a>
I found myself impressed with the small old town perched on a hill. To some extent the location, the surrounding stone walls and the pedestrian traffic makes it relatively easy to imagine what life must have been like in Sighisoara. Sure it's become a tourist hotspot so it's by no means authentic but it's charming and in my book that counts for a lot.