from Dublin to........Mirissa, Sri Lanka: Are there any vampires in Transylvania???

Probably not, but there are plenty of vicious dogs willing to sink their fangs into you. There are also bears and wolves too, but didn't see either of these.

Sighisoara

One of the seven fortified towns forming the Transylvania province and the birth place of Vlad the Impaler, aka Vlad Dracul, former king of Transylvania, renown for his cruelty in the 16th century.

Bran Stoker is accredited with writing Dracula and partially basing his Dracula character off of Vlad Dracul because he was so cruel. But we all know that Bram stole the character and story from someone else....what, you didn't know??? James Malcolm Rymer wrote Varney the Vampire: Feast of Blood in 1845-47, 50 years before Dracula was released. Varney the Vampire was a series of penny dreadful pamphlets released over a 2-3 year period and eventually published as a book. The story line is confusing but it contains many recognisable events and character traits common in most vampire stories thereafter. If you want to read it, here you go (all 667,000 words!).... http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/PreVarn.html

I failed to bring this minor matter up whilst I was here - unfortunately the town was too small to have a 'free' walking tour that I could pester the guide about his/her facts as no doubt it would have a Dracula theme. With that cleared up it does beg the question as to why James titled his story as he did. I don't recall in all honesty, it was far too long ago.

I'd taken the overnight train from Budapest here. A delightful 11hr journey shared with two English lads and an American (Brad), interrupted by passport checks at midnight and 1am and an uncomfortable sleep on a very narrow and firm sleeper bed. Arriving at 6:30am, myself and the American tried to unsuccessfully check-in very early.

We were desperate for coffee in the absence of some proper sleep. The only place in town that we could find open at 7am was a small cafe/bar/pokie machine/smoker's den of a place catering to the poorer workers in town, mainly men. Cliental would buy 1, maybe 2, individual cigarettes, a large shot of local plonk (or perhaps two shots - I think each cost around 50 cents), the local brandy, and the odd sophisticated soul ordered a coffee and smoked a packet of cigarettes. They were generally rough looking folk, real working class. A good introduction to Romanian life.

After coffee and some breakfast back at the hostel, we headed up to the old town atop the hill with a rather rubbish map. In 30 minutes you could walk the length of every street if you wanted. It is tiny yet one of the best preserved medieval towns in Europe. At the main clock tower we parted company as I wanted to go up the tower in the afternoon for better photos whereas Brad was more pressed for time. Passed Vlad Dracul's birth house and up the 350 year old steps to the very top of the hills where a church and graveyard reside. The graveyard was quite cool to walk around. Quiet, isolated, great views over town yet with a slightly eerie feel to it.

Through some of the colourful homes on the outskirts of the hill town, I found Brad asleep at the bottom of the clock tower against a fence being sniffed by a dog. Was too slow with the camera unfortunately. I let him sleep.

Found a place for lunch and a glass of house wine. Sent me straight to sleep at the table in front of two cute girls. On the way back to the hostel I found a busy little bakery of sorts (Gigi's) selling only one type of bread-based product produced on a large electric oven with a rotating wire rack (like a pizza oven or big toaster you find at hotels). It was the Romanian equivalent of a pretzel I suppose. A round, crispy dough covered in sesame seeds with a very subtle sugary wash run over it, served fresh and warm. Addictive. And for 1 lei each (25 cents), a bargain at twice the price.

Rustic Restaurant - Great value restaurant that should be busier. At the bottom of the hill, spitting distance from the plaza. Wooden and stone interior with framing exposed, it had a nice feel to it although it lacked atmosphere as there were few people in there. Goulash with polenta and some mititei (mitch) on the side (minced sausage, like a kofta). Very tasty, washed down with plenty of the house red wine (very drinkable indeed and often super cheap - a couple dollars). Recommend this place. Serves authentic Romanian food, whatever that is (seems to have a significant Italian influence).

Cafe Central - small, almost entirely underground bar with a curved ceiling. Would make a brilliant cellar and pool room. In a residential area far enough away that drinks were half the price of in town (3.50 lei...80-90 cents for 500ml). It was a Monday night, not expecting much, we walked into a busy, smoky bar with a very young band playing in the back area. They were ok. Clearly a lot of family and friends present. Not sure if it was an open mic event as random people kept getting up on stage to sing or play guitar, some well, some poorly. Why the guy who could only remember half of any song was allowed to attempt six songs I don't know. Get off! Many songs, albeit English language one, were sung with the aid of lyric sheets or iphones. It was etertaining nonetheless. The following night I went there again. Dead quiet, but still cheap drinks without all the cigarette smoke. Worth a look...only 8 mins walk from town.

Vila Franka - I was suggested three ways of getting there...to the top of the adjacent hill, bare but a few villas and restaurants at the very top overlooking the old town. 1) Around the back of somebody's house then up a goat track. Found the track ok and walked up no more than 50m. Completely overgrown and came across a huge pile of dumped rubbish. It was the local's tip. Retreated back towards the barking dogs, not realising that I had passed one sleeping in a kennel on the track. It was awake and pissed. I'd been warned about all the dogs I may see but "Don't be afraid". I had a stick just in case. This dog was ready to bite my balls off. It was on a long chain that it had managed to tangle around something so there was just enough room for me to squeeze by. 2) Another track further along the road, but a steep one. Found the start of it and saw an offshoot straight up that resembled more of a landslide path. Continued past this and ran into option 3) the road that takes the long way there. I followed the road. It was hot, again. Half way along the road, still carrying my dog fighting stick, two dogs decided to take a curious interest in me. I tried to scare them hoping they would run away...big mistake. That just pissed them off and they started to run at me. Fark me. This wasn't in the brochure. They separated, to attack from two fronts. Stick waving madly by now, I backed up the road in the direction I wanted to go. Once far enough past their turf, they withdraw their snarling face and let me go. That woke me up. I kept practising my fighting technique up to the top. I may have to face them again on the way back down.

Great views from the courtyard over the older part of Sighisoara. The modern half has no character at all ad looks very unappealing. Reasonably good food here too. Generous proportions that a table of round Germans were taking full advantage of. They went the 3 courses. Ridiculous amount of food. Included deep-fried pork neck (was so tempted), stews, schnitzels and massive bowls of soup plus dessert....all carefully weighed so you know exactly the weight of the meat and vegetables you are getting. A mountain of food and a few beers nearly sent me to sleep again.

Negotiated dog attack corner successfully on the way down. Ended up going here again for dinner with a guy from the hostel. We took the steep path straight up the hill. Friggin steep. No way you could take it back down after night fall.