"A wizard does not make mistakes. He makes unexpected possibilities." – Merlin
July 2022 Peles Castle is relatively young. It was built between 1873 and 1914, by this time old mature castles got destroyed and rebuilt a couple of times. By the XIX century castles had lost their importance for fortification. While Castelul Peleș is built on a hill, it is not surrounded by a high wall…
July 2022 One cannot come to Transylvania and not visit Bran Castle – Dracula’s castle. The gloomy hilltop castle seems like a perfect vampire’s lair. It is not, though. And it was not. Vlad III the Impaler (Vlad Țepeș, Vlad Dracula) and Bram Stoker’s Dracula are loosely connected and neither of them lived in Bran…
June 2022 Corvin Castle, also known as Hunyadi Castle or Hunedoara Castle was laid out in 1446 by János Hunyadi and is located in present day Hunedoara. Why Corvin then? There are several legends involving a raven and a ring, that explain why house Hunyadi became Corvinus (raven in Latin). Like every old castle this…
After our unexpected yet pleasant vacation in Croatia we returned to our initial plan. We found cheap accommodation in a small Serbian town. The price was 350€ per month for a single bedroom apartment with an additional sofa bed in the living room. We envisaged a quiet life with walks in the nearby park, massage…
Do you check your smartphone first thing in the morning? Updates from social networks and endless emails. Work-related, spammers, random e-stores you visited once a few years ago, airlines that you used before the pandemic, Elamisloakaardi väljastamine, book club newsletter… Wait what?! “Elamisloakaardi väljastamine” is “Issuance of residence permit card” in Estonian. After rejecting our…
We reached the Plitvice Lakes National Park at about 3pm. It was extremely hot and crowded. In addition we found out that after 4pm they offer a discount on entry tickets and you can save up to 30€ for a family of three. In summer the park is open until 8pm so we would have…