This Halloween Let’s Visit A Spooky Castle With A Ghost Or Two…

Numerous legendary ghost stories have been associated with the castles of Europe. So this year celebrate Halloween with a couple of famous tales…

Bran Castle, Romania And A Vampire

Celebrated as Dracula’s Castle, Bran Castle is linked to the historical person who inspired Bram Stoker to write the novel Dracula. A regional ruler Vlad III Dracula, became known as Vlad the Impaler and he lived in Bran Castle in Transylvania. The real legend is just as scary as that of the vampire. The Ottoman Sultan Mehmed invaded the Balkans with an army of over 200,000 strong. To defend his kingdom Vlad III Dracula captured invading Turks and had them executed to scare away the invading army. Moving on Wallachia’s capital the Turks found the gates of the city undefended but surrounded by a “forest of the impaled” Turks. Vlad had the captured soldiers, about 20,000, impaled and displayed in front of the invaders as they advanced. After coming upon this horror, Mehmed and his army fled Transylvania immediately never to return.

Houska Castle, Czech Republic And The Door To Hell

Located north of Prague is Houska Castle with no fortifications, no kitchen, and was not occupied when it was built. Inside a room in this castle is a large hole in the ground that many consider to be the gateway to hell. Houska Castle was deliberately built over this hole to seal up the gateway and keep demons from getting out. This part of the castle had all the doors filled in so the demons would be trapped inside the lower level.

The creepy legend says that before sealing it off, prisoners were granted pardons if they allowed themselves to be lowered into the hole by a rope. After the first prisoner was lowered in, he started screaming and when he was pulled back up he had aged 30 years.

A Haunted Newcastle Castle

The Castle, Newcastle, or Newcastle Castle is a medieval fortification in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, built on the site of the fortress that gave the City of Newcastle its name. The most prominent remaining structures on the site are the Castle Keep, the castle’s main fortified stone tower, and the Black Gate, its fortified gatehouse. The Romans first built it to guard a bridge over the River Tyne. It later became a cemetery and its Black Gate dates back to 1247 AD.

When visiting the castle people say you can hear footsteps in the empty corridors. Many visitors claim to have taken pictures that show images of a strange mist in the photographs. Claims of dark shadows and glowing orbs have also been known to turn up. In the Queen’s chamber many have claimed to hear sounds of chanting. One legend mentions the ghost of a lady who can attack and scratch people. There are reports of the smell of flowers near a staircases associated with the restless soul of a flower girl. She was reportedly locked up in the dungeon for a debt she owed and was raped, abused and beaten to death by a male prisoner..

There’s also Leap Castle in Ireland, often regarded as the most haunted castle in the world, known for its rich history of paranormal activities.
Lair Hunyad Castle, also called Corvin Castle, is infamous for its dark legends and is haunted by the spirits of those tortured in its dungeons.
Dragsholm Castle in Denmark has a reputation as a noble residence and prison, now functioning as a hotel while still haunting visitors with ghostly tales.

More From The Intentional Traveler‘s Archives

European Ports Of Call

Listings Of Major European Cruise Ports With Convenient Links To Each

Europe provides probably the largest selection of great ports of call in the world. Cruising Europe you’ll discover ports only a few miles distance from each other have completely different character, customs and even languages*. This geography makes for an amazing offering in varied itineraries.

Here we’ve tried to provide a large collection of links (buttons) for you to explore what’s available in most itinerary’s ports of call.

The featured maps divide Europe into Mediterranean ports and the Northwestern European cities. Click on the map’s icons or stars to identify the port city along with an identifying photo..

The Mediterranean

From the Sun drenched Greek Island beaches to the historic cities of Rome, Athens and Dubrovnik, to the elegance of the French and Italian Riviera, the Mediterranean has more to experience than any cruise could could hold!

FRANCE

ITALY

SPAIN

GREECE

MORE

The largest number of cruise itineraries in Europe are located in the Mediterranean with cruise itineraries deporting from Rome (Civitivechia), Barcelona and Athens (Pireaus). Clickthe buttons for a description of what to expect in each cruise port.

Athens, Piraeus
Alicante, Spain
Kusadasi, Turkey
Barcelona
Malta
Rhodes, Greece

Dubrovnik, Croatia
Valencia, Spain
Gibraltar
The Ports of Israel
Rome and Chivtachechia
Naples, Italy
Ravenna, Italy
Venice
Livorno, Italy
Santa Margerita, & Portofino Italy
Corsica
Santorini, Greece
Corfu, Greece
Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Mykonos Greece
Cartagena, Spain
Malaga, Spain
Villefranche, France
Kotor, Montenegro
Messina Sicily

Northwestern Europe

From the Atlantic coast of Spain and Portugal, to the British Isles and the Scandinavian Baltic ports, Northwestern Europe has an incredible number of experiences to explore as well and shouldn’t be overlooked as a cruise destination.

Amsterdam
Akureyri, Iceland
Cobh, Ireland
Dunmore East Ireland
Flam, Norway
Liverpool, England
Skagen Denmark
Stockholm
Gotland Sweden
Tallinn, Estonia
Warnemünde, Germany
Wales, UK

More posts from The Intentional Travelers

Abandoned, Derelict and Thrown Away Ships

What To Do With Ships And Boats That Nobody Wants?

What do you do with hundreds of tons of useless ships that are too costly to have moved and have nothing of value onboard to salvage? Even the scrap steel isn’t worth the cost of moving.

Derelicts Montevideo Harbor
Derelict Montevideo

 

If you travel a lot, especially if you are a cruise enthusiast, you will on occasion come across ship and boat wrecks either grounded or in shallow water. They seem to garner more attention than wrecked and abandoned cars on land. Maybe there is something more intriguing or romantic about ship wrecks because they seem to recall huge tragedies or great seafaring legends. It’s unlikely you’ll find a story titled The Wreck Of The 66 Oldsmobile, but there are accounts that live on about the Andrea Doria, Rubin James, Titanic, Edmond Fitzgerald and more.

Derelicts Montevideo

On a port call in Montevideo, Uruguay we came across what looked like a ship graveyard, right in the middle of the harbor. Derelict fishing boats, tugs and even larger freighters and tankers were left in the harbor, making for a very strange sight. Seeing this surprising, large collection of half sunk, rusting, and abandoned boats and ships in the center of this city’s working harbor raised a number of questions. Who abandoned them and why? How long have they been here? What is anybody doing about them?

Abandoned boats are not a problem unique to Uruguay and we often encounter ships wrecked along coasts, unable to be moved or salvaged. Even in theU.S. you’ll find abandoned boats, usually left on remote and rarely used channels or in out of the way bays. The largest location in the U.S. is the Staten Island, New York graveyard, a well-known graveyard for dumping tugboats and barges since the 1930s. 

Roatan
St. Johns, Antigua

On the west coast of France is Landévennec, an isolated bay where the French Navy has been quietly sending their ships removed from service. One news report called it “out of sight, out of mind”.

Landévennec

The Skeleton Coast, located in Namibia, Africa is a ship graveyard that features the remains of mostly larger ship wrecks resting there for years. The Skeleton Coast originates at the mouth of the River Ugab and extends up to the River Kunene located near the border of Angola. This stretch of coast has been famous for dense fogs and large storms forcing ships to ground for over a hundred years. Today the area is designated the Skeleton Coast National Park (actually named for the whale skeletons left there by whalers). This ship graveyard is regarded by many as the world’s largest graveyard of ships.

Bay of Nouadhibou located in Mauritania, holds more than 300 ships washed ashore, partially sunk or left at anchor. For decades the Bay of Nouadhibou has been used as a ship dumping ground because of rampant corruption of the Mauritian authorities taking bribes to look the other way.

Bay of Nouadhibou

After getting home a little research on Uruguay turned up an article dated 17 June 2015 estimating the number of derelicts in Uruguay at fifty being abandoned by their owners because of debts or liens. It indicated that a plan has been developed that will re-float the boats and have them taken away. The Uruguayan National Port Administration will be in charge of the program.

When we were there in 2019 I counted thirty boats so maybe they have made some progress in the last few years, but Montevideo still has a long way to go.

Abandoned fishing fleet Guatemala

The Wreck Of The Costa Concordia


A famous example of the cost of moving a wrecked ship is the Costa Concordia wreck in Italy. Removing the wreck cost 1 billion euros. And that did not include 100 million for the ship to be broken up for scrap along with the cost of repairing damage to Giglio island.

Update On Montevideo port

Private contractors have completed the removal of many abandoned and sunken ships from the port of Montevideo by the end of 2023 to facilitate navigation in the area.

Going To Argentina’s Iguazu Falls

Accommodations in Puerto Iguazú, Argentina

If your plans for the future include a visit to Iguazú Falls (if you are a traveler – it should) we would recommend staying for a night or two in the area. The falls are truly one of the natural wonders of the world. Learn more from our article on visiting Iguazú National Park in Argentina.

If you are inclined toward deluxe accommodations you can’t do any better than the Gran Melia Iguazu, a five star resort located right at the park with spectacular views of the falls and it’s only a short drive from the airport. All the remaining accommodations are about twelve to fifteen miles away in the town of Puerto Iguazú which boasts almost a dozen four star* rated hotels.

We booked our stay at the Hotel Saint George and were pleased with its location. Overall the staff was very friendly and helpful, the rooms were large, clean and well appointed. The pool patio area was attractive with a nice restaurant, snack bar.

The Saint George is located right in the middle of town and right across the street was the Restaurant Parrilla where we enjoyed pizza and beers in the evening with a tango dance show that was a surprise bonus.

King bed room at the Saint George
Pool patio at the Sa int George

After a day at the falls we went back to the Saint George to clean up and pick up our bags before our flight. Again the staff was most accommodating, providing us with a place to clean up with plenty of towels.

When you start planning your trip and begin reading reviews keep in mind that you are going to be visiting an isolated area and even four star ratings will most likely not rise to the level you’ve come to expect in the U.S. or Europe. After all it is an outpost of civilization a couple of hundred miles up into the South American rain forest. For that reason you should discount many of the negative reviews you read. We did and were generally pleased with our choices for this part of our trip.

Iguazú Falls is a popular tourist attraction and still growing in popularity with Porto Iguazú being a major tourist town with a selection of good restaurants and nice hotels. The town features a number of hotels in the three and four star category that are generally well appointed, clean and with friendly staffs. January is peak season and there are more than a few of these hotels priced at under US$100.

  • Gran Melia Iguazú • 5 Stars $425
  • Falls Iguazú Hotel & Spa • 4 Stars $150
  • El Pueblito Iguazú • 3.5 Stars $85
  • La Aldea de la Selva Lodge • 4 Stars $95
  • Selva de Laurel • 3.5 Stars $75

South of town away from the falls, overlooking the river are some additional accommodations.

  • Tupo Lodge • 4 Stars under $100

If you are exploring on a budget the roads going into town are lined with economy hotels, cabins and a few camp grounds and when we were there in January there were a number of vacancies. Some economy accommodations include:

  • Hostel Haus $20
  • Hostel Bambú Puerto Iguazú $35
  • Jasy Hotel $55


Argentina FYIs

Version 1.0.0



Literally everywhere you go in Argentina you’ll find people drinking using an odd mug and a metal straw. It’s Mata and it’s a national obsession. Mate (pr. MAH-tay), is a traditional South American herbal drink made from steeping the leaves of the yerba mate plant (Ilex paraguariensis) in hot water, commonly enjoyed with friends using a metal straw.

Like French Fries? In Argents they love fries but the common dip isn’t ketchup, it’s mayonnaise and the universally call it Hellmans.

If you’re a wine lover, the local varietal is Melbec and originally native to Cahors in South West France. With its introduction to the vineyards of Mendoza, Argentina in particular, in just a few short decades Malbec has shot from relative obscurity to international fame and is now better known as the iconic deep red wine grape of Argentina. With incredible pricing don’t pass this one up.

Image Of The Day • Washing Hands

Rather than playing with the water this young man is intent on washing his hands. This was in the town square in historic Visby, Gotland Sweden.

It seems that the Swedes have a fondness for running water in preference to spraying water in fountains. We’ve visited a number of cities in Sweden and almost ever one has something similar to this water feature in Visby.

Here Are A Few Our More Recent Posts You Might Find Interesting…

International People Pictures

Often people are just begging to have their picture taken and on occasion I can’t resist…

A NOTE ABOUT THIS POST AND SEO: It’s getting to be more of important lately to create posts that are compatible with desktops, tablets and cellphones, while still getting indexed with Google and other search engines. Recent changes with Googles crawler now puts a major emphases on cellphone compatibility that seems to be causing pages to be “not indexed” even though they had been indexed for years. This page and others to come soon are more an experiment in Google indexing.requirements.

Browse Through Some Of Our Recent Postings