Transylvania Sighişoara

Dracula Is Not the President of Romania.
I saw that on a t-shirt once and it made me laugh.  But just for the record, he's not.  And just for the record, Vlad Ţepeş, the 15th-century Wallachian ruler, was the figure upon which Bram Stoker apparently based his nefarious, blood-sucking character when he wrote his book.  And just for the record, the grandfather of Vlad Ţepeş was Mircea Cel Bătrân. And that concludes the history portion.  Don't expect any more from me because I'm not that cerebral.  I don't try to learn anything when I travel, I just eat and take pictures of the pretty things I see.
You want cerebral, read a book.
But let's face it: if you go to Transylvania, you can't get around the whole Dracula thing.  You'll find the image of Vlad Ţepeş on coffee mugs and key chains, on dinner plates and playing cards and any other item that can be ruined by the cheesy practice of copying that rather unattractive face onto it.  The idea of seeing his beady-eyed representation while taking my first sips of morning coffee does not seem a pleasant prospect.  And I'm sure the idea of his likeness showing up on a refrigerator magnet is enough to make Vlad Ţepeş roll over in his grave. Except that he's not rolling or do anything else of course because he's dead (really, he's dead) and neither he nor Bram Stoker have any idea the kind of kitsch the rest of us 21st century folk are subjected to on their account.
As far as possible, this post is Sighişoara, birth place of Vlad Ţepeş, sans kitsch.
You're welcome.