No visit to Transylvania is complete without a quick stop at Bran Castle, the reputed home of Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, a member of the House of Drăculești, also known, using his patronymic, as (Vlad) Drăculea or (Vlad) Dracula and posthumously dubbed Vlad the Impaler. Regarding his nickname, Wikipedia has this to offer: As the…
I had made plans to travel to and stay in London a few months earlier, but circumstances being as they were, I needed to change plans and decided to begin in Dover. What began as an inconvenience turned into one of my more amazing trips. Instead of remaining within the city, I explored the countryside…
Just over the Portuguese border from Spain is a little village with a big castle called Castro Marim. Tourist season was over, so we missed the shows that they apparently put on, which include dramatizations of medieval life and fighting knights. Unlike other castles we have visited, this one does well to show what life might…
High atop the tallest hill in the Sintra Mountains sits the storybook Pena National Palace. It’s an amazing sight to behold. What used to be the remains of a defunct, simple Hieronymite (followers of Saint Jerome) monastery was severely damaged in the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 and left in disrepair until it was renovated into an elaborately decorated royal palace by…
Oh my, what a lovely little country. While driving through rural Luxembourg, I thought, “This is what suburban America strives to become.” Every village looked like it was straight out of a planned community brochure. Every little village is pristine, spotlessly clean, immaculate. Every little village is picturesque framed by green rolling hills. Every little village…
West of downtown Lisbon, along the shores of the famed Tagus River, in an area of town called Belém, lies even more wonderment. Three sites in particular bear witnessing, all three of which are mentioned briefly in this video by UNESCO. Jerónimos Monastery Followers of of Saint Jerome, known as Hieronymites, himself an ardent follower of…
Of all the national capitals I’ve visited, and there’s been more than a few, none has felt less like a capital than Lisbon, Portugal. Maybe all the various governmental offices are far away from the city center, or maybe they’re just less ostentatious than their European counterparts, but on the whole, the city felt more…
While the Castle of the Moors and Pena National Palace get all the press, along many other amazing chateaus and palaces in the region, the town of Sintra proper is simply adorable. Not far from the capital, Lisbon, it reminded my of some other towns I had seen in other parts of Europe, such as…
Near the brightly colored Pena National Palace, lie the ruins of an ancient castle built by the Moors (North African Muslims) during Islamic rule of the Iberian Peninsula. It’s like anything one would imagine during the reign of King Arthur. It’s rampart battlements snake around an entire hilltop and provide an excellent view of the vast agricultural area…
Along the southern French coast is a small town called Collioure that has an incredible castle, a huge Catholic cathedral, a small seaside chapel, and adorable little old town. Unfortunately, I missed the closing time by three minutes, so I was not able to go inside. Still, it was awe-inspiring. Below are photos of the…
