Vampire Diary: Exploring the history of vampires in Romania & Serbia - Day 1
Day 1
It is a beautiful spring morning and I’m closing the window shade next to me on my flight to Bucharest, Romania. The sun is too bright and even though I have my sunglasses on I can’t handle the sunlight. On my tray table is a book. It’s Bram Stoker's Dracula. The Romanian woman next to me looks at the book then at me. I put my sunglasses down and smile at her. I want her to know that I’m no vampire. She doesn’t smile back. Instead she grabs her purse from under the seat in front of her and takes out a little bible. I don’t think that she and I will become friends during this flight.
That’s not what I am here for anyhow. I am on a mission. I want to find the first vampire. The one who started everything. Did the first vampire sparkle like the guy from Twilight? Was the OG able to morph into a bat? And if everything is just made up - who made it up and why? My first clue is a very obvious one: It’s the most famous Vampire there is - Count Dracula. In Stoker's novel he lives in a castle in Transylvania, nowadays Romania. So I will be heading there, but first I will check out Bucharest since I am already here. I hear it’s a beautiful city with a lot to offer. Also I didn’t rent my car in time and now I’ll have to wait until tomorrow afternoon to pick it up. Side note: There were still some cars left to rent, but not at a price that I am willing to pay.
After I picked up some local cash (Romanian Leu or short RON) I took the bus No. 783 from the airport to the city center. It took me about 40 minutes to get there and there were a lot of people on the bus. Sure, there were some other alternatives like the train, taxi or Uber but I didn’t mind taking the bus. It was cheap, I traveled light only with my backpack and a small trolley.
Also, I got the chance to observe the locals and the city. My first impression is that the city looks familiar. It reminds me of another city. After an early check in at The Marmorosch Bucharest I went outside to grab some lunch.
I went to a place nearby called Caru' cu bere where I tried some Romanian cuisine. I loved it. Also the style of the restaurant was very different to what I am used to. On the restaurant's website it says: “The vaulted ground floor in Neo-Gothic style is richly decorated with paints, stained glass, mosaics and carved panelings.” Another interesting thing that I found out on their website is that the founders were from Transylvania and founded the place more than 140 years ago. I wonder if the founder was a vampire...
As I was posting another food picture on my Instagram a friend of mine who is from Romania but lives abroad, texts me and tells me that he is also in Bucharest visiting his boyfriend. He asks me if I plan to visit the Palace of the Parliament and if I booked a tour. Apparently you can only see the inside of the building (and actually grasp how decadent it is) if you go on a scheduled tour.
I didn’t. My friend tells me to hold the line for real quick and within a minute he is back on the phone and tells me that he got me a tour this afternoon. He also invites me to join him and his boyfriend for a night out. I thank him and accept the invitation.
On my way back to my hotel I made a stop at a bookshop. It’s crowded. I see a lot of people taking pictures and realize that it is one of those Instagram worthy spots in Bucharest. Its name is “Cărtureşti Carusel”. I am not here for that although now that I see everybody else taking pictures between beautiful spiral stairs, columns and bookshelves I am tempted, but I don’t have time. Soon my tour at the Parliament Palace begins and I thought that it might make sense to get some information upfront about Romania's recent history and the guy who built this thing.
After some Google Research I found something that seems to be interesting as well as educational. The book's name is “Children of the Night: The Strange and Epic Story of Modern Romania”. I ask the lady at the cash register if they have this book in their international section. She takes a look at the computer in front of her and tells me that there is just one book left. Phew! I smile and tell her that I want it. She puts it in a bag and hands it over to me. While I grab my credit card in my backpack I realize that one pocket is open and I fear that my money is gone, but it’s there. Relieve. But then I realize that my sunglasses are nowhere to be found. Maybe they fell out or somebody stole them. I guess I’ll never know.
Once I paid, I grabbed the bag with the book from the counter and realized that it was pretty heavy. I opened it just to see that it has almost 500 pages. I can’t read all of that in just an hour before my tour begins. Even if I read diagonally like I did in school when we were reading German literature. I flip through the first pages only to see that the first chapter starts with a quote from Bram Stoker's Dracula. It seems that everything here is connected to this creature. But soon I would hear more about another monster. One that might be even scarier than Count Dracula himself: Nicolae Ceaușescu
After I left the bookshop I took a stroll following Bulevardul Unirii all the way down to the Palace of the Parliament. You don’t have to go inside to understand the ambition and the ego that were driving this project. I met with my guide and the group and we started the tour. It took us about an hour to see a glimpse of the palace and while everyone else was trying to imagine how much 35 million cubic meters of marble are or trying to convert 365.000 square meters into square feet, I was thinking about dinner. And Paris! That was the city that Bucharest reminds me of. Now after I heard the story about Nicolae Ceaușescu and his vision to copy paste Paris into Bucharest, I can’t help but think about the similarities between the last French decadent ruler and Ceaușescu. Ironically their end was copy pasted too.
On my way back to my hotel I stopped at a place called HYGGE and had a crusty aubergine and a romanian beer. It was the perfect choice because I wasn’t hungry anymore and the taste of beer made me look forward to the night out with the boys.
Around 10pm they picked me up at my hotel and we walked about 20 minutes to one of Bucharest's most famous gay clubs: The Q Club. After what felt like dancing the whole night I was back in the hotel around 3am in the morning and ready for a good night's sleep.
Bloodthirsty for more?
🏰 find out about the mysterious woman that I met in Dracula's castle
🪦 Come with me when I walk through a Serbian cemetery at sunset
🍾 follow me on a wild night out in Belgrade
❤️ Learn how a stake through a heart became the go to way to kill a vampire
🥘 get recommendations for some of the best Balkan food you'll ever have in your life
🛌 stay at some of the places I stayed and immerse fully into my story
🧛🏻♂️ and ultimately join me when I discover the first vampire
All of that plus more you'll find in this guide:
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