Another Good Hike…

I had a sort of “time-warpish” experience wandering up the mountainside around Bran, and couldn’t shake the feeling that I had somehow been transported to somewhere completely “other” than 2007 Romania. The thick vegetation, oddly twisted roots and thick smell of moss, wood and leaves made me feel more like I was hiking through Fangorn from Tolkein’s LOTR than any “real” place on this earth. I even heard the lone, short howl of a single wolf (erm…well…I’m assuming he was “alone”) somewhere off in the distance, and as the wind raked lazily through the branches of the trees overhead, I enjoyed just sitting down for a few minutes and enjoying the peacefulness. Sometimes, I think that we get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of our lives in the US and the speed at which they operate that it’s difficult to remember just how soft and still and quiet things can really get when you can get enough distance from them.

The only things that “didn’t fit” were a lumberjack’s chainsaw somewhere near the castle, and the carved “Sven loves Nadia forever”-esque markings on some of the larger trees that pervaded the small forest pathway. I could also occasionally hear the honk of a horn or the low rumble of a semi along the highway that ran on the other side of Bran, but even amidst those rather “human” distractions, sitting on a little stump and marveling at the woodland had a very Druidish feel to it.