Q5: "Why/when did Romania become associated with so many vampire legends? [...]"

Kristina asks, "Why/when did Romania become associated with so many vampire legends? Is it just because that's where Count Dracula lived? Does the countryside look adequately creepy? (That's sort of three questions, but apropos to Halloween)"

There were a few minor Halloween celebrations in Iasi on Friday, my first full day in Iasi. In the afternoon, we accidentally walked into a children's costume party at the "American Corner," in the basement of the Palace of Culture. Despite the Corner's name, all the children and parents seemed to be Romanian and the host spoke only broken English.

We were invited to a "pumpkin sculpturing" event at the student center in the evening, but we were exhausted and hungry from touring around town all afternoon (and unsuccessfully trying to pick up my lost/delayed luggage at Iasi's one-runway airport), so we decided to pass on it.

No trick-or-treaters came a-knocking. This wasn't surprising, as it's not a big tradition here and since our apartment is spooky enough as it is. (Although not as spooky as the building across the street, where bullet holes from WWII are the main ornamentation.)

Transylvania is in central Romania, and about a nine-hour train ride from Iasi. I hear many of the castles are as as eerie as Count Dracula's, but His Fangness' 'real' castle (est. 1340s) is in the Transylvanian town of Sighisoara. We plan to visit Sighisoara and Brasov, where there's another (albeit supposedly less 'real') Dracula Castle, in a few weeks. ("Count Dracula - The Truth" seems to be a good resource for this topic, although I haven't done much digging there.) More on the man, the legend and the castles once we return.