Dracula lives 2: Code RG 1

Moon over Bucharest.

To get a first impression, I travel to the destination of the Red Fruit Jelly mission a day earlier (That's not scary! How should I translate that into English? Red fruit jelly, for example?). The Ramada by Wyndham Bucharest Parc Hotel is the last hotel in the mission. I want to take a closer look at this. Just a day earlier. The friendly gentleman at the reception gives me the room number - this can't be a coincidence - 116. Attention! The cross sum (1 + 1 + 6) results in 8 and in Christian numerical symbolism this number stands for happy beginnings, new beginnings, spiritual rebirth, baptism and resurrection. This has a meaning! I have to make preparations with the group for the next day. As I have only now been told in writing, the tour guide is a woman, a tour guide mom. Lucia, which means the one born on the day. Sociologist and ethnologist. Another good omen. Not born at night, but during the day. Vampires avoid day as day avoids night. Logical, right?

Bucharest is in Wallachia. Prince Dracula ruled here, not in Transylvania as many believe. He only stayed there a few times.

Precautions

That night, the full moon wastes its light on the cloudy sky, making it dark, eerie, melancholic at best. A full moon in the night sky where mischief occurs. Screaming bats flutter around the heads of nerds like me, in anticipation of asthmatic wheezing vampires, snarling, bloodthirsty werewolves or unpredictable, screaming psychopaths. A moon to howl at. Anything can happen here. I'm on his trail. Or he to me.

I'm going through my documents: Dracula was born in Sighisoara (Sighisoara) in 1431. Accordingly, he would have to be 592 years old today. His residence is presumably in the Bucharest area. So we will have to visit a number of villages and towns. My vampire prophylaxis includes lots of garlic, some holy water (disguised in a bottle of Obstler), various oak poles and a wooden crucifix with a silver Jesus on it.

It can't do any harm.

I can certainly rule out a relationship between Dracula and Bram Stoker, the Irish writer. He simply wrote a kind of biography about the prince. It's quite possible that he was bitten. Who can say?

It occurs to me that Pearl has been very pale lately. At home she also avoids the sun on our terrace and only comes out at dusk. But she is a vegetarian with clear sympathies for vegans. Are there possible mutations in vampires? I resolutely discard the thoughts and concentrate on the journey ahead.

Before things get dark: Romania is beautiful!

Red Lake, Lacu Rosu, Ostrumänien.

The historical Dracula, the Impaler, as he is also known, treated his enemies with merciless cruelty: he had them impaled alive until they died in hours of unbearable torment. Our tour guide is required to proceed as unobtrusively as possible. This is comparatively easy. We don't even talk to the Romanians about the prince. They don't like that we tourists reduce their country, with its rich culture, beautiful landscapes, culinary delights and cultural treasures, to a tyrant.

After a restless night, I leave the Ramada Hotel, which exudes the icy breath of post-communist architecture, towards the airport. The sun is shining on this day, the sky is almost cloudless blue, with mild early summer temperatures. The taxi driver shows me the numbers on the taxi meter at the airport: 38 LEI. I hand him 50 LEI, pack my suitcase and enter the arrivals hall of the airport.

Predeal, Karpaten

Two hours late, we left the airport in the coach for Predeal, the highest city in Romania, about 160 kilometers away. For strategic reasons, I sit at the back of the bus, thereby forestalling a suspiciously aloof family of three dressed all in black (Roger, Ludmilla and Tatjana) with their pubescent daughter, who demonstratively take their seats directly in front of me on the left and right of the aisle. The three are extremely pale. I should keep an eye on those. I suspect something bad.

Something else unusual needs to be clarified here. Angelo contacted me at the airport. He travels alone on this mission. He looks almost exactly like a colleague from the company. Made a little older, trimmed to Italian roots. Did Pearl have a hand in it and put a guard at my side? So many coincidences?

Our pack leader Lucia has a pleasantly soporific voice. She informs us about the first destination Predeal, which is located at an altitude of 1093 m with around 4000 inhabitants. She almost begs us not to go out on the streets at night. The Transylvania region is mountainous, heavily forested and rich in bears, which poses a security risk. Yes / Yes. It's clear. Bears. Very cleverly packaged to warn us about vampires. Or werewolves. Maybe both. In the coming days I should feel like Tom Hanks in The Da Vinci Code - Sacrilege: deciphering clues, cracking codes, pursuing and being pursued (For dangerous scenes I have a double because of my age.). Survival is the order of the day.