Rasnov
Yesterday was my three castle tour day in Rasnov, Bran and Sinaia. It didn't start out the best as the weather was chilly and overcast, and I discovered someone stole two pairs of my socks from the laundry. At least no one took my Bob Marley t-shirt.
The tour was great. The day was fun. We first hit up Rasnov, which has a castle that was built by the peasants there to fend off attackers. The worst part was they could not access water up there, which left them vulnerable when leaving to get some, so they put to work two Turkish prisoners, who dug a well for them, taking 17 years, at which time they were put to death. Nice. That was a bad sentence.
Bran castle, which inspired Dracula.
Rasnov Castle
..well, actually, Vlad Tepes inspired Dracula with all his impaling and other grisly ways of killing, along with a witch who lived in the area who used to kill young virgins and bathe in their blood thinking it would make her younger. Anyway, the castle was not at all scary and was quite pleasant. It was built for merchants because the location is along a merchant route.
Lastly was Peles, which the sun finally came out for and so it was breathtaking up there. It was home to the Royal family here (summer home) and is now just a tourist destination.
When we got back, I rushed to an internet cafe to blog about my day. I checked email first and got one from my sister with the tag line: problem.
Donkeys in Rasnov
My heart raced and I felt sick just reading that. She reluctantly agreed to watch my 8-year old cat Butter while I traveled (he just turned 8 last month), and now he is missing and has been missing for about a week. I was stunned and just sat there at the computer, and then the tears came. I tried to not cry but I am very devastated about this. I was just thinking about him last week. My last hostel has a housecat, so I thought of Butter and actually thought to myself, I hope he's OK, but maybe no one would tell me if he wasn't. Everyone knows he's like a child to me. I lived alone in Minneapolis, and he was the one who greeted me home everyday. The first thing out of my mouth each day would be hello Butter, and I'd tell him about my day.
Our group following the donkeys up top
These thoughts consumed me, and still do, and so I sat sobbing at the computer for a while. I realized I needed to get back to the hostel so I left. I arrived back and the gal at the front desk asked if I was OK. I just said I heard bad news from home as I didn't think anyone would understand my pain and then went upstairs to the bathroom. My face was streaked with mascara. I must have scared a few locals on the walk back.
This is the first real snag in this trip thus far. It's not like losing a passport or getting money stolen kind of snag, which you can just take care of, but it's the "my heart is not in this now" kind of snag. I'm frustrated as I can do nothing about the situation, and I'm in a bit of a depression and at times feel lots of anger just thinking about going home and him not being there.
Inside Rasnov castle
It also makes me worry about what else could go wrong while I'm away. So I cannot think about site-seeing right now. I was supposed to get up early today and do a day trip to Sighisoara or Sibiu, but I could not get out of bed. I just want to sleep until I hear that he's back. I've heard from friends that they've had cats run off for a while and show up, so this will be my hope for now, but Butter was in a new home so I'm not sure he knows his way, plus he's always been an indoor cat and hated going outside. I just don't know why he would run away. I have much guilt about leaving him now. I just feel sick about it and hope I can move past this great sadness.
So far all I've managed to do today is buy two new pairs of socks.
