At the heart of Bucharest lies Kilometrul Zero, a compass-rose monument outside New St. George Church. Its bronze arcs point toward Romania’s historic provinces—Transylvania, Wallachia, Moldova, and beyond—reminding travelers that this is not just a city but the center of a story much larger than itself. We began our own journey there, following the lines outward, only to find that they curved back again to a single theme: survival.
In Transylvania survival has taken the shape of myth. Bran Castle, perched on a hilltop framed by thick forest, has been branded “Dracula’s Castle.” The irony is that Vlad the Impaler, the ruthless 15th-century prince who inspired Bram Stoker’s villain, never lived here. During the communist era, Romanians weren’t even allowed to read Stoker’s book. And yet, Bran became a stage set for legend—a fortress with secret stairways and dark chambers, more powerful for the stories told about it than for its real history.
