At The Grave Of Dracula

Today, ten of us who were supposed to be on the Danube cruise, went to Snagov Monastery. We had about a 45 minute bus ride in a very nice air conditioned mini tour bus. With the heat that has had Bucharest in its grip since we arrived, we were very thankful for the ac. The bus gave an outside air temperature of 43 C, which if accurate, translates to over 109 F. The TV indicates the high today was only(?) 35.5 C or 96°F. Whatever the true temperature was, it was hot. Snagov Monastery is located on a small island on a lake which is in the middle of what used to be a very dense forest. The monastery itself is gone, the only reminder of its presence being the stones in the ground that mark what was the foundation. There is a small Orthodox church on the island which is quite beautiful inside with its icons and paintings of religious scenes. Above the three doors that lead to the sanctuary area (I am not sure of the proper nomenclature) in the front of the church are paintings of the apostles, the prophets, and Jesus. The walls are covered with paintings religious in nature. The purpose of the paintings is the same as the purpose of stained glass windows in gothic European cathedrals, to teach the illiterate congregation about their faith. Also in the church is the grave of Vlad the Impaler, also known as Dracula. He was called Dracula because he was the son Dracul, a Romanian noble. Vlad the Impaler is known as the Impaler because it is said that he executed 20,000 Turks and others (but mostly Turks) by impaling them. To Romanians he is a national hero because he so fiercely resisted the Turks. To Turks, he was a menace and their worst enemy. He was eventually killed by the Turks who removed his head and took it to Constantinople to prove that he was dead. His body was buried on the island. (P.S., he was not a vampire).
Some random observations about Bucharest and Romanians. Romanians seem to have a death wish when they drive. Perhaps they took lessons from NYC cab drivers and once they had mastered the driving decided to outdo their teachers. If you come to Romania and have a death wish, rent a car. The city of Bucharest is quite large and frankly lacks the charm of other European cities we have visited and loved, e.g., Prague, Paris, Florence, or Siena. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that Romania has been open only since around 1990. Perhaps with the passing years it will become more of a location people would like to visit.
We ran into some embarrassing Americans today on our trip. They are some of the folks originally scheduled to be with us on the cruise. They were bickering about how much the the tour was to cost when it came time to pay. Dianne and I and our Australian friends had already converted the price from Euros to Lei and knew what the cost would be for us. Long story short, the most embarrassing American paid in American money and Dianne and I looked for a place we could bury our heads. The worst of the embarrassers will not be with us the rest of the way as he and his wife will cruise the Black Sea. We are thankful for small favors. The other two couples may join us for our excursion to the medieval cities. In spite of setbacks, we continue to plug away.