Day 6: Dracula: The Man & The Myth - U.S. Arts Envoy Day In the Life
I admit it. When the opportunity first arose to visit Romania, I was a little scared.
Romania is where Transylvania is, and Transylvania is famous for being the home of Count Dracula.
As a kid growing up in East Tennessee, I got sucked into a fascination with vampires, especially when the classic The Lost Boys with Kiefer Sutherland and Jason Patric came onto the scene in 1987.
Later, the Gary Oldman portrayal of the Count in the Francis Ford Coppola film adaptation of the Bram Stoker's Dracula sealed the deal.
Halloween in the 90s found me very often playing the role of the red haired Lucy from the film.
Naturally, the opportunity to visit the real life Romania, home of Dracula brought both excitement and jitters as I prepared to travel to the mysterious and distant land as a U.S. Arts Envoy, songwriting team builder and diplomat.
Apparently, I am not alone in my fascination with Dracula, for every gift shop and tourist destination encountered in Bucharest (even the U.S. Embassy shop) had Dracula themed merchandise from toys to playing cards.
Unlike the rest of the world's fascination, Romanians have a different view of the man behind the macabre myth of Count Dracula seen in books and popular movies.
The impression I got from locals was much different than what I had seen on the silver screen.
Dracula: Separating Man From Myth
First and most surprising to me was learning that Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, the Gothic horror novel published in 1897, was an Irishman who never set foot in Romania himself.
The famous story we all know was simply dreamed up in the imagination of a man far removed from the reality.
Much of what I learned about the real life Dracula comes from a combination of research, speaking with locals, and imagination of my own as I walked the historic cobblestones.
Count Dracula is a fictional character.
Vlad Dracula also known as Vlad the Impaler was a real man who ruled Romania as Voivode of Wallachia between 1448 and 1476.
His name, Dracula, is a family name that means Dragon. He was a Roman Catholic that lived in a turbulent time in an area where political, territorial and religious turmoil was the order of the day.
Vlad was kidnapped and held prisoner by the Turks in his early adolescence, and held a grudge for the rest of his life that manifested in ways that can only be described as brutal, earning him the name "The Impaler."
His military campaigns were legendary, his castles impenetrable, and his methods were unforgettable.
The disloyal and politically motivated noble families? Vlad made them build his castle wearing only the clothes on their backs that eventually disintegrated leaving them to labor in the nude.
The dungeons in the basement of the castle were home to unspeakable atrocity and torment.
Vlad's wife, fearing perhaps what turn about might befall her should she be captured by the invading Turks, flung herself to her death in the river far below the castle walls.
The river is still known as The Princess River to this day, Râul Doamnei, "The Lady's River."
How vampire legends and the lore of the Dracul family intermingled is a subject of speculation and fireside storytelling, especially during the time of the year where Halloween is celebrated.
Ironically, I learned from speaking to locals that Halloween is not widely celebrated in Romania like it is the U.S. In fact, it seemed that the subject might be a little taboo among some families seeking to protect their young children from the more secular holiday.
Seen through the smoky lens of time, it is difficult for us to imagine what it must have been like during the time of Vlad the Impaler.
It is said that during his reign, a person could leave a golden cup by the water well and never worry that it might be stolen, such was the iron rule of Vlad Dracula.
Brutal dictator, passionate leader, mythical monster or real life man - perhaps we can never separate fact from fiction when it comes to Dracula.
Read other stories from the Day In the Life of a U.S. Arts Envoy in Romania series -
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